The film in “Film@JCSM” stands for “fostering interdisciplinary learning through movies.” Programmed in conjunction with the upcoming exhibition,Shared Vision: The Sondra Gilman and Celso Gonzalez-Falla Collection of Photographyopening January 24, this semester’s series highlights “Photography on Film.”
We’ve invited guest faculty blogger Sunny Stalter Pace to share her favorite films from past “Film@JCSM” installments.

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When I was a popcorn girl at the Village North Theater in Chicago, I dreamed of owning a movie house and programming my own film series. I’m so glad that the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art has given me the opportunity to make that part of my job as an English professor at Auburn.
I’ve been involved with some version of the “FILM@JCSM” series since 2009. We’ve had as few as three films and as many as six. We’ve had sparse audiences and full houses, crowds that gasped and crowds that argued in the post-film discussion. As a kick-off to our fifth film series, I’ve listed my favorite movies from each of the past four series. If you want a quirky classic film to watch, check one of them out.

1. 40 Years Later: Medium Cool

The 1968 Chicago Democratic convention interrupts the life of a cameraman and a young boy.

2. Elvis at 21: The Girl Can’t Help It

Jayne Mansfield is wonderfully cartoonish in this critique of the music business.

3. Southern Outsiders: Norma Rae

Filmed in Opelika, this classic film tells the story of a millworker working for a union.

4. Life Interrupted: Kiss Me Deadly

The ultimate nuclear noir shows Mike Hammer searching for the Great Whatsit in late 1950s Los Angeles.

Which favorites of yours did I miss? Let me know your favorite in the comments, and please come out on January 16 at 6 pm for the kick-off to our new series, “Photography on Film.” Kathryn Floyd from the Art Department will introduce Memento and lead post-film discussion.

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Click below to see a full schedule, movie trailers, and reserve advance tickets. Admission is free.