To quote Eugenie Scott of the National Center for Science Education, the new movie Creation is a "thoughtful, well-made film that will change many views of Darwin held by the public—for the better." (Click the image for a preview.)
In this movie, we see Darwin as a young man, struggling with his faith as it conflicts with the evidence before him. His devout wife, less fond of beetles than Darwin, urges him to destroy Origin of Species before it's printed, and important men of the day urge him to abandon his heresy.
But as we know Darwin did not follow this advice, and the world changed forever.
There are some special opportunities here, and Robert Luhn of the NCSE has asked me to share them with you:
The movie is based on "Annie's Box" ("Creation: Darwin, His Daughter & Human Evolution" in the U.S.), written by Randal Keynes, Darwin's great-great-grandson. As you can imagine, creationists are already starting to huff and puff about the film.
Author Randal Keynes sums up his great-great-grandfather: "[Darwin's] love for his wife; his observations of his children; his friendships with gardeners, schoolteachers and pigeon fanciers; his fears about death, revolution, bankruptcy, inbreeding...all these things found their way into his theory. He was the most inclusive of thinkers."
The "Creation" national run begins on January 22 in these markets:
New York City:
Landmark's Sunshine Cinema
Clearview's 1st & 62nd
Los Angeles:
The Landmark
San Francisco Bay Area:
Landmark's Embarcadero Center Cinema (SF)
Landmark's Shattuck (Berkeley)
Washington, DC
Landmark's E Street Cinema
Boston/Cambridge
Landmark's Kendall Square
Group rates may be available--readers should contact the theater in question.
Want to meet the author, the filmmaker, and/or evolution experts?
For those in the Bay Area, the Embarcadero Center Cinema (in San Francisco) will host a Q&A panel after the 7:30pm screening on the 22nd featuring the film's director Jon Amiel, Dr. Eugenie Scott of the NCSE, and Dr. Kevin Padian, Professor of Integrative Biology and Curator in the University of California Museum of Paleontology, Berkeley.
For those in Los Angeles, there's still time to slip into an **advance** 7:30pm screening at UCLA on January 19. The Q&A panel will feature author Randal Keynes, Director Jon Amiel, and UCLA professors Soraya De Chadarevian (history) and Anthony Friscia (ecology and evolutionary biology). The screening if free, but you must RSVP at www.eeb.ucla.edu/creation_movie.
For those in the Boston area, there's an **advance** screening on January 14, 7pm, at the Kendall Square Cinema in Cambridge. The Q&A panel includes author Randal Keynes, and professors Thomas Glick and Jon Roberts of Boston University. RSVP at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
For more info about the movie, trailers, schedules, etc., check:
The official site
www.creationthemovie.com
The Facebook page
www.facebook.com/pages/CREATION-The-Movie/39212784860
The Twitter feed
http://twitter.com/Creation_Movie