What could be a better way to watch the movies than being on St John, out under the stars, able to enjoy your favorite liquid refreshment and great BBQ (more on that one later)? St John Film Society (SJFS) is including in its 2013 season screenings in Coral Bay at Cases By the Sea. The SJFS recently announced:
We are pleased to announce that the St. John Film Society will be screening select films during the 2013 season in Coral Bay! Please join us in kicking off the Coral Bay film series on Wednesday, February 20 at Cases By the Sea with the 87 minute documentary film Ring of Fire: The Emile Griffith Story, directed by Ron Berger and Dan Klores. Bring your own chair or sit at the picnic tables and enjoy food from Reggie’s (optional)! Stay tuned here for more Coral Bay film series details! St. John Film Society is partially funded by the National Endowment of the Arts, Virgin Islands Council on the Arts, and YOU! Your $5.00 suggested donation is greatly appreciated.
Ring of Fire: The Emile Griffith Story
Directed by Ron Berger & Dan Klores, 87 minutes, Documentary, 2005
February 20, 2013/ 7:30 pm / Cases by the Sea, Coral Bay
Join St. John Film Society at Cases by the Sea in Coral Bay! Bring your own chair or sit at the picnic tables and enjoy local food at Reggie’s. Documentary filmmakers Dan Klores and Ron Berger look at a dark moment in American sports history — March 24, 1962 — when St. Thomas’s Emile Griffith fought Cuba’s Benny “Kid” Paret for the welterweight boxing championship. At the weigh-in, Paret taunted the gentle giant with an anti-gay slur. Later, Griffith pummeled Paret into a fatal coma as a nationwide TV audience watched. Decades later, six-time welterweight champion Griffith spoke of the fateful night that haunts him. The film includes compelling boxing footage and interviews with Griffith and family, historians, and sports journalists. Ring of Fire was a 2005 Sundance featured film and called “extraordinary” by The New York Times.
"We are very excited to have films in Coral Bay once again after a brief hiatus," said Andrea Leland, director of the St John Film Society. "For our first film we are particularly happy to have found a partner in Cases by the Sea, which features a large screen and food and drink for sale - it can be an evening out." Cases by the Sea and Reggie's feature food and drink at picnic tables under their open-air pavilion "or, bring your own chair if you like," suggests Leland.