"Homegrown" Film Festival to Feature Local Filmmakers

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Williamstown — The Oakley Center at Williams College is the sponsor of a film festival of local artists, titled "Homegrown: Film and Video from North Berkshire County." The festival will take place on Sunday, March 12, beginning at 7 p.m., at Images Cinema on Spring Street. The event will last approximately three hours, with Q&A sessions with the filmmakers at the halfway point and at the end. "Homegrown" is free and open to the public. Later in the spring, the Oakley Center will present "Extreme Documentary," which will bring to Williamstown documentary talent from around the world. "Homegrown," on the other hand, is in recognition of work being done by a number of local filmmakers. It will include a variety of film genres, from comic micro-shorts to feature-length documentaries. Each participant will screen a work of approximately 10 to 15 minutes in length. The program will include: Deborah Brothers, costume director and lecturer in theatre, will present an excerpt of her film "Four Episodes from A New Orleans Mardi Gras." Benjamin Brown '06 will show a 15-minue clip from "Pasajes de Junin." The film follows the struggles of five activists from a mining town in rural Ecuador. Sandra Burton, Lipp Family Director of Dance, will show an excerpt of her work on the life and career of the legendary dancer and choreographer Chuck Davis. Paula Consolini, coordinator of experiential education, will present an excerpt from her film "Breaking the Mold," the story of an employee buyout and the transformation of the people involved. David Edwards, the Carl W. Vogt '58 Professor of Anthropology, will present an excerpt from his documentary "Kabul Transit," an associative -- at times surreal -- film about contemporary Afghanistan and the ways in which multiple and conflicting elements of the past persist in its present. Liza Johnson, assistant professor of art, will show her short film "Desert Motel." The film is centered on a weekend getaway in the California desert, where the protagonist, Leslie, and her girlfriend run into Connor, a friend from home. Leslie stuns everyone when she crosses a line trying to understand the new kind of manhood that Connor introduces. David Lachman, a North Adams resident, will present three of his short films: "Flower to Flower," "This is Art my Friend," and "Homemade." Julia Morgan-Leamon, a local artist and member of the Williams College Museum of Art's staff, will show her video "Looking for Betty." Oblivious to the U.S. military exploits that frame her, the film's protagonist, Betty, inspects herself in the mirror of the video camera. Amy Podmore, associate professor of art, will present her series of comic shorts, "Disappearing Acts." A humorous portrayal of "loss of self," it brings attention to the negotiation necessary between give and take that we experience in daily life. Shawn Rosenheim, professor of English, will show an excerpt from his feature-length documentary on Biosphere 2, "Home Sick." As Rosenheim describes it: "8 people, two years, three acres. Grow your food. Recycle your waste. Breathe your own air. No one ever said paradise was fun."
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Dalton Man Accused of Kidnapping, Shooting Pittsfield Man

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A Dalton man was arrested on Thursday evening after allegedly kidnapping and shooting another man.

Nicholas Lighten, 35, was arraigned in Central Berkshire District Court on Friday on multiple charges including kidnapping with a firearm and armed assault with intent to murder. He was booked in Dalton around 11:45 p.m. the previous night.

There was heavy police presence Thursday night in the area of Lighten's East Housatonic Street home before his arrest.

Shortly before 7 p.m., Dalton dispatch received a call from the Pittsfield Police Department requesting that an officer respond to Berkshire Medical Center. Adrian Mclaughlin of Pittsfield claimed that he was shot in the leg by Lighten after an altercation at the defendants home. Mclaughlin drove himself to the hospital and was treated and released with non-life-threatening injuries. 

"We were told that Lighten told Adrian to go down to his basement, where he told Adrian to get down on his knees and pulled out a chain," the police report reads.

"We were told that throughout the struggle with Lighten, Adrian recalls three gunshots."

Dalton PD was advised that Pittsfield had swabbed Mclaughlin for DNA because he reported biting Lighten. A bite mark was later found on Lighten's shoulder. 

Later that night, the victim reportedly was "certain, very certain" that Lighten was his assailant when shown a photo array at the hospital.

According to Dalton Police, an officer was stationed near Lighten's house in an unmarked vehicle and instructed to call over the radio if he left the residence. The Berkshire County Special Response Team was also contacted.

Lighten was under surveillance at his home from about 7:50 p.m. to about 8:40 p.m. when he left the property in a vehicle with Massachusetts plates. Another officer initiated a high-risk motor vehicle stop with the sergeant and response team just past Mill Street on West Housatonic Street, police said, and traffic was stopped on both sides of the road.

Lighten and a passenger were removed from the vehicle and detained. Police reported finding items including a brass knuckle knife, three shell casings wrapped in a rubber glove, and a pair of rubber gloves on him.

The response team entered Lighten's home at 43 East Housatonic before 9:30 p.m. for a protective sweep and cleared the residence before 9:50 p.m., police said. The residence was secured for crime scene investigators.

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