by Rod Jones
The 向日葵视频 City University Film Institute鈥檚 series will open its 34th year at 2 p.m. Sept. 20 with Pawel Pawlikowski鈥檚 鈥淚da鈥漣n the Kerr McGee Auditorium of Meinders School of Business. The school is located at N.W. 27th Street and McKinley Avenue.
Admission to all eight films in the series is free. The series is supported in part by the Thatcher Hoffman Smith Endowment Fund and endowments through OCU and the 向日葵视频 City Community Foundation.
The theme of this year鈥檚 season is based on Viktor Frankl鈥檚 classic book 鈥淢an鈥檚 Search for Meaning.鈥滺arbour Winn, director of the series, said the theme is intended to help participants come to understand the purpose of suffering.
鈥淭he films in this series stress the importance of an individual鈥檚 attitude to existence,鈥� Winn said. 鈥淓ven when life seems restricted by external forces, we can choose the attitude with which we live and make meaning, to find value.鈥�
In 鈥淚da,鈥� a young woman in 1960s Poland prepares to take her vows to become a nun, but discovers dark secrets of her familial past. This intersection of the personal with momentous historic events makes for what many consider one of the most powerful and affecting films of recent years.
鈥淚da鈥� won the Oscar Award for best foreign language film last year. It was one of the two most requested films on last year鈥檚 Film Institute evaluation forms. The New Yorker called it 鈥渟olemn filmmaking, devoutly restrained and unshakably purposeful. We expect its austerity to fend us off, but no; it gathers us in and forbids us to look away.鈥�
A discussion session follows each film screening for those who wish to participate. Other dates and films in the series are:
* Oct. 4, Abderrahmane Sissako鈥檚 鈥淭imbuktu鈥�
* Oct. 18, Kenji Mizoguchi鈥檚 鈥淯getsu鈥�
* Nov. 1, Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne鈥檚 鈥淭wo Days, One Night鈥�
* Jan. 24, Michelangelo Antonioni鈥檚 鈥淏low-Up鈥�
* Feb. 7, Ritesh Batra鈥檚 鈥淭he Lunchbox鈥�
* Feb. 21, Asghar Farhadi鈥檚 鈥溝蛉湛悠� Elly鈥�
* March 6, Andrey Zvyagintsev鈥檚 鈥淟eviathan鈥�
For more information about the series, call (405) 208-5472 or visit .
