About THE Event

You are invited to join the Acton Institute on Monday, October 26, 2026 in New York at the Asia Society and Museum for an advance screening of POVERTY TRAP, a new film about how big plans to end poverty broke the promise of America and what communities are doing to renew it.

Please join us at 6:00 p.m. for a pre-screening cocktail hour with heavy hors d'oeuvres and a red carpet photographer.

​​​Tickets are $10. 
 

OCTOBER 26th EVENT PROGRAM

  • 6:00 p.m. | Reception with heavy hors d'oeuvres

  • 7:00 p.m. | Screening of POVERTY TRAP

  • 8:45 p.m. | Q&A with filmmakers
     

​EVENT LOCATION

725 Park Ave
Manhattan
New York, NY 10021
United States

PARKING

The Asia Society and Museum in New York City does not offer on-site parking. Visitors driving to the museum can utilize nearby commercial indoor garages within a few blocks or limited metered street parking on the Upper East Side.

EVENT ATTIRE

​​The event dress code is business casual.

FILM SYNOPSIS

From the creators of the award-winning documentary Poverty, Inc. comes a new film about social and material poverty in the United States. POVERTY TRAP examines how big plans to end poverty broke the promise of America—and what communities are doing to renew it.

From the legacy of urban renewal and the War on Poverty to today's sprawling network of social programs, many attempts to fight poverty have kept people stuck. As Lee Moore of Jackson, Mississippi puts it: "It's hard to make it out."

 

Drawing on more than 130 interviews across 16 states, the film traces a sweeping story of policy failure and lost communities, but also redemption—finding purpose after prison, dignity reclaimed from addiction and homelessness, and revival around “a little garden” in South Dallas.

POVERTY TRAP exposes the tragedy of treating human struggle as a technical problem to be managed and solved by experts. It points toward something different: the untapped capacity of people to transform their own lives and communities. 

trailEr

production Photos

ABOUT THE ACTON INSTITUTE

Acton Institute is one of the world’s leading think tanks on the relationship between religious principles, morality, and free economic institutions. The institute’s mission is to promote a free and virtuous society characterized by individual liberty and sustained by religious principles.

Located in Grand Rapids, Mich., USA, the Acton Institute conducts research, publishes, and offers educational programs for religious leaders, students, business leaders and policymakers around the world. For more information, visit acton.org.

​To learn more about the Acton Institute, visit acton.org.