Ackland Film Forum and Varsity Theatre presents: Election anticipation on screen

While the rest of the country ponders the upcoming presidential election, the Varsity Theatre on Franklin Street opens its doors to prospective voters. 

Throughout October, the Varsity will be partnering with the Ackland Film Forum every Tuesday night for “Politics on Film,” as they will screen a wide variety of films involving politics and elections. The screenings are free of charge and offered to everyone. Attending one of the films is a way for students to obtain a CLE credit.

The Ackland Film Forum is a collaborative organization among the Ackland Art Museum and various education departments at UNC to highlight the art of filmmaking. The Ackland Film Forum creates a film series in the fall and spring semester each year.

“Since we knew that the film series was gonna happen this fall, we thought, well, could we tie it into everyone's political preoccupation, I guess, for the fall as we get up to election day?” Allison Portnow Lathrop, the Ackland’s head of public programs, said.

Tuesday, Oct. 1 was the opening night of the “Politics on Film” series. The series will end on Oct. 29, with five films showcased throughout the month. 

When entering the cinema, movie-goers are immediately greeted by a non-partisan voter registration table. The Varsity will continue this feature next week, as voter registration closes on Oct. 11.

“We're hoping these first two weeks, while registration is still open, whoever isn't registered will go ahead and do it, and other people will check on their voter registration and find out how to vote early if that's what they want to do,” Michelle Robinson said.

Robinson is an associate professor in the UNC American Studies Department who helped to organize the month-long event. She’s also on the faculty advisory board of UNC’s global cinema studies program. Robinson worked together with Portnow Lathrop on curating the perfect movie setlist for “Politics on Film.”

The films being shown range from "Election" (1999), which centers on a race for student body president, to "Chisholm ‘72: Unbought & Unbossed" (2004), which is a documentary about the first Black female congresswoman. The films are shown in chronological order, with the first film being released in 1957, and the last film in 2004.

“We tried to pick films from different decades that would give us a broader look at some of the ways those projects turned out,” Robinson said. 

On Oct. 1, the Varsity screened "A Face in the Crowd" (1957) — dir. Elia Kazan ("On the Waterfront," "A Streetcar Named Desire"). The film depicts an ex-inmate who finds nationwide fame and obtains power over the next election. 

Sophomore Maddie Sparrow intends on attending the free screenings each week. She pushed herself outside of her comfort zone by attending "A Face in the Crowd."

“I have never heard of this movie before, but I'm trying to get into older films,” Sparrow said.

The screening started with Robinson standing in front of the theater and introducing the film. She gave a quick rundown of some of the history while igniting laughs throughout the audience.

For this first screening, over 30 seats were filled, and the Ackland Film Forum hopes for even more to be filled next Tuesday.

The next four “Politics on Film” screenings include "Medium Cool" (1969) on Oct. 8, "Being There" (1979) on Oct. 15, "Election" (1999) on Oct. 22, and "Chisholm ‘72: Unbought & Unbossed" (2004) on Oct. 29.

Tickets to the Politics on Film screenings can be found on the Ackland’s website under the events page.