Athens residents can have a chance to view two documentaries about local performers and organizations that support them and other creatives. James Preston is a local documentary filmmaker who created the projects, Athens Rising: The Sicyon Project and Athens Rising 2: Transmittance.
“The first film looks at, on a smaller scale, individuals in the community, most of them without really any resources, and most of them on their own waking up one morning and saying ‘What do I want to see in my community?’ and starting that,” Preston said. “So the first film is a lot of performances, there’s seven different forms. There’s poetry, there’s standup comedy, there’s hip hop, there’s even clowning. The first film is R rated because of language.”
The second project takes a broader view.
“I took about 18 months to make it and I wanted to zoom out and look at what it takes to build an organization in Athens for change.”
Preston hopes Athenians in a position to help hard-hit members of the community will do so by contributing to the organizations he covers in the films and other nonprofits.
“So I’m releasing both films totally free to stream online. It’s on Vimeo and or if you go to my website, AthensRising.com, you’ll find links to stream both movies totally free. There’s a disclaimer at the beginning and at the end to read the description and to consider donating to support some various funds around town that are supporting artists, businesses and nonprofits.”
Both films are available to view for free starting Wednesday. Preston has two additional video series coming soon.