Cinema International announces film schedule for the Spring 2023 semester

MURRAY, Ky. – Murray State University’s Cinema International program is pleased to announce another exciting semester of acclaimed films for the campus community and the wider public to view. Films this semester will be shown on Thursday and Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m. Due to ongoing renovations in the Curris Center, the series will move to Faculty Hall Room 208 on Murray State’s campus for the spring term. All screenings are free and open to the public.

Cinema International is a longstanding tradition at Murray State, first starting when the Curris Center opened more than 40 years ago.

“Like any indie film house, Cinema International aims to provide access to a variety of movies, mostly international and not commonly distributed in the mainstream cinemas,” said Dr. Therese Saint Paul, associate professor of French and the program’s director. “Its goal is to entertain and educate by promoting intercultural understanding and appreciation of differences in mindsets and cinematic styles.” 

In addition to their entertainment value, the films are also an integral component of coursework for many students. Though not all films are international or subtitled, organizers always include selections that reflect the cultures of the languages taught at Murray State, so the films are part of the language students’ curriculum.

Students in other programs such as film studies, theatre, art and history, just to name a few, also regularly attend the screenings. Post-screening discussions are led by invited guest faculty who specialize in the culture or themes expressed in the films, and departments from across campus co-sponsor films that pertain especially to their areas of study.  

The series begins on Thursday, Jan. 26, with the French film Delicious. Directed by Eric Bernard and featuring Gregory Gadebois and Isabelle Carré, the film is set in 1789 in France, just before the Revolution. With the help of an impoverished duchess, a chef who has been sacked by his noble master finds the strength to free himself from his position as a servant and opens the first ever restaurant. 

To coincide with Black History Month in February, the series will feature Neptune Frost, which takes place in the hilltops of Rwanda where a group of escaped coltan miners form an anti-colonialist computer hacker collective. Three German films will also be featured in February in collaboration with the Goethe Institute, and as part of the programming for Women’s History Month in March, the series will show the documentary, Woman In Motion: Nichelle Nichols, Star Trek and the Remaking of NASA. 

The full schedule includes the following films: 

• Jan. 26 and 28:  Delicious (France, 2021)

• Feb. 2 and 4: Neptune Frost (Rwanda/USA, 2021)

• Feb. 9 and 11: Mein Sohn / My Son (Germany, 2021) 

• Feb. 16 and 18: Cleo (Germany, 2019)

• Feb. 23 and 25: Freies Land / A Free Country (Germany, 2019)

• Mar. 2 and 4: Woman In Motion: Nichelle Nichols, Star Trek, and the Remaking of NASA (USA, 2021) 

• Mar. 9 and 11: Asako I & II (Japan, 2018) 

• Mar. 30 and April 1: Machuca (Chile, 2004)

• April 13 and 15: The True Cost (USA, 2015)

• April 20 and 22: Life on the Planet (UK, 2020) 

All showings are at 7:30 p.m. in Faculty Hall Room 208, and are free and open to the public.

For more information on the Cinema International series please contact Dr. Therese Saint Paul at tsaintpaul@murraystate.edu.