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Sergei Loznitsa’s Donbass: A Chimera of War

Posted on by Establishing Shot

Still from Donbass
Still from Donbass

Guest post by Nataliya Shpylova-Saeed.

This year the Ukrainian Homelands Series explores memory as one of the central elements for facilitating transcultural and transnational conversation regarding what we know about our own selves and others, what we remember, and what we forget. Sergei Loznitsa’s Donbass (2018) opens this year’s series: this film emphasizes the topic of war, trauma, and memory from the perspective of the present moment. Donbass is directed by the renowned director Sergei Loznitsa, who was invited to IU in the summer of 2018. For this film, which was co-produced by Germany, Ukraine, France, the Netherlands, and Romania, Loznitsa received the 2018 Un Certain Regard Award for Best Director at Cannes. Donbass was also selected by Ukraine for the 2019 Oscar race for Best Foreign Language Film. With Donbass, we initiate a conversation about how the military conflict in Eastern Ukraine develops and what contributes to the escalation of political and diplomatic tension between Russia and Ukraine. As the film shows, the conflict originates not only in political ambitions and different visions of the past and the future that the two countries may seem to engage in — the conflict is nourished by manipulative techniques that shape memory and consciousness. (more…)

The Realistic Surrealism of Harold Lloyd

Posted on by Jesse Pasternack

Harold Lloyd, comedy star of the Silent Era.
Harold Lloyd, comedy star of the Silent Era.

There are many pleasures to be found in silent comedy. There’s the energy of the Keystone Kops, the mix of slapstick and emotion of Charlie Chaplin, and the stone-faced absurdity of Buster Keaton. But one of the most underrated pleasures in silent comedy can be found in the films of an underappreciated actor: the escalation from realism to a type of low-key surrealism in the comedy of Harold Lloyd. (more…)

The Days of Silent Cinema: Celebrating the Uniqueness of an Era

Posted on by Michaela Owens

Still from A Fool There Was
Still from A Fool There Was

For three days this fall, Bloomington, Indiana will be transported to Pordenone, Italy as the IU Cinema, the IU Libraries Moving Image Archive, and the Music Scoring for Visual Media program in the Jacobs School of Music host a variety of highlights from Pordenone’s world-renowned silent-film festival Le Giornate del Cinema Muto. As if that wasn’t exciting enough, this inaugural U.S. satellite festival, entitled The Days of Silent Cinema: Le Giornate del Cinema Muto at Indiana University, is bursting at the seams with U.S. premieres, fascinating films, and the potential for many unforgettable experiences. Let your movie ticket (or better yet, your festival pass) be your passport as you take in some of the same early-cinema gems that Pordenone’s festival-goers will be enjoying this year. (more…)

Sisters! Hocus Pocus and the Appeal of Disney’s Evil Witches

Posted on by Laura Ivins

Image of the Sanderson Sisters casting a spell
The Sanderson Sisters, Mary, Winifred, and Sarah

The witch is a longstanding media archetype, one featured frequently in 20th century Disney films. In this video, I look at the delightfully evil Sanderson Sisters from the 1993 Disney film, Hocus Pocus (dir. Kenny Ortega), connecting the sisters to other Disney villains, the history of the witch, and what it means for women to defy cultural expectations and choose to live together. (more…)

Parasite: Go in Blind, But Be Ready for a Wild Ride

Posted on by Aja Essex

Promotional photo for Parasite

I feel like we don’t talk about how special it is to go into a film blind in the modern era of movie viewing. Due to the nature of the constant onslaught of advertising on multiple fronts; the way trailers are cut to market to increasingly disinterested and picky audiences; the interconnectivity of culture through social media and how fast The Discourse™ around any given film runs (I cannot stress enough that Avengers: Endgame is the highest grossing film of all time, unadjusted for inflation, and it feels like it may as well have come out four years ago with great but not spectacular box office), it feels rare for a movie to come out and genuinely be a surprise when you’ve chosen to  accept the favorable buzz and sit down and watch it fresh. While there could be better contenders coming up in the later part of the year, Bong Joon-ho’s Palme d’Or-winning masterpiece, Parasite, may be the poster child for the film to see completely unguarded and unprepared.

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Monthly Movie Round-Up: September

Posted on by Establishing Shot

Every month, A Place for Film brings you a selection of films from our group of regular bloggers. Even though these films aren’t currently being screened at the IU Cinema, this series reflects the varied programming that can be found at the Cinema and demonstrates the eclectic tastes of the bloggers. Each contributor has picked one film that they saw this month that they couldn’t wait to share with others. Keep reading to find out what discoveries these cinephiles have made, as well as some of the old friends they’ve revisited.
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