Vanderbilt University’s film series, International Lens, kicks off its season on Sept. 2 with Amnesty International’s presentation of The Visitor, a drama that explores the implications of U.S. immigration policy.
The series, which is free and open to the public, will screen 29 films from 15 nations in Sarratt Cinema each week from September through December. Every screening includes an introduction and post-screening discussion facilitated by a Vanderbilt faculty member or program director, and most films will be shown in 35mm prints.
For the first time, International Lens will host screenings in association with four different film festivals. The series will present René Clair’s beloved musical Under the Roofs of Paris and a 35mm print of Luis Buñuel’s wicked satire L’âge d’or in conjunction with the “Surreal to Reel: Paris on Film” festival curated in partnership with the Frist Center for the Visual Arts and the Belcourt Theatre as a part of the Frist’s upcoming exhibition Twilight Visions: Surrealism, Photography, and Paris. Also scheduled is the Tournées Film Festival, an annual program that celebrates the best in contemporary French film. The latest offerings from French New Wave legends Eric Rohmer (The Romance of Astrea and Celadon) and Jacques Rivette (The Duchess of Langeais) will be featured as part of this festival. Also on tap is “Curtains for the Curtain,” a film festival that commemorates the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, and a series sponsored by the Southern Arts Federation Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers, which will bring the directors of three hard-hitting documentaries to campus to lead discussion of their films.
The fall lineup also features two special events sure to please college basketball fans and music lovers. Melanie Balcomb, head coach of the Vanderbilt women’s basketball team; Kevin Stallings, head coach of the Vanderbilt men’s basketball team; and A.J. Ogilvy, center for the men’s basketball team, will participate in a panel discussion following the screening of Quantum Hoops on Sept. 10. The series will also be showing one of the creepiest vampire films of all time, Nosferatu, on Halloween night and, accompanying the screening, will be a live musical performance by the Rats and People Motion Picture Orchestra of their original score for the film.
Other standouts in this fall’s lineup include Pere Portabella’s Silence Before Bach, which makes its Nashville debut after enjoying a successful international festival run, a 35mm print of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s elegiac masterpiece, The Marriage of Maria Braun, the cult favorite Ro.Go.Pa.G., which features films by Jean-Luc Godard and Pier Paolo Pasolini, and the return to Nashville of Carlos Reygada’s breathtakingly beautiful Silent Light.
“We are proud to continue bringing films to Nashville that might not otherwise be shown because of their special topics or niche appeal, and we’re pleased to provide a forum for discussion around these films,” said JoEl Logiudice, director of the Office of Arts and Creative Engagement at Vanderbilt. “But we’re also excited to expand our series this season through our partnerships with the Frist Center for the Visual Arts and the Belcourt Theatre and by curating special events that address topical issues of interest to our students and to the Nashville community.”
The schedule follows. All films will be screened at 7 p.m. in Sarratt Cinema unless otherwise noted.
Sept. 2 The Visitor (USA, 2008) Thomas McCarthy. Presented by Amnesty International, Vanderbilt Chapter and Gregory Barz, associate professor of musicology, Blair School of Music.
Sept. 4 Planet B-Boy (USA, 2008) Benson Lee. Presented by Korean Students and Scholars Association, Vanderbilt Dance Program, Vanderbilt Student Government and Multicultural Leadership Council. A hip-hop dance demo will immediately follow the screening.
Sept. 9 The Silence Before Bach (Spain, 2007) Pere Portabella. Presented by Robert Fry, senior lecturer, Blair School of Music. Financial support provided by Mimi and Scott Manzler.
Sept. 10 Quantum Hoops (USA, 2007) Rick Greenwald. Presented by Vandy Fanatics. Panel: Melanie Balcomb, head coach, women’s basketball; Kevin Stallings, head coach, men’s basketball; A.J. Ogilvy, A&S undergraduate member of men’s basketball team; moderated by David Weintraub, professor of astronomy, Department of Physics and Astronomy.
Sept. 16 My Stepbrother is a Frankenstein (Russia, 2004) Valerii Todorovskii. Presented by Irina Makoveeva, Mellon Assistant Professor of Russian, Germanic and Slavic Languages Department.
Sept. 23 The Marriage of Maria Braun (West Germany, 1979) Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Presented by Peggy Setje-Eilers, assistant professor of German, Germanic and Slavic Languages Department.
Sept. 26 @ 2 p.m. Azur and Asmar (France, 2006) Michel Ocelot. Presented by the Vanderbilt Employee Celebration Committee and as part of The Tournées Festival.
Sept. 30 XXY (Argentina, 2008) Lucia Puenzo. Presented by Office of LGBTQI Life; facilitator: Monica Casper, former executive director, Intersex Society of North America; professor of Social & Behavioral Sciences and Women’s Studies, Arizona State University.
Oct. 1 Duchess of Langeais (France, Italy, 2007) Jacques Rivette. Presented by Robert Barsky, professor of French and comparative literature. Presented as part of The Tournées Festival. Financial support also provided by Mimi and Scott Manzler.
Oct. 7 Ro.Go.Pa.G. (Italy, France, 1963) Jean-Luc Godard, Ugo Gregoretti, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Roberto Rossellini. Presented by Andrea Mirabile, assistant professor of Italian, Department of French and Italian.
Oct. 8 Fear(s) of the Dark (France, 2007) Blutch, Charles Burns, Marie Caillou, Pierre di Sciullo, Lorenzo Mattotti, Richard McQuire, Romain Slocombe, Jerry Kramsky, Michel Pirus, Etienne Robial. Presented by Mark Hosford, assistant professor, Department of Art. Presented as part of The Tournées Festival.
Oct. 14 The Golden Age (L’âge d’or) (France, 1930), Luis Buñuel and Under the Roofs of Paris (Sous les toits de Paris) (France, 1930), René Clair. Presented by Paul Young, associate professor, director of Film Studies. Part of the “Surreal to Reel: Paris on Film” festival.
Oct. 15 Daratt (France, 2006) Mahamat-Saleh Haroun. Presented by Jay Geller, assistant professor of Modern Jewish Culture, Vanderbilt Divinity School. Presented as part of The Tournées Festival.
Oct. 20 Bloodlines (Australia, 2008) Cynthia Connop. Presented by Sara Figal, assistant professor, Germanic and Slavic Languages Department. Part of the Vanderbilt Holocaust Lecture Series.
Oct. 29 The Romance of Astrea and Celadon (France, 2006) Eric Rohmer. Presented by Lynn Ramey, associate professor and chair, Department of French and Italian. Presented as part of The Tournées Festival. Financial support also provided by Mimi and Scott Manzler.
Oct. 31 Nosferatu (Germany, 1922) F.W. Murnau. Presented by Paul Young, associate professor, director of Film Studies. An original musical score will be performed live by the Rats and People Motion Picture Orchestra. Costumes are encouraged.
Nov. 4 Corridor #8 (Bulgaria, 2008) Boris Despodov. Presented by Gregg Horowitz, associate professor, Philosophy Department.
Nov. 17 Gate of Flesh (Japan, 1964) and Nov. 19 Tokyo Drifter (Japan, 1966) Seijun Suzuki. Both presented by Todd Hughes, director, Vanderbilt University Language Center.
Dec. 3 Silent Light (Mexico, 2007), Carlos Reygadas. Presented by Helena Simonett, assistant professor of Latin American Studies, adjunct assistant professor of Music Literature and History, Blair School of Music.
Curtains for the Curtain: A Film Series Commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall and its Aftermath. All screenings held in The Commons Multipurpose Room 237. Funding provided by “Getting to Know Europe,” a grant from the European Union with additional financial support provided by the Max Kade Center for European & German Studies.
Oct. 28, 7 p.m. The Fall of the Berlin Wall (USA, 2007), ABC News Classics and Ode to Joy and Freedom (Germany, 1990) Beate Schubert. Presented by Helmut Smith, professor, History Department and director of The Max Kade Center for European & German Studies. A dessert reception hosted by The Commons at the Dean’s Residence will immediately follow the screenings.
Nov. 3, 6:45 p.m. The Fall of Communism (USA, 1990) Hosted by Pierre Salinger. Presented by Frank Wcislo, dean of The Commons and associate professor of History and Konstantin Kustanovich, associate professor of Slavic Languages and Literature, Germanic and Slavic Languages Department.
Nov. 11, 7 p.m. In July (Germany, 2000) Fatih Akin. Presented by Zeynep Somer-Topcu, assistant professor, Political Science and European Studies and John McCarthy, professor of German and Comparative Literature.
Southern Arts Federation Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers
Sept. 17, Let Them Know: the Story of Youth Brigade and BYO Records
Oct. 19, The Way We Get By
Nov. 12, Flying on One Engine
Parking for International Lens screenings is available at no charge in Zone 2, Lot 2 on West End Avenue. Sarratt Cinema is on the first floor of the Sarratt Student Center at Vanderbilt University. For more information, call 615-322-6400 or go to www.vanderbilt.edu/internationallens.
The series is made possible through the sponsorship of the Office of the Dean of Students, the Max Kade Center for European and German Studies, the Vanderbilt departments and programs represented, and through the generous support of Nashville cinephiles Mimi and Scott Manzler and The Tournées Festival of the French American Cultural Exchange. The Tournées Festival is made possible with the support of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and the French Ministry of Culture. The 2009-2010 Southern Circuit is a program of the Southern Arts Federation. Southern Circuit screenings are funded in part by a grant from the Southern Arts Federation in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and local partner organizations. Special support for Southern Circuit was provided by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Media Contact: Jim Patterson, (615) 322-NEWS
Jim.patterson@vanderbilt.edu