As a part of Crimson Culture Week, the UA Intercultural Council is hosting a free documentary screening at 7 p.m. tonight in the Ferguson Center Theater.
The screening will be followed by a free cultural dining experience in Fresh Foods that will feature authentic cuisine from about 20 countries.
“The focus of the documentary was to try and capture as many different student voices as we could,” said Melanie Miller, associate dean of students. “At one point, the students working on the project had interviewed over 80 people around campus. Their focus was on getting students to tell stories about their own culture as well as asking them to talk about their experiences with life and culture here on campus.”
The 30-minute, four-part documentary will feature live performances between each section break. The performers will include a spoken word artist, Show Choir, a dance from a member of the dance department and a band, said Lizzie Yarbrough, a senior majoring in public relations and a member of the nine-person team working to make Crimson Culture Week possible.
“It’s a really cool sort of a mixed media presentation that I think really brings the film to life,” Yarbrough said. “Truthfully, all of us on the team already felt we were culturally enriched, but all nine of us were amazed at how many different cultures were represented here on campus. The documentary isn’t just about culture as it relates to race or where you come, it is also about the culture of everything from sexual orientations to people who are members groups like the ROTC.”
The dinner after the documentary screening will include dishes like an Egyptian cake called Vasdoosa, Korean barbeque short ribs, or Gal-bi, and Nkatnkwan, a chicken and peanut soup from Ghana.
“The Fresh Foods staff has been so accommodating,” Yarbrough said. “They have been working hard to make the food very authentic. They have ordered spices from all around the world and are making all the food from scratch. The whole place will be cleared out and each station will have a different kind of food.”
Students who wish to attend the documentary screening and cultural dining experience should e-mail [email protected] to reserve their free ticket, Yarbrough said.
Amanda Rivera, a senior majoring in telecommunications and film, is also one of the Crimson Culture Week team members, as well as one of the individuals who were interviewed for the documentary.
“When I first came here from a big city in Texas I was kind of like, ‘Where is the culture here in Tuscaloosa?” Rivera said. “So, I started hanging out with international students and getting my culture that way.
“But, I think this is a great opportunity for new students who are just getting onto campus and are going to be here, to show them, how we can take our individual stories to the University of Alabama and make it something better.”
