FARMINGTON – Social issues will highlight a free series of documentary films and expert speakers as the Social Justice Cinema of the Farmington Film Festival begins Tuesday at the University of Maine at Farmington.

This year, equality and race, the military and media, the economic crisis and the world’s water crisis are explored through 10 festival events taking place from Tuesday through April 16.

Last year, the film series dealt with the environment, health care, sweatshop labor and fair trade coffee, said Kristina Wolff, UMF assistant professor of sociology.

Wolff and John Messier, UMF assistant professor of economics, had a personal interest in seeing the films and decided to share them with campus members and the public.

“The goal was to bring contemporary issues to campus. We had some really amazing discussions,” she said.

It went so well, they decided to do it again and applied for a grant from the university to buy more films for the second event. They also engaged speakers to discuss issues.

Part of the grant involved providing events for the Common Ground Time on campus, a Thursday mid-day program held each week. Three 11:45 a.m. Thursday events are planned along with evening programs on Tuesday and Thursdays.

All events are free and open to the public.

The first week’s films center on inequality and race on Tuesday and the military and media on Thursday.

Starting at 7 p.m. in Lincoln Auditorium of Roberts Learning Center, the film, “Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North,” explores a New England family who started tracing their roots to find out that their family was one of the biggest slave owners.

A second film, “Tulia Texas,” is based on a sheriff and federal agent in Texas who arrested 46 people, including 39 African Americans, on trumped up drug sale charges, she said.

Thursday’s events center on the media and war. The second week’s events focus on the economic crisis and the water crisis during the third week.

A listing of each day’s films is on the calendar of events at www.umf.maine.edu