The Communication program of the University of the Virgin Island presents the 5th annual Margaret Mead Film Festival. This year the films all come to the Festival from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Student “Oscars.” These are the best films of the year as judged by the “Oscars” committee and are mostly on Afrocentric topics. The program will be from 7 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 24. They will be shown in the Communication classrooms – on the St. Thomas Campus in Penha House Studio four and on St. Croix in Evans Center Room 304. Admission is free. The total time is 2.6 hours.
See below film names, descriptions and duration:
- On Pointe – a group of black dancers comes together to put on a special performance as we follow the life of one dancer who wants to be in ballet, but is really in more jazz dance and finds a niche in an all-black dance group. Run Time: 29 minutes
- My Nephew Emmet – a documentary version of the events that led up to the murder of Emmet Till. One of the powerful events that launched the Civil Rights Movement. We see the family that hosted the young man, the events that transpired, shocking, startling and very deeply moving. This is a slice of history we all know and this is what happened before… Run Time: 20 minutes
- Watu Wate – We are on the border between Somalia and Tanzania and Muslim people are taking a bus across the border with just one Christian woman on the bus. They are held up by Muslim bandits who want to kill all Christians. Do the bus riders expose the Christian in their midst or keep her hidden? Does that change after the bandits start killing people? Run Time: 21 minutes
- Galamansy – Gold Diggers in Ghana are using illegal tools and methods to extract gold from the river bed and surrounding area. Do they care about poisons, chemicals, and environmental effects or just about gold? Run Time: 28 minutes
- Facing Mecca – the saga of a Muslim man whose wife has passed and must be buried facing Mecca, but the family are refugees living in Switzerland and the local government has no authority for such an unusual request – cultural conflict between the Muslim man and the Swiss authorities and a very kind man who goes the extra distance to resolve the dilemma. Run Time: 25 minutes.
- One Way Home – Tibetan students going to school in China. Are they going to become Chinese or retain their Tibetan culture? Conflicts and concerns. Run Time: 30 minutes
- E-Delivery – Life Smart Phone – Heartbeat – Animated shorts – we will use as the “cartoon” 3 minutes each – Interspersed.