Cinema on the Edge Series Features Screenings and Discussions

Cinema on the Edge, a series of six film and video screenings presenting the artistic and political visions of filmmakers from the United States and around the world, will begin on October 2. The series is the public program component of the Department of Cinema and Photography’s Introduction to Film Aesthetics and Analysis course, but all the films are free and open to the general public. Professor Patricia R. Zimmermann, assistant professor Christina Lane, and associate professor Gina Marchetti––all in the cinema and photography department––are the program’s curators; guest artists and critics will be on hand to give lectures, lead discussions, and screen their work.

All screenings take place in Park Hall Auditorium.

Monday, October 2, 7:00 p.m.: "Artifacts, Artifice, and Alchemy," a lecture/screening by Ximena Cuevas, a videomaker based in Houston and Mexico City. Capturing the experimental media world with her riveting images, Cuevas pushes the boundaries of the video medium while whipping up hot political issues around identity borders, cultural authority, and self-representation. The presentation will feature her latest work.

Monday, October 16, 7:00 p.m.: A discussion and screening of the film Election, one of 1999’s more radical and entertaining commentaries on teen gender and sexuality, presented by the film’s development executive, Elizabeth Lyon. Chair of the English department at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and founding coeditor of the feminist scholarly journal Camera Obscura, Lyon offers a unique perspective on the intersection of film theories and industries. A question-and-answer session will follow the screening.

Monday, October 23, 7:00 p.m.: "Pioneering Body Politics," by Mike Hoolboom, an activist and artist, who will present two of his films, Panic Bodies and Letters from Home. Writes critic Cameron Bailey, "Filmed in the shadow of AIDS, Panic Bodies is [Hoolboom’s] testament to the permanent impermanence of the flesh. The film’s six parts show the range of Hoolboom’s engagement with mortality, from rage to reverie." Letters from Home—through stunning imagery and pithy wit—reflects on death, AIDS, and the art of living.

Monday, November 6, 7:00 p.m.: La Vie Est Belle, the first of two special film screenings cosponsored by the Center for the Study of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity and the School of Music as part of the "Reverberations: Music of the African Diaspora" series. This 1987 film portrays the vibrant music scene of Congo’s capital city of Kinshasa, whose back alleys and clubs pulsate to some of the most influential music in the world. Starring Soukous music legend Papa Wemba, La Vie Est Belle tells the rags-to-riches story of a country musician who seeks fame in the city. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with Kole Ade-Odutola, graduate student in communications; Peter Kareithi, assistant professor of television-radio; Peyi Soyinka-Airewele, assistant professor of politics; and Gina Marchetti. Patricia R. Zimmermann will moderate.

Tuesday, November 7, 4:00 p.m.: The Harder They Come, the second of two special film screenings cosponsored by the Center for the Study of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity and the School of Music as part of the "Reverberations: Music of the African Diaspora" series. The 1973 film stars Jimmy Cliff as an aspiring reggae performer who achieves stardom while on the run from the law. The film examines the relationship between culture and capitalism, taking an acerbic look at the commercialization of reggae in Jamaica. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with Pierre Desir, assistant professor of cinema and photography; Naeem Inayatullah, assistant professor of politics; and Steven F. Pond, assistant professor of ethnomusicology at Cornell University. Gina Marchetti will moderate.

Monday, November 27, 7:00 p.m., and Tuesday, November 28, 4:00 p.m.: The touring program of this year’s Ann Arbor Film Festival, one of the oldest independent film fests in the country. A panel of faculty filmmakers talking about filmmakers will follow. Featured will be Christina Cornejo, Ann Curran, Pierre Desir, David Gatten, and Rob Hahn from the Roy H. Park School of Communications.

The Cinema on the Edge series is supported by the James B. Pendleton Endowment of the Park School, with additional support from the Ithaca College Center for the Study of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity; the Central New York Programmers Group; and the New York State Council on the Arts. For more information call 274-7003.