The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford has added two movies to its free 60th Anniversary Film Series.
Each film is free to the public and campus community and begins at 7 p.m. in Bromeley Family Theater. Light refreshments will be provided.
The two added films are the Sidney Poitier classic, “To Sir, with Love,” on Saturday and “Rise of the Wahine,” a documentary about a women’s college volleyball team in the early days of Title IX, on March 23.
Each film was selected by a member of the Pitt-Bradford faculty who will introduce the film and lead a discussion following the showing.
Dr. Patricia Lanzon, assistant professor of early education, will present her favorite film about education, 1967’s “To Sir, with Love,” the story of an unemployed engineer from British Guiana who takes a job teaching in the tough East End of London despite having no teaching experience. Lanzon will lead a discussion following the film showing.
In honor of Women’s History Month, Dr. Julia Morgan, assistant professor of philosophy, will present the 2014 documentary “Rise of the Wahine: Champions of Title IX.” In the years following the Civil Rights movement and the passage of Title IX in 1972, Dr. Donnis Thompson (a headstrong African American female coach), Patsy Mink (the first Asian American U.S. congresswoman), and Beth McLachlin (feisty team captain of the first Rainbow Wahine volleyball team), battle discrimination from the halls of Washington, D.C., to the dusty volleyball courts of the University of Hawaii, fighting for the rights of young women to play sports.
“We thought the university’s 60th anniversary celebration was the perfect chance to invite the campus, Bradford and surrounding communities to come to the beautiful Bromeley for a thought-provoking film,” said Richard Esch, president of Pitt-Bradford. “We also wanted to share the talents of our faculty, who will lend their insights to what we see on the screen. We’re looking forward to some penetrating, multi-generational discussions.”
The two new movies join three previously announced films in the series.
On Jan. 20, Dr. David Merwine, associate professor of biology, will present the 1990 Academy Award Best Picture nominee “Awakenings” starring Robin Williams and Robert DeNiro and based on the psychologist Oliver Sacks’ 1973 memoir of the same name. Williams plays a neurologist based on Sacks who discovers the benefits of the drug L-DOPA for catatonic patients.
Dr. Drew Flanagan, assistant professor of history, will explain the broader context surrounding one of cinema’s most-beloved romances, “Casablanca,” on Feb. 10. The 1942 film won Academy Awards for Outstanding Motion Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay. Actors Humphrey Bogart and Claude Rains were nominated for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor for their roles.
While the romantic storyline is straightforward, the nuances of the political situation that is at the center of the movie can be harder to fully understand. Flanagan, whose teaching and research interests include Germany and France during World War II and African colonialism, will be on hand to explain what expats, Vichy France, Nazis and resistance have to do with why Rick and Ilsa can’t just be together.
Finally, on April 13, Dr. Julia Morgan, assistant professor of philosophy, will present the 2021 documentary “Summer of Soul” (PG-13) that celebrates Black History, culture and fashion at the Harlem Cultural Festival in 1969. Directed by Questlove, the film features performances by Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Sly and the Family Stone, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Mahalia Jackson, B.B. King, the 5th Dimension and more.
The Film Series committee noted that the films are for mature audiences.
Films that were presented in October and November were “The Haunting,” based on the Shirley Jackson novel, and “To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar.”
