By Ron Ford,
SFCC organizations will be sponsoring a diverse variety of movies during the winter and spring quarters for students, faculty and staff to enjoy free of charge.
The Secular Association will present “Kumare” on March 4 in SUB Lounge C.
“Kumare” tells of the rise of an Eastern holy man, who develops a following in the West. But Kumare is actually an American filmmaker conducting a social experiment on the nature of belief and how it is influenced by others.
“[This] winner of South by Southwest’s Audience Award, Kumare is an insightful look at faith and belief,” Kino Lorber, a critic for the site Rotten Tomatoes, wrote.
Viginia Hodges, president of the Secular Association, said the movie was selected for its poignancy and humor.
“This movie has a good lesson, a ton of laughs, and brings up a lot of questions that are interesting to discuss,” Hodges said.
SFCC has sponsored an International Film Festival each spring for the last nine years. This year will be no different.
Five films will be screened on Tuesday evenings between April 22 and May 20 at the Garland Theater, located at 924 W. Garland. All shows begin at 7:15 p.m., and are free to SFCC students, staff and faculty.
The films are selected by a diverse committee each fall.
“There is a committee comprised of faculty, staff and students from ASG and Student Clubs that come together in the fall,” Gabriel Valenzuela, a Spanish instructor at SFCC, said. “We find at least three films in each following category, prioritize them, and finally vote on them based on cost and availability. [The categories are] Japanese, French, Spanish, Alliance, Chinese and Other.”
According to Valenzuela, the festival is one of SFCC’s most highly-attended student events, in spite of being held off campus.
“An average of 250 students each Tuesday for five weeks benefit from it,” Valenzuela said.
For many students, it is their first exposure to the cinema of other cultures.
“The films we show are very educational, and for many students it is their first exposure to international cinema,” Valenzuela said. “In many surveys that were turned in we read comments along the lines that the individual had ‘never seen such a powerful movie,’ or ‘it was their first international film and they cannot wait to see more,’ and many other reviews that really do attest to power of this festival.”