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POTHOLE PICTURES PRESENTS:

“LOST NATION”

Friday & Saturday, FEBRUARY 21 AND 22, 2025 AT 7:30 PM on the big screen in Memorial Hall Theater, 51 Bridge Street, Shelburne Falls

Meet Director, Jay Craven for a post-film Q&A on Saturday

Come early for Music at the Movies at 7:00 pm: Friday: Celtic Jam with Steve Howland & Friends Saturday: Sing Along – bring your “Rise up Singing” songbook!

Learn about the “Take a Seat” and “Name a Seat” campaigns to raise funds for 100-year renovations to Memorial Hall!


On Feb. 21 and 22 at 7:30pm, Pothole Pictures will present LOST NATION as its “encore” film capping the regular 8-film Fall-Winter movie program with a final “meet the director” event before Memorial Hall Theater closes temporarily in the spring of 2025 for its first major renovation in 100 years. Director, Jay Craven, who has presented three other films in Memorial Hall, will be on hand for a post-film Q&A on Saturday evening.

Tickets are $6 for adults, $4 for children 12 and under – cash at the door only. Arrive at 7:00 pm for a half hour of live “music at the movies” by local musicians – that includes YOU if you join the Saturday sing along!


LOST NATION offers a new telling of Vermont’s Revolutionary War history through the interlaced stories of two of the state’s contrasting figures from that era – Ethan Allen and Lucy Terry Prince. Allen, played by Irish actor, Kevin Ryan, was a farmer, writer, soldier, politician and Vermont founding father who fought for the state’s independence and resistance to control by New York, leading often clandestine guerilla raids with his Green Mountain Boys. Prince, portrayed by Eva Ndachi, was an African American poet whose 1746 poem, “Bars Fight” is considered the oldest known piece of literature by an African American. Her appeal to Vermont governor, Thomas Chittenden, to protect her family from racial persecution highlights the complex cross-currents within the national fight for freedom. Craven’s fictional story telling is built around known historical figures and events, though there is no record of Allen and Prince ever meeting in person.

Jay Craven has made 10 films in 30 years, often using a mix of students, seasoned Vermont actors and bigger name stars through his program, Semester Cinema, which he has taught at various institutions including the now-defunct Marlboro College. Some of his other notable Vermont stories include, WHERE THE RIVERS FLOW NORTH (1994), DISAPPEARANCES (2006) and PETER AND JOHN (2015).


Memorial Hall Association & the Town of Shelburne launch their “take a seat, name a seat” campaign at LOST NATION film event on Feb. 21 & 22 to raise private funds for once-in-a-century renovations to Memorial Hall Theater.

The Town of Shelburne, which owns Memorial Hall, and the non-profit Memorial Hall Association (MHA), which leases and operates the theater, are collaborating on a three- year capital campaign to restore and update the theater. In Phase 2 renovations, the tin ceiling and wood floors will be repaired, the walls repainted and the historic seats replaced and re-positioned for better viewing.

A state Cultural Facilities Fund matching grant and town funding are anchoring the estimated $425,000 cost of the Phase 2 renovations, but private donations and business pledges will be needed to complete the project. At the LOST NATION event, MHA is launching its “take a seat, name a seat” campaign to engage Memorial Hall Theater patrons and fans in the effort. For a minimum of a $25 per seat donation, patrons can take home one or more of the existing 100-year-old seats for their porch or mud room at weekend unbolting events in March. Patrons can also name themselves or a loved one onto a new seat with an engraved brass plaque on the armrest for a tax-deductible donation of $500 per seat, or more.

To participate in either the “take a seat” or the “name a seat” campaign, attend the LOST NATION film on Feb. 21 or 22 at 7:30 pm in Memorial Hall Theater, 51 Bridge Street, Shelburne Falls, MA. Or, contact MHA President, Jim Kessler at nimkessler@gmail.com . More information available online at https://sfmh.org