January 20, 2009

Student group sponsoring film/discussion series

by Andrea Hahn

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Philm, a student group billing itself as a “philosophy and film club,” brings watching a movie and then discussing it with friends to a whole new level this semester.

The group offers a free film screening in the Student Center Auditorium, followed by an in-depth discussion led by a scholar with particular interest in an area highlighted by the film. The overall theme is “Propaganda and Politics.”

The first film on the schedule, set for Wednesday, Jan. 21, is “The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara.” The Oscar-winning 2003 documentary, directed by Errol Morris, uses interviews with McNamara, who was secretary of defense for the Kennedy and Johnson administrations and later president of the World Bank, to highlight some of the key moments of the 20th Century, with particular attention to the war in Vietnam. Philosophy professor Kenneth Stikkers leads the after-film discussion. The movie begins at 7:15 p.m. in the Student Center Auditorium.

Here is the rest of the schedule:

Feb. 4 -- “Bob Roberts” (1992) -- a satire written, directed by and starring Tim Robbins

Feb. 18 -- “Alexander Nevsky” (1938) -- an historical drama

March 4 -- “Bamboozled” (2000) -- a Spike Lee-directed satire

March 16 -- “La Chinoise” (1967) -- an exploration of young revolutionaries directed by Jean-Luc Godard

April 1 -- “The Lives of Others” (2006) -- Set before the fall of the Berlin Wall and directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

April 15 -- “Triumph of the Will” (1935) -- Arguably the most famous propaganda film ever, this “documentary,” commissioned by Hitler himself, features the 1934 Nuremberg Party Rally

April 29 -- “Apocalypse Now Redux” (Extended cut, 2001) -- The famous Francis Ford Coppola war movie set during the Vietnam War

Note: All film nights sponsored by Philm begin at 7:15 p.m. in the Student Center Auditorium. There is no admission fee