Rethinking Race Film Festival

Feature film: Lee Daniels' The Butler

Friday, Jan. 31
Movie: 6 p.m.
Student Union Theatre

Sponsored by ZPN

As Cecil Gaines serves eight presidents during his tenure as a butler at the White House, the civil rights movement, Vietnam, and other major events affect this man's life, family, and American society.

The Butler on IMDb


Topaz

Topaz

Monday, Feb. 3
Movie: noon-1 p.m.
Student Union Theatre

Sponsored by University Libraries

Documents the denial of rights to American citizens of Japanese descent who were forced from their homes to Utah's desert rangeland during World War II.


Topaz

Linsanity

Monday, Feb. 3
Movie: 2:45 p.m.
Student Union Theatre

Followed by a panel discussion and Q&A

Sponsored by Asian Services in Action, Inc., OCA Cleveland and University Libraries

A screening of the undrafted, unwanted, unwavering, true story of Jeremy Lin.


Born in the USA: Muslim Americans

Born in the USA: Muslim Americans

Tuesday, Feb. 4
Movie: 1-2 p.m.
Student Union Theatre

Sponsored by University Libraries

In order to challenge the misrepresentation of Muslims in America, this video examines the everyday lives of a Muslim American doctor and a teacher in a post 9-11 world.


Black Indians: An American Story

Black Indians: An American Story

Tuesday, Feb. 4
Movie: 3:30 p.m.
Student Union Theatre

Sponsored by University Libraries

The video brings to light a forgotten part of America's past -- the cultural and racial fusion of Native and African Americans...this presentation explores what brought the two groups together, what drove them apart, and the challenges that face them today.

Learn more.


Scottsboro Boys

Scottsboro : An American Tragedy

Wednesday, Feb. 5
Movie: noon
Student Union Theatre

Sponsored by University Libraries

"In March 1931, two white women stepped from a boxcar in Paint Rock, Alabama to make a shocking accusation: they had been raped by nine black teenagers on the train. So began one of the most significant legal fights of the twentieth century. The trials of the nine young men would draw North and South into their sharpest conflict since the Civil War, yield two momentous Supreme Court decisions and give birth to the civil rights movement."

Learn more at PBS.


Dark Girls

Dark Girls

Thursday, Feb. 6
Movie: 3:30 p.m.
Student Union Theatre

Sponsored by University Libraries

The documentary examines the cultural phenomenon of "colorism", the prejudice or discrimination based on the relative darkness or lightness of skin generally within one's own ethnic or racial group, specifically as it pertains to women and girls of color in America and other parts of the world.


Precious Knowledge

Precious Knowledge

Friday, Feb. 7
Movie: 1-2:15 p.m.
Student Union Theatre

Sponsored by University Libraries

While 48 percent of Mexican-American students currently drop out of high school, Tucson (Ariz.) High [School's] Mexican American Studies Program has become a national model of educational success, with 93 percent of enrolled students graduating from high school. However, Arizona lawmakers [state school superintendents Tom Horne and John Huppenthal and Gov. Jan Brewer] have shut the program down because they believe the students are being indoctrinated with dangerous ideology and embracing destructive ethnic chauvinism.

See more.


Fruitvale Station

Fruitvale Station

Friday, Feb. 7
Movie: 6 p.m.
Student Union Theatre

Sponsored by ZPN

Fruitvale Station tells the story of Oscar Grant: a young, black Oakland man who was shot and killed on a train platform by a Bay Area Regional Transit police officer.

See more on IMDb.


Of Civil Wrongs and Rights: The Fred Korematsu Story

Of Civil Wrongs and Rights: The Fred Korematsu Story

Monday, Feb. 10
Movie: noon-1 p.m.
Student Union Theatre

Sponsored by University Libraries

Fred Korematsu was probably never more American than when he resisted, and then challenged in court, the forced internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Korematsu lost his landmark Supreme Court case in 1944 but never his indignation and resolve. This is the untold history of the 40-year legal fight to vindicate Korematsu, one that finally turned a civil injustice into a civil rights victory.

Learn more at PBS.


More Than a Month

More Than a Month

Tuesday, Feb. 11
Movie: noon
Student Union Theatre

Sponsored by University Libraries

Shukree Hassan Tilghman, a young African-American filmmaker, sets out on a cross-country campaign to end Black History Month. Through this thoughtful and humorous journey, he explores what the treatment of history tells us about race and equality in a 'post-racial' America.

See more.


Los Trabajadores/The Workers

Los Trabajadores/The Workers

Tuesday, Feb. 11
Movie: 3-4 p.m.
Student Union Theatre

Sponsored by University Libraries

"We build the buildings, we do the hardest jobs, and still they don't want us.' These are the words of Juan Ignacio Gutierrez, a Nicaraguan profiled in the film Los Trabajadores/The Workers, winner of the International Documentary Association David Wolper Student Award. Los Trabajadores tells the story of immigrant day laborers, placing their struggles and contributions in the context of the economic development of Austin, Texas. Through the stories of Juan from Nicaragua and Ramon from Mexico, and through the controversy surrounding the relocation of a day labor site from downtown to a residential neighborhood, the film examines the misconceptions and contradictions inherent in America's dependence on and discrimination against immigrant labor. As Juan says, 'they say Austin is growing, but thanks to whom?"

Learn more at PBS.


42, The Jackie Robinson Story

"42, The Jackie Robinson Story"

Tuesday, Feb. 11
Movie: 7 p.m.
Student Union Theatre

Sponsored by University Libraries

History was made in 1947, when Jackie Robinson broke the professional baseball race barrier to become the first African American MLB player of the modern era. 42 tells the life story of Robinson and his history-making signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers under the guidance of team executive Branch Rickey.

See more on IMDb.


Being Hmong Means Being Free

Being Hmong Means Being Free

Wednesday, Feb. 12
Movie: 11 a.m.
Student Union Theatre

Followed by a panel discussion and Q&A.

Sponsored by University Libraries

The film highlights the history, culture and identity of Hmong immigrants and refugees from Laos who settled in the United States between 1975 and the early 1990s. The documentary looks at Hmong life in this country as seen through the eyes of the seventeen-year-old program host, Lia Vang.


Comedy Middle Eastern Style

Comedy Middle Eastern Style

Thursday, Feb. 13
Movie: noon
Student Union Theatre

Sponsored by University Libraries

With a mix of humor and interviews, Middle Eastern stand-up comics (of many religions) living in New York share their views on political issues and the prejudice they have experienced since September 11, 2001.

See more.


The Other Side of Immigration

The Other Side of Immigration

Friday, Feb. 14
Movie: noon - 1 p.m.
Student Union Theatre

Sponsored by University Libraries

Based on over 700 interviews in Mexican towns where about half the population has left to work in the United States, The Other Side of Immigration asks why so many Mexicans come to the U.S. and what happens to the families and communities they leave behind. Through an approach that is both subtle and thought-provoking, filmmaker Roy Germano provides a perspective on undocumented immigration rarely witnessed by American eyes, challenging audiences to imagine more creative and effective solutions to the problem.

Learn more.


Reel Injun

Reel Injun

Friday, Feb. 14
Movie: 2-3:30 p.m.
Student Union Theatre

Sponsored by University Libraries

Followed by a panel discussion and Q&A

Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond examines how the myth of the movie "Injun" has influenced the world's understanding - and misunderstanding - of Natives. With clips from hundreds of classic and recent films, and candid interviews with celebrated Native and non-Native directors, writers, actors and activists, Reel Injun tracess the evolution of cinema's depiction of Native people from the silent film era to the present day.

Learn more.