Ackland Film Forum: “Being There” (Hal Ashby, 1979)
About the Film:
Chance, an unworldly gardener mistaken for a genius of political policy, is one of the most curious characters in American cinema. Director Hal Ashby’s film features a tour de force performance by actor Peter Sellers, with the excellent Shirley MacLaine and Melvin Douglas as supporting cast.
The film will be introduced by Rick Warner, associate professor of English and Comparative Literature and Director of Film Studies.
About the Series:
Join the Ackland Film Forum every Tuesday evening in October for Politics on Film, a timely series featuring five American films that explore the rise to political fame and power. The series will include A Face in the Crowd (Kazan, 1957), Medium Cool (Wexler, 1969), Being There (Ashby, 1979), Election (Payne, 1999), and Chisholm ’72: Unbought and Unbossed (Lynch, 2004).
All films will be screened at 7:30 p.m. at the Varsity Theatre (123 E. Franklin Street). Tickets are free, but must be reserved on the Ackland’s website. UNC-Chapel Hill students can receive CLE credit for attending by scanning the QR code at the event.
The Fall 2024 Ackland Film Forum series Politics on Film is co-organized by the Ackland Art Museum and UNC Film Studies, housed in the UNC-Chapel Hill Department of English and Comparative Literature.