Emmy-winning filmmaker Baktash Ahadi to visit Lewisburg’s Campus Theatre

Lewisburg’s Campus Theatre is giving Union County something bigger than a movie night: a free chance to hear from an Emmy- and Peabody-winning filmmaker in the middle of downtown. For residents, Susquehanna University students and anyone who follows the arts in central Pennsylvania, Baktash Ahadi’s visit offers direct access to a nationally recognized storyteller without leaving Market Street.

The Campus Theatre said Ahadi will appear at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 6, for a special introduction to the documentary Champions of the Golden Valley. The event is free and open to the public. The film follows the emergence of a homegrown ski culture in the mountains of Afghanistan, a subject that fits closely with Ahadi’s own background and the themes that have shaped his work.

Ahadi’s biography says his family arrived in the United States as refugees from Afghanistan. It also says his films have been recognized with Emmy, Peabody and Edward R. Murrow Awards, with multiple works shortlisted for Academy Award consideration. That mix of honors and lived experience gives the Lewisburg appearance unusual weight for a small-town screening, especially for viewers who want to understand how documentary filmmaking can carry personal history into public view.

The setting matters as much as the guest. The Campus Theatre describes itself as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit historic movie theater built in 1941 and one of the few remaining single-screen art deco movie houses in the country. In Lewisburg, that makes the theater more than a place to catch a film. It functions as a civic room where arts programming, education and community events can overlap in a walkable downtown setting.

Ahadi also has a direct academic tie to the area. Campus Theatre identified him as a Susquehanna University alumnus, and the university announced him in March 2025 as its commencement speaker, describing his work as centered on migration, conflict and the struggles of underserved communities. Champions of the Golden Valley also connects Afghanistan with Pennsylvania history, since Ahadi was born in Kabul in 1981 and his family later started a new life in Carlisle after fleeing the Soviet invasion in 1984.

For Lewisburg, the visit is a reminder that high-profile arts programming does not have to be confined to a major city. When a filmmaker with Ahadi’s credentials comes to the Campus Theatre, the borough’s role as a cultural hub becomes visible in practical terms, with a free event that can draw people downtown and deepen the region’s connection to film.