Event

GUYANA TRAGEDY: THE STORY OF JIM JONES rare uncut 16mm screening at PhilaMOCA

PhilaMOCA host rare uncut 16mm print of GUYANA TRAGEDY: THE STORY OF JIM JONES (1980) on the eve of the Jonestown Massacre's 35th Anniversary

On Friday, November 15, to coincide with the 35th Anniversary of the notorious "Jonestown massacre" (November 18, 1978), Exhumed Films and Cinedelphia.com will present an ultra-rare 16mm uncut print of the 1980 Emmy-winning television film GUYANA TRAGEDY: THE STORY OF JIM JONES. The entire 192 minute film will be screened and free Kool-Aid will be provided.

"Jonestown" was the informal name for the community formed in northwestern Guyana by the Peoples Temple, a religious organization led by Reverend Jim Jones. Following over two decades of effective recruitment and political influence in the U.S., the Peoples Temple retreated to South America in 1974 where they hoped to escape their burgeoning status as a religious cult. The infamous "revolutionary suicide" that was the Jonestown massacre occurred in 1978 when 909 Temple members died via cyanide-laced Kool-Aid (Flavor-Aid to be precise) thereby forever cementing Jones' status as a villainous, mind-manipulating cult leader.

GUYANA TRAGEDY: THE STORY OF JIM JONES (1980) is based on the eyewitness account of Washington Post reporter Charles A. Krause, adapted for the television screen by screenwriter Ernest Tidyman (SHAFT, THE FRENCH CONNECTION). The film follows Jones, played by Powers Boothe who won an Emmy for the role, from his activism in the '50s through what would become the largest single loss of American civilians by a deliberate act until 9/11. The supporting cast includes a bevy of familiar faces including Ned Beatty, Randy Quaid, Veronica Cartwright, James Earl Jones, Brad Dourif, Levar Burton, Colleen Dewhurst, and Diane Ladd.

Don't miss this rare opportunity to see one of the greatest television miniseries of all time in all of its uncut 16mm glory.

Friday, November 15, 8:00 PM
GUYANA TRAGEDY: THE STORY OF JIM JONES
$10 admission