Past Events

A 19-year-old girl prepares to become a suicide bomber in Times Square. She speaks with a nondescript American accent, and it’s impossible to pinpoint her ethnicity.

We never see the bomb; we only see the backpack and headphones that disguise the detonator as a young woman prepares to become a suicide bomber.

Join the Sanctuary in welcoming author Scott Christianson for a multimedia presentation and spirited public discussion on the life and amazing rescue of captured fugitive slave, Charles Nalle. In an almost unimaginable act - and the most dramatic slave rescue in American history - Nalle was forcibly liberated by Harriet Tubman and hundreds of protesters on April 27, 1860 in our own Troy, New York.

(Update: Artist Mark Priest will no longer be able to attend this event. Sorry for the last-minute change!)

In his book, Christianson follows Nalle from his enslavement in Virginia through his escape via the Underground Railroad to his experiences in the North on the eve of the Civil War. Christianson also presents a richly detailed look at slavery culture in antebellum Virginia, and probes the deepest political and psychological aspects of this epic tale. His account underscores fundamental questions about racial inequality, the rule of law, civil disobedience, and violent resistance to slavery in the antebellum North and South.

Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir are coming to Troy!

The rumours are true.  Join us on Friday night, December 18, for a Shopocalyptic Revival.  The Rev, the choir and members of the Not Buying It band promises our old church a performance we will not forget.

Confess your shopping sins! Cast out the demons of overconsumption! Go beyond the market to a life after shopping! Strangalleiuah, children!

Thousands of American soldiers are returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. We may wonder what they saw, what they did and how their war experience has affected them as they return to civilian life. These are the questions posed by an artist’s billboard appearing in Albany featuring the photograph "Soldier Williams 396 Days in Iraq."

The national Veteran’s Day holiday was established to invite us as a nation to contemplate “the cost of war” and to “honor the cause of peace.” To that end, The Sanctuary for Independent Media sponsored a number of events beginning with the mounting of a “soldiers face” billboard on the west side of I-787 near the Port of Albany/South Pearl Street exit, part of a national campaign by internationally-recognized photographer Suzanne Opton.

Our Fall 2009 season has come to a close, and we'd like to thank everyone who presented, performed, played, spoke, shared media and art, and participated in our events in any way. Special thanks to volunteers, interns, and all-around Sanctuary heroes who helped make everything happen behind the scenes, behind the cameras, and below the Sanctuary space, at computers, video and audio controls downstairs.

We're actively planning the upcoming Spring 2010 season, which will start in February. If you'd like to receive a paper schedule of events, please send us your name, address, and email address using the "Contact" form linked above.

The River Runs Both Ways:
Reconsidering Dutch Exploration

Come to The Sanctuary for Independent Media in Troy on Friday, November 20 at 7 PM for a scintillating evening exploring colonization, imperialism and historical revisionism as the 400-year anniversary celebration of Henry Hudson's exploration winds down!  First, a special screening of "Mother Dao the Turtlelike," an adventurous award-winning assembly of songs, poetry and nitrate films of 400-years of Dutch occupation of Indonesia from acclaimed Dutch film auteur Vincent Monnikendam.  Then, an insightful discussion with Union College Professor of History Andrew Feffer and RPI Professor of Anthropology Tamar Gordon about the broad implications of Dutch "discoveries" across the globe and our peculiar location at the end of this long historical tether.  The Sanctuary for Independent Media is located at 3361 Sixth Avenue in North Troy.  Admission by donation ($10 suggested, $5 students/low income).  Call (518) 272-2390, email info@MediaSanctuary.org, or visit www.MediaSanctuary.org for directions and more information.

Join the live studio audience as we record an evening of performances by some of the Capital Region's top gospel talents, hosted by the Heavenly Echoes Gospel Singers!

Legendary Capital Region performers the Heavenly Echoes Gospel Singers will be joined by the men's chorus of Schenectady's Duryee AME Zion Church and the men's chorus of Lansingburgh's Oak Grove Missionary Baptist Church for a special edition of "Live From Lock One" on Saturday, December 12, 2009 at 8 PM, part of an ongoing concert recording series at The Sanctuary for Independent Media.

Admission for the all-ages show is by donation ($10 suggested, $5 student/low income).

Call (518) 272-2390 or email info@MediaSanctuary.org for more information.

Don Wilcock, music writer for the Troy Record and editor of the "Blues Wax" and "Folk Wax" on-line magazines, will emcee the show.

Click here or on the poster image to the right to download a high-resolution poster!

A story of the courage, resolve, creativity, and solidarity of the workers at Republic Windows and Doors who stood up for their rights after being thrown out of work three weeks before Christmas 2008.

Click here to view the trailer.

Co-sponsored by Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace and the Troy Area Labor Council.

Workers’ Republic
(Filmmaker: Andrew Freund, 2009, 62 min)
"When the economy fell, they stood up."
http://www.workersrepublic.tv

Three weeks before Christmas 2008, in the depths of the economic crisis, Chicago company Republic Windows and Doors told their workforce that the factory was closing shop. Republic executives complained about dwindling sales due to the crash of the housing market. Three days later, when the Republic employees came in to pick up their final paychecks, they were informed that they would not be paid for their final week or receive their accrued vacation pay. Their insurance benefits were cut immediately, and they were denied the 60-day severance guaranteed under the federal WARN Act.

A new Academy Award-nominated drama about Germany in the 1970s: Murderous bomb attacks, the threat of terrorism and the fear of the enemy inside are rocking the very foundations of the still fragile German democracy.

The radicalised children of the Nazi generation led by Andreas Baader (Moritz Bleibtreu), Ulrike Meinhof (Martina Gedeck) and Gudrun Ensslin (Johanna Wokalek) are fighting a violent war against what they perceive as the new face of fascism: American imperialism supported by the German establishment, many of whom have a Nazi past.

Their aim is to create a more human society but by employing inhuman means they not only spread terror and bloodshed, they also lose their own humanity. The man who understands them is also their hunter: the head of the German police force Horst Herold (Bruno Ganz). And while he succeeds in his relentless pursuit of the young terrorists, he knows he’s only dealing with the tip of the iceberg.

Don't miss the Sanctuary's fall 2009 season opener, featuring a permaculture project opening with tea party, a great new film  and three live bands!

Where Are You Go

Canada 2009 | 60 minutes

Dir. Benny Zenga & Brian Vernor