Every year in America we throw away 96 billion pounds of food.

That’s 263 million pounds a day.

11 million pounds an hour.

3,000 pounds a second.

Inspired by a curiosity about our country’s careless habit of sending food straight to landfills, the multi award-winning documentary DIVE! follows filmmaker Jeremy Seifert and friends as they dumpster dive in the back alleys and gated garbage receptacles of Los Angeles’ supermarkets. In the process, they salvage thousands of dollars worth of good, edible food – resulting in an eye-opening documentary that is equal parts entertainment, guerilla journalism and call to action.

DIVE! has garnered critical praise while raising important questions about hunger and waste in our society. This is Seifert’s first film and has been warmly received by audiences across the country, winning thirteen festivals thus far, including the Boulder International, Sedona International, DC Independent, and Oxford Film Festivals.

The Manzanita Film Series is a program of the Hoffman Center in Manzanita, Oregon. Films are screened on the 4th weekend of the month through out the year. Admission is typically $6 and theater concessions, as well as beer and wine, are available for purchase. Please contact Franz Hasslacher, at franzhass@gmail.com for volunteer opportunities.

This film takes a broad, sobering look at the history and destiny of what the indigenous people call Che Wana, the Columbia River. It also tells the story of why Christopher Swain subjected himself to a 13-month swim down its 1243-mile length. Using the swim as a thread, the present condition of the Great River of the West is revealed. Full of rare archival footage of the sacred Celilo Falls and Kettle Falls, now inundated by dams, the film also deals with the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, pollution from mining, the river in Canada, petroglyphs, salmon issues and the struggles Christopher encountered.

There will be a question and answer session with the filmmakers and a crew member after all screenings.

Ekahni Books will be on hand selling topical books as well as books on film at a 20% discount.

 Admission is $6 and theater concessions, as well as beer and wine, will be available for purchase.

Please contact Franz Hasslacher, franzhass@gmail.com for volunteer opportunities

Using dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries and speeches of everyday Americans, “The People Speak” gives voice to those who spoke up for social change throughout U.S. history, forging a nation from the bottom up with their insistence on equality and justice. Narrated by Howard Zinn and based on his best-selling book, A People’s History of the United States, “The People Speak” illustrates the relevance of these passionate historical moments to our society today and reminds us never to take our liberty for granted.

Ekahni Books will be on hand selling books about film history, and books related to people quoted in the film (including A People’s History of the United States) at a 20% discount.

The Manzanita Film Series is a program of the Hoffman Center in Manzanita, Oregon. Films will be screened on the 4th weekend of the month throughout the year. Admission is $6 and theater concessions, as well as beer and wine, will be available for purchase.

Please contact Franz Hasslacher, franzhass@gmail.com for volunteer opportunities

We are fortunate to have representatives at the screening of this film from R-evolution Gardens, Lower Nehalem Community Trust’s Alder Creek Farm, and Mother Nature’s Natural Grocery to provide some good information on how we can find, grow and purchase local and organic food and help us answer any questions that this film raises.

Ekahni Books will be on hand selling books about film and farming at a 20% discount.

The Manzanita Film Series is a program of the Hoffman Center in Manzanita, Oregon. Films will be screened on the 4th weekend of the month throughout the year. Admission is $6 and theater concessions, as well as beer and wine, will be available for purchase.

There will be two shows on Saturday, March 27–at 2 pm and 7 pm.  Special admission price of $6 for adults and $4 for children 12 and under will apply for this screening.

Ekahni Books will be on hand selling film related books.

Mark your calendars for our next screenings: Food Inc. on April 24th and The Hurt Locker on May 22nd. Screenings will be at 2p.m. and 7p.m.

“Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” will be screened at 7pm on Saturday, February 27th in honor of Black History Month as part of the Manzanita Film Series.

The Manzanita Film Series at the Hoffman Center was created to highlight these moments in film history as well as support local and emerging filmmakers. “We hope people will want to stay and have a discussion after these films”, said David Dillon, Director of the Hoffman Center, speaking before the last screening in January.

Towards the end of production, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in Loving v. Virginia. The Loving decision was made on June 12, 1967, two days after the death of star Spencer Tracy, who had played a “phony” white liberal who grudgingly accepts his daughter’s marriage to a black man. In Loving, the High Court unanimously ruled that anti-miscegenation marriage laws were unconstitutional. In his opinion, Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote, “Marriage is one of the ‘basic civil rights of man,’ fundamental to our very existence and survival. To deny this fundamental freedom on so unsupportable a basis as the racial classifications embodied in these statutes, classifications so directly subversive of the principle of equality at the heart of the Fourteenth Amendment, is surely to deprive all the State’s citizens of liberty without due process of law. The Fourteenth Amendment requires that the freedom of choice to marry not be restricted by invidious racial discriminations. Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State.”

Ekahni Books will be on hand offering books for sale written by or about prominent members of the African American community.

The Manzanita Film Series is a program of the Hoffman Center in Manzanita, Oregon. Films will be screened on the 4th weekend of the month throughout the year. Admission will be $6 and theater concessions will be available for purchase.  For more information or to volunteer, contact Franz Hasslacher at franzhass@gmail.com.

You'll always meet interesting people at the Hoffman Center!

A colorful crowd gathered for the first movie in what we hope becomes an ongoing Film Series.  It was Halloween Night after all, and we screened the 1922 silent film classic Nosferatu.  Film afficionados, Craig Nern and Terri Desaro organized the event.  Craig introduced the film with interesting facts about the movie’s inception.  It was in effect an unauthorized interpretation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula.  Only a few names were changed, but otherwise the story was basically the same.

An excellent example of the Expressionist movement in film, Nosferatu has a dark and moody atmosphere — perfect for Halloween — and Max Schreck (whose last name in German means ‘fright’), played his role to perfection.  A creepier vampire would be hard to find (even Klaus Kinski couldn’t do it better, in the 1979 remake Nosferatu, the Vampyre).

Who is that lady with the Fez?

Right now we’re looking for volunteers to further develop the Hoffman Center Film Series.  We’re lucky enough to have received start-up funds for the movie licensing fees for several more shows, as well as promotional activities.   If you love movies and maybe have even dreamed of running your own cinema or film festival, here’s a splendid opportunity to go for it.  If you’re interested, email us at hoffmancenter@nehalemtel.net.