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2024 Film Discussion Series

Divergence/Convergence

This month, our experts will facilitate a discussion about diversity in book-to-film adaptations. Watch on your own from a short list of titles, then join us for the conversation at month's end.

The month of August continues our year-long journey to learn about our world from the divergent stories that filmmakers of all walks bring to us. Haven't attended before? No problem! Any session in this series is open to anyone.

How it works:

At the beginning of each month we release a short list of films around a particular theme. You watch as many as you like, then at the end of the month, we converge for a discussion led by a person with lived experience, subject matter expertise, or both. Register for this program to receive the film list by email and to get updates.  

August's theme: Classic Literature Reimagined: diversity in book-to-film adaptations

Films (available streaming and on DVD):

Measure for Measure (2019)
Streaming Service: Hoopla
Country of Origin: Australia
Author: William Shakespeare
Synopsis: An unlikely love ignites between a modern Muslim girl and a local musician
amongst the background of racial tension, amphetamines and gang culture in the city's
notorious housing estate.

Ikiru (1952)
Streaming Service: Kanopy
Country of Origin: Japan
Author: Based Loosely on Leo Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilyich
Synopsis: he film examines the struggles of a terminally ill Tokyo bureaucrat (played by
Takashi Shimura) and his final quest for meaning.

Bride & Prejudice (2004)
Streaming Service: Hoopla
Country of Origin: UK/U.S.
Author: Jane Austen
Synopsis: A modern adaptation of Jane Austen's classic novel, Pride and Prejudice, that
features the lives of four unmarried daughters in an Indian family.

Black Orpheus (1959)
Streaming Service: Kanopy

Country of Origin: France/Brazil
Author: Based on the Orpheus & Eurydice myth & play by Vinicius de Moraes
Synopsis: A retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth, set during the time of the Carnaval
in Rio de Janeiro.

Wuthering Heights (2011)
Streaming Service: Kanopy
Country of Origin: UK
Author: Emily Bronte
Synopsis: A poor boy of unknown origins is rescued from poverty and taken in by the
Earnshaw family where he develops an intense relationship with his young foster sister,
Cathy.

Facilitators:

Jennifer Schnabel, Associate Professor, The Ohio State University

Leticia Wiggins, Ethnic Studies Librarian, The Ohio State University

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