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IAP 2006 Activities by Category

Film and Television

28th Annual Science Fiction Marathon
Drew Reese
Sat Jan 28, 07pm-07:00am, 26-100

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Fee: 6.00 for admission

Featuring special shorts, episodes of Red Dwarf, and four feature-length films:

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (7:00pm)

Serenity (9:45pm)

12 Monkeys (12:40am)

The Empire Strikes Back (3:50am)

Web: http://lsc.mit.edu/
Contact: Drew Reese, 26-100, x3-3791, lsc@mit.edu
Sponsor: LSC

Serenity
Drew Reese
Sun Jan 29, 10pm-12:00am, 26-100

Single session event
Fee: 3.00 for admission

Beloved television cult director Joss Whedon makes a spectacular first foray onto the big screen with Serenity, the cinematic adaptation of his wildly popular but short-lived sci-fi series, Firefly. A mix of space western, comedy, and drama, Serenity follows captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds and his ragtag crew as they trade their way around the edges of civilized society. Of particular interest are two passengers they take on, Simon and River Tam, a brother and his telepathic sister on the run from the corrupt governing Alliance. As Mal is forced to choose between his close-knit crew and the brother and sister newcomers, it becomes apparent that River harbors both a dangerous secret and astounding fighting powers, and Mal decides that discovering the truth about what she knows might just be worth his time.
Web: http://lsc.mit.edu/
Contact: Drew Reese, W20-469, x3-3791, lsc@mit.edu
Sponsor: LSC

Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
Drew Reese
Sun Jan 29, 07-09:15pm, 26-100

Single session event
Fee: 3.00 for admission

Considered the most morally and emotionally complex of the original Star Wars trilogy, The Empire Strikes Back continues creator George Lucas's epic saga where Star Wars: A New Hope left off. The Rebel Forces — which include young adventurer Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), rogue pilot Han Solo (Harrison Ford), and the beautiful but seemingly humorless Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) — have been successful in destroying the Evil Empire's Death Star. However, the Empire's top commander, the terrifying Lord Darth Vader (played by David Prowse, voiced by James Earl Jones), is scanning the galaxy for the Rebels' secret location. Greek tragedy meets a philosophical hero's journey in Empire, a remarkable sci-fi epic in which the performances are as powerful as the spectacular special effects.
Web: http://lsc.mit.edu/
Contact: Drew Reese, W20-469, x3-3791, lsc@mit.edu
Sponsor: LSC

Why We Fight - A Special Screening and Q&A with Director Eugene Jarecki
Drew Reese
Mon Jan 16, 08-10:30pm, 10-250

Single session event

This free screening will be followed by a special Q&A session with director Eugene Jarecki.

Why We Fight, the new film by Eugene Jarecki which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, is an unflinching look at the anatomy of the American war machine, weaving unforgettable personal stories with commentary by a "who's who" of military and beltway insiders. Featuring John McCain, Gore Vidal, William Kristol, Chalmers Johnson, Richard Perle and others, Why We Fight launches a bipartisan inquiry into the workings of the military industrial complex and the rise of the American Empire.
Web: http://lsc.mit.edu
Contact: Drew Reese, W20-469, x3-3791, lsc@mit.edu
Sponsor: LSC

An Evening of Silent Film
Drew Reese
Thu Jan 26, 08-10:30pm, Killian Hall

Single session event

MIT's Martin Marks and MIT alum Dawn Perlner will provide live musical accompaniment to an evening of classic silent films, beginning with the Charlie Chaplin film The Immigrant and two other short films about immigrants in America, and accompanied by Martin Marks on the piano and Dawn Perlner on the violin. Dawn will also present four popular vocal works from the era including one audience sing-a-long. Following an intermission, Martin Marks will provide the piano score accompaniment to the classic Soviet science fiction film Aelita Queen of Mars.

Admission is free.
Web: http://lsc.mit.edu
Contact: Drew Reese, W20-469, x3-3791, lsc@mit.edu
Sponsor: LSC

Anime Club Showing
MIT Anime Club
Fri Jan 13, 20, 27, 3, 07-11:45pm, 6-120

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Repeating event. Participants welcome at any session
Prereq: A taste for the unusual.

Come see some of the finest animation in the world as the MIT Anime Club samples the products of Japan's anime studios. See the club's web-site for details about what we'll be showing.
Web: http://web.mit.edu/anime/www
Contact: MIT Anime Club, 6-120, anime-inquiry@mit.edu
Sponsor: Anime Club

Beauty & The Geek 2: Season Premiere
Drew Reese
Thu Jan 12, 09-10:30pm, 10-250

Single session event

Join us with "Beauty & The Geek" contestant and MIT alum Ankur Mehta for a Q&A after the show!

The producing team of Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg recruited a new group of eight women who are academically impaired and eight men who are brilliant but socially challenged. The second installment will remain true to the series' first season format, pairing up couples for a chance to win a $250,000 grand prize.
Web: http://lsc.mit.edu
Contact: Drew Reese, W20-469, x3-3791, lsc@mit.edu
Sponsor: LSC

Chicks Make Flicks: Film Screenings and Discussions
Emily Meghan Morrow Howe, Women in Film and Video/ New England
Thu Jan 12, 07-10:00pm, 6-120

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Prereq: none

A screening of the documentary Rolling (71 min, USA 2004) with a discussion afterwards with the director Gretchen Berland, MD.

The term "point of view" has never been rendered more poignant and carried more emotion than in Rolling, the new documentary by Gretchen Berland and Mike Majoros (Unfinished Symphony, NIFF 2001). In 2001 three people who use wheelchairs were given camcorders to depict, for eighteen months, their struggle to maintain independence with dignity from four feet off the ground. Rolling is a wonderful example of the unique power of the documentary as information, advocacy, and art as it takes us into a world the non-disabled may have not looked at quite this way before.
Web: http://www.medicineatyale.org/v1i1_june2005/filmmaker.html
Contact: Emily Meghan Morrow Howe, 14E-316, 617.253.8844, womens-studies@mit.edu
Sponsor: Womens Studies

Empire in History and Myth
David Ciarlo
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants welcome at individual sessions (series)
Prereq: None

This series presents two films of high adventure set in the British Empire. Both are engaging and entertaining stories in their own right. At the same time, both films portray a clear vision of Europeans' role in the world, and so present the opportunity to explore discrepancies between the tidy mythologies of imperialism and its far messier history.

Screenings will be followed by a discussion led by member of the History Faculty.
Contact: David Ciarlo, E51-285, 253-4126, ciarlo@mit.edu
Sponsor: History

Khartoum (1966)
David Ciarlo
Khartoum (1966, dir. Basil Dearden, with Lawrence Olivier and Charlton Heston)
Depicts the siege of Khartoum in 1884, and the epic confrontation between an Islamic holy warrior (The Mahdi) and an icon of Victorian heroism, General Gordon. (Historical accuracy takes second place to dramatic license.)
Mon Jan 23, 07-10:00pm, 56-114

The Man Who Would Be King (1975)
David Ciarlo
The Man Who Would Be King (1975, dir. John Huston, with Sean Connery and Michael Caine)
This film—a "modern masterpiece"—is both a lively adventure film and a vicious satire of British imperialism. It follows the misadventures of two roguish British soldiers as they travel to Kafiristan (Afghanistan) where they hope to trick the locals into making them kings.
Wed Jan 25, 07-10:00pm, 56-114

Is This On? (Learn To Be a College DJ)
Generoso Fierro
Mon Jan 16, 06-07:00pm, 50-030, WMBR, Basement of Walker

Enrollment limited: advance sign up required (see contact below)
Signup by: 10-Jan-2006
Limited to 30 participants.
Single session event

Checking levels, making a segue, cueing vinyl (vinyl-what's that?)

Get to know your campus radio station (WMBR) as DJ Generoso teaches you various skills of doing a radio show. Then, learn some history of WMBR (the first punk rock radio show in the USA), have a tour of the station and obtain membership information.

Freshly baked cookies and milk will be provided because Andy would've wanted it that way.
Contact: Generoso Fierro, 13-2090, x3-5965, generoso@mit.edu
Sponsor: WMBR Radio
Cosponsor: Comparative Media Studies

MIT Film & Video Retrospective: Then and Now
Craig Milanesi MIT Video Productions & Digital Technologies
Fri Jan 20, 12-03:00pm, 9-057

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event

Join us for a look at life at MIT through the decades with films and videos from the MIT Museum and MIT Video Productions archives.We'll start with an historical retrospective followed by several vintage documentaries. Meet the 1926 frat house gang of Phi Beta Epsilon. Revisit the 50s with the Social Beaver. See profiles of Doc Edgerton and Doc Draper, as well as the Academy Award winning short "Quicker than a Wink," featuring Doc Edgerton. Program also includes videos produced for the MIT News Office, MIT Museum and various academic departments. For a schedule and show times, go to:
Web: http://web.mit.edu/amps/spotlight/mvpdt-iap.html
Contact: Joanne Flood, 9-415, (617) 253-5475, jflood@mit.edu
Sponsor: Academic Media Production Services

Modern Japanese Cinema Movie Mini Series
Daniela Reichert
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants welcome at individual sessions (series)

This series is entitled "Urban Solitude - Beautiful Imagery" and is cosponsored by Foreign Languages and Literatures.
Contact: Daniela Reichert, E38-728, x8-8208, dreichert@mit.edu
Sponsor: MIT Japan Program
Cosponsor: Center for International Studies

Film: Distance
Daniela Reichert
Distance 2001, directed by Hirokazu Koreeda.
Japanese with English subtitles.

Official Web Site (Japanese only) http://www.kore-eda.com/distance/
Wed Jan 11, 06-08:00pm, 3-270

Film: Tony Takitani
Daniela Reichert
Tony Takitani
Japanese with English subtitles.
2005, directed by Jun Ichikawa.

Official Web Site (English and Japanese) http://www.tonytakitani.com/
Wed Jan 18, 06-08:00pm, 3-270

New Orleans: A History in Film
Christopher Capozzola
Enrollment limited: first come, first served
Limited to 50 participants.
Participants welcome at individual sessions (series)
Prereq: none

This series is both a tribute to New Orleans's central place in American culture and an opportunity to analyze how the city has figured in America's imagination. You don't need to love jazz, Marlon Brando, or even vampires to enjoy these films. Join the MIT community in learning more about the musical, dramatic, and literary history of a great American city that needs everyone's ongoing interest and support as it rebuilds both its culture and its infrastructure. Screenings will be preceded by short introductions by a member of the History Faculty, and followed by discussion.
Contact: Christopher Capozzola, E51-180, x2-4960, capozzol@mit.edu
Sponsor: History

Jazz (2001), Episode 1: Gumbo
Christopher Capozzola
A screening of the first episode of Ken Burns's documentary Jazz, which traces the origins of jazz in the history of turn-of-the-century New Orleans.
Tue Jan 17, 07-10:00pm, 4-237

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
Christopher Capozzola
The film version of Tennessee Williams's acclaimed play, set in World War II-era New Orleans. Starring Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh, and Kim Hunter.
Wed Jan 18, 07-10:00pm, 2-105

Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994)
Christopher Capozzola
The Vampire Lestat returns from 18th-century New Orleans in this film version of the popular Anne Rice novel.
Thu Jan 19, 07-10:00pm, 4-231

Noir: The Shorthand Guide....
William Uricchio
Thu Feb 2, 06-09:00pm, 2-105

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event

Noir ... Hollywood's response to the breakdown and reworking of longstanding representational codes appeared with the use of anti-heros, inverted narrative structure, gritty urban realism, and stories set at night. This departure from normative cultural practice largely coincided with related developments in music (bebop), painting (abstract expressionism), and other expressive forms. This session will briefly look at Film Noir's roots in German Romanticism and Expressionism, its relationships with contemporary arts, and its successors in contemporary film culture. This heavily illustrated session will offer a primer to one of the most important moments in America's film history.
Contact: Generoso Fierro, 14N-207, x3-5038, generoso@mit.edu
Sponsor: Comparative Media Studies

Storytelling and Games in the Digital Age
Prof. Henry Jenkins, Sande Scoredos and Thomas Hershey, Sony Pictures Imageworks
Mon Jan 23 thru Fri Jan 27, 10am-05:00pm

Enrollment limited: advance sign up required (see contact below)
Signup by: 10-Jan-2006
Limited to 40 participants.
Participants requested to attend all sessions (non-series)
Prereq: None

Student teams develop story concepts for various media, including motion picture visual effects and computer games. Sponsored by MIT Comparative Media Studies (CMS) and Sony Pictures Imageworks (SPI), this non-technical activity focuses on the theoretical, historical, cultural, social, and aesthetic elements of interactive narrative and game structures. Morning lectures explore linear and non-linear storytelling across media, audio-visual elements, game theory, and techniques to increase the depth of interactive console games and enhance storytelling. Afternoons run as workshops where participants collaborate in teams to design interactive story scenarios to be presented during a final session on Friday afternoon.
Contact: Generoso Fierro, 14N-207, x3-5038, generoso@mit.edu
Sponsor: Comparative Media Studies

Theory of Violence: Reservoir Dogs
Joern Ahrens
Tue Jan 10, 17, 24, 31, 02-05:00pm, 1-135

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants requested to attend all sessions (non-series)

A look at Quentin Taratino's Reservoir Dogs and its relation to contemporary theory in general and to a particular theories of violence. Class will be taught by senior lecturer Joern Ahrens who previously taught this class at Humboldt University in Berlin.
Contact: Generoso Fierro, 14N-207, x3-5038
Sponsor: Comparative Media Studies


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Last update: 30 September 2004