Justin Wyatt and Keith Brown want to expose their students to more obscure movies. That’s why for the past three years they’ve screened films that may not be considered part of the western film canon for their students.
The initial concept of the screenings was the product of conversations between Wyatt, associate director of the Harrington School of Communication and Media, and Brown, a film professor.
There is limited space in the curriculum for classes like FLM 101: Introduction to Film Media, FLM 110: Introduction to Film Media Production Technologies and FLM 445: Seminar in Film Media to cover movies outside of the classics. Wyatt and Brown decided to screen films for these students outside of class in order to augment their understanding of cinema history. They believe showing movies this way can encourage conversation around underrepresented films.
“We noticed that there were some gaps in terms of films that we would expect students to be familiar with,” Wyatt said. “We hope that [the screening series] creates a dialogue among the students, and we hope the films we’re showing in the series really resonate with them and make them see how film can be a powerful communicative tool.”
Wyatt credits Brown with the idea of choosing movies that exist outside of the entertainment industry’s canon. The screenings are a way to ensure students have a sense of film traditions outside of Hollywood. This helps students understand that Hollywood is not currently and has not historically been the only source of so-called legitimate filmmaking.
Additionally, knowing that students will gain exposure to non-canonical movies outside the classroom allows the professors to focus their class sessions on teaching the history and growth of film through the development of the business.
“It became an opportunity to enhance the knowledge base of our students,” Wyatt said.
There’s more to a screening than just showing the movie in question. Wyatt and Brown also like to make sure there’s something to drive the home the significance of each selection.
“We also thought it was a nice idea to have some kind of context for why these films were chosen, so we started with doing brief introductions, either in person or taped,” Wyatt explained.
Each semester’s program has a theme the professors want to emphasize for that semester’s students. The first semester of screenings featured cult musicals. The second semester showcased movies released in 1969.
“Last semester, I suggested that we do a series called ‘Suggested By,’” Wyatt said. “We go to faculty members and ask them ‘what would you like to screen as part of the series? What films should students know about that they’re not going to get access to?’”
This semester will be the second “Suggested By” series, with the faculty’s choices being “Paper Moon,” “Babette’s Feast,” “Brazil,” “Mean Streets,” “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me” and “Faces Places.” If Wyatt and Brown have achieved their goal, hopefully you haven’t seen or heard of most of them.
Jason Hogan, a junior who recently transferred to URI, has only heard of one of the films. Would he be willing to go to a screening?
“I would say so, yeah,” Hogan said.
Not sure if any of the screenings are for you?
“I think we have a list of six extraordinary movies for this semester, and I’m really excited to see the reaction,” Wyatt said.