IOWA CITY, IA (August 31, 2017) — The first movies ever shown in Iowa are back. Announcing Saving Brinton‘s “Barnstorming Brinton Iowa Tour,” an eight-city screening tour for the acclaimed film.

Saving Brinton is the story of Michael Zahs, an eccentric Iowa collector who uncovers five hours of film from the early 1900s that once belonged to Frank Brinton, one of America’s most successful barnstorming moving picture exhibitors.

Watch the trailer for the film or visit the official website at www.savingbrinton.com.

Produced by Iowa City filmmakers Tommy Haines, John Richard and Andrew Sherburne, the film premiered at the American Film Institute’s prestigious AFI Docs festival in June. Now the film is touring it’s home state beginning September 17 in Washington, Iowa at the World’s Oldest Movie Theatre.

Each of the nine screenings will be followed by a live Q&A with film subject Michael Zahs and the filmmakers. Select screenings will feature an additional presentation of restored silent films from the collection from such famed filmmakers as Thomas Edison, the Lumière Brothers and Georges Méliès.

Saving Brinton is fully produced in Iowa by Barn Owl Pictures, a collaboration between Northland Films and Bocce Ball Films, with support and assistance from Washington County Riverboat Foundation, The Frank and Ina Brinton Educational Charitable Trust, Humanities Iowa, Iowa Arts Council, Produce Iowa, Trish McDonald, John and Kay Hegarty, The Gilchrist Foundation, FilmScene and the University of Iowa Libraries Special Collections.

For a list of dates and venues, visit our screenings page.