The Story
Global Film Pre Festival Series
Last year, the William and Mary Global Film Festival danced around the issue of immigration. Various film screenings led to a community-wide film festival, its aim of stimulating conversations on migration affects today’s society.
And last year, the series was a success. A fan of this last year’s and this year’s global film series, Prarna Mansukhani (’10) said, “I really loved last year’s theme. My parents are immigrants and I think I really understood a lot about myself and my family's history. This year is a little different. Because it still explores global films, I’m able to carry what I know about migration into this year’s theme. I got a foundation of history last year and now I’m learning about global cultures."
This year’s theme steps away from an issue currently prevalent in society to explore a form of art that has become an important source of self-expression: music. If you have ever looked around you at places like Swem or on your way to class, you are more than likely to find your fellow classmates jamming out.
From Pandora to iPods to Youtube to live concerts, music plays a vital role in our society. International movies employ this art form to enrich an already artistic form of expression. The 2010 Global Film and Music aims to illustrate just how important music is to the film indusry.
The Reves Center for International Studies,the Roy R. Charles Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, Alma Mater Productions (AMP), Middle Eastern Studies and the Critchfield Endowment, the Center for Student Diversity, the Asian Studies Initiative, and Africana Studies have made this year’s film festival possible. Whereas the festival begins on the 18th of February, the pre-festival series was launched several weeks back to lead up to the festival. So far, there have been viewings for 4 out of the 5 movies.
The first movie to kick off the series was Farewell My Concubine, a three hour long movie that explores an intense love triangle and China’s political history. Entwined in its passionate plot, the Beijing opera heightens the delivery of the movie.
Next in the film series was Opera Jawa, an Indonesian opera movie that also explores a complex love triangle. In comparison to Farewell My Concubine¸ Opera Jawa is a complete musical, adding to its already beautiful and rich cinematography.
The third movie, Once, an Irish film with a similar theme but a Western way of incorporating music, drew the largest crowd. The movie is culturally closest to American movies today, and explores the idea of love and music in a way that is less about artistic expression and more about capturing the organic nature of life.
Pakeezah, a Bollywood movie, was the fourth movie to be played. It draws on musical nature and, with an elaborate set and costumes, it depicts a love story between a courtesan and a nobleman and highlights the turmoil associated with the connection.
The final movie in the pre-film series will be Tamra Henna, an Egyptian musical classic. As explained on the Gobal Film Festival website, “In this Egyptian musical classic of the 1950s, a lower-class gypsy dancer seeks the finer things in life. The film features Naima Akef, an iconic belly dancer from Egyptian cinema’s golden age.”
Just as Pakeezah explores love between members of two different echelons of society, Tamra Henna also explores love between members of two different levels of society. The movie will be presented by Sami Abu Shumays, visiting scholar, Artist in residence, and director of Zikrayat, an Egyptian dance troupe that will perform in the opening festival screening.
As the pre-screening wraps up on Wednesday, the Community Documentary Project will follow-up, kicking off to a very exciting weekend: The Global Film and Music Festival. The documentary project involves a screening of student-produced documentaries showcasing the world music traditions alive in Williamsburg today, featuring local musicians and community members. This kick off event is only one of very exciting events planned for the festival.
Curious about what else the festival has in store? Want to find out more about the movie viewing this week? Make sure you check out the website for the Global Film Festival at Global Film Festival