The Valpo Core

Wednesday, April 23, at 7 pm in CCLIR 205

The Core Program will offer a screening and discussion of the one-hour PBS Frontline video _The Undertaking_. It is an insightful documentary made about funeral director and author Thomas Lynch and his sons. In this film, you’ll get behind-the-scenes access to the business and meaning of serving the living by caring for the dead.

Link to official website:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/undertaking/

The award-winning South African film Tsotsi, will be shown Friday, Feb. 15, as Valpo’s International Film Festival continues.

In the slums of Johannesburg, 19-year-old Tsotsi’s life has no meaning beyond survival until, after stealing a woman’s car one night, he discovers a baby in the back seat. The film follows Tsotsi as he brings the baby back to his home and finds his sense of empathy and humanity renewed. Tsotsi won the 2005 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

The screening will begin at 7 p.m. in Neils Science Center. Tickets are free for faculty and staff.

Dr. Charles Schaefer, associate professor of history, will lead discussion of Tsotsi following the screening.

LINK to more information on this film and the rest of the International Film Festival:

http://www.valpo.edu/foreignlang/filmfestival.html 

All Core students are required to attend and respond to a screening of the film Dead Man Walking. The screenings take place this week:

Tues, 1/29, 8 pm

Thurs, 1/31, 8 pm

Sun, 2/3, 3 pm

Sun, 2/3, 8 pm

All screenings take place in Neils Science Center, Room 234.

Here’s an interesting film that ties in with current Core readings and discussions of Elias Chacour’s book Blood Brothers. A discussion will follow the screening.

Promises, a film by Justine Shapiro, B.Z. Goldberg and co-director and editor Carlos Bolado

Tuesday, 11/13 at 7 pm in CCLIR 205
Wednesday, 11/14 at 8 pm in VUCA 1412

Sponsored by the Core Program

Promises follows the journey of one of the filmmakers, Israeli-American B.Z. Goldberg. B.Z. travels to a Palestinian refugee camp and to an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, and to the more familiar neighborhoods of Jerusalem where he meets seven Palestinian and Israeli children.

Though the children live only 20 minutes apart, they exist in completely separate worlds; the physical, historical and emotional obstacles between them run deep.

Promises explores the nature of these boundaries and tells the story of a few children who dared to cross the lines to meet their neighbors. Rather than focusing on political events, the seven children featured in PROMISES offer a refreshing, human and sometimes humorous portrait of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Running time, 106 minutes.
Arabic, Hebrew and English dialogue with English subtitles.

(This description of the film is taken from: http://www.promisesproject.org/film.html. See this website for more information. See also http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0282864/.)

Sponsored by Sigma Pi

Monday, November 5, 8:00 pm, in NSC 234 Auditorium

Starting at 8:00 pm, there will be a speaker from Anheuser-Busch who will give a presentation on alcohol awareness. Next, there will be a ten-minute activity in which audience members participate in a reenactment of Sam Spady’s final night before she died of alcohol poisoning. Finally there will be a 25-minute video produced by the Sam Spady Foundation focusing on Sam Spady’s death and the negative role alcohol plays on college students nationwide. A preview of the DVD can be found here:

http://www.samspadyfoundation.org/dvd_preview.html

Flyer for Sam Spady Story

Brauer Museum of Art

Student Coffee Hour

Video Art Presentation
Decasia: The State of Decay
A film by Bill Morrison

For this fascinating video Morrison edited together found film footage that shows advanced decay over time from the deterioration of the emulsion, which is the photosensitive coating on film. An atmospheric musical score accompanies the haunting visions.

Wednesday, November 7, 7 pm
Brauer Museum of Art

Refreshments will be served.
This event has been approved for CORE 5th hour credit.

For more info on Decasia: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0303325/

The Swedish/Norwegian film Kitchen Stories will be shown Friday, October 19th at 7 pm in Neils 234 as Valparaiso University’s second annual International Film Festival continues.

In this touching portrayal of friendship, a scientist’s job observing a cantankerous old man’s kitchen habits is complicated by their budding friendship in this 2003 film directed by Bent Hamer. The film was named best film in Norway’s national film contest and also won awards for directing at the Copenhagen International Film Festival and São Paulo International Film Festival and best screenplay at the Flanders International Film Festival.

For more information:

http://www.valpo.edu/foreignlang/filmfestival

http://www.kitchenstories.de/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0323872/

A Presentation by Prof. Bridget Kies (Core) and Prof. Elizabeth Wuerffel (Art)

Wednesday, October 17, 2007, 7:00 p.m., Neils Science Center 234

Why are there three films on the Core syllabus? How can we “read” a film and write papers about it? In this presentation, we will discuss some basic film terminology and examine some still shots from Garden State to figure out what this movie might mean as a “text.”

This event is approved for Core 5^th-hour credit.

Sponsored by the Valpo Core Program

Flyer: Where Do I Put the Bookmark? Reading Garden State As Text

Tonight, Wednesday, October 3, there will be a Core-approved film screening with a discussion to follow. The film, A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, is a coming-of-age drama in which a boy discovers that his fate is unlike those of his friends, who end up dead, on drugs, or in prison. He starts to believe that “saints” have saved him from a life of misery. The film begins at 7:30 pm and the discussion follows the screening.

Sponsored by L.I.V.E. (Latinos in Valparaiso for Excellence)

See below for info on an upcoming event that qualifies for Core 5th-hour credit:

On Wednesday, September 26th, VU Law Professor Ed Gaffney will be screening a 30 minute segment from his new film, Holy Land: Common Ground. The segment is about everyday Israelis and Palestinians who are working to bring forgiveness and peace to their homeland. This event is a part of St. Teresa’s Soul Smorgasbord dinner and discussion series, and will be held in their downstairs Cafe Manna dining room. A homecooked meal will be served at 6 pm, and the video and discussion will start at 6:30 pm. This event is free for all students, and everyone is welcome to attend.