2016 Film Festival
Sponsored by University Libraries and in part by the Department of Student Life.
Selma
Friday, Jan. 29
8 p.m. in the Union Theatre
The film chronicles Martin Luther King’s campaign to secure equal voting rights via an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1965.
Of Civil Wrongs and Rights: The Fred Korematsu Story
Monday, Feb. 1
Noon in the Union Theatre
The award-winning documentary that tells the story of Fred Korematsu, a Japanese American man who resisted internment, eventually facing (and losing in) the Supreme Court.
New Muslim Cool
Thursday, Feb. 4
Noon in the Union Theatre
Puerto Rican-American rapper Hamza Pérez pulled himself out of drug dealing and street life 12 years ago and became a Muslim. Now he's moved to Pittsburgh's tough North Side to start a new religious community, rebuild his shattered family and take his message of faith to other young people through hard-hitting hip-hop music. But when the FBI raids his mosque, Hamza must confront the realities of the post-9/11 world, and himself.
Finding the Gold Within
Free Chick-fil-A compliments of University Libraries
Friday, Feb. 5
8 p.m. in the Union Theatre
Finding the gold within provides a rare, intimate look into the lives of six young black men from Akron, Ohio, each of whom is determined to disprove society's stereotypes and low expectations. The film follows the six as they make the challenging transition from high school through their first years of college. Along the way, they are faced with a variety of unexpected difficulties, from personal and family problems to overt racism. Each draws strength from a groundbreaking mentoring program for adolescents, Alchemy, Inc., which has been their second 'family' since sixth grade.
FOLLOWING THE FILM
Following the film, one of the protagonists, Stacee Star, will moderate a Q&A. Star, an Akron native, is studying Communications with a concentration in organizational communication at Kent State University. He currently stands as student advisor for "Epic", a campus organization focused on breaking down social, political, and cultural barriers through artistic expression.
Precious Knowledge
Monday, Feb. 8
Noon in the Union Theatre
While 48 percent of Mexican-American students currently drop out of high school, Tucson (Ariz.) High School’s Mexican American Studies Program has become a national model of educational success, with 93 percent of enrolled students graduating from high school. However, Arizona lawmakers [state school superintendents Tom Horne and John Huppenthal and Gov. Jan Brewer] have shut the program down.
Brothers of the Black List
Tuesday, Feb. 9
Noon in the Union Theatre
September 4, 1992: An elderly woman in a small town in upstate New York reports an attempted rape by a young black man who cut his hand during the altercation. While looking for suspects, police contact officials at SUNY Oneonta, New York, a nearby college, and a school administrator reacts by handing over a list of names and residences of 125 black male students. For the next several days, those students are tracked down and interrogated by various police departments under a presumption of guilty until proven innocent. In Brothers of the Black List, director Sean Gallagher tracks this story of racism that became the longest litigated civil rights case in American history.
Stop
Wednesday, Feb. 10
Noon in the Union Theatre
STOP is a feature length documentary the Floyd v City of New York, the class –action lawsuit that challenged the New York City Police Department’s practice of stop & frisk, and resulted in the landmark decision finding the practice unconstitutional. STOP follows three years in the life of David Ourlicht, one of the four named plaintiffs in Floyd vs. City of New York. By interweaving the story of David's family with the action around the trial, STOP places the stop and frisk controversy in the context of a long history of civil rights.
The African American Dream: Historical Perspectives in Today’s Society
Thursday, Feb. 11
Noon in the Union Theatre
In the spring of 1963, Dr. Kenneth B. Clark, a professor of psychology at the City College of New York, interviewed Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Minister Malcolm X, and author James Baldwin, respectively, in order to examine and discuss the racial climate of America. The resulting program, The Negro and the American Promise, is a thought-provoking film depicting the varying perspectives of three passionate, powerful leaders in the Black community.
Sponsored by the Drs. Nicholas & Dorothy Cummings Center for the History of Psychology
Anita: Speaking Truth to Power
Friday, Feb. 12
Noon in the Union Theatre
A profile of Anita Hill, the African-American lawyer who challenged Clarence Thomas' nomination to the US Supreme Court and thus exposed the problem of sexual harassment to the world.
Sponsored by the School of Law