International Film Series brings diverse movies to campus

Whether a 14-year-old girl recounts to her unborn child how she became a rebel wielding an Ak-47 or a married couple grapples with improving the life of their child by moving out of Iran, these cinematic stories are finding their way to the University of South Dakota through the International Film Series.

Sponsored by the Political Science League, the series is running Oct. 16 —Nov. 20 and features a weekly viewing session of a film from somewhere around the world.

“It’s the perfect time of year to go inside and watch a film,” said Eric Jepsen, event coordinator and associate political science professor.

The film series is not a new event on campus, but was not held last year while Jepsen was on sabbatical in India.

The Nov. 6 showing of Norwegian film “Kon-Tiki” is the third film featured this semester, and it brings “a cultural anthropological angle, a historical angle and adventure,” said Jepsen.

“Kon-Tiki,” he said, tells the story of a group of Norwegians in the 1940s who set out to prove it was possible for South Americans to have made their way to settling in Polynesia in pre-Columbian times.

While the PSL, a USD student organization, sponsors the showing, and the films are purchased through the Farber Fund, Jepsen said the films are not always political in nature.

“The films we selected this semester have been finalists in the foreign language best film category at the Academy Awards,” Jepsen said. “All have won at least one award at a big film festival, but on some level, every film that’s ever been made is political whether the director knew it or not.”

Vice President of the PSL, junior Sam Reuland said “Kon-Tiki” has an interesting plot and is a good way to learn about another culture.

“It introduces cultural diversity when you’re watching these films,” Reuland said. “America is known as the melting pot for a reason, and that’s how we’ve become such a great nation. We envelop other ideas and learn from them.”