Four fascinating films open this week: The Vasulka Effect (sold out); Wong Kar Wai’s second, hypnotic film, Days of Being Wild; Shiraz: A Romance of India, a recently restored silent film, featuring new music by Anoushka Shankar, about the romantic tale behind the creation of the Taj Mahal; and Her Socialist Smile, an experimental documentary about Helen Keller and her lifelong advocacy for progressive causes.
The latter film toys with form and sensory deprivation to create a portrait of Helen Keller, beginning with her first public appearance. It’s a marvelous piece of agitprop that serves as a reminder of Keller’s activism for labor rights, pacifism, and women’s suffrage, in addition to her work for the rights of the disabled. We will be hosting a Q&A with Her Socialist Smile’s director, John Gianvito, on Wednesday, March 10 at 7:30pm. Those who RSVP for the film will be automatically registered for the Zoom discussion, but if you’ve seen the film or just want to catch the Q&A, you can register here.
We’re also opening up reservations for three new films this week! Wong Kar Wai’s exceptional film, Fallen Angels, is first up, capturing some of the magic of what it felt like to be a teenager in the 90s: young and alone in a neon-lit city. Also available is Three Summers, a new Brazilian class dramedy centering on the plucky opportunism of a housemaid whose boss has been arrested on corruption charges, leaving her with no income but the keys to a sprawling vacation condo. Finally, Sky Hopinka’s maɬni—towards the ocean, towards the shore (pictured) is an experimental documentary circling the Origin of Death myth from the Chinookan people of the Pacific Northwest.
That’s all from us, but there’s one other film event on campus you might be interested in! The Digital Due Process Clinic, a clinical research program at Cornell, is hosting a screening of the documentary Coded Bias, about the legislative and criminal justice fallout from the MIT Media Lab’s discovery that facial recognition tech does not accurately map dark-skinned faces. They’ll be hosting a discussion with the director, Shalini Kantayya, on Thursday, March 11 at 7pm. You can register for that film/discussion here.
Finally, if you’ve been enjoying our free Virtual Cinema screenings this year, please think of us during Cornell’s Giving Day, coming up this Thursday, March 11!
