East Central University’s Eighth Annual Foreign Film Festival begins Friday with door prizes and the first of three films for the first three Fridays in the month of February.
Several local businesses are kicking in door prizes to support the festival at 4 p.m. on Fridays in February in the Raymond J. Estep Multimedia Center of the Bill S. Cole University Center. Admission is free and open to the public.
After each screening, audience members are given door prizes in the form of books, DVDs, food and works of art associated with the culture of the films featured in the festival. Additional door prizes have also been generously donated this year by Cinemark Ada, Delicias Mexican Restaurant, Hampton Inn Ada, Hot Shots Coffee House, Mojo’s Coffee Bar and Cafe, and Scraptopia.
ECU’s Foreign Film Festival is managed by ECU SCREENS, whose mission is to “bring memorable cinematic experiences to ECU, Ada, and the surrounding communities.” The Foreign Film Festival, in particular, aspires to awaken and encourage curiosity about global cultures and languages.
This year’s festival begins on Friday, Feb. 2 with Neruda, a Spanish-language film from Chile about a determined police inspector (Gael García Bernal) who is hunting Chilean poet Pablo Neruda (Luis Gnecco) after he goes into hiding in 1948. The film will be introduced by the director of ECU’s Spanish Language program, Dr. Errol King, who will be taking a group of ECU students to Mexico in March. This film is rated “R” for sexuality/nudity and is for mature audiences.
The Festival continues on Friday, Feb. 9 with The Black Monk, a recorded-live Russian-language stage production based on a short story by Anton Chekov about a philosophy student whose hallucinations fill him with joy and energy . . . until they lead to his ruin. The film will be introduced by Dr. Joshua Grasso, professor in ECU’s Department of English and Languages. This screening is made possible in part by ECU’s Russian Club and its sponsor, Dr. Mara Sukholutskaya. This film has not been rated.
The Festival concludes on Friday, Feb. 16 with Nise: The Heart of Madness, a Portuguese-language film based on the true story of a Brazilian psychiatrist in the 1950s who rejects electroshock therapy to treat schizophrenia and encourages her patients to create art. Before the screening, ECU SCREENS will host a panel discussion and question and answer session in the Estep that will feature: Dr. Marc Klippenstine, chair of ECU’s Department of Psychology; Dr. Regina Robertson, chair of ECU’s Department of Human Resources and Counseling; Sharon Cunningham, director of ECU’s Special Education program; and Sherri Chandler, an ECU alumnus who is now the Joint Commission Manager
for the Chickasaw Nation Medical Center. Nise contains some scenes of sexuality/nudity, but it has not received a rating from the Motion Picture Association of America.
ECU’s Foreign Film Festival is supported by the ECU Foundation, the Cultural Activities Committee and the Department of English and Languages. It relies on work provided by student volunteers from Sigma Tau Delta (ECU’s English Honors Society) and ECU’s Honors Student Association.
To learn more about ECU SCREENS and the spring schedule, like the ECU SCREENS Facebook page or visit www.ecuscreens.blogspot.com. Dr. Rebecca Nicholson-Weir, co-director of ECU SCREENS, may be contacted at (580) 559-5929 or rnichlsn@ecok.edu.
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