Cinema and Cosmopolitanism Film RoundTable

Jiwon Ahn, Keene State College
Tina Mai Chen, University of Manitoba
Anne Ciecko, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Martin Roberts, The New School
Ana Estrella, Catholic University of Ecuador and visiting lecturer at KSC

Friday, November. 6, at 4 p.m., Harry Davis Room, Redfern Arts Center
This discussion takes place in conjunction with the screenings of five international films distributed by the Global Film Initiative as well as the panel presentation on Cinema Across Borders. The roundtable focuses on the question of how to view contemporary “world cinema” – often critically acclaimed, globally distributed narrative (art) films that provide a glimpse into “the lives of others.” The recently successful Slumdog Millionaire is a good example of such cinema. While generally well meaning in presenting an ethnographic look at the social life and culture in less developed parts of the world, such humanistic endeavors are typically produced by western filmmakers, with corporate funding. This roundtable introduces the concept of cosmopolitanism in a political sense and explores ways in which we can turn our everyday viewing experiences of international films into a more transformative procedure of learning about our own connectedness as citizens of the world.