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Fall 2008
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Spring 2009
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 Wed. 10/8
View from a Grain of Sand (2006)
Discussants: Jerry Pubantz, Political Science & Ali Schultheis, English
“Combining verite footage, interviews and rare archival
material, VIEW FROM A GRAIN OF SAND is a harrowing, thought-provoking, yet
intimate portrait of Afghan women's history over the last 30 years - from the
rule of King Zahir Shah in the 1960's to the current Hamid Karzai government.
Told through the eyes of three Afghan women - a doctor, a teacher and women's
rights activist -this documentary tells the story of how war, international
interference and the rise of political Islam has stripped Afghan women of
rights and freedom. Together with rarely seen archival footage, their powerful
stories provide illuminating context for Afghanistan's current situation and
the ongoing battle women face to gain even basic human rights.” (IMDB.com)
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Wed. 2/4
Nanking (2007)
Discussant: Jamie Anderson, History
"Nanking tells the
story of the rape of Nanking, one of the most tragic events in history.
In 1937, the invading Japanese army murdered over 200,000 and raped
tens of thousands of Chinese. In the midst of the horror, a small group
of Western expatriates banded together to save 250,000 -- an act of
extraordinary heroism. Bringing an event little-known outside of Asia
to a global audience, "Nanking" shows the tremendous impact individuals
can make on the course of history. It is a gripping account of light in
the darkest of times."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0893356/plotsummary |
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 Wed. 11/19
S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine (2003)
Discussant: Danielle Bouchard, WGS
“In 1975-79,
the Khmer Rouge waged a campaign of genocide on Cambodia's population. 1.7 million
Cambodians lost their lives to famine and murder as the urban population was
forced into the countryside to fulfill the Khmer Rouges' dream of an agrarian
utopia. In S21, Panh brings two survivors back to the notorious Tuol Sleng
prison (code-named "S21"), now a genocide museum where former Khmer
Rouge are employed as guides. Painter Vann Nath confronts his former captors in
the converted schoolhouse where he was tortured, though by chance he did not
suffer the fate of most of the other 17,000 men, women and children who were
taken there, their "crimes" meticulously documented to justify their
execution. The ex-Khmer Rouge guards respond to Nath's provocations with
excuses, chilling stoicism or apparent remorse as they recount the atrocities
they committed at ages as young as 12 years old. To escape torture, the
prisoners would confess to anything, and often denounce everyone they knew -
though their final sentence was never in doubt.” (IMDB.com)
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Wed. 2/25
Why Has Bodhi-Dharma Left for the East? (1989)
Discussant: Charlie Orzech, Religious Studies
"Three
people live in a remote Buddhist monastery near Mount Chonan: Hyegok, the old
master; Yong Nan, a young man who has left his extended family in the city to
seek enlightenment - Hyegok calls him Kibong!; and, an orphan lad Haejin, whom
Hyegok has brought to the monastery to raise as a monk. The story is mostly
Yong Nan's, told in flashbacks: how he came to the monastery, his brief return
to the city, his vacillation between the turbulence of the world and his hope
to overcome passions and escape the idea of self. We also see Hyegok as a
teacher, a protector, and a father figure, and we watch Haejin make his way as
a curious and nearly self-sufficient child." (jhailey@hotmail.com)
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Wed. 12/3
China Blue (2006)
Discussant: Stephen Sills, Sociology
"China Blue takes us inside a blue-jeans factory, where
Jasmine and her friends are trying to survive a harsh working environment. But
when the factory owner agrees to a deal with his Western client that forces his
teenage workers to work around the clock, a confrontation becomes inevitable.
Shot clandestinely in China,
under difficult conditions, this is a deep-access account of what both China
and the international retail companies don’t want us to see – how the clothes
we buy are actually made."(Teddybearfilms.com)
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Wed. 3/18
Still Life (San Xia Hao Ren) (2006)
Discussant: Jamie Anderson, History
"In “Still Life,” which won the grand prize at the 2006 Venice Film
Festival, the blood and the sweat run directly into the Yangtze
River, where they mingle with more than a few tears. The movie takes
place amid the clatter and misery of the Three Gorges Dam, which cuts across
the Yangtze in central China.
The largest dam in the world, Three Gorges is a site of great cultural and
political strife because of both environmental and humanitarian concerns. More than
one million people have been displaced because of the dam (more are expected to
follow), evicted from their homes by a ravenous hunger for power, electric and
otherwise, that is washing them and history away. This may sound like a
prescription for social cinema, but Mr. Jia’s interest lies in visual ideas and
human behavior, not agendas. “Still Life” has been painted with a lightness of
touch, and with none of the hollow lugubriousness familiar from some of the recent
Chinese imported pageants and epics.Mr. Jia’s characters are always of their
historical moment, but not necessarily its martyrs. Neither is he a slave to
history. His work exists on a continuum with the modernist masters, among other
influences, but he is very much an artist of his own specific time and place." Written by Manohla Dargis, The New York Times.
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 Wed. 4/8
The Story of the Weeping Camel (2004)
Discussant: Susan Walcott,
Geography & Greg Grieve, Religious Studies
"Springtime
in the Gobi Desert,
South Mongolia. A family of nomadic shepherds
assists the births of their camel herd. One of the camels has an excruciatingly
difficult delivery but, with help from the family, out comes a rare white colt.
Despite the efforts of the shepherds, the mother rejects the newborn, refusing
it her milk and her motherly love. When any hope for the little one seems to
have vanished, the nomads send their two young boys on a journey through the
desert, to a a backwater town in search of a musician who is their only hope
for saving the colt's life." Written by TNS
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 Wed. 4/29
Yi Yi (2000)
Discussant: Stephen Sills, Sociology
"Each member
of a family in Taipei
asks hard questions about life's meaning as they live through everyday
quandaries. NJ is morose: his brother owes him money, his mother is in a coma,
his wife suffers a spiritual crisis when she finds her life a blank, his
business partners make bad decisions against his advice, and he reconnects with
his first love 30 years after he dumped her. His teenage daughter Ting-Ting
watches emotions roil in their neighbors' flat and is experiencing the first
stirrings of love. His 8-year-old son Yang-Yang is laconic like his dad and
pursues truth with the help of a camera. "Why is the world so different
from what we think it is?" asks Ting-Ting." Written by {jhailey@hotmail.com}
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