Doors open at 5:30pm; Movie begins at 6pm. Popcorn will be provided, movie is free of charge. BYO Beverages, water provided.
Andrea Gibson’s poetry has been a part of my life since I first encountered their words in a bathroom stall in the basement of @grinnellcollege ’s Burling library in the early aughts. It was a college tradition that people would write on the bathroom walls and every so often the college would just paint over it and the palate would be fresh and ready for sharing wisdom (or, just as often, song lyrics and other mischief). A few stanzas of Andrea’s poem “Enough” were written on the stall and I was enthralled immediately. Reading that poem on bathroom breaks during marathon study sessions was a reset for me, a reminder that there was more to life, a reminder to embrace joy, a reminder to no longer “look at my cup as though it’s half empty or half full” but know that “it’ll always be enough to fill me up.” Their beautifully curated words accompanied me through my 20s—through all the trials, big and small, and eventually through my coming out at the end of that decade.
Andrea was fighting cancer for the majority of the last few years of their life. The way in which they navigated their diagnosis, treatment, and journey was an inspiration to so many, whether or not they had ever met Andrea. Their words and wisdom were immeasurably helpful and inspirational to me when I was navigating a health crisis of my own a few years back and had to choose whether to let it consume my joy or see the situation as a reminder to open my heart to life and love. Their death last August was heart wrenching. I am forever grateful that they blessed the world with their art, energy, and wholehearted love.
This documentary follows a year in the life of Andrea and their partner Meg, another incredibly gifted writer and poet, as they navigate the end stages of a terminal cancer diagnosis with their signature wit, wisdom, and dance moves. K and I had a chance to see the documentary in a theater in April of last year and, as Meg, Andrea, and the filmmakers insisted, seeing it in community was powerful beyond measure. We laughed out loud, we cried out loud, and we looked all around us to see dozens of others doing the same. We knew immediately we had to try to bring this film to our Korppi community.
So here we are, months into trying to secure the legal right (through AppleTV, where it is now streaming) to screen this film in our gay little coffee shop. If you can’t make it in for the showing, we hope you’ll give the award-winning, Oscar-nominated film a stream at home. It truly will change your life.
Also check out other Entertainment events in Sauk Rapids, Arts events in Sauk Rapids, Literary Art events in Sauk Rapids.
