FARMINGTON —The UMF Emery Community Arts Center proudly presents “TRUTH TELLERS,” a documentary by Maine filmmaker Richard Kane on artist and activist Robert Shetterly who has painted 255 portraits of Americans, past and present, who had the moral courage to confront issues of social, environmental and economic justice. The screening will be at the Emery Performance Space on Thursday March 24, at 7 p.m. It is free and open to the public. Masks are required at all University indoor spaces.

These Americans Who Tell the Truth have been exhibited throughout the United States for almost two decades. TRUTH TELLERS is both a story of Shetterly’s art and activism and a history lesson in what it means to be a citizen of a democracy. In bringing Shetterly’s message to a wide audience, TRUTH TELLERS will spark a national conversation on truth telling.

Among the truth tellers covered in the film are Bayard Rustin, Bill McGibben, Kelsey Juliana, Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Sherri Mitchell, Maulian Dana, Bill Bigelow, Zyahna Bryant, Bree Newsome Bass, Fannie Lou Hammer, John Lewis, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Reggie Harris and many others.

TRUTH TELLERS director, producer and cinematographer is Richard Kane, an independent director whose work is focused on the intersection of art and contemporary American life. Previous film releases include, J. Fred Woell: An American Vision, I Know a Man … Ashley Bryan, Imber’s Left Hand, and 15 others, all part of the Maine Masters collection, a New England Emmy-nominated series of portraits that airs on public television. With partner Melody Lewis-Kane, their company, Kane-Lewis Productions, has worked for National Geographic, The Discovery Channel, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the White House Office of Technology Policy among many others.

Kane-Lewis produced the Natural Resources Council of Maine’s 50th anniversary film Protecting the Nature of Maine, an indie doc ROCK SOLID: The Schoodic International Sculpture Symposium and the classic award-winning documentary M.C.Richards: The Fire Within. From 2007-2016 Richard served as chair of the Maine Film & Video Association.

TRUTH TELLERS was written by Judith Dwan Hallet, an award-winning documentary filmmaker, former Senior Producer/Writer at National Geographic, who has been making films for 50 years, and received many distinguished awards including Woman of Vision Creative Excellence Award from Women in Film and Video in Washington DC and an Emmy from The National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in recognition for her significant contributions to the broadcast industry.

Additional cinematography was provided by veteran Bob Elsfrom, who has shot and directed documentaries for half a century and won multiple Emmys and Academy Award nominations. His resume includes the likes of PBS, Frontline and National Geographic and a feature film with Brian De Palma and Robert De Niro.