Name: An American Pastoral & Talk Back -
Start: 2026-01-11T12:00:00-05:00
End: 2026-01-11T15:00:00-05:00
Location: Midtown Cinema

Tickets, $10 ($7 Midtown Cinema members): https://www.midtowncinema.com/film/an-american-pastoral
Please join us on Sunday, January 11, at 12 Noon for a special screening of An American Pastoral — an award-winning documentary about the intense 2023 school board election in Elizabethtown, PA. This film shows how a school board race became a microcosm of America's national culture war, and spark conversations on both the future of public education and the ways that the ideology of January 6, 2020, continues to reverberate through our communities.
After the screening, stay for a Q & A and conversation with several of the individuals who appear in the film. They’ll be available to answer questions, share stories, reflect on the filmmaking process, and begin the deep conversations on how Christian Nationalism looks in the Harrisburg area. This is a unique opportunity to not only have a local story represented on the big screen, but to also see this story through the eyes of a European filmmaker.
“In picturesque Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, a battle for the soul of public education exposes deepening political and cultural divides. This gripping documentary follows the rise of far-right Christian nationalists vying for control of the local school board, targeting LGBTQ+ books and promoting a theocratic agenda under the guise of religious values. As moderate Republicans resign, extremists fill the vacuum, pushing censorship and white-supremacist ideologies. With democracy and secular education on the line, a few brave citizens resist the tide. Through charged school board meetings and grassroots activism, the film captures a chilling portrait of a community in crisis—and the LGBTQ+ students who risk being erased.”