Fall programming is underway in Emerson College’s “Bright Lights Film Series.” Local 888, which has more than 170 members at Emerson, is a co-sponsor. The series is screening 12 films, all with a focus on social justice.
Generally, screenings will be available for streaming beginning at 7 p.m. on Wednesdays, with tickets — which are free — opening up at noon. Screenings continue through Thursday at 7 p.m., when Bright Lights offers a moderated discussion, also free, of the current film.
Also coming up: Dec. 1 and Dec. 2: “No Straight Lines: The Rise of Queer Comics.” The documentary depicts five pioneering cartoonists starting in the 1970s and onward. Their work takes up everything from the issue of coming out, to the AIDS crisis and same-sex marriage — and taking LGBTQ themes into popular culture. For more information, see https://websites.emerson.edu/brightlights/2021/08/24/no-straight-lines/.
Also on the “Bright Lights” program, Dec. 8 and Dec. 9: “Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliché.” The film looks at Poly Styrene, the first woman of color in the U.K. to front a successful rock band. The Anglo-Somali punk musician led the X-Ray Spex, which was inspired by the Sex Pistols rock band. For more information see https://websites.emerson.edu/brightlights/2021/08/24/poly-styrene/.
The last movie in the “Bright Lights” series, “The Gig Is Up,” airs Dec. 15 and 16. The film brings the stories of the people in the so-called gig economy out of the shadows, looking at the down side to employers’ “flexible hours” mantra. Working conditions can be dangerous, pay often changes without notice and a bad rating could lead to getting, in effect, fired. See https://websites.emerson.edu/brightlights/2021/08/24/the-gig-is-up/ for more information.