The Honors College Assembly’s kicks off their free documentary film series tonight with “At the Edge of Russia,” in the Ferguson Center Theater at 7 p.m.
“At the Edge of Russia,” directed by Michal Marczak, was a winner of the HBO Documentary Films Emerging Artist Award. The movie is about life on one of the few remaining Russian outposts on the Artic Ocean. Each soldier stationed at the outpost has his own unique story.
“The best thing about documentaries is that you see something you have never seen before,” said William Nolan, professor in the Honors College and the faculty advisor for the film series. “It’s about showing people stuff, finding that something they haven’t seen before and presenting it in a new light to make them think differently about it.”
It is the second semester HCA has hosted a film series. Last spring, they presented an education-themed documentary series consisting of four films. This semester, they chose to do away with the theme.
Nolan said they wanted to include more films in the series and did not want to be constrained by one topic.
“We are certainly really excited to kickoff the film series,” Nolan said. “The whole semester will be a combination of brand new films–some in theaters and some not– some classics, some recent releases and some home grown movies.”
“At the Edge of Russia,” was chosen from a film festival in North Carolina Nolan and a number of students attended, including Carly Palmour, a senior and HCA member helping with the series. Nolan said it was a huge hit among the students.
“I had the choice of seeing this movie or another one and I chose the other, but I regretted it,” Palmour said. “All my friends who saw at ‘At the Edge of Russia’ said it was great.”
The series will consist of 10 movies, four of theses movies will be Alabama premieres, including “At the Edge of Russia.”
“It is a good opportunity to see movies you can’t see anywhere else, and it is a big deal to be able to say you saw a movie premier in your state,” Palmour said.
Palmour said they did not pick these movies randomly, they chose them to represent a wide range of interests.
“Even people who aren’t interested in film can enjoy this series,” she said. “There is something for everyone.”
“Journalists may find ‘Page One’ a documentary on the New York Times interesting, ‘Exit Through the Gift Shop,’ a documentary on street art, will appeal to artists and ‘Better This World’ is a political movie,” Palmour said.
The film series will conclude with a screening of a Documenting Justice: International film. Documenting Justice is an interdisciplinary class encompassing two semesters, a study abroad term, and results in the creation of short documentary film.
“I think it is an important thing for students to know about,” Palmour said. “It is easy to get lost in all the posters but this is one of the things definitely worth checking out.”
For more information about the “At the Edge of Russia” and any of the other films a part of this semester’s series, email Nolan at [email protected], or visit the HCA film series page on Facebook.
