Film Screening & Conversation with Director John Paget
For more than 30 years, documentary filmmaker John Paget has explored the people and places of Route 66, chronicling the remarkable comeback of America's most legendary highway.
Now, with his acclaimed new documentary Route 66: The Main Street of America, Paget takes audiences on a journey through eight states and 2,400 miles, revealing extraordinary stories of resilience, reinvention, and the enduring American spirit.
This special event features a screening of the documentary—or a presentation illustrated with selected scenes—followed by a lively conversation with the filmmaker about the people, places, and experiences behind the film, and what Route 66 can teach us about the future of American communities.
Available as a full-length film screening with Q&A or a shorter, film-illustrated presentation and audience conversation.
With film excerpts and anecdotes from a career making films about places, John Paget presents an entertaining and inspiring case for how storytelling can fight apathy, foster pride and change the trajectory of your community. The civic story is not just about the past - it's the story of what your community is becoming. We'll cover topics including:
For cities and towns ready to act, we've created the Civic Story Workshop. Convene the creatives in your community: the sages and storytellers, the filmmakers and photographers, the musicians and muralists. This interactive workshop is designed to help kickstart a civic story film project for your place, as well as generate ideas and action steps to bring forward a community's story - it's connection to the past and vision for the future. We'll cover topics including:
