A new, 90-minute documentary focuses on how Athens shed its small-town, conservative southern roots to become the city it is today.
Local film producers Kathy Prescott and Grady Thrasher are premiering their latest work, “Athens in Our Lifetimes” Wednesday evening at Cine. Prescott calls the film a labor of love.
We decided that we would interview people and see what they had to say about their impressions on how Athens got to be Athens, Prescott said. And it started out as a love letter, I think, to the town. It evolved into a little bit of tough love, but it is still a great place.
Thrasher says the most people cite the University of Georgia as instrumental in Athens evolution. The university provides a great opportunity for culture and education that most small towns don’t have, but it’s really the people of the town that have made Athens what it is.”
The producers did not shy away from some of the more difficult parts of Athens’ history.
“I remember as a child, small-town Athens, It was a small, conservative southern town with all the baggage that small, conservative southern towns had then and some still have now,” according to Thrasher.
The Wednesday premiere is sold out, but a week free of public screenings will be shown at Cine beginning May 5th.
