VOICES: A CENTURY OF POLITICAL CINEMA
As the 2024 election season enters high gear, the Drexel Theatre begins a new film series leading up to the election that examines how films and filmmakers have tackled political topics through the years.
The film series, titled “Voices: A Century of Political Cinema,” will showcase a wide variety of films that brought the politics of their time to the screen. “Voices” is curated from a special edition of The New Republic magazine, titled “The 100 Most Significant Political Films of All Time.”
Each screening will be accompanied by commentary from a subject expert who will help guide the audience through the film’s historical and cinematic importance.
The series opens with The Manchurian Candidate (1962) on Tuesday, March 12, at 7 pm.
The guest speaker for the first film will be Michael Tomasky. Tomasky is the editor of The New Republic and the editor in chief of Democracy: A Journal of Ideas. He was previously executive editor of The American Prospect and the founding editor of Guardian America. He is the author of Left for Dead: The Life, Death, and Possible Resurrection of Progressive Politics in America and Hillary’s Turn: Inside Her Improbable, Victorious Senate Campaign. He lives outside of Washington, D.C.
The remainder of the schedule includes:
• Wednesday, April 10: A Face in the Crowd (1957) at 7 pm – a special Film Parlor collaboration
• Wednesday, May 8: Being There (1979) at 7 pm – a special Film Parlor collaboration
• Wednesday, June 12: Milk (2008) at 7 pm – a special Film Parlor collaboration
• Wednesday, July 10: The Great McGinty (1940) at 7 pm
• Wednesday, August 14: Harlan County, USA (1976) at 7 pm
• Wednesday, September 11: No (2012) at 7 pm
• Wednesday, October 9: The Lives of Others (2006) at 7 pm
• Wednesday, November 13: Wag the Dog (1997) at 7 pm
*Films and guest speakers are subject to change.
A Face in the Crowd, Being There, and Milk will be offered free of charge with advanced registration (see the full schedule and film descriptions below). Stay after these free screenings for community discussions about each film with political and film experts. The Film Parlor is made possible in part by an investment of public funds from the Ohio Arts Council (OAC). The OAC is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally, and economically.
BEING THERE (1979)
Wednesday, May 8, 7 pm
After the death of his employer forces him out of the only home he’s ever known, a simpleminded, sheltered gardener becomes an unlikely trusted advisor to a powerful tycoon and an insider in Washington politics.
MILK (2008)
Wednesday, June 12, 7 pm
The story of Harvey Milk, and his struggles as an American gay activist who fought for gay rights and became California’s first openly gay elected official.
THE GREAT MCGINTY (1940)
Wednesday, July 10, 7 pm
Dan McGinty has great success in his chosen field of crooked politics, but he endangers it all in one crazy moment of honesty.
HARLAN COUNTY, USA (1976)
Wednesday, August 14, 7 pm
A heartbreaking record of the thirteen-month struggle between a community fighting to survive and a corporation dedicated to the bottom line.
NO (2012)
Wednesday, September 11, 7 pm
An advertising executive comes up with a campaign to defeat Augusto Pinochet in Chile’s 1988 referendum.
THE LIVES OF OTHERS (2006)
Wednesday, October 9, 7 pm
In 1984 East Berlin, an agent of the secret police, conducting surveillance on a writer and his lover, finds himself becoming increasingly absorbed by their lives.
WAG THE DOG (1997)
Wednesday, November 13, 7 pm
Shortly before an election, a spin-doctor and a Hollywood producer join efforts to fabricate a war in order to cover up a Presidential sex scandal.
PREVIOUS
THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (1962)
Tuesday, March 12, 7 pm
An American POW in the Korean War is brainwashed as an unwitting assassin for an international Communist conspiracy.
Pre-screening discussion with Michael Tomasky, moderated by Fred Silverman (Silverman Media Group)
A FACE IN THE CROWD (1957)
Wednesday, April 10, 7 pm
A female radio reporter turns a folk-singing drifter into a powerful media star.
Post-screening discussion with OSU Department of Political Science Professor Emeritus Dr. Herb Asher, moderated by Mike Thompson (host of WOSU’s “Columbus on the Record”)
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