Film series: Stories in Motion—A Migrations Film Series
In collaboration with Cornell Cinema, the Migrations Program brings to you three unforgettable stories of courage, loss, and hope. These films center extraordinary stories of ordinary individuals risking everything in search of a better life.
Across cultures, borders, and oceans, through danger and dreams, these films bear witness to the human spirit in motion and go beyond the headlines to offer a lens on the human experience of migration.
All events are free and open to the public. The Migrations Program is part of the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, and the Mellon Foundation’s Just Futures Initiative.
Featuring:
Cinema Pe Cinema: The Theatres. The Movies. And Us
Wednesday, September 30, at 6:00pm
The documentary Cinema Pe Cinema: The Theatres. The Movies. And Us (2024) explores the past, present, and futures of single-screen cinemas across India. While migrating films, designs, and technologies shaped these theatres, so have migrations of their people from cinema artists to owners and audiences. Symbols of family, community, and national pride, cinemas are also flashpoints for longstanding controversies over politics, sexuality, and rights to the city.
Film director and screen writer Vani Subramanian, New Delhi, and producer and researcher Mary N. Woods, Professor Emerita, Department of Architecture, Cornell University, will join for a post-screening conversation.
Free admission! Cosponsored by the South Asia Program and the Migrations Program at the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies.
Unseen
Wednesday, October 28, at 6:00pm
But as a blind, undocumented immigrant, Pedro faces political restrictions to obtain his college degree, secure a job in his field, and support his family. Directed by queer, undocumented filmmaker, writer, and community organizer Set Hernandez, Unseen is a visually innovative, audio-centric documentary that reimagines the accessibility of cinema, while exploring the intersections of immigration, disability, and mental health.
Filmmaker Set Hernandez will join for a post-screening conversation with Ezra Brown, Clinical Teaching Fellow at the Immigration Law & Advocacy Clinic, and Krsna Avila, Legal Director of the Clinic's Path2Papers Project.
Free admission! Sponsored by Cornell Law School Immigration Law & Advocacy Clinic, Migration and Human Rights Program, the Migrations Program in the Einaudi Center for International Studies, and Cornell Law School Berger International Speaker Series.
One in a Million
Tuesday, November 10, at 6:00pm
Filmed over ten years, One in a Million follows Israa from childhood to adulthood on an extraordinary journey from war-torn Syria to Germany — and back again. We first meet her at age 11 as she and her family prepare to cross the Aegean Sea, risking everything in search of safety and a better life in Europe.
What unfolds is a deeply personal chronicle of war, exile, and heartbreak, as Israa grows up navigating adolescence, identity, and belonging far from the home she was forced to leave.
Free admission! Sponsored by the Migrations Program and the Southwest Asia and North Africa Program at the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies.
Special thanks to Katie Fiorella, Kathi Colen Peck, Daniel Bass, Ezra Louis Brown, Gretchen Hanson, Jaclyn Kelley-Widmer, and Mary N. Woods.
