This week kicked off the first screenings of the international film festival, a brand-new event held at Arkansas Tech University. An effort put together by the Department of English and World Languages and the Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center, the film festival is free to students, faculty, and staff, and open to the public.
The series kicked off Tuesday, March 8, with a screening of the German-language film Mostly Martha. At the times listed here, the film festival will present two films from a country that represents each of the languages taught at ATU: German, Japanese, Spanish, and French.
The project is manned by Systems Librarian Philippe Van Houtte and Dr. Nelson Ramírez, coordinator of the world languages portion of the English and World Languages department at Tech. Film suggestions were supplied by the language instructors in their respective fields. While these instructors encourage their students to attend, any film buff or movie enthusiast not taking a language course is welcome to attend. Some of the films may be familiar, such as Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth (El Laberinto del Fauno) and the recent German-based film Woman in Gold, starring Helen Mirren and pre-Deadpool Ryan Reynolds. But while many students can appreciate a Miyazaki film from Japan, they may be pleasantly introduced to Satoshi Kon’s animated film Millennium Actress.
The library and English/World Languages department are eager to see how the public and student body receives this inaugural event, which is a great (free) way to expand one’s film repertoire beyond the scope of popular Hollywood cinema.
For more information about the international film festival, please visit this article written by the campus newspaper or see the library webpage for scheduled listings. Allons-y!
