February 24, 2010

The Academy Award nominated and Golden Globe winner for best foreign language film Waltz with Bashir has been chosen as 2010's One Film Philadelphia film.  The college continued its partnership with One Film Philadelphia and hosted a free screening of the film followed by a discussion on the issues the film raises and the innovative storytelling and animation it employs. Our One Film Philadelphia event was Feb 24th at 6:30 PM in the Bossone Auditorium.  An animated film, Waltz with Bashir, explores the consequences of the 1982 Lebanon War and specifically the Sabra and Shatila massacre.  Director Ari Folman plays himself as he struggles to recall some twenty years earlier, when at the age of 19, he served in the Israeli Defense Force during the war.  Folman goes on a journey encountering many of his service comrades and their conversations bring back memories of his role in the war.

Following the screening, Film & Video professor Gregory Wolmart moderated a talk about the importance of the film with documentary filmmaker Eran Preis and Israeli Deputy Consul General Raslan Abu Rukun. One Film Philadelphia is a citywide initiative of Philadelphia’s Free Library which promotes film literacy and community building by choosing one film to be shown in dozens of screenings throughout the city over several weeks in February and March.