Are you looking for something fun to do next weekend for Mothers Day? How about visiting the National Arboretum to view Bicentennial Bonsai: Emissaries of Peace, an award-winning documentary by NVCC Cinema Professor Paul Awad and Professor Emerita Kathryn O’Sullivan.

This is a ticketed event, with tickets prices as follows:
General Admission: $12.50
NBF, FONA, JASWDC members**: $10
You also have the option of preordering themed food to accompany your time at the arboretum!
Bento Box (vegan or chicken) pre-order: $20

The event will include:

An Evening in the Bonsai Museum
4:30 – gates to the Bonsai Museum open for after-hours tours*
5:00 – koto music, free sake tastings, and pre-ordered bento boxes in the museum
6:00 – movie screening in the auditorium followed by Q&A with filmmakers

If you’re interested in attending, you can purchase tickets here:
https://www.usna.usda.gov/visit/calendar-of-events/bonsai-film-event
Registration for the event ends May 10th!

Hope to see some of you there!

On Saturday, May 13, Cinema Professor Paul Awad and Professor Emerita Kathryn O’Sullivan will screen their award-winning documentary Bicentennial Bonsai: Emissaries of Peace at the National Arboretum in Washington, D.C.

About the film:
In 1975, only 30 years after the United States and Japan had been at war, Japan gave 53 priceless bonsai trees to the United States in celebration of the U.S. Bicentennial. Some bonsai were several hundred years old. Remarkably, one had survived the bombing of Hiroshima. Bicentennial Bonsai: Emissaries of Peace chronicles this historic gift, including rare interviews and archival footage, and it reveals how we can rediscover our shared humanity and establish a path toward healing and world peace. Professor O’Sullivan received a NOVA President’s Sabbatical to work on the film.

Join us for an evening at the Bonsai & Penjing Museum at the National Arboretum

4:30 p.m. gates to the Bonsai Museum open for after-hours tours
5 p.m. Koto music, free sake tastings and pre-ordered bento boxes in the museum
6 p.m. film screening in the auditorium followed by a Q&A with filmmakers Awad & O’Sullivan

For more information and to register for the event, please visit the U.S. National Arboretum website. Registration for the event closes on May 10, 2023.