What if the South had won the war? What if politicians promised a black for every home? What if Martin Luther King, Jr. had been born a slave? Through the lens of a Ken Burns-style mockumentary, C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America (2004) provides a revisionist history of the United States in which the South won the Civil War and where Lincoln is forced to flee to Canada in blackface. By using fabricated movie segments, old government information films, television commercials, news breaks, along with actual stock footage from our own history, a provocative and humorous story is told of a country which, in many ways, frighteningly follows a parallel with our own. New Times writes, C.S.A. is “easily the nerviest film about race, religion, and U.S. imperialism ever made.” The film premiered in 2004 at the Sundance Film Festival and won a Special Jury Prize at the Bend Film Festival in 2005. C.S.A. is presented by filmmaker Spike Lee and was distributed in 2004 by IFC Films. Fro more information visit: http://www.csathemovie.com/

PANEL – DISCUSSION IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING FILM
Moderated by Carla Eckels, news producer and local host at KMUW 89.1 FM, with panelists:
Reuben Eckels, founder/pastor of Wichita’s New Day Christian Church
Jean Griffith, WSU assistant professor of English
Randal Jelks, KU associate professor of American Studies
Rupert Pate, actor (Confederate States of America) and historian
Kevin Willmott, film director and associate professor of Film and Media Studies,
University of Kansas

The film series: Black Films that Challenge/Black Films that Matter is curated by Professor Kevin Wilmott in celebration of Crossroads: The Art of Gordon Parks and includes three films shown on Thursdays in February on the Wichita State University campus:

Thursday, Feb 11, 6 p.m.
The Spook Who Sat by the Door (1973)
210 McKnight Art Center West, WSU School of Art and Design
Introduction and post-screening Q&A with Kevin Willmott, veteran filmmaker and associate professor of film and media studies at the University of Kansas

Set in 1970s Chicago, black nationalist Dan Freeman (Lawrence Cook) joins the C.I.A. There he learns guerrilla warfare techniques. With that training, he leaves the C.I.A. to found the Freedom Fighters — a group of violent and nonviolent activists working to ensure the freedom of blacks in the United States.

Filmed and released during a time of continuing racial violence, the movie’s title refers to the early days of affirmative action and the policy of making a token black employee very conspicuous for all to see. This politically charged and culturally relevant film was quickly removed from theaters after its 1973 release and was only recently released on DVD.

Thursday, Feb 25, 6 p.m.
Nothing But a Man (1964)
210 McKnight Art Center West, WSU School of Art and Design.

Reputedly the favorite movie of Malcolm X, Nothing But a Man portrays a devil-may-care young man who falls for a grounded young woman and their on-again/off-again relationship. Tame by contemporary standards, the film is set in the South of the 1960s where an economic system continued to keep many enslaved both financially and emotionally. Although created more than four decades ago, Nothing But a Man speaks to issues of manhood today and captures the black male experience on film. A breakthrough film in 1964, it is still relevant today. One of the top 100 must-see black films, Nothing But a Man was winner of the San Giorgio prize at the 1964 Venice Film Festival.

The Ulrich Museum galleries are open from 5-6 p.m. before each film screening. Crossroads: The Art of Gordon Parks is on view through April 11. For more information, call 316-978-3664 or visit www.ulrich.wichita.edu/gordonparks.

After 30 years of war and Taliban rule, pop culture has returned to Afghanistan. Millions are watching AFGHAN STAR – a Pop Idol-style TV series in which people from across the country compete for a cash prize and record deal. 2000 people audition, including three brave women. The viewers vote for their favorite singers by mobile phone and for many this is their first encounter with democracy. This timely and inspired film follows the moving stories of four young contestants looking for a new life. But their journeys take a terrifying turn as one young woman dances on stage, threatening her own safety and the future of the show itself. In Afghanistan you risk your life to sing.

“AFGHAN STAR” is the feature directorial debut of British director, Havana Marking, and is a joint production of Afghanistan and the U.K. The film is currently being shown at numerous theatres and festivals the world over and was the winner of the Best World Cinema Documentary Director Award and the World Cinema Documentary Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, where it held its American premiere in 2009. It continues to be one of the best reviewed films of the past year, still retaining a rare 100% on the “Tomatometer”, a compilation of the published film reviews of more than 200 top film critics at Rotten Tomatoes , resulting in a Golden Tomato Award. Most recently, it was named as Britain’s submission to the 2010 Academy Awards competition for Best Foreign Language Film of 09.

Tallgrass Film Festival’s acclaimed Third Thursday Screening Series returns in February.

“Nollywood Babylon,” directed by Ben Addelman and Samir Mallal, a 2009 Canadian production filmed in Nigeria, was nominated for Sundance Film Festival’s 2009 Grand Jury Prize for World Cinema Documentary. The film delves first-hand into Nigeria’s explosive homegrown movie industry, Nollywood, where Jesus and voodoo vie for screen time.

Nollywood, which just began in 1992, is now the third largest film industry in the world, “an unstoppable economic and cultural force that has taken the continent by storm and is now bursting beyond the borders of Africa. Nollywood cinema was born of the street markets of Lagos, Nigeria’s largest metropolis. Unfazed by low production values and shoe-string budgets, enterprising filmmakers created a brash, inventive and wildly popular form of cinema that has Nigerians Nollywood-obsessed. In these films, voodoo and magic infuse urban stories, reflecting the kinetic collision of traditional mysticism and modern culture that Nigerians experience every day. Propelled by a booming ’70s soundtrack of African underground music, the film drops viewers into the chaos of the Idumota market. Here, among the bustling stalls, films are sold and unlikely stars are born.” —Museum of Modern Art catalog

This Tallgrass Third Thursday screening is co-sponsored by the WSU Office of International Education.

Two 2008 Tallgrass Film Festival favorites will also be shown in conjunction with International Education Week and are both FREE and open to the public:

“The Edge of Heaven,” 7 p.m., Monday, Nov. 16 at the CAC Theater. Directed by Fatih Akin, this 2007 film hails from Germany, Turkey and Italy and is the winner of twenty-one international film awards, including Best Screenplay at Cannes International Film Festival.
“A beautiful, unexpectedly enrapturing story about a world in transition and both the closeness and unbridgeable divide between generations and cultures. —Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times.

”Captain Abu Raed,” 2 p.m. matinee screening, Tuesday Nov. 17 at the CAC Theater. Directed by Amin Matalqa, “Captain Abu Raed” was Jordan’s submission to 2009 Academy Awards. It is the winner of fifteen international awards including World Cinema Audience Award at Sundance Film Festival.
“Such a subtle yet global view of human struggle—the whole world viewed through the prism of a single poor neighborhood—is a mark of extraordinary promise from this remarkable new filmmaker.—F.X. Feeny, The Village Voice

The films are part of a weeklong celebration of international education on the Wichita State campus and around the country. International Education Week was founded in 2000 by the Clinton Administration to celebrate and promote International Education and Exchange and multi-culturalism.

Tallgrass Third Thursday special screenings are a program of Wichita Association of the Motion Picture Arts which also produces Tallgrass Film Festival. For more information about the festival, visit tallgrassfilmfest.com or contact Teri Mott at teri@tallgrassfilm.com or (614) 506-9307.