Name: Rooted at Frank Banko Alehouse Cinemas
Start: 2025-10-13T19:00:00-04:00
Location: Frank Banko Alehouse Cinemas

Rooted
Venue: Frank Banko Alehouse Cinemas
Reserve Free Tickets: https://www.steelstacks.org/event/17581/rooted/
Starting on 12/13/24 our cinema ticket prices have increased.
2025 | NR | 1 hr 12 min
In the mid-1970s, as Bethlehem Steel began its long decline into bankruptcy, a different kind of legacy was being seeded. Rooted follows the story of a group of artists who devoted their lives to art and performance creation in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The film explores their creative paths, the values that shaped their work, and the lasting impact they have had on their community—and generations of future art creators.
Using a metaphor of trees reaching its roots down into the soil and its branches up to the sky, the film makes a stirring argument for cultivating local arts as a way to revitalize a community. The film’s heartfelt narration by Anisa George, an arborist and daughter of core protagonists Bill and Bridget George, expands the metaphor of the arts community as trees rooted in Bethlehem’s fertile soil. Tying it all together are seven tree planting ceremonies honoring the artists that are shown in the film, and folk legend John Gorka’s song “Branching Out,” which becomes a defining theme.
Produced in partnership with the SouthSide Film Institute and led by a team of local artists—Doug Roysdon (Mock Turtle Marionette Theatre), Dave Fry (Godfrey Daniels Folk Music Club), Bridget George (Bach Choir of Bethlehem and Touchstone Theatre), Bill George (Touchstone Theatre), and filmmaker Aidan Gilrain McKenna—the 75-minute documentary draws from over 200 hours of interviews and new and archival video, music, and photos. It’s a 50-year celebration of a community transformed by art, and of artists transformed by a community.
*Ages 25 and under & senior discounts apply at the box office only.