AARON SKUBBY, Editor-In-Chief—
For this year’s 17th annual International Studies Film Festival, the first screening is in collaboration with Post-communist Transitions Week, and the following three center around indigenous rights.
Post-communist Transitions Week is a week of screenings, conversations, and other assorted activities to commemorate the thirty year anniversary of the collapse of the Soviet Union. It is being planned in collaboration between three professors: Dr. Matthew Slaboch, Dr. Alina Haliliuc, and Dr. Zurrina Juraqulova.
Meagan Tehua, the academic administrative assistant for International Studies, has been instrumental in helping plan both the Post-community Transitions Week as well as the film festival.
As part of the week’s celebrations, there will be a screening of three short films relevant to the transitions many Eastern European and Central Asian countries experienced: Sing, Maja, and Fragile.
“We’re trying to relate what we’re studying to real lives and situations,” Tehua explained. Film allows the viewer “to get a real life glimpse of other countries” that we may not see otherwise, she said.
The following three films in the festival all center around indigenous rights and activism: Daughter of a Lost Bird, Gather, and Invisible Hand. The full list of films with descriptions can be seen in the infographic to the right.
Post-communist Transitions Week will be taking place upon return from spring break. Here is the list of events:
Tuesday, March 22, 6pm: Conversations and Cultural food in Curtis’ Provost Dining Room
Wednesday, March 23, 7pm: A Zoom Talk about the history and social reality of transition economies by Dr. Aleksandr V. Gevorkyan from St. John’s University.
Thursday, March 24, 4:30pm: Keynote talk by Dr. David L. Hoffmann from OSU entitled “World War II Memory in Putin’s Russia.” A reception will follow his talk in Herrick, then three short films will be screened.
Friday, March 25, 12pm: A Panel of Scholars will present their research via Zoom on Slayter’s third floor. The topics include: Environment and Cotton Labor in Tajikistan, Gender and Sexuality in Russia, and Countering Violent Extremism. The final event is a workshop with Lina Hupert, president of the Ohio Egg Artists Guild. She will teach 20 participants how to write with beeswax and dye eggs. The ancient art form is called Pysanky, from the Ukrainian word to write.
These events and cultural activities are sponsored by International Studies, the Laura C. Harris Series, Lisska Center and the Departments of Communication, Economics, Global Commerce, Politics & Public Affairs and Religion. More information is available on MyDenison.