“Ask Me About the World" to kick off ECU’s 9th Annual Foreign Film Festival

For the ninth February in a row, ECU’s Foreign Film Festival will bring recently-released foreign-language films to the Raymond J. Estep Multimedia Center of the Bill S. Cole University Center. These film screenings are free and open to the public. After each screening, audience members are given door prizes in the form of books, food, or works of art associated with the culture of the films featured in the festival.

Before this year’s first film screening on February 1st, ECU’s Linscheid Library and ECU SCREENS are co-hosting a special event titled “Ask Me About the World” that will feature campus representatives from the Bahamas, France, Germany, Kenya, Malaysia, Nepal, Nigeria, and South Africa. Guests are invited to come to the lobby of the Bill S. Cole University Center between 3:00 and 4:00 PM to broaden their understanding of the world by having a conversation with individuals from around the world about their home countries.

Jakob Cedergren as police officer Asger Holm in "The Guilty." Photograph: Nikolaj Moeller

The Festival’s first film screening, scheduled for 4 PM, will be “The Guilty,” a Danish thriller about an emergency police dispatcher who receives a frantic call from a kidnapped young mother. “The Guilty” will be introduced by Ginger Johnson, a senior English-Math major, Honors student and Regents Scholar from Broken Arrow. Run time for “The Guilty” is 85 minutes, and it is rated “R” due to some frightening scenes, portrayed through sound and dialogue on the phone. Click here to see the trailer.

Source: Press Photo.

On February 8th at 4 PM, the festival will continue with “Anna Karenina: The Musical,” a Russian-language stage performance recorded live at the Moscow Operetta Theatre. This high-tech production features an original libretto based on Leo Tolstoy’s dramatic love story about the married Anna and a dashing military officer, Alexey Vronsky, set against the luxury of 19th century Russian nobility. “Anna Karenina: The Musical” will be introduced by Dr. Joshua Grasso, professor in ECU’s Department of English and Languages. Run time for “Anna Karenina: The Musical” is 2 hours, 15 minutes, including one intermission. It is rated “PG-13.”  Click here to see the trailer.

The Festival’s grand finale will begin at 6 pm on Saturday, February 9th with an event titled “ECU Celebrates Mexico.” “ECU Celebrates Mexico” will feature live musical performances by ECU Showtime. Delicias restaurant will also serve a special selection of Mexican classics, a rare treat from the local favorite, which is usually closed on Saturdays. ECU’s Office of Campus Involvement will be providing free tacos to the first fifty ECU students in attendance.

"3 Idiotas" stars Alfonso Dosal as "Pancho."

The evening’s feature film, “3 Idiotas,” a Spanish-language comedy about college life in Mexico, will be introduced by the director of ECU’s Spanish Language program, Dr. Errol King at 7 PM. “3 Idiotas” is rated “PG-13,” and it has a run time of 1 hour and 45 minutes. Click here to see the trailer.

ECU’s Foreign Film Festival is supported by the ECU Foundation, the Cultural Activities Committee, and the Department of English and Languages, and it relies on work provided by student volunteers from Sigma Tau Delta (ECU’s English Honors Society) and ECU’s Honors Student Association.

Additional door prizes have also been generously donated this year by Delicias Mexican Restaurant, D.K. Nutrition Center, Hardnox Coffehouse, Hot Shots Coffee House, and The Perfect Blend.

To learn more about ECU SCREENS and the spring schedule, like the ECU SCREENS Facebook page or visit www.ecuscreens.blogspot.com. Dr. Rebecca Nicholson-Weir, co-director of ECU SCREENS, may be contacted at (580) 559-5929 or rnichlsn@ecok.edu.

King Lear Kicks Off ECU SCREENS Spring Season

Ian McKellen (King Lear) and Danny Webb (Gloucester) at Duke of Yorks Theatre. Photo by Johan Pers.

Ian McKellen plays the lead in the National Theatre Live production of William Shakespeare’s King Lear, which will open the spring season for ECU SCREENS on Friday, January 18th at 6:30 PM in the Raymond J. Estep Multimedia Center of the Bill S. Cole University Center. General admission tickets are $10. Student tickets are $5. ECU students receive free admission, sponsored by ECU SCREENS.

Considered by many to be the greatest tragedy ever written, King Lear spotlights two aging fathers – one a King, one his courtier –who reject the children who truly love them. Their blindness unleashes a tornado of pitiless ambition and treachery, as family and state are plunged into a violent power struggle with bitter ends. This fast-paced, five-star production has been praised as “nuanced and powerful” by The Times and “smart, lucid, superbly detailed” by The Guardian. The Evening Standard celebrates “Ian McKellen’s detailed, intelligent performance” in particular as “a triumph.”

The runtime is 3 hours and 47 minutes and includes a twenty-minute interval. All audience members will receive free ice cream during the interval.

This production may not be suitable for small children as it contains violent scenes and gunshots

ECU SCREENS’s spring season will continue on Friday, February 1st with ECU’s 9th annual Foreign Film Festival, featuring free foreign films from Denmark, Russia, and Mexico. After each screening, audience members are given door prizes in the form of books, DVDs, food and works of art associated with the culture of the films featured in the festival.

The kick-off of the Foreign Film Festival on February 1st will also include a special event titled “Ask Me About the World,” where participants can broaden their global understanding by having a conversation with individuals from around the world about their home countries. “Ask Me About the World” will take place from 3:00-4:00 PM in the lobby of the University Center.

On March 29th, ECU SCREENS will present NT Live’s Julie, Polly Stenham’s new version of August Strindberg’s classic drama Miss Julie, which remains shocking and fiercely relevant in its new setting of contemporary London.

On April 26th, the spring season will conclude with NT Live’s Allelujah!, a sharp and hilarious new play by Alan Bennett about a small town hospital that is threatened with closure as part of an efficiency drive.

NT Live is the National Theatre's groundbreaking project to broadcast the best of British theatre to cinemas around the world.

To learn more about ECU SCREENS, like the ECU SCREENS Facebook page. For more information about the Royal National Theatre in Great Britain and other NT Live screenings, visit www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/. Dr. Rebecca Nicholson-Weir, co-director of ECU SCREENS, may be contacted at (580) 559-5929 or rnichlsn@ecok.edu.

Spring 2019 Schedule

All films will be screened in the Raymond J. Estep Multimedia Center located inside the Bill S. Cole University Center (near the corner of E. 13th Street and South Francis) on the campus of East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma.

Tickets are available at the door.

Friday, January 18 at 6:30 p.m.
KING LEAR
By William Shakespeare


Recorded live on stage at the Chichester Festival Theatre in London.
Runtime: 3 hrs, 47 min with a 20-minute interval
$10 General admission; free for ECU students.

Friday, February 1 at 4:00 p.m.
THE GUILTY
Directed by Gustav Möller

In Danish, with English subtitles
Runtime1 hr, 25 min.
Free and open to the public

Friday, February 8 at 4:00 p.m.
ANNA KARENINA MUSICAL
By Leo Tolstoy, Libretto by Yuliy Kim, Music by Roman Ignatyev

Recorded live on stage at the Moscow Operetta Theatre
In Russian, with English subtitles
Runtime: 2 hrs 15 min, with an interval
Free and open to the public

Saturday, February 9 at 7:00 p.m.
3 IDIOTAS
Directed by Carlos Bolado

In Spanish, with English subtitles
Runtime: 1 hr, 46 min.
Free and open to the public

Friday, March 29 at 6:30 p.m.
JULIE
By Polly Stenham, after Strindberg

Recorded live on stage at the Chichester Festival Theatre in London.
$10 General admission; free for ECU students.

Friday, April 26 at 6:30 p.m.
ALLELUJAH!
By Alan Bennett

Recorded live on stage at the Bridge Theatre in London.
$10 General admission; free for ECU students.