New political film series examines everything from meals to missiles

The Department of Political Science and Public Administration and the School of Sciences are proud to announce the launch of the Political Film Series. The new series will showcase a diverse range of contemporary and classic major motion pictures, including foreign and U.S. productions, and spanning the range of genres from comedy to drama to documentary.

Faculty from Political Science will offer short introductions on subject and context before each film, and audiences are invited to stay for discussion after screenings. All films will begin at 7 p.m. and will be shown in Goodwyn Hall (rooms to be announced). All screenings are open to the public free of charge, and refreshments will be provided.

For more information or to be added to the Political Film Series email list, contact Dr. Pia Knigge at pknigge@aum.edu or 334-244-3834.

Fall 2012 Schedule

Tuesday, Sept. 18 - One Day in September
(1999; Rated R for some graphic violent images)

Granted, the Olympic Games of 2012 are over, but forty years ago the Olympic Games lasted into the month of September and the tragic events of one day in that September casted an everlasting shadow over the 1972 Munich Games. The attack on eleven Israeli athletes by the Palestinian terrorist commando Black September brutally interrupted the games. The documentary, directed by Kevin MacDonald (who also directed The Last King of Scotland and Kindertransport) and narrated by Michael Douglas captures what really happened by featuring interviews with eye witnesses, a surviving  terrorist, victims’ family members, law enforcement officers and politicians. The film, which received an Academy Award for Best Documentary in 1999, includes plenty of original footage that will keep you on your toes and perplexed in the face of so much incompetence, ignorance, and the failure of the German law enforcement and government to prevent the tragic outcome of the hostage crisis.

Wednesday, Oct. 17 - Thirteen Days in October
(2000; Rated PG-13)

Another anniversary of an event, albeit with a happier ending, is the subject of our October screening. This feature is the dramatization of a historic event that takes us back 50 years and is based on the book The Kennedy Tapes: Inside the White House during the Cuban Missile Crisis by Ernest R. May and Philip Zelikow. Directed by Roger Donaldson (who also directed the 2005 award-winning feature The World’s Fastest Indian) and starring Kevin Costner as Kenny O’Donnell, the film takes us inside the White House during the Cuban Missile Crisis, a nuclear showdown between the United States and the Soviet Union, which rattled the world for thirteen days in October of 1962. The film also stars Shawn Driscoll as the U2 pilot who gathered evidence of the Soviet Union preparing to station nuclear weapons in Cuba and Bruce Greenwood as President Kennedy.

Monday, Nov. 12 - Food, Inc.
(2008; Rated PG)

Food is central to the holidays we celebrate this time of the year. How often, however, do we reflect on the origin of the food we place on our table? Who prepared the food we buy, where and how? This critical documentary directed by Robert Kenner and nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary ponders these very questions and illustrates how food production has changed since the emergence of the fast food industry in the 1950s. Interviews with farmers, representatives of the food industry and food lobby, and government officials reveal how, today, little consideration is afforded to workers’ workplace conditions and protection, consumers’ safety and food inspection guidelines at the expense of an industry striving for more and more profits. By the time you finish watching the movie, "you’ll never look at dinner the same way again."

Tuesday, Dec. 11 - Joyeux Noel (Merry Christmas)
(2005, France; Rated PG-13)

The year is 1914, Christmas Eve. The place: somewhere along the Western Front during World War I. German, French and Scottish troops stuck in their muddy trenches are preparing for the next battle when suddenly an apparent miracle happens - Christmas carols instead of bombs. Based on a true story (the 1914 Christmas truce) and directed by Christian Carion, this film features incredible music and challenges us to rethink the meaning of war. Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, it stars Diane Krueger and Benno Fürmann.

Sept. 10, 2012