The Palace Theater in Albany is set to host a free summer film series. The series will offer family-friendly movie screenings at the historic theater every Tuesday at 1 p.m. in July and August.
The film showings give families the chance to cool off from the summer heat while watching classic films like “The Sandlot” and “The Mighty Ducks” as well as new classics like “Big Hero 6” and “The Lego Movie” on the big screen at The Palace theater, located at 19 Clinton Ave. in Albany.
Holly Brown, the executive director of The Palace said that as The Palace has such a large community presence it is “important that we work to enrich the lives of our community. … Movies are a great way to create memories for people.”
The series, entitled Summer In The City will begin July 7, with a showing of “The followed by a showing of “Toy Story” on July 14.
Summer In The City was created by the Albany County District Attorney’s Office and financially sponsored by the phone service provider AT&T’s Aspire Kids program.
Albany County District Attorney David Soares said that he “jumped at the opportunity to partner at The Palace” and commended the theater for “opening its door so that we can create events that bring neighbors into your seats”
Each film showing will be preempted by an educational public service announcement from the Words Hurt Or Heal campaign created by the Albany District Attorney’s Office. The public service announcements highlight the issue of bullying in schools and empower students to stop bullying when they see it.
According to Soares, “Bullying is about words — spoken and written. … But words can either work to break people down or bring them up”.
As bullying — especially online bullying — has become such a prevalent in issue in our society, this project brings local focus to the problem. “One of the greatest, most personal crimes among all of the violent crimes out there is when a child is being bullied and tortured with words” said Soares.
The film showings at The Palace will help the campaign’s anti-bullying message reach more children in the region. The campaign encourages students to be kind to one another by awarding acts of kindness that are submitted to the campaign’s site. Students may submit photos and descriptions of the acts of kindness that they see in schools to the Words Hurt or Heal website. The District Attorney’s Office hopes that with each act of kindness shared, students will be encouraged to pay that kindness forward.
With the project, the District Attorney’s Office seeks to demonstrate the acts of kindness that happen in our community amidst all of the acts of violence and harms that the office combats every day. Soares said that the District Attorney’s Office is “so used to telling about the negative things that happen, now we’re shouting from the rooftops at all of the positive things that the community is doing”
“Be more than just a bystander” said Soares, “Use your words to make a difference. Make your words count.”
