Multimedia / Contact
DOWNLOAD THE FESTIVAL WEEK SCHEDULE (pdf)
Press Release – Global Migration & Film Culminating Week Events (pdf)
Culminating Festival Week Preview:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxKEh5lTmmc
CULMINATING FESTIVAL WEEKEND – CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS!
Check out some of the other advertisements for the festival!
Global Film Fest Slideshow
As seen before films at the Kimball Theatre
Complete schedule – World in Williamsburg movies and dinner series (pdf)
Detailed schedule – “Immigrants in Italy” March 20th short films screening (pdf)
Failan poster ad (pdf)
Guarco live music event ad (pdf)
Detailed schedule – “Migration Cult” film series (pdf) – check out the YouTube trailer below!
Crossing Borders After Hours: Migration Cult Series
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvfOFrK8BZE
Media inquires? Festival questions? General comments?
Please email Festival Director Tim Barnard
Migration and motion picture film have a shared history that has shaped human existence and our understanding of it since the end of the nineteenth century. What is the relationship between migration and film? How has film helped us understand and respond to the role of migration in shaping modern lives? How have the realities of migration shaped developments of film as a commercial industry, a creative and artistic form, and as a social practice that operates locally, nationally, and globally? These questions motivate the theme of William and Mary’s second annual Global/Local Film Event. The Williamsburg Regional Library, William and Mary’s Reves Center for International Studies, Charles Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, Film Studies Program, and Alma Mater Productions (AMP) are all joining forces for the College’s second annual film event. The theme for the 2009 event is “Global Film and Migration.” The event will consist of an extended series of film screenings running from mid January thru early March and will culminate with a weekend film festival (March 19-22) when filmmakers from around the world will come to present their films and discuss their views on the dynamic relationship between human migration and filmmaking. Leading up to the festival weekend, over 40 films from over 15 nations will screen at the Williamsburg Regional Library’s theater, The Sadler Center’s Commonwealth auditorium, and the Kimball Theater.
Latest News: We’re making waves in THE LAST WORD
Someone wrote into the Virginia Gazette’s LAST WORD this past Wednesday (1/14/09) asking, rather testily, why we had included the film RATATOUILLE in our festival and film series on “Global Film and Migration.” Here is a lengthy response, no doubt too lengthy for the LAST WORD to be able to print:
Last Word Submission (response to “Film Series” submission of 1/14/09)
Global Film and Migration: Why Ratatouille?
In last Wednesday’s Last Word, someone asked, “Who was responsible for choosing the movies in the Williamsburg Library Global Film & Migration Series?” and commented further: “ I’m baffled by the inclusion of ‘Ratatouille’ as one of the featured films.” I’m very glad you asked, and I can understand how the choice might, at first, seem odd. My name is Tim Barnard and the choice was mine. I teach American Studies, English, and Film at the College, and I am in charge of this year’s extended film series and festival co-sponsored by William and Mary and The Williamsburg Regional Library (WRL). As one of the fliers being distributed at the WRL screenings explains: “For this film event, the College is committed to making the series and festival a local reflection on and celebration of global migration and film. As such, the College is collaborating with the Williamsburg Regional Library in an event that allows American, immigrant, and foreign filmmakers and their films; William and Mary students; and the members of our diverse local community come together to screen and exchange ideas on the films that render and reflect the migrations touching all of our lives.” This is why I am so glad someone wrote in this question about the series (and Ratatouille’s inclusion) to The Last Word, one of the key forums of public discourse and inquiry our local community has.
“Inclusion” is one of the driving commitments of our approach to the festival. We set out to put together an expansive series of films representing a wide range of film styles and stories that come from a variety of countries (and through collaborations among countries). We also want to include films that appeal to diverse audiences. In developing the series topics, we worked with the Children’s Programming Department at the WRL and set ourselves to including G-rated films that would appeal to children and families as well as PG- and PG-13-rated films geared toward adolescent filmgoers. Putting together a series of G-rated films required more creative thinking that resulted in some intriguing film choices. How do films translate narratives of and about migration into appealing, fun-loving stories geared to children and the child in us all?
Furthermore, we also want these films to be thought-provoking and to generate reflection and new ways of thinking about both film and migration as global phenomena that shape our lives and the films we watch. My professorial instincts make me want to ask: “Why do you think Ratatouille was included?” We’re guessing (and hoping) people could come up with a range of interesting answers to that question (if so, please send them in to the last word!).
Some possible answers I will offer: At one level, the film’s story is about a colony of rats who migrate from the country to the city as the result of the risk-taking actions of one daring, charismatic individual. Also, the film’s rat protagonist, Remy, is able to pursue his dreams and aspirations as a culinary artist by moving from a country setting of limited resources to an urban cosmopolitan center. Remy’s trajectory is one that parallels flows of human migration throughout modern history. A bonus short included on the DVD version of Ratatouille (something we would have shown if time had allowed and if we hadn’t thought it, together with the feature, might exceed the attention span of younger viewers) offers a further reflection on the relationship between rats, humans, and patterns of migration throughout history (I highly recommend you check it out).
Another answer to the question may become clear with the screening of a later film in the series: The Triplettes of Belleville, a French animated film screening at the WRL theater on January 25 at 2pm. In juxtaposition, Triplettes and Ratatouille reveal a complex history of Franco-American cultural exchange, sharing, and appropriations that have generated a volatile but richly productive love-hate relationship between the two nations that date back to the very beginning of their status as sister republics. Each film was made in one country and renders images of the other with a mix of nostalgia, stereotypes, and fascination. Both films reveal how one nation and its filmmakers (and film goers) view the other. And yet it also reveals the way migration of individuals, filmmaking techniques, and cultural practices as fundamental as cuisine or music or sports, have long moved back and forth between France and the U.S.
The Last Word contributor also asked about why E.T. was highlighted. As the Gazette responded, it did screen the same day as Ratatouille. E.T. and Ratatouille both tell stories of individuals from different worlds meeting and working together, with plenty of difficulties and misunderstandings along the way. As a result of this relationship, the “migrant” and “local” (like Eliot and E.T.) or the two migrants from different places (like Remy and Linguini) wind up growing emotionally, in their understanding of themselves and others, and in their abilities to both shape and cope with their worlds. Such stories reflect the ways migrants and local natives have (and have had to) interact with each other throughout human history, and certainly in the modern age of global film and migration dating back to the late nineteenth century. The stories told in both of these films share narrative structures and themes with a wide range of the other films that will screen as part of this series and culminating weekend film festival.
Again I want to thank the last word contributor for their question and I hope others will share their thoughts about the festival and its films on this forum. Come out and take advantage of this opportunity for *Free Movies* on the big screen and the chance to share ideas about them with the members of your community. Don’t miss the culminating film festival weekend of March 19-22 where filmmakers will be coming from around the world to present their films and participate in open discussions with each other and audiences.