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 The United State of Cinema, which arranged the screenings in
44 U.S. states for one day only, said it was done to "take a
stand for our most basic values: freedom of speech, respect for
our fellow human beings, and the simple truth that there are no
such things as 'alternative facts.'"
The movie was also to be shown at five venues in Canada, one in
England, one in Sweden and one in Croatia.
The 1949 book, which returned to the U.S. best-seller list in
January, features a "Big Brother" government that spies on its
citizens and forces them into "doublethink," or simultaneously
accepting contradictory versions of the truth.
The movie was released in 1984 and starred John Hurt and Richard
Burton.
New York resident Laura Fliegner and her husband attended an
afternoon screening of "1984" at the Film Society of Lincoln
Center in Manhattan. "We think it makes a statement. Going to
see it again, and remind ourselves what happens when you slide
off a slippery slope," she said.
After the screening, Fliegner said as she left the theater,
"It's all just very chilling."
Nicolas Rapold, who helped organize the Lincoln Center screening
and panel discussion that followed, said he expected at least
100 people to attend each of three free screenings at the venue.
Some venues charged admission, the proceeds of which were to be
given to an organization of each venue's choice.
The British novel was reprinted in January, decades after it was
written, following the Trump administration's defense of
"alternative facts," a term White House official Kellyanne
Conway used during a dispute over the size of the crowd at
Trump's inauguration.
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Adam Birnbaum, director of Film Programming for the Avon Theatre
Film Center in Stamford, Connecticut, and co-organizer of the event,
said Orwell's themes were as relevant today as they were nearly 70
years ago.
"Our concern is the idea that the only answer is the one coming from
the mouthpiece running the (Trump) administration and that there's
this effort to sort of snuff out anything but that," Birnbaum said.
He said proceeds of tickets sold at the Avon Theatre would be
earmarked for "future educational screenings" of "1984" with the
local Stamford public schools.
He said a number of theaters showing "1984" on Tuesday had scheduled
post-film audience discussions and that a "vast majority" of the
theaters had added showings because they had sold out or were at
capacity.
"If nothing else, we hope that people will continue to be voices of
opposition to some of the practices that are currently being
employed by government," he said.
(Reporting by Melissa Fares in New York; Writing by Piya Sinha-Roy;
Editing by Dan Grebler, Toni Reinhold)
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