{"id":1337,"date":"2025-01-22T19:22:29","date_gmt":"2025-01-22T19:22:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vanderbilt.edu\/internationallens\/?page_id=1337"},"modified":"2025-09-02T15:07:23","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T15:07:23","slug":"spring-2025","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.vanderbilt.edu\/internationallens\/archives\/spring-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

INTERNATIONAL LENS<\/strong>, a film series with a global perspective, provides a forum to promote conversation among Vanderbilt\u2019s diverse students, faculty, staff, and the greater Nashville community. International Lens endeavors to transcend geographic, linguistic, ethnic, religious, and political boundaries by encouraging conversation and greater cross-cultural understanding through cinema.<\/p>\n

The series is organized by the Department of Cinema & Media Arts in collaboration with College of Arts and Science, Dean of Students offices, and other departments, centers, and programs across the University.<\/p>\n

There is no charge for admission.<\/p>\n

Films are screened in Sarratt Cinema at 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Subscribe to iLensMail<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

See the iLens Trailer<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

SPRING 2025 Schedule of Films<\/strong><\/h5>\n

\"\"Far East Deep South<\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Thursday, January 23\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Presented by the Engine of Art, Democracy, and Justice (EADJ)<\/p>\n

USA (2020)\u00a0 \u00a0Dir: Larissa Lam<\/strong><\/p>\n

When a Chinese American family travels from California to Mississippi to visit the grave of their ancestors, they stumble upon surprising family revelations and uncover the racially complex history of the early Chinese in the segregated South. They meet a diverse group of residents and historians who help them discover how deep their roots run in America, exploring the interconnected relationship between Black and Chinese communities in the Jim Crow era and how the generational impact of discriminatory immigration policies, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act, impacted their family.\u00a0 English.<\/em> 76 min.<\/p>\n

Screening in collaboration with the Engine for Art, Democracy, and Justice (EADJ) and their Sping 2025 Public Program Series, \u201cSomewhere We Are Human,\u201d celebrating immigrant communities shaping the city of Nashville and the American South.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"Soundtrack to a Coup d\u2019Etat<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Thursday, January 30\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Belgium, France, Netherlands (2024)\u00a0 Dir: Johan Grimonprez\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Capturing the moment when African politics and American jazz collided, this film illuminates the political machinations behind the 1961 assassination of Congo\u2019s prime minister Patrice Lumumba. An urgent film that delivers the politics of decolonization in jazz form, replete with virtuosic archival riffs, historical text in the form of Blue Note album covers, and musical performances by jazz legends who in the \u201860s doubled as cultural ambassadors to Africa. Their roles as unknowing decoys in the CIA\u2019s plot to assassinate Lumumba threads through this deeply researched tapestry, sounding a call to interrogate the Western powers\u2019 murderous collusions in the guise of liberal values. French, English, Russian.<\/em> 150 min.<\/p>\n

\"\"If Only I Could Hibernate<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Thursday, February 6<\/b><\/p>\n

Mongolia, France, Switzerland, Qatar (2023)\u00a0 Dir: Zoljargal Purevdash<\/strong><\/p>\n

A poor but prideful teenager, Ulzii, lives in the yurt area of Ulaanbaatar with his family. He is a physics genius and is determined to win a science competition to earn a scholarship. When his mother finds a job in the countryside, she leaves him and his younger siblings to face a harsh winter by themselves. Left to take care of the family on his own, Ulzii wanders around at night looking for things to burn to keep their home heated while preparing for the national competition. Mongolian with English subtitles.<\/em> 98 min.<\/p>\n

\"\"Exhuma
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Thursday, February 13<\/strong><\/p>\n

Presented by We Jung Yi, Assistant Professor of Asian Studies<\/p>\n

South Korea (2024)\u00a0 Dir: Jang Jae-hyun<\/strong><\/p>\n

When a renowned shaman and her prot\u00e9g\u00e9 are hired by a wealthy, enigmatic family, they begin investigating the cause of a disturbing supernatural illness that affects only the first-born children of each generation. With the help of a knowledgeable mortician and the country\u2019s most revered geomancer, they soon trace the affliction\u2019s origin to a long-hidden family grave located on sacred ground. They opt to exhume and relocate the ancestral remains, but as something much darker emerges, they soon discover what befalls those who dare to mess with the wrong grave. Korean, English, Japanese<\/em>. 135 min.<\/p>\n

Screening in collaboration with the Korean Graduate Students and Scholars Association (KSSA) at Vanderbilt<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"1st<\/sup> Annual Point of VU Student Film Festival<\/span>
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Saturday, February 15 @ 10:00am<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Two competitive film blocks at 10am and 2pm, industry panel luncheon, and awards ceremony<\/em><\/p>\n

POINT OF VU Student Film Festival<\/strong>\u00a0(pointofvusff.wordpress.com<\/a>)\u00a0is a student-organized film festival dedicated to showcasing short films created by university students from the greater middle Tennessee region and surrounding areas. POVU provides a stage for emerging student filmmakers to showcase their work in a competitive environment, while fostering connections between students in the region.\u00a0We want to promote Nashville as an artistic hub and creative community that nurtures emerging talent, cultivating an environment that aims to retain young talented filmmakers and artists in the Middle Tennessee region after graduation. Participating universities include: Austin Peay, Belmont, Columbia State, Lipscomb, MTSU, North Alabama, Trevecca, TSU, Vanderbilt, and Western Kentucky. The festival will feature competitive student film blocks, panel discussions, guest speakers, and networking opportunities hosted by alumni from these middle Tennessee colleges and working professionals in the region.<\/p>\n

\"\"On Becoming a Guinea Fowl<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n

**Rescheduled screening from the Fall 2024 schedule.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Thursday, February 20<\/strong><\/p>\n

Special Presentation: Nashville pre-release screening from A24 films<\/p>\n

Zambia, UK, Ireland (2024)\u00a0 Dir: Rungano Nyoni\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

On an empty road in the middle of the night, Shula stumbles across the body of her uncle. As funeral proceedings begin around them, she and her cousins bring to light the buried secrets of their middle-class Zambian family. Blending absurdist humor and playfully surrealist imagery to capture contemporary Zambian society at a generational impasse between staunch tradition and social progress, this Cannes award-winner rages at a middle-class Zambian family\u2019s shameful silence and the lies we tell ourselves. English, Bemba. <\/em>95 min.<\/p>\n

This screening m<\/em>ade possible by a partnership between A24 Films and International Lens.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"A Sound Democracy
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Thursday, February 27<\/strong><\/p>\n

Presented by Anand Taneja, Associate Professor of Religious Studies<\/p>\n

India (2023)\u00a0 Dir: <\/strong>Dhananjai Sinha<\/strong><\/p>\n

Centering the science of the sound system, this film traces the production of violence through music and sound in India. It explores the journey of a song, its music and meaning \u2013 from the musician who creates it, through the DJ sound system which amplifies it \u2013 and how a song intended to enthuse and celebrate can turn into the soundtrack for violence. How does the creation of a DJ with an amped sound system interact with political and emotional sentiment of its listeners? How does something as primal as rhythm and bass, aided by language, turn catalyst to mindless mob violence? Hindi with English subtitles.<\/em> 67 min.<\/p>\n

\"\"Icare (Icarus)
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Thursday, March 20<\/strong><\/p>\n

Presented by Chiara Sulprizio, Senior Lecturer in Classical and Mediterranean Studies<\/p>\n

Luxembourg, France, Belgium (2022)\u00a0 Dir: Carlo Vogele<\/strong> \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

On the island of Crete, every corner is a playground for Icarus, son of the great inventor Daedalus. During an exploration near the palace of Knossos, Icarus makes a strange discovery: A child with the head of a bull is kept locked up, hidden in the Royal palace on the orders of King Minos. Icarus secretly befriends the young Minotaur, but destiny takes a turn when his new friend is taken into a labyrinth. Icarus takes a chance to save his only friend, but after a fateful night of death and betrayal, his disillusion culminates in a tragic choice between light and darkness. \u00a0English,<\/em> French, Luxembourgish, Flemish.<\/em> 76 min.<\/p>\n

\"\"Session, If A House Be Divided
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Thursday, March 27\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Presented by Carrie Russell, Principal Senior Lecturer in Political Science<\/p>\n

USA <\/strong>(2024)\u00a0 Dir: Andrew Baxt<\/strong> \u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

An observational portrait of a legislative year, this film follows the Tennessee House of Representatives in 2024 as heightened tensions and party divisions spill into the national conversation. Dominated by a Republican supermajority, House Democrats fight for a voice, and citizens of the state refuse to be silenced. From the hallways and hearing rooms, to the House gallery and floor, the film steps back to unravel the current American political process \u2013 the passion and obstruction, the hope and disunion. Can a house divided actually stand?\u00a0 English. <\/em>73 min.<\/p>\n

\"\"All We Imagine as Light<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Thursday, April 10<\/b><\/p>\n

India, France, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy (2024)\u00a0 Dir: <\/strong>Payal Kapadia<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a vast, heaving Mumbai that bustles by day and glimmers by night, two nurses \u2013 roommates by chance \u2013 form a makeshift sisterhood. Proper, practical Prabha grieves her estranged marriage but holds her teeming desires (and an eager suitor) at bay; youthful, sensuous Anu cherishes secret text messages and steamy trysts with a Muslim boy. Meanwhile, a no-nonsense neighbor whose widowhood leaves her struggling to keep her flat recruits the two younger women to her village by the sea \u2013 where all three find unlikely refuge in the clarity of shared wanting, if not having. A soulful study of the transformative power of friendship and sisterhood, in all its complexities. Malayalam, Hindi, Marathi. <\/em>118 min.<\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

Films are 7:30pm in Sarratt Cinema unless otherwise noted<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In order to keep our community safe, please do not attend any of our screenings if you are feeling unwell.<\/p>\n

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