"Real Life, Reel Representation: The Art and (Personal) Politics of Nonfiction Film", presented by The Department of Media Arts
Schedule
Wednesday, February 28
Capturing Life in the Twentieth Century and Beyond
11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Film Screening
Photographic Memory (Ross McElwee, 2011)
Filmmaker Ross McElwee will be our guest tomorrow evening at 6:30 p.m.
1:10 to 2:40 p.m.
Student Panel: “The Way it Is”: Questioning, Rebelling, Rising Up
Dr. Cynthia Lucia, Moderator, Department of Media Arts (FMS/FTV)
Basic Training (1971): Lindsey Co, Popular Music major, Film & Media Studies minor; and Ashley Morales, Film & Television/English major
Streetwise (1984)/Hoop Dreams (1994): Kaiya Conyers-Benton, Film & Television major
Bright Leaves (2003): Eimy Carhuaz Cervantes, Film & Television major, Arts & Entertainment Industries Management minor; and Zoe Jones, Film & Television major
Sobibór, October 14, 1943, 4 p.m.: Ashley Morales, Film & Television/English major
2:50 to 4:20 p.m.
Student Panel: The Personal as Political/The Political as Personal
Dr. Laurel Harris, Moderator, Department of English
Six O’Clock News (1996): Reylan Alexis, Business Administration major, Film & Media Studies minor
Photographic Memory (2011): Jasmine Fox, Film & Television major
Hoop Dreams (1994): Matthew Barilla, Film & Television major; and Raymond Cintron, Game & Interactive Media Design major
Streetwise (1984): Kevin Ortiz, Film & Television major
4:30 to 6 p.m.
Student Panel: Illuminating Worlds Known and Unknown
Dr. Cynthia Lucia, Moderator, Department of Media Arts (FMS/FTV)
Grizzly Man (2005): Will Dusinberre, Film & Television major
Into the Inferno (2016) and Grizzly Man (2005): Jason Larson, Film & Television major
High School (1968): Kasier Carter, Film & Television major; and Michelle Velazquez, Psychology major
Photographic Memory (2011): Edmund Robertson, Film & Television major; and Stephanie Berjaoui, Film & Television major
6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Featured Speaker
Dr. Barry Keith Grant, Professor Emeritus of Film and Popular Culture
Brock University, Ontario
“Voyages of Discovery: The Cinema of Frederick Wiseman”
Dr. Grant will speak about the work of world-renowned documentarian Frederick Wiseman, whose observational films over the past six decades have woven a complex tapestry of American institutions, with such classic films as Titicut Follies (1967), High School (1968), Welfare (1975), Public Housing (1997), National Gallery (2014), and City Hall (2020), to name just a few of his fifty films—and still counting!
Among his dozens of books, Professor Grant most recently authored Voyages of Discovery: The Cinema of Frederick Wiseman (Wallflower Press, 2023); The Twilight Zone (Wayne State University Press, 2020); Monster Cinema (Rutgers University Press, 2018); and The Hollywood Film Musical (Wiley-Blackwell, 2012). He transcribed and edited 5 Films by Frederick Wiseman (University of California Press, 2006) and is editor of Film Genre Reader, in its six expanded editions since 1986 (University of Texas Press)—a hallmark volume in cinema studies. Professor Grant was the first cinema studies scholar to be elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
8:30 p.m.
Snacks and Chat—All are welcome!
Thursday, February 29
“Reality Fictions”: When Boundaries Blur
11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Faculty Forays into Documentary
(Pizza: first come, first served; bring your own beverage)
Welcome and Symposium Introduction
Dr. Cynthia Lucia, Department of Media Arts (FMS/FTV)
Searching for Sugar Man (2012, Malik Bendjelloul): Dr. Barry Janes, Department of Media Arts (FTV)
Prom Night in Mississippi (2009, Paul Saltzman): Dr. Roberta Fiske-Rusciano, Department of Government, Politics & Law
Land Without Bread (1933, Luis Buñuel) and Shoah (1985, Claude Lanzmann): Dr. Jay Stern, Department of Media Arts (FTV)
1:10 to 2:10 p.m.
Student Film and Screenwriting Festival
Dr. Jay Stern, Moderator, Department of Media Arts (FTV)
Student Screenplay: “Pig Ear” by Ashley Morales, Film & Television and English Writing major
Student Films:
Page to Stage by Will Dusinberre and Javier Santos Benito, Film & Television majors
The Great NJ Debate: Pork Roll vs. Taylor Ham by Ashley Morales, Carter Zajac, and James Felson, Film & Television majors
4:30 to 6 p.m.
Student Panel: Blurred Boundaries: Fiction and Documentary
Dr. Cynthia Lucia, Moderator, Department of Media Arts (FMS/FTV)
Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975): Richard Seib, Film & Television major
Time Indefinite (1993): Nat Kapustin, Film & Television major; Graphic Design minor
Man on Wire (2008): Angel Mosley, Film & Television major
High School (1968): Mike Maista and Sam Oberg-Flood, Film & Television majors
6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Keynote Speaker— Ross McElwee
“An Evening with Ross McElwee and His Landmark Documentaries”
Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Ross McElwee is also a professor of practice in the Department of Visual and Environmental Studies at Harvard University. His trail-blazing 1986 film, Sherman’s March: A Meditation on the Possibility of Romantic Love in the South During an Era of Nuclear Weapons Proliferation, which won the 1987 Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, and his later films, including Time Indefinite (1993), Six O’Clock News (1997), Bright Leaves (2003) and Photographic Memory (2011), are humorous yet profound mediations on life, art, relationships, and the larger human condition. Sherman’s March was chosen by the Library of Congress National Film Registry for preservation as an “historically significant American motion picture” and, among many other awards, his Bright Leaves (2003) was nominated as Best Documentary by the Directors Guild of America, the Writers Guild of America, Independent Spirit Awards, as well as being nominated for an Emmy in Outstanding Individual Achievement in Writing and at Cannes for the Association Française des Cinémas d'Art et Essai (AFCAE) award. His films have appeared at major international festivals including Berlin, Rotterdam and Sydney, with In Paraguay (2008) and Photographic Memory premiering at the Venice Film Festival. His pioneering approach to the autobiographical/personal essay documentary has been highly influential, shaping the work of such filmmakers as Michael Moore (Roger & Me, 1989), Alan Berliner (Intimate Stranger, 1991), Nathaniel Kahn (My Architect, 2003), and Morgan Spurlock (Supersize Me, 2004), to name just a few. In the context of his earlier celebrated films, Professor McElwee will present portions of Remake, his newest work in progress.
8:30 p.m.
Closing Reception—All are welcome!
Special Thank You:
Dean Kelly Bidle, College of Arts and Sciences
Dr. Shawn Kildea, Chair, Department of Media Arts
Dr. Barry Janes, Department of Media Arts (FTV)
Dr. Jay Stern, Department of Media Arts (FTV)
Scott Alboum, Video Technologies Coordinator
Saadiya Alidina, Department of Film and Television Administrative Associate
All Rider Symposium Participants
Tatiana Sciancalepore, Rider University Communications
Dr. Melissa Hofmann, University Libraries
Dr. Sharon Whitfield, University Libraries
Dr. Jackie Incollingo, Faculty Advisor, The Rider News
Alison Neu, Department of English Administrative Associate
Dr. Raymond Lucia, Performing Arts Department, Horace Greeley High School
Sari Alshiekh, Jorge Abrue, Tim Parkans, Kenya Randall and all at Rider University Media Services
Shane Moran, Music Production major
Date & Time
No dates or times currently scheduled for this event.