'Mornings at the Movies' brings moviegoing back to the community

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly attributed a quote to Nadia Yaqub. The quote at the end of the article about increasingly watching movies alone was said by Rachel Schaevtiz. The article has been updated with the correct attribution. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes this error. 

Community members and academics can connect in a new way with the “Mornings at the Movies” series, hosted by Carolina Public Humanities and Chelsea Theater.

The series started on Jan. 9 and will continue with four subsequent Wednesday morning films until May 8. Each event features a film chosen by a UNC faculty member who facilitates a discussion about the film afterwards.

The films are diverse and cover a range of generations, topics and cultures. Rachel Schaevitz, an associate director for Carolina Public Humanities, said she chose not to have a theme for this series.

“Sometimes we try too hard to make it all fit into one category,” Schaevitz said. “But when you bring in phenomenal speakers and people who want to talk about the film, magical things are going to happen.”

Schaevitz said the series aligns with the organization’s mission of bridging the University and community. Schaevitz wanted to create a space where academics could share their specific knowledge with the broader Triangle community.

Emily Kass, interim executive director of Chelsea Theater, said the theater recently changed its model to incorporate an educational component. Thus, the two groups came together in what Schaevitz called a “brilliant collaboration.”

One of the featured speakers, Nadia Yaqub said the series is important not only for the discussion component, but also because the films may not be accessible to a general audience.

Yaqub chose a 2016 Egyptian film named "In The Last Days of the City." She said she hopes the film will be challenging and that her discussion will contextualize it to help people understand the film as an experience of the Arab world.

In choosing a foreign film, Yaqub said the language is not as important as the images.

“When it comes to films from other parts of the world, the images are something we can all understand without a translation,” she said. 

In contrast, Sean DiLeonardi, a graduate student, chose the 1957 romantic comedy "Desk Set" in hopes that it will be relevant and funny for today’s audience. The film is about the way people interact with technology in the context of the female workforce. 

“There’s a kind of ridiculousness about how they perceived the computer to be,” DiLeonardi said. “It’s kind of dated, but I hope people enjoy it.”

For DiLeonardi, this series is important because everyone watches movies, and this is an opportunity to have critical discussions about them. Although they all agree that the series is important, each faculty member will bring something different to the audience.

“Each faculty member brings a very interesting perspective,” Kass said. “It’s great to bring in these content experts because people have questions about the films and their context.”

Schaevitz said some discussions are especially interesting because of the event’s demographics. The core audience for the weekday morning shows is retirees who have seen some of the older films before. 

“The generational divide between me and the audience creates an interesting inter-generational conversation,” Schaevitz said. “Watching an older film is like seeing a piece of history, and they lived through it.”

Schaevitz said everyone is encouraged to attend "Mornings at the Movies," since the community aspect of this event is especially important. 

Yaqub said the community component is important to her individually, as well. She is looking forward to finding out who is interested in seeing her film, and she hopes it will be the beginning of finding a new community. 

“We’re increasingly watching movies alone, in our beds, binging, never in a group,” Schaevtiz said. “What’s missing is camaraderie, hearing everyone else laugh when you laugh, sitting around and chatting about it after.”

arts@dailytarheel.com