The Visitor (Film)
Showtime: October 22nd, 12:30 p.m. (100 minutes)
Award-winning, filmmaker Tom McCarthy (“The Station Agent” and “Sideways”) reaches into the lives of transnationals and some of the hot-button questions regarding immigration policies and the realities they create for the Middle Easterners living in New York city. Stunning character development backgrounds this poignant and often funny film as it discloses post-9/11 situation for Tarek, his mother and girlfriend. The story unfolds with what follows the chance encounter of a disillusioned Connecticut economics professor whose empty life is transformed as he becomes engaged with strangers, their visa issues, humanity, and music.
SEE – Official film web site – http://www.thevisitorfilm.com/
Hacking Democracy (Film)
Showtime: October 15th, 12:30 p.m. (81 min.)
A nonpartisan, clear-eyed look at the secrecy, cronyism and incompetence of elections in present-day America as it captures a citizen’s movement intent on taking back elections – and DEMOCRACY ITSELF. Documents American citizens investigating anomalies and irregularities with ‘e-voting’ (electronic voting) systems that occurred during America’s 2000 and 2004 elections, especially in Volusia County, Florida. Nominated for an Emmy award for Outstanding Investigative Journalism.
“It is hard to imagine…a documentary…more important to the civic life of the nation.”
-Baltimore Sun
Presenter:
Selected/presented by professor Donna Rhea, Government Faculty at Northwest College
Recent media focus on this issue:
- New York Times article
- Democracy Now – Greg Palast on Vote Rigging and Suppression Ahead of
the 2008 Election
The Promise of Preschool (Film)
A compelling John Merrow documentary on the question of early childhood schooling policy. Is starting public school in kindergarten too late? Four cases are presented: a private Montessori nursery school, an impoverished inner city program, a French ecole maternelle, and an experimental program in Georgia.
John Merrow spent over two decades reporting on education and youth-oriented topics for both PBS’s MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour and National Public Radio after obtaining his doctorate from Harvard. He also taught students in high school, college, and federal prison. As host of a comprehensive series, John Merrow has examined some of America’s most critical educational issues.
The film will be followed by Q&A with Stephen McCormick, currently a 1st & 2nd grade teacher in Spring Branch I.S.D.
Requested and Presented by Professor Helen Jones, HCC Northwest.