Lights, camera, activism

Muhlenberg and Cedar Crest unite to show films for reflection.

Friday, March 17, 2006

By STEPHEN M. ALTHOUSE

The Allentown Times

Film studies and film students were once synonymous with goofball and slacker.

That changed years ago and 2006 finds celluloid statements that not only make money but also tout social activism good for business. After spending years socially comatose, mainstream American stayed away in droves from last summer's stroll down television rerun fame, offering Hollywood only marginal ticket sales for Nick at Nite retreads "Bewitched" and "The Dukes of Hazard."

As summer winds relented to fall's chill, more sublime entertainment commanded big screens. George Clooney got plump for "Good Night, and Good Luck" and donned a Grizzly Adams beard in "Syriana." Philip Seymour Hoffman won an Academy Award for his portrayal of the enigmatic Truman Capote, while "Crash" challenged discrimination in many forms.

But social documentaries have always been the rebels with a cause in the medium. Hot with attitude, "Fired Up Films" is a collaborative effort of the communications departments at Muhlenberg and Cedar Crest Colleges to showcase some of the most explorative documentaries of our time. The films brazenly give the once-over to political and social issues ranging from corporate greed, homosexuality, migrant farm workers, the working class and the oil-addicted underbelly of suburbia, while still claiming ground artistically for the medium.

A total of six flicks have or will capture the attention of viewers in darkened rooms at the West End schools through April 19, and are presented in memory of the late James Schneider, remembered by those who knew him as a brilliant writer and thinker. Schneider taught film in the department of media and communication for many years at Muhlenberg, until his death early last year. He was a thoughtful proponent for civil liberties and steadfast in the belief that movies can be more than 95 minutes of Blockbuster viewing.

"Jim was committed to the possibilities of documentary and to the social justice issues that are the focus of Fired Up Films series," says Paul McEwan, an assistant professor of media and communication at Muhlenberg. "We all find it easier to forget about some issues than face them."

Getting stoked

With Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" competing successfully with mainstream Hollywood fiction movies during the torrid summer months of 2004, Schneider and friend Jim Brancato recognized a blazing void in local cinema when it came to flicks and politics.

"Many political documentaries had not reached the Lehigh Valley," Brancato, an associate professor of communication since 1992 at Cedar Crest, says. The pair wanted to showcase a festival of movies that would spur public discussion and debate after each screening with the presidential election looming that November.

"We saw this as a small attempt to have a local antidote to talk radio and talking-head political TV shows like "Crossfire," where all you here is sound bites and narrow opinions designed to inflame opinion rather than engage people," Brancato adds.

The engaging process of selecting the six films fell largely to the communications programs at Cedar Crest and Muhlenberg. In the case of Muhlenberg, the films all have a connection to the Center for Ethics program, according to Lora Taub, an assistant professor of media and communication at the school.

"We selected three films that have issues of identity at the core," Taub says. "Paris is Burning, Farmingville and Class Dismissed."

The movies showing at Cedar Crest - "Private Warriors" and "The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream - deal with recent political issues.

The final installment in the series is entitled "A Documentarian in the Community: Films by Jim Schneider and his Students," featuring projects the late professor was working on before his death. His colleagues note Schneider was invigorated by the process of establishing a vision of democratic media at the liberal arts college. He viewed working with youth on documentaries as a part of his calling as an educator.

"Jim made those hopes a real possibility, graciously sharing not only experiences and resources, but more importantly, by establishing within our own department a tradition of doing documentary work as a democratic participation," Taub says.

Technically speaking

Aesthetics have always been an integral part of filmmaking, whether it's the use of a close-up, jump edit, pan or cinematography, and the fare of "Fired Up" candidates do not disappoint.

"Suffice it to say that documentary films have reached a level of sophistication where they can compete with the best Hollywood narrative for entertainment value as well as sheer artistic merit," Brancato notes.

The days of cheaply-produced, sophomorically-constructed documentaries are history, thanks to a talented array of directors who view themselves as much as activists as storytellers, and the advent of digital filmmaking. While ideas don't cost anything, making a movie does.

"Digital media is making the production and distribution of social documentaries less costly," Taub says.

Some of the most recent compelling documentaries are emerging from community media centers, such as Appalshop, Educational Video Center and Philadelphia's own Scribe Media Center, according to Taub.

While digital has spliced the costs it takes to produce a film, producing quality work requires more than holding a camera.

"Most students master the technical requirements of movie-making long before they figure out how to tell interesting stories," McEwan says. "The cliché instruction for writing novels or screenplays is to 'write what you know,' but that's only useful advice if you actually know something."

And teaching students something about film is the crux of the new film studies degree starting this fall at Muhlenberg. For the first time the college will offer a bachelor's degree program in the medium to their liberal arts curriculum. Francesca Coppa, an associate professor of English since 1998 and the program's director, wants a graduate of the freshly-minted program to resist the temptation to view films passively.

"We're all aware of the seductiveness of sitting in a dark room and staring up at the screen," Coppa says. "But we'd like our students to watch films with a lot more awareness as to how they're constructed, how they make meaning and produce their effects."

The program will require students to study film and its relation to the humanities and social sciences, but Coppa knows doing is better than watching: All graduates are required to take at least one production course before earning their sheepskin.

"We believe that students understand differently when they actually have a camera in their hands," she says.

Get me a rewrite

Each of the films of the "Fired Up" series shines light into the dark corridors of untold stories that have remained largely invisible to the public. The first "Fired Up" series dealt heavily with the war in Iraq. In this year's series, "Private Warriors" picks up the mantle of investigative filmmaking and chronicles Kellogg, Brown and Root, a Halliburton subsidiary, which has billed the U.S. government $12 billion over the past four years.

Other works such as "Farmingville" shown March 14, combine muckraking and tenderness. Director Catherine Tambini was present for the viewing and later answered questions from audience members.

"Her film tells the story of the attempted murder of two Mexican day laborers in a Long Island community," McEwan says. "It's a great film and a great chance to learn about how documentaries get made."

Not only are the movies compelling, they also have garnered the interest of some of Muhlenberg's undergrads.

"My sense, speaking with students, is that they find documentary films very satisfying, connecting them to issues they're not hearing about in the mainstream press," Taub says.

Somewhere, Jim Schneider must be smiling. His friends remember him as an intelligent human being who was also a kind man, actively listening to what others had to say and caring about their concerns, without wavering from his own beliefs.

"He was one of the few people I've met who 'walked it like they talked it,'" Brancato says. "He tried to change society for the better through his teaching, his own documentary films, starting up the Lehigh Valley Media Arts Center initiative and working with underprivileged children. I really loved the man and I miss him."




Lights, camera, activism Muhlenberg and Cedar Crest unite to show films for reflection. Friday, March 17, 2006 By STEPHEN M. ALTHOUSE The Allentown Times Film studies and film students were once synonymous with goofball and slacker. That changed years ago and 2006 finds celluloid statements that not only make money but also tout social activism good for business. After spending years socially comatose, mainstream American stayed away in droves from last summer's stroll down television rerun fame, offering Hollywood only marginal ticket sales for Nick at Nite retreads "Bewitched" and "The Dukes of Hazard." As summer winds relented to fall's chill, more sublime entertainment commanded big screens. George Clooney got plump for "Good Night, and Good Luck" and donned a Grizzly Adams beard in "Syriana." Philip Seymour Hoffman won an Academy Award for his portrayal of the enigmatic Truman Capote, while "Crash" challenged discrimination in many forms. But social documentaries have always been the rebels with a cause in the medium. Hot with attitude, "Fired Up Films" is a collaborative effort of the communications departments at Muhlenberg and Cedar Crest Colleges to showcase some of the most explorative documentaries of our time. The films brazenly give the once-over to political and social issues ranging from corporate greed, homosexuality, migrant farm workers, the working class and the oil-addicted underbelly of suburbia, while still claiming ground artistically for the medium. A total of six flicks have or will capture the attention of viewers in darkened rooms at the West End schools through April 19, and are presented in memory of the late James Schneider, remembered by those who knew him as a brilliant writer and thinker. Schneider taught film in the department of media and communication for many years at Muhlenberg, until his death early last year. He was a thoughtful proponent for civil liberties and steadfast in the belief that movies can be more than 95 minutes of Blockbuster viewing. "Jim was committed to the possibilities of documentary and to the social justice issues that are the focus of Fired Up Films series," says Paul McEwan, an assistant professor of media and communication at Muhlenberg. "We all find it easier to forget about some issues than face them." Getting stoked With Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" competing successfully with mainstream Hollywood fiction movies during the torrid summer months of 2004, Schneider and friend Jim Brancato recognized a blazing void in local cinema when it came to flicks and politics. "Many political documentaries had not reached the Lehigh Valley," Brancato, an associate professor of communication since 1992 at Cedar Crest, says. The pair wanted to showcase a festival of movies that would spur public discussion and debate after each screening with the presidential election looming that November. "We saw this as a small attempt to have a local antidote to talk radio and talking-head political TV shows like "Crossfire," where all you here is sound bites and narrow opinions designed to inflame opinion rather than engage people," Brancato adds. The engaging process of selecting the six films fell largely to the communications programs at Cedar Crest and Muhlenberg. In the case of Muhlenberg, the films all have a connection to the Center for Ethics program, according to Lora Taub, an assistant professor of media and communication at the school. "We selected three films that have issues of identity at the core," Taub says. "Paris is Burning, Farmingville and Class Dismissed." The movies showing at Cedar Crest - "Private Warriors" and "The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream - deal with recent political issues. The final installment in the series is entitled "A Documentarian in the Community: Films by Jim Schneider and his Students," featuring projects the late professor was working on before his death. His colleagues note Schneider was invigorated by the process of establishing a vision of democratic media at the liberal arts college. He viewed working with youth on documentaries as a part of his calling as an educator. "Jim made those hopes a real possibility, graciously sharing not only experiences and resources, but more importantly, by establishing within our own department a tradition of doing documentary work as a democratic participation," Taub says. Technically speaking Aesthetics have always been an integral part of filmmaking, whether it's the use of a close-up, jump edit, pan or cinematography, and the fare of "Fired Up" candidates do not disappoint. "Suffice it to say that documentary films have reached a level of sophistication where they can compete with the best Hollywood narrative for entertainment value as well as sheer artistic merit," Brancato notes. The days of cheaply-produced, sophomorically-constructed documentaries are history, thanks to a talented array of directors who view themselves as much as activists as storytellers, and the advent of digital filmmaking. While ideas don't cost anything, making a movie does. "Digital media is making the production and distribution of social documentaries less costly," Taub says. Some of the most recent compelling documentaries are emerging from community media centers, such as Appalshop, Educational Video Center and Philadelphia's own Scribe Media Center, according to Taub. While digital has spliced the costs it takes to produce a film, producing quality work requires more than holding a camera. "Most students master the technical requirements of movie-making long before they figure out how to tell interesting stories," McEwan says. "The cliché instruction for writing novels or screenplays is to 'write what you know,' but that's only useful advice if you actually know something." And teaching students something about film is the crux of the new film studies degree starting this fall at Muhlenberg. For the first time the college will offer a bachelor's degree program in the medium to their liberal arts curriculum. Francesca Coppa, an associate professor of English since 1998 and the program's director, wants a graduate of the freshly-minted program to resist the temptation to view films passively. "We're all aware of the seductiveness of sitting in a dark room and staring up at the screen," Coppa says. "But we'd like our students to watch films with a lot more awareness as to how they're constructed, how they make meaning and produce their effects." The program will require students to study film and its relation to the humanities and social sciences, but Coppa knows doing is better than watching: All graduates are required to take at least one production course before earning their sheepskin. "We believe that students understand differently when they actually have a camera in their hands," she says. Get me a rewrite Each of the films of the "Fired Up" series shines light into the dark corridors of untold stories that have remained largely invisible to the public. The first "Fired Up" series dealt heavily with the war in Iraq. In this year's series, "Private Warriors" picks up the mantle of investigative filmmaking and chronicles Kellogg, Brown and Root, a Halliburton subsidiary, which has billed the U.S. government $12 billion over the past four years. Other works such as "Farmingville" shown March 14, combine muckraking and tenderness. Director Catherine Tambini was present for the viewing and later answered questions from audience members. "Her film tells the story of the attempted murder of two Mexican day laborers in a Long Island community," McEwan says. "It's a great film and a great chance to learn about how documentaries get made." Not only are the movies compelling, they also have garnered the interest of some of Muhlenberg's undergrads. "My sense, speaking with students, is that they find documentary films very satisfying, connecting them to issues they're not hearing about in the mainstream press," Taub says. Somewhere, Jim Schneider must be smiling. His friends remember him as an intelligent human being who was also a kind man, actively listening to what others had to say and caring about their concerns, without wavering from his own beliefs. "He was one of the few people I've met who 'walked it like they talked it,'" Brancato says. "He tried to change society for the better through his teaching, his own documentary films, starting up the Lehigh Valley Media Arts Center initiative and working with underprivileged children. I really loved the man and I miss him." © 2006 The Allentown Times © 2006 PennLive.com All Rights Reserved.