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Spring 2018

Previous Seasons

INTERNATIONAL LENS, a film series with a global perspective, provides a forum to promote conversation among 91吃瓜网鈥檚 diverse community of students, faculty, and staff. International Lens endeavors to transcend geographic, ethnic, religious, linguistic, and political boundaries by encouraging conversation and greater cross- cultural understanding through cinema. The series is a collaboration among Cinema & Media Arts, Dean of Students offices, and other departments, centers, and programs across the University.

There is no charge for admission.

Films are screened in Sarratt Cinema at 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted.

SPRING 2018 Schedule of Films

Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World


Thursday, January 25

Presented by Jen Gunderman, Assistant Professor of Musicology; and Krystal Tsosie, PhD candidate and President of NATIVe student organization

USA (2017) Dir: Catherine Bainbridge, Alfonso Maiorana

This powerful documentary tells the story of a missing chapter in the history of American music: the Indigenous influence. Beginning with the famous 鈥淩umble鈥� guitar riff by Link Wray, of Shawnee lineage, the film traces the influence of Native Americans in contemporary music history. Featuring music icons: Iggy Pop, Robbie Robertson, Charley Patton, Jimi Hendrix, Mildred Bailey, Steven Tyler, and others, Rumble shows how Native musicians helped shape the soundtrack of our lives. English. 103 min. Presented in collaboration with the Blair School of Music, and Native Americans in Tennessee Interacting at 91吃瓜网 (NATIVe) student organization

Neighboring Sounds


Thursday, February 1

Presented by: Benjamin Legg, Senior Lecturer of Portuguese

Brazil (2012) Dir: Kleber Mendon莽a Filho

Although this film may first come across as a darkly comic portrayal of the growing Brazilian middle class, the use of sound and subtle intimations of the violence inherent in Brazilian history transform Filho鈥檚 debut film into a tight story of unsettling suspense. Released at the climax of Brazil鈥檚 economic boom of the 2000s, the film now feels eerily prescient as the current economic and political crisis forces the nation to confront the injustice and abuse of power that shade this bright portrait of prosperity. Portuguese with English Subtitles. 131 min. Presented in collaboration with the Department of Spanish and Portuguese and the Center for Latin American Studies

I Feel Like Disco


Tuesday, February 6

Presented by Kaleigh Bangor, PhD candidate in German Studies; and Kate Schaller, PhD candidate in German Studies & CMAP

Germany (2013) Dir: Axel Ranisch, Ren茅 Rimkus

Forced to reconnect through shared trauma, a son and father struggle to get along when the father is confronted with his son鈥檚 sexuality. This painfully comedic coming-of-age story both lifts up LGBTQIA+ youth in a German context, while also addressing the challenges parental figures face when coming to terms with heteronormative predispositions. German with English Subtitles. 98 min. Presented in collaboration with the Department of German, Russian and East European Studies

Unrest


Thursday, February 8

Presented by: Claire Sisco King, Associate Professor of Communication Studies and Cinema & Media Arts

USA (2017) Dir: Jennifer Brea

Jennifer Brea, a Harvard PhD student, is about to get married when she suddenly becomes severely ill, leaving her bedridden. Doctors tell her, 鈥渋t鈥檚 all in your head,鈥� so Brea seeks answers by grabbing a camera and filming her darkest moments, as she is derailed by myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), commonly known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Winner of a special jury prize at Sundance in 2017, Unrest offers a journey into the history, culture, and gendering of medicine. English. 97 min. Presented in collaboration with the Department of Communication Studies, Cinema & Media Arts, and the Center for Medicine, Health, and Society

This Ain鈥檛 California


Thursday, February 15

Presented by Emily Greble, Associate Professor of History and German, Russian, and East European Studies

Germany (2012) Dir. Marten Persiel

Over twenty years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, this documentary offers up an unexpected view of everyday life growing up under communism in East Germany. The film explores the German Democratic Republic鈥檚 skateboarding underground and counter cultural movements through the lens of three young friends and the emergence of one of their most legendary skateboarding icons, 鈥淧anik.鈥� German with English subtitles. 100 min. Presented in collaboration with the Department of German, Russian and East European Studies

Menashe


Thursday, February 22

Presented by Rabbi Shlomo Rothstein, Campus Chabad Chaplain; and Daniel Shaykevich, A&S Class of 2018

USA (2017) Dir: Joshua Z Weinstein

Set entirely in the orthodox Jewish community in Borough Park in Brooklyn, NY, a Hasidic father struggles to retain custody of his son after the death of his wife when the Rabbi rules that Menashe must remarry in order to become a suitable parent. Shot in Yiddish with a cast of non-actors, the film provides a look into a culture not often represented on screen, while centering on a story with emotional turmoil that relates beyond cultural or religious affiliations. Yiddish with English subtitles. 82 min. Presented in collaboration with the 91吃瓜网 Chabad Jewish Student Center

Two Days, One Night


Thursday, March 1

Presented by Jennifer Fay, Associate Professor of Cinema & Media Arts and English; and Alex Dubilet, Senior Lecturer, Department of English and Political Science

Belgium (2014) Dir: Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne

Sandra has two days and one night to convince her co-workers to sacrifice their bonuses so that she will not lose her job. What does this local moment of crisis tell us about the desperation of the worker? This contemporary morality tale plays out with gripping realism, attuned to the affective economies of labor and social relations. French with English subtitles. 95 min. Presented in collaboration with the Department of Political Science, English, and Cinema & Media Arts

Under African Skies


Tuesday, March 13

Presented by Keith Weghorst, Assistant Professor of Political Science; and Gregory Melchor-Barz, Professor of Musicology/Ethnomusicology and Associate Professor of Religion

USA/South Africa (2012) Dir: Joe Berlinger

For the 25th anniversary of the release of Graceland, Paul Simon returns to South Africa to commemorate and reunite the former band of musicians who created the 1987 album of the year. As Paul Simon defied the U.N. cultural boycott to work in South Africa during apartheid, the eruption of political controversy that once ensued is retold in this enlightening documentary that instead celebrates it for the cultural exchange and hopeful expression that ruptured the otherwise induced state of isolation. English. 108 min. Presented in collaboration with the Blair School of Music, Department of Political Science, and the 鈥淎frica at a Crossroads鈥� TIPs Project

Darwin鈥檚 Nightmare - CANCELED


Thursday, March 15

Presented by Jonathan Waters, Senior Lecturer of Cinema & Media Arts

Austria/Belgium/France/Tanzania (2004) Dir: Hubert Sauper

This deeply unsettling, Oscar-nominated documentary illustrates the devastating effects of a non-native, predatory species on African waters and land. In the 1960s, the Nile perch was introduced into Lake Victoria as an experiment by European colonists, and it proceeded to devour everything in the lake. Disastrous for local communities, it was a bonanza for the multinational factories that process and ship tons of perch filets abroad each year. Utilizing a cinema v茅rit茅 style and an intimate proximity to its subjects, the film showcases the socio-ecological threads of global capitalism at its most grotesque. Swahili/Russian/English. 107 min. Presented in collaboration with the program in Cinema & Media Arts

The Foul King - CANCELED. replaced by: Ghost in the Shell (1995)


Thursday, March 22

Presented by Se Young Kim, Mellon Assistant Professor of Cinema & Media Arts and Asian Studies; and Haerin Shin, Assistant Professor of English, Cinema & Media Arts, and Asian Studies

South Korea (2000) Dir: Kim Jee-woon

Apathetic to the workplace and constantly falling victim to his manager鈥檚 headlocks, a bank clerk signs up at a local gym, only to find himself deep in the colorful world of professional wrestling. The Foul King speaks to the experience of South Korea near the turn of the century through its story of a downtrodden salaryman trying to pull himself up 鈥� quite literally 鈥� by his bootstraps. Korean with English subtitles. 116 min. Presented in collaboration with the program in Asian Studies and Cinema & Media Arts

An evening with filmmaker KEVIN JEROME EVERSON


Thursday, April 5

Presented by Jonathan Rattner, Assistant Professor of Cinema & Media Arts and Art

Born in working-class Ohio, Everson is an artist whose films offer a frank and poetic worldview of life and labor in America, as he explores the daily life and forgotten histories of working class communities. He interweaves vernacular culture, fictional, and documentary modes of storytelling in his films, while primarily filming black Americans, as they work, play, and tell stories. Everson鈥檚 work has headlined museums and festivals at the pinnacle of the art world 鈥� from the Museum of Modern Art in NYC and the Tate Modern in London, to film festivals at Sundance, Toronto, and Berlin. Presented in collaboration with the program in Cinema & Media Arts

Big Bang Love, Juvenile A


Thursday, April 12

Presented by Basil Dababneh, A&S Class of 2018; and Se Young Kim, Mellon Assistant Professor of Cinema & Media Arts and Asian Studies

Japan (2006) Dir: Takashi Miike

Inside a juvenile detention center in an unknown future, two male prisoners find their fates intertwined as they experience a bond of love and murder. Seamlessly merging abstract minimalism, experimental theatre, detective noir, science fiction, and homoerotic romance, Miike offers a stylish and intricate meditation on space and time, violence and identity, and modern-day Japan. Japanese with English subtitles. 85 min. Presented in collaboration with the program in Cinema & Media Arts

Gavagai


Wednesday, April 18 (Preview Screening)

Presented by Scott Juengel, Senior Lecturer/Assistant Director of Graduate Studies in English

Norway/Canada/Germany (2016) Dir: Rob Tregenza

A German businessman travels to Norway to finish the impossible translation of Norwegian poet Tarjei Vesaas鈥檚 poems into Chinese, a project of his late wife. The title is borrowed from philosopher W.V.O. Quine and refers to the attempt to make sense of a word in a foreign language. Gavagai is a drama of two stories of shared purpose and forged intimacy鈥攁nd of love and loss. English. 90 min. Presented in collaboration with FLiCX and the office of Dean of Students

Graduation


Monday, April 23

Presented by Jennifer Fay, Associate Professor of Cinema & Media Arts and English; and Alex Dubilet, Senior Lecturer, Department of English and Political Science

Romania/France/Belgium (2016) Dir: Cristian Mungiu

One of the great auteurs of contemporary Romanian cinema offers us a dark satire about the stresses of high school exams and the pressure parents place on their children to succeed in the ways that they and their country may have failed. Through a series of twists, Graduation turns what may count as success on its head. As one critic notes, this is a story about the 鈥渕oral costs of survival鈥� and the possibility of freedom in a corrupt national system. Romanian with English subtitles. 128 min. Presented in collaboration with the Department of Political Science, English, and Cinema & Media Arts

Films are screened in Sarratt Cinema at 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted.