Friday, October 26, 2007

Selected New Acquisitions This Week

Fraggle rock: the complete first season - DVD 3291 - 3295
Eugene O'neill: a documentary - DVD 3290
Mark Twain - DVD 3289
The insurgency - DVD 3288
Tex Avery's Droopy - DVD 3280
Swiss family Robinson - DVD 3276

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Film Movement: a selection of recent international films

Film Movement is an ongoing series of films that have been selected by a panel of film festival curators to expose the work of important emerging international filmmakers. Three of these films will be screened here at American University over the next few weeks. Admission is free and the screenings are open to the public.

Following each film will be a discussion led by film scholar and AU professor Jeffrey Middents.
When: Wednesdays, 6 pm, Oct. 31, Nov. 7, Nov. 14

Where: The Oct. 31 and Nov. 14 screenings will be in Wechsler Theater, Mary Graydon Center - 3rd Floor, American University, 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW

The Nov. 7 screening will be in Ward 1, American University, 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW

Films to be screened this fall are:

Oct. 31 - Wechsler Theater
The Great Match (Gerardo Olivares. Spain)
The adventurous story of three soccer fans, none of whom have ever met, but who nevertheless have two things in common: first, they all live in the farthest-flung corners of the planet and, second, they are all determined to watch the TV broadcast of the 2002 World Cup final between Germany and Brazil. The protagonists in this “global” comedy are a family of Mongolian nomads, a camel caravan of Tuareg in the Sahara, and a group of Indios in the Amazon. They all live 300 miles away from the next town—and the next television—making their task a particularly daunting one. Nevertheless, these inventive people possess the resourcefulness and the willpower to achieve their goal.

Official Selection: Berlin International Film Festival; Seattle International Film Festival 2006; Sydney International Film Festival 2006; Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2006

Nov. 7 – Ward 1
Madeinusa (Claudia Llosa. Spain-Peru)
Madeinusa is a girl aged 14 with a sweet Indian face who lives in an isolated village in the Cordillera Blanca Mountain range of Peru. This strange place is characterized by its religious fervor. From Good Friday at three o’clock in the afternoon (the time of day when Christ died on the cross) to Easter Sunday, the whole village can do whatever it feels like. During the two holy days, sin does not exist: God is dead and can’t see what is happening. Everything is accepted and allowed, without remorse. Year after year, Madeinusa, her sister Chale, and her father Don Cayo—the Mayor and local big shot—maintain this tradition without questioning it. However, everything changes with the arrival in the village of Salvador, a young geologist from Lima, who will unknowingly change Madeinusa’s destiny.

Awards: Rotterdam International Film Festival; Mar Del Plata Film Festival 2006; Festival de Cine Español de Malaga 2006; Recontres d’Amerique Latine Toulouse 2006; Cine Ceará, Brasil.
Official Selection: Sundance International Film Festival; Seattle International Film Festival; Tribeca Film Festival

Nov. 14 - Wechsler Theater
Bothersome man (Jens Lien. Norway)
Forty-year-old Andreas arrives in a strange city with no memory of how he got there. He is presented with a job, an apartment—even a wife. But before long, Andreas notices that something is wrong. The people around him seem cut off from any real emotion, and communicate only in superficialities. The ominous “Caretakers,” who make sure the city runs smoothly, keep a close watch over Andreas when they realize he doesn’t fit in. Andreas makes an attempt to escape the city, or his life, but he discovers there’s no way out—not even suicide. Then Andreas meets Hugo, who has the same longings as himself. Hugo has found a crack in the wall in his cellar from which beautiful music streams out. In hopes that the crack leads to “the other side,” Andreas and Hugo hatch a new plan of escape.

Awards: Rotterdam International Film Festival; Hamptons International Film Festival 2006; Festival International de Cinema de Catalunya 2006; Brussels European Film Festival 2006

Official Selection: Cannes International Film Festival 2006; Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2006; Toronto International Film Festival 2006; London International Film Festival 2006; AFI Fest, Los Angeles 2006

Post-film discussion with Jeffrey Middents, Asst. Professor of Literature. Since arriving at AU in 2001, Prof. Middents has taught a wide variety of film courses on cinemas of Latin America, the film musical, the horror film, the movie star, short films, film criticism, and Pedro Almodóvar. He also advises the Cinema Studies minor within the Literature program.
Professor Middents' current book project is called Hablemos de cine peruano: Film Criticism and Peruvian National Cinema. He is also co-editing a volume of English translations of recent film writing from Latin America.
SPONSORS: Friends of the American University Library, the Center for Social Media and the American University Department of Literature.

INFORMATION:
Contact Chris Lewis, Media Librarian, AU Library, clewis@american.edu

Friday, October 19, 2007

Selected New Acquisitions This Week

Killer's kiss - DVD 3275
A clockwork orange - DVD 3274
Lolita - DVD 3273
Spartacus - DVD 3272
Paths of glory - DVD 3271
Twilight zone: the movie - DVD 3271
A civil action - DVD 3269
Mala noche=Bad night - DVD 3268

Monday, October 15, 2007

Crittercam Exhibit at National Geographic Museum

It's cute and cuddly for the kids, but it's also real science.
The idea is to attach cameras to animals to see what they do when we aren't around. New technology is quickly expanding this form of wildlife research. See video shot by animals themselves. August 31, 2007 - January 2, 2008 at the National Geographic. Media Services alumna Karen Buckley worked on this exhibit.

link- exhibit

link- crittercam

Friday, October 12, 2007

Selected New Acquisitions This Week

PBS' the war - DVD 3261-3266
Indiana Jones and the last crusade - DVD 3253
Indiana Jones and the temple of doom - DVD 3252
Indiana Jones and the raiders of the lost arc - DVD 3251
Elizabeth Edwards at American University Octover 2, 2007 - DVD 3279
Cane toads - DVD 3247
Robinson in Space - DVD 3243
London - DVD 3242
Can Mr. Smith get to Washington anymore? - DVD 3240
The women of Brewster Place - DVD 3230
Ten canoes - DVD 3229

New Filmography: Body Image

Body Image / Self Perception / Self Image Filmography
http://www.library.american.edu/subject/media/body_image.html

Friday, October 05, 2007

Selected New Acquisitions This Week

Two Trevors go to Washington - DVD 3190
What's up, Doc? - DVD 3177
The fountain - DVD 3176
Batman begins - DVD 3175
Gardens of stone - DVD 3174
Stranger than fiction - DVD 3173
A few good men - DVD 3171
Festen=The celebration - DVD 888

Monday, October 01, 2007

2007 Human Rights Film Series starts Wednesday, October 3

October 3 - November 8, 2007, the 8th Annual Human Rights Film Series showcases films that show how film and video can make a difference for human rights. Discussions with expert speakers follow all screenings.

NOTE:
All WCL screenings will take place at 6:00pm at the Washington College of Law campus: 4801 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC

All AU screenings will take place at at 5:30pm in the Wechsler Theater, 3rd Fl., Mary Graydon Center, American University main campus, 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC (unless otherwise noted).

All screenings are FREE and open to the public.

Encounter Point
by Ronit Avni (2006, 85 minutes)
Follow the unlikely journey of two Israelis and two Palestinians as they risk their lives and public standing to promote nonviolence in their communities. A true story about the everyday leaders who refuse to sit back as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict escalates.
WCL Oct 3 @ 6:00
AU Oct 4 @ 5:30

Devil’s Miner
by Kief Davidson and Richard Ladkani (2005, 82 minutes)
Fourteen-year-old Basilieo and his younger brother work in the mines of Cerro Rico in Bolivia, where devout Catholic miners sever their ties with God upon entering the mountain. Winner, Tribeca Film Festival Best Documentary Special Mention.
WCL Oct 17 @ 6:00
AU Oct 18 @ 5:30

Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars
by Zach Niles and Banker White (2005, 78 min.)
An inspiring story of survival and rebirth in the wake of the horrors of Sierra Leone’s Civil War, and a triumphant testament to the power of music. SXSW 2006 Film Festival Winner.
WCL Oct 24 @ 6:00
AU Nov 1 @ 5:30

Nov 8 @ 5:30pm
Katzen Arts Center
SPECIAL EVENT! Human Rights in a Time of War: An Evening with Ghosts of Abu Ghraib Award-Winning Producer Liz Garbus

Join us for a powerful evening as Fall 2007 Visiting Filmmaker Liz Garbus shares her experiences and answers your questions about the making of this provocative film. This event takes place against the backdrop of Fernando Botero’s startlingly barbaric exhibit, Botero: Abu Ghraib

Sponsored by the Washington College of Law’s Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law and the School of Communication’s Center for Social Media, in collaboration with the Center for Global Peace, the International Peace and Conflict Resolution Program, and the Office of the University Chaplain, all of American University.

Center for Environmental Filmmaking/Filmmakers for Conservation screenings at AU in October

Tuesday, Oct. 9, Rhett Turner will be discussing and screening his documentary on the ongoing honey bee crisis, Pollinators in Peril.

Tuesday, October 16, David Hamlin, an Emmy award-winning filmmaker at National Geographic TV, will discuss and screen films on wildlife, adventure and archaeology.

Tuesday, October 30, Kathy Milani from the Humane Society of the United States uses film and video to further the cause of animal rights.

All Shows are at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesdays in The Wechsler Theater, 3rd floor, Mary Graydon Center, American University,
4400 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20016. Admission is Free!

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