ALICE FEST will partner with The Cary Theater for the second in a series of films directed by and featuring women.  On Friday, November 8th at 7:00 p.m. at The Cary Theater, 122 E. Chatham Street in Cary NC, come for the film RAISE HELL: The Life and Times of Molly Ivins directed by Janice Engel.  Tickets and info HERE.   A reception with refreshments will follow the screening.

Molly Ivins

RAISE HELL: The Life And Times of Molly Ivins tells the story of media firebrand Molly Ivins. Often compared to Mark Twain, Ivins was six feet of Texas trouble who, despite her Houston pedigree, took on Good Old Boy corruption wherever she found it. Best-selling author, Pulitzer Prize nominated journalist, popular TV pundit, Molly had a nation of “fans” and “frenemies.” She courageously spoke truth to power and it cost her more than once. But Molly always served up her quality reportage with a heaping dollop of humor. Her razor-sharp wit left both sides of the aisle laughing and craving ink in her columns.

At the height of her popularity 400 newspapers carried her column. She railed against “Big Bidness” in government, and often said, “Texas is the national laboratory for bad gub’ment.” Molly’s words have proved prescient. She knew the Bill of Rights was in peril and said “Polarizing people is a good way to win an election and a good way to wreck a country.”

Molly spoke from the heart. She was not a cynic. She gave voice to people who didn’t have one. She called her constituents her “beloveds” and she never stopped raisin’ hell.

“The thing about democracy, beloveds, is that it is not neat, orderly, or quiet. It requires a certain relish for confusion.” – Molly Ivins

Producer/Director Janice Engel
Award-winning filmmaker and show-runner, Janice Engel has made numerous documentaries, non-fiction television specials and series including: Jackson Browne: Going Home, (Cable Ace-Award), Ted Hawkins Amazing Grace, (Rose D’Or Special Jury Prize) and the docu-series, Addicted, (Prism Award.)  Under her own banner, she co-created What We Carry, an ongoing multi-media documentary series dedicated to preserving Holocaust survivors’ stories. Premiered at The Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles and housed in the permanent collection at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, What We Carry has been viewed by 50,000 + people.

Janice is a professor at Academy of Art University, San Francisco, where she teaches documentary film. She is a member of the International Documentary Association and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. A longtime resident of Los Angeles, she enjoys her tenure as Vice-President of the Barnsdall Art Park Foundation and lives in Los Feliz with her wife and two dogs.

RAISE HELL: The Life And Times of Molly Ivins reflects themes she holds dear: political activism, speaking truth to power and advocacy.

Watch the trailer HERE.