Eve’s Bayou Dir. Kasi Lemmons, 1997 Introduced by new faculty member Prof. Daelena Tinnin-Gadson, English & Comparative Literature A Southern Gothic thriller/coming-of-age drama set in 1960s Louisiana, Kasi Lemmons’ first feature film follows a young girl (Jurnee Smollett) as she grapples with new knowledge of her charismatic father’s (Samuel L. Jackson) philandering. With its layered…

Ring Dir. Hideo Nakata, 1998 Co-sponsored by Carolina Asia Center and presented at the Nelson Mandela Auditorium, FedEx Global Education Center, 301 Pittsboro St, Chapel Hill Introduced by Chapel Hill Film Society This small, modestly budgeted Japanese film caused an international sensation and inspired countless sequels, remakes, and rip-offs. Produced before “viral video” was a…

The Double Life of Véronique Dir. Krzysztof Kieślowski, 1991 Introduced by Prof. Gregory Flaxman, English & Comparative Literature The most visually stunning film in our series this semester, The Double Life of Véronique concerns the intersecting lives of two women who are unknown to one another: a French music teacher and a Polish singer who…

The Double Life of Véronique Dir. Krzysztof Kieślowski, 1991 Introduced by Prof. Gregory Flaxman, English & Comparative Literature The most visually stunning film in our series this semester, The Double Life of Véronique concerns the intersecting lives of two women who are unknown to one another: a French music teacher and a Polish singer who…

The Legend of Drunken Master (also known as Drunken Master II) Dir. Lau Kar-leung, 1994 Co-sponsored by Carolina Asia Center and presented at the Nelson Mandela Auditorium, FedEx Global Education Center, 301 Pittsboro St, Chapel Hill Introduced by Prof. Rick Warner, English & Comparative Literature, Director of Film Studies Jackie Chan, the most highly skilled…

Hear from filmmaker Fox Maxy (Mesa Grande Band of Mission Indians and Payómkawish) in a conversation at the Varsity Theatre and see Maxy’s film Gush (2023). Maxy is a San Diego-based artist and filmmaker whose work has screened at Sundance, MoMA, and Melbourne International Film Festival among others. Her feature film debut Gush, which premiered…

Before the start of this evening's Politics on Film screening, local volunteers will be on site at the Varsity Theatre to register folks to vote in this fall's election, which will be held on Nov 5, 2024. Learn more about voter registration on the Carolina Votes webpage or on the North Carolina State Board of…

About the Film: The film debut of North Carolina’s own Andy Griffith, Elia Kazan’s A Face in the Crowd tells the story of Arkansas drifter Larry “Lonesome” Rhodes, who rises to national attention after radio journalist Marcia Jeffries (Patricia Neal) gives him a stint on the air. A brutal critique of celebrity populism, Kazan’s film…

Before the start of this evening's Politics on Film screening, local volunteers will be on site at the Varsity Theatre to register folks to vote in this fall's election, which will be held on Nov 5, 2024. Learn more about voter registration on the Carolina Votes webpage or on the North Carolina State Board of…

About the Film: Renowned cinematographer Haskell Wexler (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966); In the Heat of the Night (1967)) directed this film about a cynical Chicago TV news reporter (Robert Forster). Wexler anticipated the protests and riots outside the 1968 Democratic National Convention and wrote them into the script, resulting in a startling fusion…