California State University, Fresno

Cineculture continues to be a film series provided as a service to the Fresno State campus students, faculty, and staff at no charge. However, anyone interested in taking Cineculture for academic credit for the Fall semester, please sign up through Continuing and Global Education: tel. 278-0333

September 7
Darwin's Nightmare (2004).
(in English, Russian and Swahili, with English subtitles). 107 min. Not rated. Dir. Hubert Sauper.
"Hubert Sauper's staggering documentary is essential viewing on the survival of two ruthlessly fittest species: the Nile perch, which quickly annihilated almost all other fish life in Tanzania's Lake Victoria after its artificial introduction in the '60s, and the omnivorous beast known as winner-take-all global capitalism. Cargo planes descend on the region with weaponry-apparently to restock nearby civil wars-and leave for Europe with loads of Nile perch while the AIDS-racked local population hovers on the brink of starvation. Sauper's stoically despondent film leaves little doubt that globalization's losers are slaves by any other name."
Jessica Winter VILLAGE VOICE

Post-screening discussant: Phillip Vieira (CSUF student)

September 14
Killer of Sheep (2007) (co-sponsored by Fresno Filmworks, shown at Tower Theater)
Directed by Charles Burnett. Not rated. 87 min.
Tower Theater, 815 E. Olive Avenue, Fresno, tickets $10 general, $8 for students and senior citizens.

"Killer of Sheep represents the highest example of contemporary black American life put on screen because of Burnett's integrity to view it purely, without typical corrupted Hollywood devices."
- ARMOND WHITE, FILM COMMENT

"Killer of Sheep is one of the most striking debuts in movie history and an acknowledged landmark in African-American film."
- TERRENCE RAFFERTY, GQ

Post Screening Discussants: Kehindi Solwazi and Gerry Bill (faculty at Fresno City College)

September 21
Blossoms of Fire (2000) (co-sponsored by Tamejavi Festival)
Directors: Maureen Gosling and Ellen Osborne. Not rated. 75 min. "Blossoms of Fire is a dazzling, whirling dance of a film that celebrates the extraordinary lives of the Isthmus Zapotecs of southern Oaxaca, Mexico, whose strong work ethic and fierce independent streak rooted in their culture, have resulted not only in powerful women but also in the region's progressive politics and their unusual tolerance of alternative gender roles." Maureen Gosling

Post Screening Discussant: Film director, Maureen Gosling

September 28
Ama-La memoria del tiempo (2003).
Dir. Daniel Flores y Ascencio. 63 min. In Spanish w/English subtitles. Not rated.
This film relays the story of an episode in Salvadoran history known as La Matanza. The film tells the story of José Feliciano Ama, a leader of the Izalcos, part of the Nahua-Pipil nation in what is now the western part of El Salvador, whose family survived the genocide of 1932. Responding to a nationwide call for revolt to vindicate long-standing grievances against racism and class exploitation, Jose Feliciano Ama led an uprising which was followed by a ruthless campaign of revenge where over 30,000 peasants and indigenous people were butchered by the Salvadoran military in a genocidal campaign designed to wipe out indigenous dress, languages and cultural traditions. Using the oral history traditions of the Izalcos, Flores y Ascencio offers a gripping first hand account of one of that nation's darkest historical moments as told through personal quest of 94 year-old Don Juan Ama, the nephew of Jose Feliciano Ama. Don Juan Ama hopes to restore the Izalco family and tribal dignity, as well as his peoples' cultural heritage in a country struggling with competing ideals surrounding national development, identity and democracy.

Post Screening Discussant: Film director, Daniel Flores y Ascencio

October 5
Born into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids (2004)
Directed by Ross Kauffman and Zana Briski. 85 min. (Bengali and English, w/English subtitles). Rated R for strong language. Born into Brothels is the winner of the 77th annual Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. A tribute to the resiliency of childhood and the restorative power of art, this film is a portrait of several unforgettable children who live in the red light district of Calcutta, India, where their mothers work as prostitutes. Zana Briski, a New York-based photographer, gives each of the children a camera and teaches them to look at the world with new eyes.

Post-screening discussant: Joan Sharma (Associate Professor, Art Department, Fresno State)

October 12
12:08 East of Bucharest (2006) (Co-sponsored by Fresno Filmworks)
5pm and 8pm, Tower Theater, 815 E. Olive Avenue, Fresno, tickets $10 general, $8 for students and senior citizens.
Directed by Corneliu Porumboiu. 89 min. Romanian w/ English subtitles. Not rated. A local TV station hosts a questionable debate on whether it's town actually revolted prior to the disposition of Ceausescu, resulting in the residents revolting in microcosm (from their armchairs) in this off kilter East European comedy. Winner of the Camera d'Or Prize (for best first film) at Cannes. 12:08 refers to the time of day at which Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceau_escu fled following the Romanian Revolution of 1989.

October 19
The Education of Shelby Knox (2005)
Directed by Marion Lipschutz and Rose Rosenblatt. 76 min. Not rated.
Shelby Knox is a politically conservative, deeply religious, Southern Baptist teenager who joins the Lubbock Youth Commission, a group of high school students representing a youth voice in city government. When the teens confront Lubbock's sexual health crisis and campaign for comprehensive sex education, Shelby throws herself into the fight with missionary fervor, struggling to reconcile her newfound political beliefs with her conservative religious views. When the campaign broadens to include a fight for a gay-straight alliance, Shelby must confront her family and pastor in this coming-of-age story. 2005 Sundance Award (Excellence in Cinematography, Documentary Category).

Post-screening discussant: Patsy Montgomery (Fresno Planned Parenthood Mar Monte Public Affairs Director)

October 26
The A-bomb (2006)
Directed by Amir Huda. 70 min. Not rated. English and Japanese w/English subtitles.
This is the first part of a two-part documentary originally intended as a teaching tool for students in the Biomedical Physics Program (http://medicalphysics.csufresno.edu) at Fresno State. It explores the immediate after effects of A-bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It includes interviews with scientists and survivors and looks at our paradigm of knowledge and responsibility. This first part explains the acute radiation syndrome and the technical elements involved in the release of energy of the A-bombs. Part of the interviews are in English and the rest in Japanese with subtitles.

Post-screening discussant: Film director, Amir Huda (Associate Professor, Physics Dept., Fresno State)

November 2
Bowling for Columbine (2002)
Directed by Michael Moore. 120 min. Rated R for some violent images and language.
In this Oscar-winning documentary, Moore's discussions with various people, including South Park co-creator Matt Stone, the National Rifle Association's then-president Charlton Heston, and musician Marilyn Manson, he seeks to explain why the Columbine massacre occurred and why the United States has a higher number of violent crimes, especially crimes involving guns. The film looks into the nature of violence in the United States, focusing on guns as a symbol of both American freedom and its self-destruction.
Post-screening discussant: Joe Parks (CSUF Professor, Kremen School of Education)

November 3
Close to Home (2005)

"The film shows the everyday life of two young Israeli women soldiers on military service in their home town Jerusalem. There is pressure from above, rebellion against it, knuckling under because of convenience or out of a sense of duty and above all bending the rules wherever it is possible, which is probably true of any army. What's special about this film are the two convincing actresses who present their everyday life in an entertaining manner. They are on patrol in Jerusalem and make checks on Palestinians, but what they are most concerned with are the things most women of their age are concerned with: mobile phones, smoking, fashion, and boys. There is also an attack, the sort of event as a result of which Israel is usually present in our media."

November 9
(Co-sponsored with Fresno Filmworks)

Caught up in the political revolution sweeping France in the early 1970s, Fernando (Stefano Accorsi) and Marie (Julie Depardieu) reject the comforts of their bourgeois life and dedicate themselves full time to radical activism. This comes as a shock to their precocious nine year-old daughter, Anna (Nina Kervel), who struggles to understand her parents? newfound ideals. Brilliantly told from Anna?s perspective, this critically-acclaimed film by Julie Gavras captures the coming-of-age moment when children realize the contradictions of adulthood and have to make their own choices.

For more information call the Tower Theatre at (559) 485-9050 or FFW Info Line at (559) 221-0755

Advance tickets may be purchased online
or at the following locations:
* WineStyles in Fig Garden Village
* The Movies, 1435 N. Van Ness

November 10
Luna Fest (2007). (will be held in Satellite Student Union)
LUNAFEST is a national film festival that showcases
a diverse selection of short films by, for and about women. The films range from documentaries to animated shorts to dance narratives and cover topics such as women's health, body image, sexuality, spirituality, sports, relationships,
cultural diversity, breaking barriers and the environment. LUNAFEST was created to raise awareness about women's issues, highlight women filmmakers, bring women together in their communities and raise money for the Breast
Cancer Fund (http://www.breastcancerfund.org). It is an event created by LUNA®, the Whole Nutrition Bar for Women®. For more information about LUNAFEST: www.lunabar.com/lunafest

November 16
Invisible Children (2003)
Directed by Laren Poole and Jason Russell. 60 min. English and Arabic, w/English subtitles. Not rated.
Three college students from Southern California went to Uganda in search of a film-worthy adventure. Instead, they found a story that permanently changed their lives. In Northern Uganda, they encountered the thousands of children fleeing the brutality of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). They experienced first-hand the fear and pain that enslaves the Acholi people - fear of abduction, death, mutilation, rape and permanent separation from their families. This documentary tells the invisible children's story through interviews with Ugandan politicians, social workers, adults and the children themselves. Over the past 19 years, it is estimated that the LRA has abducted 20,000 children. In response, they started a non-profit organization called Invisible Children. Please check out their website at www.invisiblechildren.com for more information.

November 30
Thirst (2004)
Directed by Deborah Kaufman and Alan Snitow. 63 min. Not rated.
"By showing how activists in Stockton (CA), Cochabamba and India are all (to paraphrase a slogan coined by environmentalists) thinking globally but acting locally, Snitow and Kaufman give us a provocative look at the current and coming water wars. It is a war, with people on both sides determined to do what's necessary." San Francisco Chronicle

As revealed in "Thirst," the world is poised on the brink of epochal changes in how water is stored, used, and valued. Will these changes provide clean water to the billions of people who need it? Or save the child who dies every eight seconds from contaminated water? Examining water conflicts on three continents, "Thirst" shows that popular opposition to the privatization of water sparks remarkable coalitions that cross partisan lines. When it comes to water, many people demand local control and fear the arrival of multinational corporations with large lobbying budgets and little local loyalty.

Post-screening discussant: Lloyd Carter (Director, Revive the San Joaquin)

December 7
TBA

Cineculture Club promotes cultural awareness through film and post-screening discussion.