A new film festival is aiming to help the community be more compassionate. It makes its debut in Carbondale this weekend.
The theme of the first Compassion Film Festival is “Compassion Is A Verb.” John Bruna is an ordained Buddhist monk and the festival’s organizer. He said the weekend’s films were chosen because they show ordinary people taking action.
"We don’t need to be some super wealthy person; we don’t need to have some big organization, so our criteria was around highlighting people that were able to make a difference because they had an idea and they went with it," said Bruna.
The films range from a documentary about a running club for inner-city kids in L.A., to master’s degrees programs for prison inmates and a team of artists that raises funds for children with cancer.
The Compassion Film Festival takes place at the Third Street Center starting Friday. It also includes speaking events, workshops and musical performances.
