News & Media

2016 Community Film Series Announced

Brought to you by the Department of English and Delaware's own Strand Theatre, the Community Film Series brings together university and residential film-lovers and makes classic movies available to all.

The 2016 Series

The Strand Theatre
28 E. Winter Street
Downtown Delaware

9:15 p.m. Tuesdays
7 p.m. Wednesdays

General Admission: $6.50
With OWU ID: $5.50

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Ball of Fire (Hawks, 1941)

March 1-2, 2016

This story used to be Snow White, but it drifted. Barbara Stanwyck plays a burlesque dancer/mob moll hiding out with a group of pedantic encyclopedists fascinated by her slang. Gary Cooper and Dana Andrews co-star in this screwball comedy by the legendary writing team of Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder. (111 mins.)

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Out of the Past (Tourneur, 1947)

March 15-16, 2016

Jane Greer plays another mob moll on the lam with the hard-boiled detective (Robert Mitchum) sent by her mobster boyfriend (Kirk Douglas) to track her down. This moody film noir by Jacques Tourneur (Cat People, I Married a Zombie) is on the National Film Preservation Board’s list of American greats. (97 mins.)

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Slumdog Millionaire (Boyle, 2008)

March 22-23, 2016

Winner of 4 Golden Globes and 8 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director, this adaptation stars Dev Patel as the Mumbai slumdog who wins the biggest game show prize in Indian television history, and is forced to defend his honesty. Critic Geoffrey Macnab of The Independent writes that the film has “a wild energy that makes even Trainspotting (Boyle's calling card) look leaden-footed.” (120 mins.)

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Cinema Paradiso (Italy, Tornatore, 1988)

March 29-30, 2016

In honor of The Strand’s centennial, how could we not show this sentimental favorite about a small town’s love affair with its movie theatre? The plot involves a famous Italian film director who returns to his hometown to attend the funeral of the old projectionist who encouraged his love of movies—and to revisit his memories. This film won the Golden Globe and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. A must-see for anyone who loves movies. (155 mins., Italian with English subtitles)

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7 Boxes (Schembori, 2012)

April 5-6, 2016

A high-suspense, gritty thriller. In the city marketplace of Asunción, a poor pushcart delivery boy is offered $100 by a sleazy butcher. All he has to do is make the seven containers of the title disappear for a little while—then reappear. What’s in the boxes? As the film’s poster says, the rules are simple: deliver or die. (105 mins., Spanish with English subtitles)

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The Piano in a Factory (China, Zhang, 2010)

April 12-13, 2016

In this poignant, comic tale, steelworker Chen is approached by his estranged wife, who asks for a divorce and custody of their daughter. The girl is a budding musician; she wishes to live with the parent who can provide her with a piano. With the help of his loyal friends, Chen concocts a series of plans to fulfill his daughter's wish. Online critic James Wegg calls the collaboration between director and lead actor “magical.” (119 mins., Mandarin with English subtitles)

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Frame by Frame (Afghanistan, Bombach and Scarpelli, 2014)

April 19-20, 2016

This documentary explores the urgency of photojournalism in recording the conditions of life in present-day Afghanistan. It follows the experiences of four Afghan photographers since the ouster of the Taliban from Kabul in 2001. In particular, the film shows how photojournalism has helped overcome women’s former voicelessness in a virulently patriarchal culture. (85 mins., Dari with English subtitles and English)

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While We’re Young (Baumbach, 2014)

April 26-27, 2016

This latest comic drama in a string of critically acclaimed works by Noah Baumbach—one of the “indie” auteur directors to emerge in the American 1990s—depicts the tensions among three documentary filmmakers of three very different generations. Evoking the spirit of Woody Allen’s best films, Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts portray the amusing, privileged mid-life crises of contemporary Brooklynite bohemia. (97 mins.)