Watch Our Films

Our newest film is now streaming on Vimeo:
Civilisation and America (Coming September 30, 2020)

Sample excerpts from Civilization and America:

Purchase DVDs on Amazon:


Past Screenings

December 14, 2017
6:00pm - Reception
6:30pm - Screening
"America Rising: The Arts of the Gilded Age"
Wake Forest University
Reynolds House Museum of American Art
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Purchase tickets HERE

About the film


October 19, 2017

6:30pm
"America Rising: The Arts of the Gilded Age"
Norwalk Community College - Film Series
Norwalk, Connecticut

About the film


October 8, 2017 -- 8:00pm
October 9, 2017 -- 1:00pm
"America Rising: The Arts of the Gilded Age"
Greenbelt, Maryland

About the film


September 7, 2017

6:00pm
"America Rising: The Arts of the Gilded Age"
Des Moines, Iowa

June 29, 2017
1891 Fredonia Opera House
7:30pm
Fredonia, New York

June 22, 2017
Special Fundraiser
Purchase Tickets HERE
5:30pm Reception
6:15pm Screening
"America Rising: The Arts of the Gilded Age"
The Mark Twain House & Museum
Hartford, Connecticut

May 20, 2017
2:00pm
"Enough to Live On: The Arts of the WPA"
Greenhills Community Building
Greenhills, Ohio

March 23, 2017
5:30pm Reception
6:00pm Screening
"America Rising: The Arts of the Gilded Age"
New Britain, Connecticut

February 26, 2017
2:00pm
"America Rising: The Arts of the Gilded Age"
Providence, Rhode Island

About the film


March 2, 2017

6:00pm
"America Rising: The Arts of the Gilded Age"
Custom House
Key West, Florida

About the film


*WORLD PREMIERE*
January 20, 2017
6:30pm
"America Rising: The Arts of the Gilded Age"
Richmond, Virginia

September 23, 2016
7:30pm
"Enough to Live On: The Arts of the WPA"
Fredonia, New York

June 15, 2016
8:00pm
"Enough to Live On: The Arts of the WPA"
Greenbelt, Maryland

May 17, 2016
7:00pm
"Enough to Live On: The Arts of the WPA"
Milford, Connecticut
Special screening part of the One City, One Story initiative sponsored by Milford Public Library, CT Humanities and the Milford Arts Council

May 10, 2016
7:00pm
"Enough to Live On: The Arts of the WPA"
Warwick, Rhode Island

May 9, 2016
4:00pm
"Enough to Live On: The Arts of the WPA"
Private Event
Sponsored by the International Women's Forum
University of Southern Maine
Hannaford Hall, Abromson Center
Portland, Maine

May 4, 2016
Reception -- 5:30pm
Screening -- 6:30pm
"Enough to Live On: The Arts of the WPA"
Norwalk Community College
Norwalk, Connecticut
Special fundraiser for the Westport and Norwalk Historical Societies

May 1, 2016
4:00pm
"Enough to Live On: The Arts of the WPA"
Mount Holly, Vermont
Sponsored by the Mount Holly Town Library and The Book Nook

March 31, 2016
6:00pm
"O Brother Man: The Art and Life of Lynd Ward"
Georgetown University
Washington, D.C.

March 6, 2016
2:00pm
"Enough to Live On: The Arts of the WPA"
In conjunction with Smith County Historical Society and The Winners Circle. Special encore presentation!
Tyler, Texas

February 20, 2016
6:00pm
"O Brother Man: The Art and Life of Lynd Ward"
Columbus, Ohio

February 10, 2016
10:15am
Special Skype-a-Docent Program
"O Brother Man: The Art and Life of Lynd Ward"
Fairfield, Connecticut

January 13, 2016
10:30am
Special Skype-a-Docent Program
"Visible Silence: Marsden Hartley, Painter and Poet"
Fairfield, Connecticut

November 19, 2015
6:30pm
"O Brother Man: The Art and Life of Lynd Ward"
New York, New York

November 22, 2015
2:00pm
"Enough to Live On: The Arts of the WPA"
In conjunction with Smith County Historical Society
Tyler, Texas

November 14, 2015
5:30pm
"Enough to Live On: The Arts of the WPA"
Peoria, Illinois

November 15, 2015
2:00pm
"Enough to Live On: The Arts of the WPA"
Rochester, New York

November 8, 2015
2:00pm
"Enough to Live On: The Arts of the WPA"
Providence, Rhode Island

October 30, 2015
6:30pm
"Enough to Live On: The Arts of the WPA"
Richmond, Virginia

October 25, 2015
3:00pm
"Enough to Live On: The Arts of the WPA"
Bendix Theatre
South Bend, Indiana
In conjunction with the special exhibit:

October 24, 2015
6:30pm
"O Brother Man: The Art and Life of Lynd Ward"
Bendix Theatre
South Bend, Indiana
In conjunction with the special exhibit:

October 22, 2015
6:00pm
"Enough to Live On: The Arts of the WPA"

October 18, 2015
3:00pm
"Enough to Live On: The Arts of the WPA"
Rochester, New York

October 8, 2015
6:30pm Reception
7:00pm Screening
"Enough to Live On: The Arts of the WPA"
University of Southern Maine
Hannaford Hall | Abromson Center
88 Bedford St.
Portland, Maine
Fundraiser for Goodwill Industries of Northern New England
$10 in advance | $15 at the door

September 15, 2015
7:00pm
"Enough to Live On: The Arts of the WPA"
Detroit, Michigan

July 15, 2015
7:30pm
Special Screening of our film on the Armory Show
"The Great Confusion: The 1913 Armory Show"
Ludlow, VT

June 17, 2015
6:30pm
"Enough to Live On: The Arts of the WPA"
Washington, D.C.

WORLD PREMIERE
May 14, 2015
5:30pm Reception
6:00pm Screening
"Enough to Live On: The Arts of the WPA"
New Britain, Connecticut

April 9, 2015
6:00pm
Special 10th Anniversary Screening
"Cleophas and His Own"
Auburn, Maine

March 26, 2015
6:00pm
"The Great Confusion: The 1913 Armory Show"
Des Moines, Iowa

December 13, 2014
5:00pm
"The Great Confusion: The 1913 Armory Show"
Peoria, Illinois

October 26, 2014
2:00pm
"The Great Confusion: The 1913 Armory Show"
Falmouth, Virginia

September 3, 2014
7:15pm
"The Great Confusion: The 1913 Armory Show"
Norfolk, VA

August 2, 2014
2:30pm
"The Great Confusion: The 1913 Armory Show"
Washington, D.C.

July 16, 2014
6:30pm
"The Great Confusion: The 1913 Armory Show"
Washington, D.C.

May 11, 2014
2:00pm
"The Great Confusion: The 1913 Armory Show"
Providence Public Library
Providence, Rhode Island

May 5, 2014
7:00pm
"The Great Confusion: The 1913 Armory Show"
Bryn Mawr Film Institute
Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania

April 24, 2014
5:30pm
"The Great Confusion: The 1913 Armory Show"
Special Encore Screening!
New Britain Museum of American Art
New Britain, Connecticut

April 11, 2014
6:30pm
"The Great Confusion: The 1913 Armory Show"
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Richmond, Virginia
Purchase tickets at this link.

March 28, 2014
7:00pm
NEW YORK CITY PREMIERE
"O Brother Man: The Art and Life of Lynd Ward"
The Morgan Library and Museum
New York, New York

Two special encore screenings:
January 16, 2014 -- 7:00pm
January 19, 2014 -- 2:00pm
"The Great Confusion: The 1913 Armory Show"
Rochester, New York

January 12, 2014
2:00pm
"The Great Confusion: The 1913 Armory Show"
Rochester Memorial Art Gallery
Rochester, New York

January 10, 2014
6:30pm
"The Great Confusion: The 1913 Armory Show"
Hood Museum
Hanover, New Hampshire

December 11, 2013
7:00pm
"The Great Confusion: The 1913 Armory Show"
Special Fundraiser for Goodwill
Order Tickets HERE
Abromson Center - University of Southern Maine
Portland, Maine

December 7, 2013
1:00pm
"The Great Confusion: The 1913 Armory Show"
Delaware Museum of Art
Wilmington, Delaware

October 20, 2013
"The Great Confusion: The 1913 Armory Show"
Opalka Gallery
1:00pm
Albany, New York


September 26, 2013
WORLD PREMIERE
"The Great Confusion: The 1913 Armory Show"

New Britain Museum of American Art
6:00pm
New Britain, Connecticut


December 5, 2012
NEW JERSEY PREMIERE
"O Brother Man: The Art and Life of Lynd Ward"
Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
5:00pm
New Brunswick, New Jersey


December 7, 2012

MINNESOTA PREMIERE
"O Brother Man: The Art and Life of Lynd Ward"

Open Book - Minnesota Center for Book Arts
6:30pm
Minneapolis, Minnesota

November 14, 2012
PRIVATE SCREENING
"O Brother Man: The Art and Life of Lynd Ward"

Wesleyan University
4:30pm
Middletown, Connecticut

November 8, 2012
"O Brother Man: The Art and Life of Lynd Ward"
Penn State Great Valley
7:00pm
Malvern, Pennsylvania

October 25, 2012
VERMONT PREMIERE
"O Brother Man: The Art and Life of Lynd Ward"

Center for Cartoon Studies
3:00pm
White River Junction, Vermont


September 27, 2012
CONNECTICUT PREMIERE
"O Brother Man: The Art and Life of Lynd Ward"

New Britain Museum of American Art
5:30pm
New Britain, Connecticut

September 7, 2012
"O Brother Man: The Art and Life of Lynd Ward"
Centennial Celebration of Woody Guthrie
The State Theatre
12:45pm
University Park, Pennsylvania

May 21, 2012
RHODE ISLAND PREMIERE
"O Brother Man: The Art and Life of Lynd Ward"

Providence Public Library
6:00pm
Providence, Rhode Island

April 20, 2012
WORLD PREMIERE
"O Brother Man: The Art and Life of Lynd Ward"

Penn State University Libraries

Foster Auditorium of the Paterno Library
2:30pm
University Park, Pennsylvania

March 31, 2012
SPECIAL PREVIEW SCREENING
Maine Festival of the Book
USM Abromson Center
5:00pm
Portland, Maine
==================

"John Marin: Let the Paint be Paint"

December 11 & 12, 2009
World Premiere
Portland Museum of Art
- Portland, Maine
Video HERE
Photos HERE

March 21, 2010
2:00 pm
Gloucester, Massachusetts
Cape Ann Community Cinema

May 27, 2010
5:30 pm
New Britain, Connecticut
New Britain Museum of American Art
Red carpet event - Connecticut premiere!

June 23, 2010
7:00 pm
Stonington, Maine
Stonington Opera House


July 3, 2010
3:00pm
Washington, DC
National Gallery of Art


August 7, 2010
7:00pm
Winter Harbor, Maine
Schoodic Arts Festival


October 22, 2010

7:00pm
Ellsworth, Maine
The Grand


December 2, 2010
5:30pm
"Cleophas and His Own"
Sacramento, California
Crocker Art Musuem
More info HERE

December 12, 2010
3:00pm
John Greenleaf Whittier's "Snow-Bound"
Performed by Michael Maglaras
Portland, Maine
St. Lawrence Arts Center

July 7, 2011 -- 10:00pm
"John Marin: Let the Paint be Paint!"
Broadcast on Maine Public Broadcasting Network


July 28, 2011
7:00pm

"Visible Silence: Marsden Hartley, Painter and Poet"
Georgia Museum of Art
Athens, Georgia


September 24 and September 25, 2011
2:00pm

"John Marin: Let the Paint be Paint!"
Boca Raton Museum of Art
Boca Raton, Florida

Saturday, February 27, 2016

WPA Film Spring Tour

Our spring screening schedule is in full swing for "Enough to Live On: The Arts of the WPA." We are also screening our film "O Brother Man: The Art and Life of Lynd Ward" at Georgetown University.  Here are the dates and locations:

March 6 -- 2:00pmTyler Public LibraryIn conjunction with Smith County Historical Society and The Winners Circle. Special encore presentation!Tyler, Texas

March 31 -- 6:00pm
"O Brother Man: The Art and Life of Lynd Ward"Georgetown University
Lauinger LibraryWashington, D.C.

April 16 -- 1:00pmOld Greenbelt TheatreGreenbelt, Maryland


May 1 -- 4:00pmMount Holly Town LibraryLudlow, Vermont


May 4 -- 6:30pmNorwalk Community CollegeNorwalk, ConnecticutSpecial fundraiser for the Westport and Norwalk Historical Societies


September 23 -- 7:30pmFredonia Opera HouseFredonia, NY

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Emerge Film Festival Re-Emerges with "Cleophas and His Own"









Lewiston, Maine's dynamic Emerge Film Festival will take place Thursday, April 9 to Sunday, April 12.

This second annual event will kick off with a special 10th anniversary screening of 217 Films' 2005 film "Cleophas and His Own."

This film is based on Lewiston-native Marsden Hartley's epic poem of the same name and made its world premiere in Lewiston in 2005.  It was shot entirely in Maine, including scenes at Washburn Norlands Living History Center in Livermore Falls, just outside Lewiston.

This film screening will be held as a fundraiser for Emerge.  More detail will be posted soon on the festival website.

Read Daniel Hartill's Lewiston Sun Journal story at this link.


Marsden Hartley, ca. 1941.  Photo by Louise Young.  
Printed by permission of 217 Films. 





















More about the film:

Cleophas and His Own:  A North Atlantic Tragedy
Written by Marsden Hartley
A Film by Michael Maglaras


Just a few days after the death of the great American Expressionist master Marsden Hartley, the typescript of his private, unpuplished narrative, Cleophas and His Own, was discovered among his belongings. Sixty-two years later, film maker Michael Maglaras turned this epic narrative into a feature-length film using more than 24 of Hartley’s paintings and drawings. This film presents Hartley (played by Maglaras) seated in his makeshift studio, where he recounts the tragic story of the fate that befell the Francis Mason family with whom he lived in Nova Scotia. The last seven years of Hartley’s life were devoted to reliving this experience, resulting in a body of work as a painter which is second to none in the American experience.  2005.  Not rated. 147 minutes. 

Sunday, June 26, 2011

217 Films' "John Marin: Let the Paint be Paint!" to air on MPBN TV

Every week the MPBN Community Films series brings viewers independently produced films that showcase diverse people, places and topics of Maine. In July, 217 Films' "John Marin: Let the Paint be Paint!" is one of the featured films on the television stations of the Maine Public Broadcasting Network.

July 7
9:55pm
MPBN - TV
"John Marin: Let the Paint Be Paint!"
This film tells the story of one of the most important artistic figures of the first half of the 20th century, and the undisputed father of American Modernism. Utilizing more than 70 of Marin’s paintings, drawings, and etchings, including those in private collections seldom seen anywhere, filmmaker Michael Maglaras tells the story of Marin's life, from his beginnings in New Jersey, and his early experiments in watercolor, to his days at Cape Split in Down East Maine, where, with his late oils, he established himself as one of the preeminent masters of American art. Written, narrated, and directed by Michael Maglaras of 217 Films. 2009. Not rated. 95 minutes.

To purchase a video visit this link.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

April 10: MPBN Television to air "Visible Silence: Marsden Hartley, Painter and Poet"

(Marsden Hartley photographed by George Platt Lynes. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. Used by permission.)
217 Films' documentary Visible Silence: Marsden Hartley, Painter and Poet which illuminates the life and work of world-renowned painter Marsden Hartley, will air on the television stations of MPBN on Saturday, April 10 at 11:00am.

This is the first documentary ever made about this American master. It was written, directed, and narrated by Michael Maglaras of 217 Films and filmed entirely in Maine. This documentary will be shown as part of MPBN’s Community Films series which showcases the people, regions and culture of Maine.

Hartley was born in Lewiston and the Bates College Museum of Art is home to the world’s largest collection of Hartley artifacts. Visible Silence includes many pieces from this extensive archive, including drawings and photographs. Read more at this link.

Monday, March 22, 2010

July 3: National Gallery of Art

New screening date added: 217 Films' "John Marin: Let the Paint be Paint!" will screen at the National Gallery of Art in Washington on July 3. Filmmakers Michael Maglaras and Terri Templeton will introduce the film. More details coming soon.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Marin and Modernism on Film





Marin and modernism on film
March 18, 2010
Gail McCarthy

A new film about the master of American modern art, John Marin (1870-1953), will have its Massachusetts premiere in Gloucester on Sunday at Cape Ann Community Cinema.

"What we know about modern art, abstractionism, and the direction that art has gone since the 1950s, we know because John Marin was the father of it all," said Michael Maglaras, an independent filmmaker who with Terri Templeton produced the new documentary "John Marin: Let the Paint be Paint."

A 1948 poll by Look magazine, museum directors, curators and artists voted Marin the foremost painter in America, noted Maglaras. The artist has more than 4,000 recorded works, some of which sell for millions of dollars.

Maglaras came to Gloucester last year when he unveiled a film about American artist Marsden Hartley to a packed house. The Marin film debut here is at the start of the national tour. He has presented the new film to two sold-out houses in Portland, Maine.














This is the first full-length documentary about Marin, said Maglaras. "This film tells the story of one of the most important artistic figures of the first half of the 20th century, and the undisputed father of American Modernism."

CLICK HERE to read the rest of the article.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Massachusetts Premiere -- John Marin: Let the Paint be Paint!

Don't miss 217 Films' new documentary "John Marin: Let the Paint be Paint!" at the Cape Ann Community Cinema in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Filmmakers Michael Maglaras and Terri Templeton will introduce the film and take questions following the screening.

WHAT: "John Marin: Let the Paint be Paint!"
2009. Not rated. 110 minutes.


WHEN:
THIS Sunday, March 21, 2010 at 2:00pm

WHERE: Cape Ann Community Cinema
21 Main Street - 2nd Floor
Gloucester, MA 01930
978-309-8448
www.massbayfilmproject.org

TICKETS: $9 Adults / $7.50 Seniors / $6 Members

WHY: "John Marin: Let the Paint be Paint!" tells the story of one of the most important artistic figures of the first half of the 20th century, and the undisputed father of American Modernism. Utilizing more than 70 of Marin’s paintings, drawings, and etchings, including those in the private collection of Norma Marin seldom seen anywhere, filmmaker Michael Maglaras tells the story of Marin's life, from his beginnings in New Jersey, and his early experiments in watercolor, to his days at Cape Split in Down East Maine, where, with his late oils, he established himself as one of the preeminent masters of American art. Written, narrated, and directed by Michael Maglaras of 217 Films. Terri Templeton is executive producer.