The UMKC Department of Communications Studies is turning the lens on movie making.

The department will kick off a film series of “Movies About Making Movies” to showcase the challenges, triumphs, and failures behind the scenes of filmmaking.

The series begins this Thursday, September 12 at 7 p.m. at the Tivoli Cinemas, 4050 Pennsylvania Ave.  The series is free to UMKC students, faculty and staff.

The series is designed to give audiences an insider’s look at the filmmaking process. Five of the films are narrative features about fictional film productions, and five are documentaries about actual film productions. While all are about the art and process of filmmaking, the films are diverse in historical period, country of production, style, and budget.

Lyn Elliot, associate professor of communications studies, shares about the series: “This series is just one way that the Film and Media Arts program is enriching the student experience and giving the wider Kansas City community access to important, but relatively unknown films.  We hope to give our audiences an even greater appreciation for the art of filmmaking.”

The film series is made possible through a grant from the Missouri Arts Council.

The fall schedule of “movies about making movies” is as follows:

Sept. 12
“Day for Night” (Francois Truffaut, 1973)
Speaker: Tom Poe, associate professor, Film and Media Arts, UMKC
A noted film of the French New Wave, about a harried director and the crises that he must manage in order to shoot his film.

 

Sept. 26

“American Movie” (Chris Smith, 1999)

Speaker: Sarah Price, co-producer, American Movie

A documentary about Milwaukee filmmaker Mark Borchardt as he struggles to make his first feature film. He has enthusiasm and determination, but little else.

 

Oct. 3

“Beware of a Holy Whore” (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1971)

Speaker: Larson Powell, associate professor, German, UMKC

A noted film of the New German Cinema, about a German film crew stuck in Spain, waiting for money to come through for the production.

 

Oct. 17

“Lost in LaMancha” (Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe, 2002)

Speaker: Caitlin Horsmon, associate professor, Film and Media Arts, UMKC

A documentary about British director Terry Gilliam’s failed attempt to film an adaptation of Don

Quixote.

 

Nov. 7

“Living in Oblivion” (Tom DiCillo, 1995)

Speaker: Tom Poe, associate professor, Film and Media Arts, UMKC
A comedy about the director of a low-budget American independent film, and the clash between his artistic ideals and the reality of low-budget production.