Brasstown – John C. Campbell Folk School is hosting several events to help celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15. Everyone is welcome, but the audience size is limited and masks are recommended.
The folk school is in partnership with South Arts, a regional nonprofit agency that supports Southern artists as well as arts organizations and communities for their Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers. The school is a screening partner and will be streaming films as well as connecting documentary filmmakers with the community.
This allows the filmmakers to share their work and discuss the process with viewers. The film screenings will be free to viewers as well as the virtual Q&A with the filmmakers.
The first will be a live film screening of Stateless. This film is a documentary that looks at racism and anti-blackness in the Dominican Republic. This virtual film screening was available starting at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
The second film screening is of At The Ready. This film is about a group of high school students from Horizon High School in El Paso, Texas, who are training to become police and border patrol officers. They discover that the realities of these jobs may be at odds with the truths and people they hold most dear. At The Ready can be streamed live at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 28.
Both films can be seen by visiting; blog.folkschool.org and follow the link for South Arts Fall 2021 film screenings. If you're unable to watch the films live, they can still be viewed up to 4 days later. There will be a virtual Q&A with the filmmakers for each movie the day after at 7 p.m. by following the link.
The folk school will also be hosting Felipe Perez y Sus Polkeros for their weekly Friday Morningsong. This will be streamed at 7:45 a.m. Friday on the school’s Facebook page. Felipe has a series of albums backed by NEA Traditional Arts Master Santiago Jimenez Jr.
In 2018, Felipe was inducted into the Conjunto Hall of Fame. In his 80s, Felipe still performs, dances and does concerts around the country.
At 2 p.m. Sunday, the Brasstown Concert Association will be presenting The Joe Troop Trio in a live concert at the folk school’s Festival Barn. Joe Troop is a multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter. He's joined by two powerhouse musicians, Cesar Bacaro and Trey Boudreaux.
General admission tickets are $15, while student tickets are $10. Advanced reserved tickets are required by calling 389-4210 or emailing brasstownconcertnews@gmail.com. John C. Campbell Folk School is at 1 Folk School Road. For details on these events and more, call Barbie White at 828-837-2775, Ext. 139, or visit folkschool.org.