Social Justice Film Fest begins Friday night

Above: A scene from the documentary feature "The Providers."

Those who are interested in social-justice issues should put this upcoming film festival on their calendars. I'm referring to the three-day Best of the Fest Social Justice Film Festival, which will be held March 1-3 at the Magic Lantern Theatre.

As I wrote previously, the festival, which is sponsored by a consortium of agencies, comprises 12 films. All were culled from the 2018 “Hope & Democracy” Social Justice Film Festival, which was held in October in Seattle.

The festival will begin on Friday with a 7 p.m. screening of the documentary feature "The Providers," which focuses on a trio of health-care providers working in a rural American community hit with both a shortage of doctors and negative effects of the national opioid crisis. The film will be paired with the short "Mexico: In Search of the Lost Migrants."

Programs will continue throughout the weekend. Each screening will be accompanied by panel discussion involving regional experts, including faculty members from UW Rural Medicine Program and, in some cases, the filmmakers.

Best news: The festival is free and open to the public.