“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.”

That line begins George Orwell’s novel “1984,” and with that April 4 entry begins the diary of Winston Smith, whose job it is to revise or destroy any information in disagreement with the ever-fluid narrative of a totalitarian government that quashes any whiff of dissent.

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If a world in which the government “fixes” information to disprove its lies or denies clear evidence of past missteps sounds a little “alternative facts”-y to you, you’re not alone, and in a protest against President Trump’s policies and behavior, arthouse theaters across the U.S. are holding April 4 screenings of Michael Radford’s film adaptation of Orwell’s novel, starring John Hurt, Suzanna Hamilton, Richard Burton and Cyril Cusack. A statement on the protest from the United States of Cinema stated the following:

“Orwell’s portrait of a government that manufactures their own facts, demands total obedience and demonizes foreign enemies has never been timelier. …The endeavor encourages theaters 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.'”

Riverdale 10 Cinema is among those moviehouses showing the film, with a screening tonight at 7 p.m., preceded by a screening of Taz Goldstein’s heralded 4-minute sci-fi short, “2084.” Grab tickets here.

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