Mead Film Festival brings international documentaries to UH, TLC2
The Margaret Mead Film & Video Festival, the longest-running premiere showcase for international documentaries in the United States, will be presented at the University of Houston on Saturday, April 18, by the Department of Anthropology and the Program in Visual Studies, hosted by the Texas Learning & Computation Center (TLC
2). Screenings will run from 2 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the TLC
2 Visualization Theater in
PGH 216.
The Festival, a program of the American Natural History Museum in New York City, presents titles which tackle diverse and challenging subjects representing a range of global issues and perspectives. “The Mead Festival provides socioculturally oriented films that would be difficult to see anywhere else in the city,” says UH anthropology research professor Dr. Jerome Crowder. “These are current, topical pieces made by engaged filmmakers from around the world, not otherwise available, and we are fortunate to be able to present them at the University of Houston.”
The six films being shown are grouped in three issue areas: rethinking gender, crossing borders, and the politics of water. The UH festival will begin at 2 p.m. with The Birthday, a 63-minute film from filmmakers from Iran and the Netherlands, which examines Iran’s government support of transsexuality and the complex issues of gender and sexuality in an Islamic society.
The second issue area, “Beyond Borders,” will begin shortly after 3 p.m. with Grito de Piedra (Scream of the Stone), a film from Bolivia and the Netherlands that looks at the cultural impact of the conversion of tapped-out Bolivian silver mines to a tourist destination. At 4:30, “Beyond Borders” continues with the 28-minute Stranger Comes to Town, a U.S. film that combines Department of Homeland Security animations with border stories, video game images, and Google Earth, to focus on the question of borders and identities.
The final issue area, “Politics of Water,” begins at 5:10 p.m. with The Water Front, a U.S. film detailing a Michigan water-privatization battle. At 6:10 p.m. the U.S. film Gimme Green looks at the $40-billion American obsession with the perfect lawn, and the festival closes with the 28-minute Indian film “Village of Dust, City of Water,” a cine-poem about water access and social exploitation in India, where rural water supplies are redistributed to booming cities. Each film will be accompanied by audience discussion.
“Through these films, we have the opportunity to see American culture – to see ourselves,” said Dr. Crowder. “Our hope is that viewers will rethink their perspectives on culture and society, and will be more aware as they water the lawn or travel the globe. It’s a unique opportunity for reflection, and we are glad to have TLC2's cutting-edge facilities right here at UH to enable us to present the festival."
WHAT: The Margaret Mead Traveling Film and Video Festival; free and open to the public
WHEN: Saturday, April 18, 2 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: The Texas Learning & Computation Center (TLC2) Visualization Theater, PGH216.
WHO: The UH Department of Anthropology, the Program in Visual Studies, and the Texas Learning & Computation Center (TLC2). Dr. Jerome Crowder: jcrowder@uh.edu, 713.743.4264
