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Volume 10, Issue 2 October 2019

T h e U n i v e r s i t y o f K a n s a s

Department of Film & Media Studies

Inside this issue:

R A

4

O A 5‐6

A N 6

A ! 7

U E 2‐3

Department of Fi lm & Media Studies October 2019

Upcoming Events

An Sasala (MA Student) will premiere their new short film Please Provide: at the 2019 Digital Humani es Forum. Please Provide: offers an experimental approach to feminist data visualiza on and explores their experiences naviga ng the complex, number‐driven US medical and insurance systems.

The film will screen between 12:00 p.m. and 1:40 p.m. on October 3. Lunch is free; forum registra on is required (for lunch); and full forum par cipa on is encouraged! For more informa on and/or to register, please go to: h p://idrh.ku.edu/dhforum2019.

Before An's film, catch An Sasala and Gwen Asbury give a lightening talk at 11:00 a.m. about their text‐based digital game B.A.Bu.S.Ka., which simulates an interac on with an A.I. chatbot that iden fies as an elderly, white trans woman. Be sure to visit the Digital Showcase, which runs October 3 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and October 4 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. during the DH Forum at the Burge Union.

Note: If you are unable to make it physically to the Forum, then please check out the DH Forum's webpage (see above) on the day of the event to find an online link to play An and Gwen's game.

Robert Hurst, associate professor of Film and Media Studies, will discuss his upcoming documentary, Garden City, at the October 18 Red Hot Research event.

Red Hot Research is a regular Friday event, built of five short presenta ons from across KU to open the door for new ways of understanding work through discussion across perspec ves.

For more informa on, please visit: h ps://news.ku.edu/2019/08/30/commons‐sets‐red‐hot‐research‐dates‐fall‐2019?utm_source=KU+Today+Newsle er+List&utm_campaign=0b097a6509‐EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_08_30_03_14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_ec834ed00f‐0b097a6509‐278656425


Upcoming Events

A er an extremely successful first year, the Haun ng Humani es, an event run by the Hall Center at the off‐campus loca on of Abe and Jake's Landing, is returning for a second year on October 23 from 5:30‐9:00 p.m. Last year, An Sasala, M.A. student in FMS, screened their film "I Have a Mouth Yet I Cannot Scream" at this event. This year, the Film and Media Graduate Council* has banded together to lead a German Expressionis c themed booth and movie poster scavenger hunt ac vity en tled Altweltliche Erzählungen (Old World Stories). Be sure to check it out! The event is family friendly!

* FMS Graduate students: Gwen Asbury, Danyelle Green, David Gower, Ka e Hinders, Tweesna Mills, and An Sasala, and FMS GTA/Museums Studies Student Alex Adelmund.

Bill Tu le Dis nguished Lecture in American Studies announces the 2019 Tu le Lecture will be delivered by KU Professor of Film and Media Studies and Academy Award winner Kevin Willmo . Titled “BlacKkKlansman and the Resurgence of Hate,” Professor Willmo ’s talk is scheduled for October 24 at 4:00 p.m. in Woodruff Auditorium. It will be followed by a poster signing and recep on.

Professor Willmo is a member of the KU faculty where he teaches in the Department of Film and Media Studies. In 2018 he was awarded both the Academy Award and the BAFTA Award for best Adapted Screenplay for his co‐wri ng of BlacKkKlansman. The film also took the Grand Prix at the Cannes

Film Fes val. Professor Willmo has wri en, directed or acted in more than twelve films. His work includes Jayhawkers, which tells the story of Wilt Chamberlain and the 1956 KU men’s basketball team; C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America; ChiRaq, co‐wri en with Spike Lee and The Only Good Indian, for which he won the Best Director Award at the American Indian Film Fes val. He is at work on two new projects. I, Too, Sing America: Langston Hughes Unfurled, with a group of KU faculty about the life and work of one‐ me Lawrence resident Langston Hughes and The 24th about the 1917 Houston riot. Originally from Junc on City, Kansas, Kevin Willmo earned his B.A. at Marymount College. Before pursuing an MFA at NYU, Tisch School of the Arts he worked to desegregate ins tu ons in Kansas and organized two Catholic Worker shelters.

Copied from: h p://americanstudies.ku.edu/tu le


Recognitions and Accomplishments

The character on the side is the in‐game

character that viewers associate with Jimmy.

Professor Germaine Halegoua's book, The Digital City: Media and the Social Produc on of Place is currently available for pre‐order from NYU Press. h ps://nyupress.org/9781479882199/the‐digital‐city/

The book shows how different popula ons employ urban broadband networks, social and loca ve media pla orms, digital naviga on, smart ci es, and crea ve placemaking ini a ves to turn urban spaces into places with deep meanings and emo onal a achments. Readers will recognize many of the ci es and projects men oned in the book including a chapter on Google Fiber adop on in Kansas City and crea ve placemaking efforts in Lawrence, KS. Keep an eye out for her next book as well, Smart Ci es, which will be available this winter as part of the Essen al Knowledge Series at MIT Press.

h ps://mitpress.mit.edu/books/series/mit‐press‐essen al‐knowledge‐series

Congratula ons to current FMS senior James “J1mmy” Samuels on his recent nomina on for a video/film award at a fes val held October 3‐7 in Farnborough, United Kingdom. The award is affiliated with RuneFest, an annual fes val for the massive video game, Runescape. Every year the game developers receive upwards of 50,000‐60,000 votes and nomina ons for selec ng the game's best content creators. This year, Jimmy was nominated for the Best New Video Maker alongside some other very talented video makers. Watch the official announcement video here: h ps://youtu.be/oJVNXv2PgrE. Jimmy is announced as 'J1mmy' at 1:18.

Jimmy has accumulated over 6.5 million total views and 92,000 subscribers through his YouTube channel J1mmy (h ps://www.youtube.com/J1mmy). He u lizes the game to depict a character with a comedic persona as he explores story‐lines inside the game itself. Jimmy notes that this has been jump star ng his career in film and that he’s extremely excited for the future.


Out & About

FMS senior Stuart Jenkins and

Professor Willmo on September 11.

Albert Bloch in his Lawrence studio: 1932.

Professor Ma Jacobson was one of the cinematographers on AB, the documentary about Albert Bloch, an ar st in Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), a pioneering German Expressionist art movement who moved to Lawrence before World War II and became an Art Professor at KU. AB, directed by KU film alumnus Tim DePaepe, was screened on September 20 at the Lawrence Arts Center.

Read more about this in KU News: h ps://news.ku.edu/2019/09/16/documentary‐explores‐career‐enigma c‐ar st‐albert‐bloch‐2?utm_source=KU+Today+Newsle er+List&utm_campaign=520d9c837b‐EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_09_17_02_50&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_ec834ed00f‐520d9c837b‐278656425

Oscar‐winning KU Film and Media Studies professor Kevin Willmo discussed his diverse career as a director, screenwriter, producer, civil rights ac vist and KU professor at the Dole Ins tute of Poli cs on September 11. Willmo won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2019 for his work on “BlacKkKlansman.”

Alumni News


Out and About

A scene from Parallel Chords.

Assistant Teaching Professor Laura Kirk was featured in The Land, a film about a couple faced with losing their property that has been in their family for genera ons, which is currently on the fes val circuit a er premiering at Dances with Films in Los Angeles. FMS graduate Michael Lopez was cinematographer. This is in addi on to the recent LA premiere of the independent film Parallel Chords, which featured Laura as a mother of a prodigy violinist seeking to find her individuality amid pressure from her pianist dad. Parallel Chords is available on Amazon Prime.

For KU’s University Theatre, Laura will render the role of a soccer mom in the upcoming produc on of The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe, opening December 5 in the William Inge Memorial Theatre. She will also par cipate in the choir for The Chris ans opening in the Cra on Preyer Theatre on September 27.

Jason Ptaszek, BA TH&F, reports that he is currently shoo ng Behind the Scenes as a videographer on Guillermo del Toro’s stop‐mo on feature Pinocchio, contracted by Ne lix. In April 2020 he will join the crew of Pinocchio as a camera assistant.

T h e D e p a r t m e n t o f F i l m a n d M e d i a S t u d i e s T h e U n i v e r s i t y o f K a n s a s

Department of Film and Media Studies

Summerfield Hall, Suite 230

1300 Sunnyside Avenue

Lawrence, KS 66045

Phone: 785‐864‐1340

E‐mail: [email protected]

Send your news items and

updates to Karla Conrad at

[email protected].

Academic Calendar

October 12— First Day of Fall Break

October 15— Last Day of Fall Break

November 01 — Undergraduate Application

for Graduation deadline

Equipment Check‐in: 10:00 a.m.— 12:00 p.m., Monday, Wednesday, and Friday

Equipment Check‐out: 1:00 p.m.— 3:00 p.m., Monday, Wednesday, and Friday

Sign‐up to check‐out equipment in the binder on the counter in 230 Summerfield.

Sign‐up for edi ng rooms by signing the edit room schedule posted on the edi ng room door (418b Summerfield). Pick up the key in the FMS office (230 Summerfield).

Check with your instructor or John McCluskey, Assistant Technical Director, for more informa on.

For Academic

Advising:

Call 785‐864‐3500 or check your Jayhawk

GPS!

Follow us

Check out the College Blog: h p://blog.college.ku.edu/

Are you a Film & Media Studies (or Theatre & Film)

alum? We’d love to hear from you. Go to h ps://

film.ku.edu/alumni‐submissions to update your informa on with us, so we

can add you to the impressive ranks of our

alumni.

Twi er: @KUFMS, @KUSchoolofArts, @KUCollege

October 2019

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