Are you tired of the same corporate blockbuster Hollywood movies? The endless onslaught of sequels, reboots, and remakes getting you down? Join us in the Hodges Library auditorium on the second Tuesday of each month for free screenings of independent and foreign films.

This fall, our film series will highlight a few lesser-known titles from the Libraries’ collections. We hold a large collection of films on DVD and Blue-Ray. And we subscribe to a number of different video streaming services, such as Kanopy, that host many independent films and masterpieces of world cinema.

Practice your language skills and join us for a discussion following each film. Here’s our line-up for fall semester 2018:

All films: 7-9 p.m., Hodges Library auditorium

Sept. 11 — Mystery Train (1989; English, Italian, Japanese)
Oct. 9 — A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014; Farsi)
Nov. 13 — Pelo Malo (Bad Hair) (2013; Spanish)

For more information, feel free to contact Michael Deike (mdeike@utk.edu) or just drop by the Public Services Desk on the second floor of Hodges Library and ask to talk to Michael about movies!

More about the films:

Tuesday, September 11, 2018, 7–9 p.m.
Lindsay Young Auditorium, John C. Hodges Library

Film: Mystery Train (1989)
Runtime: 111 minutes
Director: Jim Jarmusch
Supplier: Janus Films (Criterion Collection)
Languages: English, Italian, and Japanese

Synopsis:
Aloof teenage Japanese tourists, a frazzled Italian widow, and a disgruntled British immigrant all converge in the city of dreams — which, for writer-director Jim Jarmusch, is Memphis.

Made with its director’s customary precision and wit, this triptych of stories pays playful tribute to the home of Stax Records, Sun Studio, Graceland, Carl Perkins, and, of course, the King, who presides over the film like a spirit. Mystery Train is one of Jarmusch’s very best movies, a boozy and beautiful pilgrimage to an iconic American ghost town and a paean to the music it gave the world.

A quirky film which paints a unique image of diverse perspectives to be found in Tennessee. An excellent movie for any fans of classic R & B!

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Tuesday, October 9, 2018, 7–9 p.m.
Lindsay Young Auditorium, John C. Hodges Library

Film: A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014)
Runtime: 102 minutes
Director: Ana Lily Amirpour
Supplier: Kino Lorber Edu
Languages: Farsi

Synopsis:
Strange things are afoot in Bad City. The Iranian ghost town — home to prostitutes, junkies, pimps, and other sordid souls — is a place that reeks of death and hopelessness, where a lonely vampire is stalking the town’s most unsavory inhabitants. But when boy meets girl, an unusual love story begins to blossom…blood red.

The first Iranian Vampire Western, Ana Lily Amirpour’s debut feature, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night basks in the sheer pleasure of pulp. A joyful mash-up of genre, archetype, and iconography, its prolific influences span spaghetti westerns, graphic novels, horror films, and the Iranian New Wave. Amped by a mix of Iranian rock, techno and Morricone-inspired riffs, its airy, anamorphic, black-and-white aesthetic and artfully drawn-out scenes combine the simmering tension of Sergio Leone with the surrealism of David Lynch.

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Tuesday, November 13, 2018, 7–9 p.m.
Lindsay Young Auditorium, John C. Hodges Library

Film: Pelo Malo (Bad Hair) (2013)
Runtime: 94 minutes
Director: Mariana Rondon
Supplier: Pragda
Languages: Spanish

Synopsis:
A nine-year-old boy’s preening obsession with straightening his hair elicits a tidal wave of homophobic panic in his hard-working mother, in this tender but clear-eyed coming-of-age tale. Junior is a beautiful boy, with big brown eyes, a delicate frame, and a head of luxurious dark curls. But Junior aches to straighten those curls, to acquire a whole new look befitting his emerging fantasy image of himself as a long-haired singer.

As the opportunity approaches to have his photo taken for the new school year, that ache turns into a fiery longing. Junior’s mother, Marta (Samantha Castillo), is barely hanging on. The father of her children has died, she recently lost her job as a security guard, and she now struggles to put a few arepas on the table for Junior and his baby brother. Junior doesn’t even know yet what it means to be gay, but the very notion prompts Marta to set out to “correct” Junior’s condition before it fully takes hold. This story provides an exploration of Venezuelan cultural views of gender and sexuality. And it all transpires behind a backdrop of economic, civil, and political unrest.