In celebration of the 88th Anniversary Women’s Equality Day, The McMinn County Democrat Women and the McMinn County Republican Womens’ organizations will jointly present a showing of the HBO film, Iron Jawed Angels in the Sue E. Trotter Theater at The Arts Center in Downtown Athens on Tuesday, August 26, 2008, 7:00 PM.  Admission is free and everyone is invited to attend.

Iron Jawed Angels is a 2004 film about the American women’s suffrage movement during the early 1900s.  Filmed in Virginia and produced by HBO, it received a standing ovation at the Sundance Film Festival.  Iron Jawed Angels recounts for a contemporary audience a key chapter in U.S. history: the struggle of suffragists who fought for the passage of the 19th Amendment.  

The movie is not a documentary but a dramatization that breathes life into these real historical figures and their relationships.  United in fierce devotion to women’s suffrage they take on an entire country dominated by chauvinism and public opinion in a tumultuous time of war.  The women are thrown in jail, with an ensuing hunger strike making headline news.  Their resistance to being force-fed earns them the nickname “The Iron Jawed Angels”.  McMinn County’s own legislator, Harry T. Burn is portrayed in the film casting the deciding vote in favor of suffrage.

Heading up the film’s top-flight cast is Hilary Swank.  The film co-stars Frances O’Connor, Anjelica Houston, Molly Parker, Patrick Dempsey, Vera Farmiga, Laura Frase, Lois Smith and Bob Gunton.

The film is recommended for mature teenagers and up.  Admission is free and popcorn and drinks will be available for purchase.  For more information call Cecelia Jack at 746-8888, or Ann Falls at 745-4440.  Directions to The Arts Center may be found at www.athensartscouncil.org.