Center for Film and Media Studies launches with film series at Esquire Theatre

To kick off the University of Cincinnati’s recently developed Center for Film and Media Studies, the program is collaborating with the Esquire Theatre to host a series of films and discussions centered around the theme “Cinema in the City.”

The three movies to be shown encompass a span of 50 years and are are culturally diverse, their subject material ranging from the underworld of organized crime to the everyday beauty and rhythm of a city. The films are open to anyone who wants to experience classic and critically acclaimed works on the silver screen as well as viewers interested in how the city functions in cinema.

The Center will be giving away tickets to all three events through their Twitter account, @Cincyfilm. The films, to be shown at the Esquire Theatre, are as listed:

Gomorrah (2008, Italy)

Feb. 18, 7:30 p.m. Introduction by Dana Renga, associate professor of Italian at Ohio State University.

On the Waterfront (1954, USA)

Feb. 26, 7:30 p.m. Introduction by Stanley Corkin, professor of History and English at UC.

Paris (2008, France)

Mar. 4, 7:30 p.m. Introduction by Michael Gott, assistant professor of French at UC.

In tandem with the film screenings, two lectures presented by the Taft Research Center will also be given on Feb. 20 from 2-4 p.m. titled “Century City Makes Magic Where Film Studio Used to Spin Fantasy” and “The Spaces of Cinematic City,” to be delivered respectively by film scholar Mark Shiel and UC professor Stanley Corkin. These talks will be held in Edwards One and focus on Boston and Los Angeles and their role in film.

The Center was cross-developed by faculty in the McMicken College of Arts and Sciences, the College-Conservatory of Music and the college of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning. Its inception was led by Todd Herzog, associate professor and head of German Studies, who stresses that it was a collaborative effort all the way through.

The program establishes UC at the forefront of the rapidly expanding field of film and media studies and is part of a university-wide initiative associated with the Digital Media Collaborative, which aims to promote all facets of digital media, from the artistic side to the research and educational aspect.

“This is a cross-college collaboration that combines UC's great talents and resources in the production, analysis and history of film and other media,” Herzog says. “The Center has strong ties with the strong and growing film culture of Cincinnati.”

Alumnus Peter Niehoff has been instrumental is contributing to the Center for Film and Media Studies and hopes it will help garner further interest in UC’s Film and Media Studies certificate as well as the film culture Cincinnati has to offer. Niehoff graduated from UC in 2009 with a Bachelor of Science in history, and received his master's in history last December.

“I think a lot can be learned from looking at film as a historical text,” Niehoff says. “The center is a great way to bring everybody together.”

For more information about the Film and Media Studies, visit https://www.facebook.com/ucfilm.