Clemson World Cinema begins public screenings

Forget asking your friends for their Netflix passwords, because you’ve been invited to a premiere film festival that touches your heart but not your bank account. Clemson University students – engineers, philosophers, microbiologists, you name it – are welcome to join us as some very passionate students enjoy some classic films.

From October 21 through early December, a World Cinema Creative Inquiry course compiled a diverse and challenging selection of films, including “Halloween.”,“”Summer of the soul,” “Your Name.” and “Mad Max: Fury Road” in screenings open to the public.

At each screening, audience members receive program notes that include a student-written introduction to the film explaining why they chose that particular film.

If you get there early enough, maybe, just maybe, you can shake the hand of Professor John Smith himself, the coordinator of this project and director of the Department of World Cinema here at Clemson.

To provide insight into the theme of “From the Archives,” Smith explained, “We want to show older films that people maybe didn’t know about or hadn’t seen in a long time.” We want to raise questions about what’s in the archives Archives may be missing.”

Furthermore, “we want to show how films themselves can be archived; “Scream” is a horror film about horror films. And we want people to think about how the experience of watching movies has changed over time.”

In November, students will be invited to a screening of a 35mm print of Ingmar Bergman’s 1957 film “The Seventh Seal” to get a taste of the cinematic experience of yesteryear. Programmed and curated entirely by Clemson World Cinema students, this series offers a unique campus experience: students from diverse disciplines are brought together by their shared love of cinema.

Regarding the students involved in this project, Smith notes, “I think they have programmed a series that celebrates the shared experience of going to the movies, an experience that I think is sometimes lost on us.”

There’s something for everyone in the archives, so grab a friend and some snacks, plan a few hours, and let yourself be whisked away.