FILM & VIDEO FEST SHOWCASES "AMERICA THROUGH THE EYES OF THE WORLD
Emmy Award-winning filmmaker David Grubin will deliver the keynote address tonight at Old Dominion University's Fourth Annual Film and Video Festival, "America Through the Eyes of the World," which opened at 2 p.m. today with the film "Hester Street" and continues through April 6. The festival is sponsored by the university's Department of Communication and Theatre Arts.
"This year's theme is meant first and foremost to highlight the international themes and issues that Old Dominion as a university - the international university of Virginia - has been underscoring," said Gary Edgerton, chair of the department. To illustrate the festival theme, international films which deal with American characters, stories and themes will be featured.
Featured guest speakers for the Film Festival include Grubin, who will discuss his film "Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln: A House Divided;" producer, writer and children's psychologist Susan Linn with a program entitled "Different and the Same: Helping Children Identify and Prevent Prejudice," which aims to help children understand and prevent prejudice; VanDora Williams of WHRO-TV and Kelly Wright of WVBT-TV with a screening and discussion of the film, "Noble Desire: a Dialogue on Race and Reconciliation;" and Gene Cajayon, director and co-writer, and Patricio Ginelsa Jr., associate producer, with a discussion of their film "The Debut" following its premiere at the Naro Expanded Cinema.
For complete information on all the films, visit the festival Web site at http://web.odu.edu/filmfest or call 683-5174.
The schedule for this year's programs and films is as follows:
Sunday, April 1
- "Hester Street: A Jewish Immigration to American in the 1890s," featuring "Hester Street" (1974, 89 minutes), 2-5 p.m., 102 Mills Godwin Jr. Life Sciences Building
- Filmmaker David Grubin, "Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln: A House Divided," 7-10 p.m., 102 Mills Godwin Jr. Life Sciences Building
Monday, April 2
-"Homerun or Strikeout: Mr. Baseball Takes a Swing at the Japanese Culture," featuring "Mr. Baseball" (1992, 113 minutes),
9 a.m. to noon, Webb Center's Chesapeake/Portsmouth/Virginia Beach Rooms
- "Lunch at the Bagdad Café," featuring "Bagdad Café," noon to 2 p.m., Webb Center's Chesapeake/Portsmouth/Virginia Beach Rooms
- "Games People Everywhere Play: Global Television Formats, American Markets and National Identity," a discussion of the hit reality-television series "Survivor," 3-5 p.m., Webb Center's Chesapeake/Portsmouth/Virginia Beach Rooms
- Producer, writer and children's psychologist Susan Lynn, "Different and the Same: Helping Children Identify and Prevent Prejudice," 7-10 p.m., 104 Batten Arts and Letters Building
- "America: What's the Beauty?", featuring "American Beauty" (1999, 121 minutes), 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., Webb Center's James/Potomac River Rooms
Tuesday, April 3
- "Noble Desire: A Dialogue on Race and Reconciliation," 12:30-2:45 p.m., 104 Batten Arts and Letters Building
- "Redefining Marital Expectations," featuring "Honey and Ashes" (1996, 80 minutes), 3-5 p.m., Webb Center's James/Potomac River Rooms
- "Disney Presents America: A Critical Overview," featuring "Saludos Amigos" (1943, 45 minutes), 4-7 p.m., 104 Batten Arts and Letters Building
- "The America of the Mind: Elia Kazan's 'America, America'," featuring "America, America" (1963, 168 minutes), 7:30-10 p.m., Virginia Wesleyan College, Blocker Science Auditorium
- "Missing: The Death of Charles Horman in Chile," featuring "Missing" (1983, 122 minutes), 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., 102 Mills Godwin Jr. Life Sciences Building
Wednesday, April 4
- "Film and Television on the Web: The Digital Revolution," 10-11:30 a.m., Webb Center's Chesapeake/Portsmouth Rooms
- "Europe's Last Horizon: Volker Schlondorff's Voyager and the Americanization of Max Frisch's 'Homo Faber'," featuring "Voyager (Homo Faber)" (1991, 113 minutes), 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., Webb Center's Chesapeake/Portsmouth Rooms
- "Hardboiled New Wave: Godard's Breathless," featuring "Breathless" (1959, 89 minutes), 4-7 p.m., 104 Batten Arts and Letters Building
- "College Night at the Chrysler Museum," featuring "Mississippi Masala" (1991, 110 minutes), 7-10 p.m., Chrysler Museum
Thursday, April 5
- "Escape to Paradise: Giuseppe Tornatore's 'Cinema Paradiso'," featuring "Cinema Paradiso" (1989, 125 minutes), 10 a.m. to noon, Regent University Library Auditorium, 2nd Floor
- "Mangia, Mangia: 'Big Night' and the Italian-American Experience in Film and Food," featuring "Big Night" (1996, 109 minutes), 3-6 p.m., Webb Center's James/Potomac River Rooms
- "The Debut," with commentary by writer/director Gene Cajayon and associate producer Patricio Ginelsa Jr., 7-9:30 p.m., Naro Expanded Cinema, 1507 Colley Ave., Norfolk (Admission is $6.)
Friday, April 6
- "Student Works in Progress," noon to1 p.m., Webb Center's James/Potomac River Rooms
- "Filmmakers' Master Class," 2-5 p.m., Old Dominion's Stables Theatre
All festival events are free and open to the public, except Thursday night's presentation at the Naro.