Local theaters and free on-campus sneak previews aren’t the only places to see good movies in a theatrical setting.
Thanks to a few on-campus film series, students can enjoy the experience of watching great films without going far from home - and for free.
Every Thursday a new film is shown free of charge as part of the American Thought and Language Film Series at 7:30 p.m. in B-106 Wells Hall.
“The ATL Film Series has quite a long heritage, going back all the way to 1992,” said Erik Lunde, an ATL professor. “I have been teaching film for a long time, and I am very thrilled with this year’s series.”
Each semester, a department chooses a theme for all the films. This semester’s theme is “Mexican-Americans on Film.”
“The series never used to have a theme until last year, when we decided to change it,” said Kay Rout, an ATL professor and head of the film series. “We are thinking of making next semester’s theme ‘terrorism.’”
Kicking off the series Sept. 21, the ATL department showed “Mi Familia,” a drama starring Jimmy Smits, Edward James Olmos and Esai Morales. The series has shown movies like “El Mariachi” and “Zoot Suit” in the last two weeks.
Still scheduled to premiere are “Lone Star” on Oct. 12, “Mi Vida Loca” on Oct. 19, “Selena” on Oct. 26, and a double show with “Food for the Ancestors” and “Like Water for Chocolate” on Nov. 2 in what the department is calling their “Day of the Dead Double-Feature.”
The ATL department doesn’t operate the only film series on campus; the MSU Libraries have a Friday night film series that will run through the end of the semester. The series does not have a specific theme.
The first film this semester, “The Long Goodbye,” stars Elliot Gould and will be shown at 7 p.m. Oct. 20. in W-449 Main Library.
The series will then go on to show two more films before the end of this semester, including the Academy Award-winning 1963 period piece “Tom Jones” on Nov. 3 and Tony Kaye’s “American History X” on Dec. 1.
Each film is followed by a discussion led by a professor. The MSU Libraries provides online information about the featured professors and discussions at www.lib.msu.edu/events/films.htm.
Leading the discussion on “American History X” will be Carl Taylor, a family and child ecology professor.
“The film is very powerful and penetrating,” Taylor said. “It reflects race attitudes and most of the time that is a very taboo subject.
“Last year, I led the discussion after the showing of ‘Menace II Society’ and learned that the discussion can go whatever way the audience wants to take it. It really depends on them when trying to figure out what direction the discussion will go. I like to have a very open discussion.”
Campus is still not limited to only these two film series - the Native American Faculty and Staff Association, the ATL department and the Native American Institute are bringing the fourth annual Native American Film Series to life starting Nov. 12 and running through March.
The first film shown, Sandra Osawa’s 1995 “Lighting the Seventh Fire,” will also be held in W-449 Main Library at 7 p.m. Nov. 12.
This series’ films are also free to the public, but the groups are asking the audience to consider donating non-perishable food items for the MSU Student Food Bank.
Before each film, there will be a 10 minute introduction and a set of viewer response questions. A brief discussion will follow to examine how the films depict rituals, ceremonies and other aspects of Native American life.
The list of on-campus film series showing this semester continues to go on. Other film series include a Monday night international relations series and a Friday night romance languages series.
