The movie experience hits UHCL
Rosita Gomez
The Signal
The Oscars is set to air Feb. 26 and people are anxious to hear what films will win the honors. Instead of fighting over movie rentals to view the latest award-winning films, the Film and Speaker Series is the perfect ticket.
The series is a part of UHCL’s Cultural Arts program that operates out of the Student Life Office.
Andrew Reitberger, assistant director of student life, says the objective of the Film and Speaker Series is to “extend the movie experience and get students to engage in critical thinking.” The distinguished speakers present their knowledge of issues or subject matter addressed in each film. They will allow questions for intellectual conversation.
The 2012 series kicked off with “Ides of March” on Jan. 14, a film starring popular Hollywood stars Ryan Gosling and George Clooney. It follows Gosling’s character, a determined press secretary, as he becomes enveloped in the controversies leading to an Ohio presidential primary.
The film served as the perfect introduction to the Film and Speaker Series given the current presidential primaries and the fact that it is also nominated for an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.
The second film in the series, shown Jan. 21, was the humorous animated film “Puss in Boots.” Families were welcome to attend the show for free with at least one UHCL I.D. present, allowing for a night of laughter and enjoyment.
A 1980 documentary, “The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter,” discusses the necessity of women to enter the workforce despite that many before the World War II were not allowed employment due to their gender. It will be screened on March 1.
It is the first in the series to present distinguished speakers following the film; Angela Howard and Frances Kavenik are both experts of American women’s history.
Howard, also a professor of history at UHCL, said she plans to speak about “feminism and women in work from a historical perspective.”
“J. Edgar” will be next in line to be shown March 3. It is a biographical account of the infamous FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. The film examines Hoover’s career beginning with the historical Palmer Raids, and surveys his personal life in regard to his alleged homosexuality.
The speaker following “J. Edgar” is UHCL Assistant Professor of Criminology Tiffiney Barfield-Cottledge.
The next film, “The Descendants,” will be screened March 10. The film is creating Oscar buzz and is nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Editing and Best Adapted Screenplay. It stars actor George Clooney, who plays a father who must deal with the grief that follows his wife’s passing, the secrets of the past, and the challenges of the future as a single parent to his two children.
“The Descendants” will be followed by speaker Anjali Pinjala, a licensed professional counselor and executive director of the Child and Family Institute in Baytown; she specializes in adult depression, anxiety, grief and loss.
“Made in Dagenham” will be screened March 23. It pertains to the 1968 push toward women’s rights in the workplace and sheds light on the protest at the Ford Dagenham automobile plant. It is being shown in conjunction with Women’s Studies Week.
Elizabeth Klett, assistant professor of literature at UHCL, is the distinguished speaker for this film. Klett will focus on gender issues and the impact the protest in Dagenham had on the auto plant industry and women’s rights.
The final two films will be shown in April; exact dates are to be determined. They include “Coriolanus,” a Shakespeare play adaptation, and “The Iron Lady,” a biographical film about Margaret Thatcher, former prime minister of the United Kingdom.
“Coriolanus” will be shown courtesy of the UHCL literary society Sigma Tau Delta in conjunction with the Cultural Arts program.
“If a student group has a message they want to get out, they can get in contact with us,” said Sonia Hernandez, cultural arts assistant in charge of the Film and Speaker Series. “All films must have good production values and must address issues of social, cultural or historical significance.”
For more information on the Film and Speaker Series, visit www.uhcl.edu/movies. Show times are at 7 p.m. in the SSB Lecture Hall with the exception of “Rosie the Riveter,” which will be shown in the Forest Room, B1418.
Hernandez can be reached at movies@uhcl.edu.
Admission is $3.75 or free with a UHCL Student I.D.
