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First They Came For My CollegePresented By: Subtropic Film Festival
November 7, 2026 | 5:30 PM
This November, experience Subtropic Film Festival 2026. We’re all about good stories, fresh voices, and films that hit close to home. Join us in West Palm Beach at the Norton Museum of Art, Afflux Studios at Gstar Studios, and Lake Worth Playhouse for a weekend of film screenings, panels, and community. Come as you are; we can’t wait to see you!
Please note: All ticket sales are final. No refunds will be issued.
FIRST THEY CAME FOR MY COLLEGE
RT: 105 min (+15 min for QA)
Patrick Bresnan (Grand Jury Award winner for The Rabbit Hunt, FFF 2017; Naked Gardens, FFF 2023) turns his camera on Sarasota, where New College of Florida, the state’s honors college, becomes the center of a much bigger story about who gets to teach, learn, and speak freely. Through the voices of students, professors, and organizers living it in real time, the film traces how quiet policy changes can snowball into something much larger, self-censorship, surveillance, and the slow erosion of trust. Told through vérité footage, archival news, and deeply personal interviews, it captures fear and courage sitting side by side, communities figuring out what to hold onto and what they’re willing to fight for. This isn’t a film interested in taking sides. It’s interested in what gets lost when fear replaces curiosity, and what that might mean for all of us, not just for one campus.
Director Bio: Patrick Bresnan (First They Came for My College) makes verité stories that counter the mythic concepts of America. He directed and shot The Rabbit Hunt which premiered in the US at Sundance and in Europe at the Berlinale. The film won over 20 awards including the Cinema Eye Honor. He co-directed the short “Skip Day” which won the grand jury prize at The Directors Fortnight at Cannes. He co-directed, shot, and produced the feature film Pahokee, which premiered in competition in 2019 at Sundance. The following year he was a cinematographer on the Sundance winning feature Boys State. His most recent feature Naked Gardens premiered in the 2022 documentary competition at Tribeca and in Europe at IDFA. His new short “The Passing” won the Golden Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival
On the Stephanie Smith Main Stage – Limited Engagement Series
The show is approximately 120 minutes.
TICKETS: $12
Please Note: This event is the sole responsibility of the outside presenter who has privately leased the Lake Worth Playhouse. The management of the Lake Worth Playhouse is not responsible for the content, accuracy, or quality of the program.
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Event venue
713 Lake Ave, Lake Worth, FL, United States, Florida 33460
Tickets
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