San Marcos Cinema Club to host 2 exclusive screenings at Buda Drive-in

San Marcos Cinema Club will take over Buda's boutique drive-in Monday, with a pair of exclusive screenings: a not-yet-televised episode of the hit new PBS docu-series Philly D.A. –– a chronicle of the progressive prosecutor endeavoring to upturn the legal system from within –– as well as Dear Mr. Brody, a stunning documentary of the hippie millionaire who in 1970 pledged to give away his fortune to the needy throngs who sent him handwritten funding requests.

Dear Mr. Brody is the latest feature from director Keith Maitland, whose breathtaking film Tower, recounting the UT massacre in 1966, won an Emmy and served as a highlight of Lost River Film Fest's inaugural year.

Dear Mr. Brody was selected to premiere at Tribeca, until COVID concerns canceled the prestigious film festival, resulting in the widely praised documentary's debut at SXSW last month.

The film explores motives of the 21-year-old philanthropist who, addled with PCP addiction, vowed to spur world peace by transferring his inheritance to those in greater need. Half a century later, the documentary dives into a dozen boxes of unopened letters, revealing the hopes and dreams of those who desperately penned Michael Brody to ask for help.

Filmmakers will be on hand tomorrow for Q&A following the film, which starts at 8:30 p.m. at Doc's Drive-In, 1540 Satterwhite Road in Buda. Tickets must be purchased at docsdriveintheatre.com.

The first two episodes of Philly D.A. –– PBS's groundbreaking documentary series embedded inside the longshot election and tumultuous first term of Philadelphia's unapologetic District Attorney –– will play at 8 p.m. on the drivein's other screen.

Co-hosted by KLRU Austin and local nonprofit Mano Amiga, Philly D.A. profiles civil-rights champion Larry Krasner's defiance of precedent by winning office in 2017, as top prosecutor in America's most incarcerated city, on a platform of serious reform. He fires dozens of attorneys in his office, throws the gauntlet against the police union regarding covered-up misconduct and tapers prosecutions for drugs and prostitution.

The film screening coincides with Hays County's own grappling with criminal-legal-system policy. Commissioners Court voted unanimously March 30 to pursue a Public Defender Office but has not yet turned in a grant application, due May 7, to the Texas Indigent Defense Commission, which could provide millions of dollars of support.

Tomorrow's screening of Philly D.A. will feature a live Zoom interview with the Philly D.A. himself, Larry Krasner. Tickets are free of charge but must be reserved by emailing ManoAmigaSM@gmail.com, while spaces remain.

•Submitted by San Marcos Cinema Club