Documentary Film Mixes John Brown, Music, History, and CT Artists

A locally-produced musical documentary explores American music from 1619 to hip-hop through the civil war song “John Brown's Body,” performed by dozens of CT artists.

Torrington, CT — Culture 4 A Cause will screen a community arts project on Feb 17 at 7 pm as part of Black History Month programming for The Bantam Cinema & Arts Center in Bantam CT. His Truth Is Marching On, is a documentary film exploring American music through the popular civil war song “John Brown's Body,” which was rewritten into “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” The film explores how music brings people together and should be interesting to anyone who loves music, history, and especially those with a passion for equality.

“We wanted to create a community art project that celebrated John Brown’s passion for equality while shining a light on the talent in the NWCT Arts community” says Daniel Morrison, executive producer of the project, and board member of Culture 4 A Cause.

In addition to the film, the show will include African drumming by Rev. Angaza Mwando and a Harriet Tubman reenactment by Effie Mwando, both of Our Culture is Beautiful. Also, Torrington Historical Society Executive Director Mark McEachern will speak on John Brown’s passion for equality. Finally, the anthemic 12-minute music video will pull all of the music together, starting with Native American flute and African drumming, moving to early clawhammer banjo style, acoustic blues, “churchy” music, swing, rock and roll, and finishing with a hip hop segment.

The project pays tribute to the melting pot that is American music, most of which came from Native and African American musical experiments. While paying tribute to the past, it promotes 

the talent of the present with more than 50 artists recording in four NWCT recording studios. You can preregister for the event at www.bantamcinema.org, tickets are $15.

The musical project was partially funded by two grants from the Connecticut Office of the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

About Culture 4 A Cause:

Culture 4 A Cause, whose mission to build community through music and the arts, is a catalyst for advancing the arts and cultural economy in Northwest Connecticut.

About the Bantam Cinema & Arts Center:

The mission of the Bantam Cinema & Arts Center, Inc. is to preserve and operate the historic Bantam Cinema and enhance the cultural vitality of the Litchfield Hills through offering a diverse program of film, theater, music and visual arts that seeks to inspire, educate, and engage its audience.

Contact: 

Daniel Morrison | Culture 4 A Cause | dmorrison@culture4acause.org | 860-605-6951