Duke students reluctant to pay the $7 for movie tickets and organize carpools to the local cineplex no longer need to look past their own backyard for some screen satisfaction. The Screen/Society, presented by the Program in Film-Video-Digital, showcases films from across the globe that usually cost little more than time.
Despite its convenient and financially attractive aspects, the Screen/Society, which graduate students founded in 1991, has often been sparsely attended and overlooked. The development of the group into a professionally-run organization as well as its increased publicity and on-campus faculty awareness in recent years, however, has brought the Screen/Society a new following.
“The Screen/Society was started by students who wanted to show outrageous programming,” said Jane Gaines, co-founder of the group, director of the Program in Film-Video-Digital and professor of literature and English. “Now we’ve established ourselves by showing more consistent titles and series and are developing a more regular audience.”
The Screen/Society is currently showing four films from Turkey—a series culminating with a panel discussion about the films from the directors and critics. French, Latin American and East Asian movies are scheduled to follow.
“We’re trying to fill the gaps as to what’s available in local theaters, while emphasizing that international cinema can be educational and entertaining,” Screen/Society exhibitions director Hank Okazaki said.
The Screen/Society acquires its diverse selection of films through departments at the University that sponsor the productions, as well as from filmmakers directly. Films are then selected in conjunction with a theme, which might be as broad and simple as exposing viewers to particular cultures.
At the insistence of a friend, freshman Nick Arrivo saw Tales About Darkness II: Confession, a Turkish movie and his first Screen/Society experience. He left with plans to attend future Society productions.
“I don’t like these films because they’re ‘foreign’ but because there’s a subtlety to them,” Arrivo said. “I think this is something a student body like Duke’s would appreciate.”
A swelling audience attendance is not only a product of more students, but also of interested people from Durham and Raleigh. In addition to creating a cultural awareness among the student body, the Society hopes to integrate Duke with residents in the surrounding community.
“If it weren’t for the Screen/Society showing these films, we wouldn’t get to see these award-winning movies,” said Hatice Ozturk, assistant professor at North Carolina State University.
Some students have begun to look toward the Screen/Society productions for a reprieve when they feel overwhelmed by the daily college grind.
“It’s very exciting to see these releases premiered right here in Durham,” Gaines said. “This loosely defined, eclectic program makes Durham a bit more like New York.”
With such a multitude of international cinema to showcase, one of the Society’s most difficult jobs now is to fit them all into their schedule. Films are only shown during the school year, and usually no more than once.
“We try to say yes as much as possible but we’ve got plenty of ideas and proposals for film series,” Okazaki said. “We’re filling up quickly.”
Showings usually take place in either Richard White Auditorium on East Campus or Griffith Film Theater in the Bryan Center and generally peak at 50 to 70 viewers. Some of the Screen/Society’s more mainstream films showed last year included Hedwig and the Angry Itch as part of the global/pop/culture series and Tupac: Resurrection as one film in a hip-hop film series.
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