Film Score Premiere, Celebration of Female Filmmakers Highlight IU Cinema’s Fall Season

(BLOOMINGTON) – Indiana University Cinema will mark the university’s bicentennial year with an engaging and eclectic fall lineup that includes a monthlong tribute to female filmmakers and the world premiere of a musical score for the newly restored silent film “The Gallery of Monsters.” In addition, several renowned and inspiring guest filmmakers and directors, including score composer the Alloy Orchestra, will visit IU Bloomington for extended on-stage interviews as part of the long-running Jorgensen Guest Filmmaker Series.

Ash Mayfair
Ash Mayfair. Photo courtesy of IU Cinema

The fall season’s Jorgensen Guest Filmmaker Series, supported by the Ove W Jorgensen Foundation, features:

  • Vietnam-born writer/director Ash Mayfair kicking off the series at 5 p.m. Sept. 20 with an on-stage conversation. Her debut feature, “The Third Wife,” which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2018, has received numerous international awards. The film will be shown at 7 p.m. Sept. 19, with Mayfair present for a post-film Q&A, and again at 4 p.m. Sept. 21. Mayfair has also programmed two of her recent favorite films as part of the Ash Mayfair: Unwavering Empathy series. Mayfair’s visit is made possible through a partnership with Women’s Philanthropy at IU.
  • Actress, filmmaker and artist Numa Perrier at 5 p.m. Sept. 24. The conversation will be moderated by Terri Francis, director of the Black Film Center/Archive and associate professor for The Media School. Perrier’s “Jezebel,” her feature-film directorial debut, premiered at SXSW 2019 with three sold-out screenings. IU Cinema will present “Jezebel” at 7 p.m. Sept. 23, with Perrier participating in a post-film Q&A, and again at 7 p.m. Sept. 27. Born in Haiti and raised in “small town USA,” Perrier co-founded the online platform Black&Sexy TV. She also was part of the all-female directing team on the fourth season of “Queen Sugar,” created and executive produced by Ava DuVernay for the Oprah Winfrey Network. Perrier’s visit and the Numa Perrier: The Politics of Pleasure series is also supported by Women’s Philanthropy at IU.
  • The three-man musical ensemble Alloy Orchestra, labeled by the late film critic Roger Ebert as “the best in the world at accompanying silent films,” at 4 p.m. Oct. 18. For nearly 30 years, Alloy has performed globally, including at the Musée du Louvre, Telluride Film Festival and the National Gallery of Art, helping revive great masterpieces of the silent era. Alloy Orchestra’s new musical score for “The Gallery of Monsters,” which was commissioned by IU Cinema for the university’s bicentennial, will make its world premiere at 7 p.m. Oct. 18. The silent film’s screening is part of the fall series Sound of Silents: Alloy Orchestra. This series is supported by the Myerson Family Fund, Office of the Vice Provost for Research, Jorgensen Guest Filmmaker Series Fund and the Office of the Bicentennial.
The Alloy Orchestra
The three-man musical ensemble Alloy Orchestra. Photo courtesy of IU Cinema
  • The first female filmmaker in Saudi Arabia, Haifaa al-Mansour, who will close out the fall series with an interview at 5 p.m. Nov. 15. Al-Mansour’s “Women Without Shadows,” which will be screened at 7 p.m. Nov. 13 at the IU Libraries Screening Room, influenced a new wave of Saudi filmmakers and made the issue of opening cinemas in the Kingdom front-page news. She is the first artist from the Arabian Gulf region to be invited to join the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. IU Cinema will screen three of al-Mansour’s films as part of the Haifaa al-Mansour: Paving the Way series: “Mary Shelley” at 7 p.m. Nov. 14, “Wadja” at 7 p.m. Nov. 15 and “Nappily Ever After” at 10 p.m. Nov. 15.

Jorgensen series lectures are free, but tickets are required. Visit Jorgensen Guest Filmmaker Series on the IU Cinema website for the full list of events, times, locations and ticket information.

IU Cinema’s fall 2019 season also features these special series and events:

  • In September, which is Woman Director Awareness Month, Running the Screen: Directed by Women recognizes the pioneering contributions of women to the art of filmmaking. The monthlong series will include screenings, public conversations, masterclasses and appearances by Jorgensen guests Mayfair and Perrier. Films scheduled as part of the series include “Pet Sematary” on Sept. 6, “Selma” on Sept. 8, “Big” on Sept. 22 and the world premiere of “Rebel Girls,” the new film from IU alumnae Riley Dismore and Katherine Crump, on Sept. 21.
Actor Tom Hanks looks at a genie in an arcade game in a still photo from "Big."
“Big” will be shown as part of the Woman Director Awareness Month series at IU Cinema. Photo courtesy of IU Cinema
  • Also honoring IU’s 200th year, the university will present an inaugural satellite festival, bringing U.S. premieres of some highlights from the world’s leading international silent-film festival, Le Giornate del Cinema Muto, held annually in Pordenone, Italy. The Days of Silent Cinema: Le Giornate del Cinema Muto at IU encompasses three days of rare and new restorations of silent films with musical accompaniment. Screenings include “Joan the Woman,” directed by Cecil B. DeMille, and “Beverly Graustark,” directed by Sydney Franklin. Events will take place at IU Cinema and the IU Libraries Screening Room.
  • The fourth edition of the InLight (Human Rights Documentary) Film Festival, an entirely student-run event, will take place Oct. 10 to 13. Featuring film screenings, filmmaker visits, and other offerings, the festival promotes interaction between students, scholars and practitioners who share an investment in the struggles for human rights around the world. The festival is supported through IU Cinema’s Creative Collaborations program.
A man rests his arms on a skateboard sitting on a table in a screen shot from "Minding the Gap."
“Minding the Gap” is among the films being screened as part of the InLight (Human Rights Documentary) Film Festival at IU Cinema. Photo courtesy of IU Cinema
  • We Tell: 50 Years of Participatory Community Media is part of a national, traveling exhibition of place-based documentaries featuring diverse voices, time periods and geographic locations that explore and unearth the 50-year history of participatory media in the United States. Films in the series, which will be shown on various dates from Oct. 18 through Dec. 15, comprise six thematic programs, including environments of race and place, wages of work, states of violence, and turf. This extensive series, supported through IU Cinema’s Creative Collaborations program, is presented in partnership with IU Libraries Moving Image Archive with support from the National Endowment of the Arts and others.
  • Other fall season highlights include a screening of “Clemency,” a quietly powerful film forcing an unflinching look at criminal justice in America, at 7 p.m. Sept. 26 presented in partnership with Union Board Films. Also with Union Board Films, IU Cinema will host Ruth E. Carter: Afrocentric Cinematic Universes. An Academy Award-winning costume designer nominated for her artistry in “Malcolm X,” “Amistad” and “Black Panther,” Carter will visit IU Bloomington at 7 p.m. Oct. 5.
  • For additional information on IU Cinema’s fall screenings and events, as well as ticket information, visit the IU Cinema website or call 812-855-1103.

What they’re saying:

“We are thrilled once again to bring such a talented and diverse line-up of filmmakers in the Jorgensen series, each sharing their unique perspectives and voices with our audience. We are also proud to support Alloy Orchestra’s newest project, which will tour the U.S. following the premiere in Bloomington and carry news of IU’s bicentennial celebration forward. In addition to these events, there is so much more to be excited about in this semester’s program.” — Jon Vickers, founding director of IU Cinema

“The backbone of IU Cinema’s program is our programming collaborations with campus and community groups. Each semester, nearly half of what we present is done in partnership. This fall, we’re delighted to be teaming up with an incredible array of collaborators — from the Black Film/Center Archive to the Turkish Flagship Program to the Jacobs School of Music — to bring to IU an exciting slate of visiting artists, contemporary arthouse films, cult classics and repertory movies from around the world and across all genres and decades. In the months ahead, we’ll be presenting more than 100 films, made from 1911 through 2019; our fall program will be its own semester-long class in film history.” — Brittany D. Friesner, IU Cinema associate director.

Information from News at IU Bloomington