CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The fall film series sponsored by the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities will comprise a variety of films that have only one thing in common: They didn't attract large audiences during their initial showings early in the series' 10-year history and deserve second screenings, according to Christine Catanzarite, senior associate director at IPRH and organizer of the series.
This year is the 10th anniversary for the film series, which usually is organized around IPRH's annual theme, but Catanzarite decided to "take this opportunity to look back at some past films and give them another opportunity to reach a broader campus and local audience."
The series will begin on Oct. 7 with a screening of "Fast, Cheap and Out of Control," a 1997 documentary by Oscar-winning director Errol Morris about four people obsessed with their unusual careers as a topiary gardener, a wild animal trainer, an expert on the behaviors of the naked mole rat and a robot engineer.
Working with Oscar-winning cinematographer Robert Richardson ("Casino," "JFK") and using a variety of formats - including black-and-white footage, Super 8 and cartoons - the filmmaker interweaves portraits of four unique people in a film that explores creativity and is at times weird, moving, hilarious and sad.
The rest of the film series:
- Oct. 28, "Night of the Living Dead," the 1968 horror film directed by George A. Romero and starring Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea and Karl Hardman, was destined to become a cult classic. The low-budget, black-and-white film about flesh-eating zombies that overtake Pittsburgh has spawned numerous sequels, remakes and imitators - none of which surpass the original, according to Catanzarite.
- Nov. 11, "Thirteen Conversations About One Thing," 2001, directed/written by Jill Sprecher and starring Alan Arkin, Clea DuVall, Amy Irving, Matthew McConaughey and John Turturro. A drama inspired by Sprecher's personal experiences with random acts of violence weaves together a series of vignettes about five New Yorkers and the effects that dramatic and mundane events have on their lives.
The films - free and open to the public - will begin at 5:30 p.m. in Room 62 of Krannert Art Museum, 500 E. Peabody Drive, Champaign.
For more information, visit the IPRH website at www.iprh.illinois.edu, or contact Catanzarite at catanzar@illinois.edu.
Film titles and screening dates for the spring semester will be announced on the IPRH website in January.
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