Free movie nights will be held at 6:30pm for five Thursdays in the Center for Media & Design Auditorium. This series is hosted by Film Club and the International Student Forum.
Open to all students, free movie nights will be held at 6:30pm for five consecutive Thursdays in the Center for Media & Design Quad.
This series is hosted by Film Club and the International Student Forum.
APRIL 20 | Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
This 1939 film is about a newly appointed United States Senator who fights against a corrupt political system.
Directed by Frank Capra, starring Jean Arthur and James Stewart.
2h 9min ; Rated PG-13
Why it was selected
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is a film that speaks powerfully about how
cynicism, greed, and deceit conflicts between American ideals and political practice. The film is especially meaningful when considering the background of director Frank Capra who came to the US as a six-year old immigrant from Sicily. Often rooting for the underdog, Frank Capra’s films are household names in the United States: It Happened One Night, It’s a Wonderful Life, and Lost Horizon.
APRIL 27 | Brokeback Mountain
This 2005 romance film depicts the complex relationship between two cowboys in the American West, beginning in 1963.
Directed by Ang Lee, starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal
2h 14 min ; Rated R
Why it was selected
Brokeback Mountain has been regarded as a turning point for queer cinema into the mainstream and was subject to several controversies regarding censorship and the sexuality of the characters. It has been lauded as a landmark in LGBT Cinema and credited for influencing several films and television shows featuring LGBT themes and characters. In 2018, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
MAY 4 | The Color Purple
This 1985 coming-of-age film reveals the life of black Southern woman who struggles to find her identity after suffering abuse from her father and others over four decades.
Directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover and Whoopi Goldberg.
2h 34 min ; Rated PG-13
Why it was selected
The film is adapted from the Pulitzer Prize winning book “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker” and remains a cultural touchstone for African American women due in large part to its depiction of female relationships as a form of sanctuary, in a patriarchal world filled with violence. When it was released, it shattered the widespread cultural resistance to talking openly about domestic abuse. The film continues to have a resonance amongst audiences, especially amongst female audiences regarding trauma and the previously unacknowledged problems black women were experiencing in early 20th-century culture.
MAY 11 | Real Women Have Curves
This 2002 dramedy film follows a college-age Angeleno as she grapples with her ambitions and her mother’s expectations to get married, have children, and run the family-owned textile factory.
Directed by Patricia Cardoso, starring America Ferrera, Lupe Ontiveros, and George Lopez.
1h 30 min ; Rated PG -13
Why it was selected
This film was selected as a landmark film, based on the play Real Women Have Curves by Josefina Lopaz and George LaVoo, which has been lauded for its authentic depiction of the family dynamics present in Latino households in Los Angeles. It is an unprecedented exploration into gender politics and the immigrant experience and was the first latina-directed film to be included in the National Film Registry.
MAY 18 | Minari
This 2020 drama film tells the story of a Korean family starting a farm in 1980s Arkansas.
Directed by Lee Isaac Chung, starring Steven Yeun, Han Ye-ri, Alan Kim, and Noel Kate Cho.
1h 55 min ; Rated PG-13
Why it was selected
Minari is tonally distinctive film that is rooted in the story of a Korean family striving to achieve the American dream. Nominated for “Best Motion Picture” in 2021, the film demonstrates an accurate representation of Asian immigrants adjusting to life in a new country. In a time of anger and ignorance and with the rise of Anti-Asian hate crimes in the United states, this film was selected for its exploration into the first generation experience.
About the Event
Through this collaborative series, the Film Club and the International Student Forum intend to introduce students to American Cinema movies.
“Motion pictures often serve as reflections and influences in American
-Betsie Garcia, Film club officer
society and the following films are selected from specific decades and analyzed as records of social attitudes shaping American audiences.”
It is the clubs’ shared goal to allow these movie nights to lead into further discussion following the screenings. After each movie, students will be given the space to share varying perspectives between film students and international students, as they explore changes in gender roles, culture, history and social attitudes.
