FredFilms series kicks off Thursday

By Julianna Parker

The program that brings little-known films to Norman will focus this semester on Russian expatriate filmmakers.

FredFilms, the weekly film series at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, returns 7 p.m. Thursday.

"Working Under Foreign Conditions: Russians Making Movies in Other Lands" will cover a broad selection of movies this fall.

The common theme that brings them together is someone from Russia or the former Soviet Union playing some part in the production.

"Not surprisingly, that is a formula for choosing a wildly diverse set of films," said Benjamin Alpers, Reach for Excellence associate professor in the Honors College.

Alpers has been the FredFilms curator at FJJMA since it began in January 2005. The museum director at that time asked Alpers to start a film series because the museum hadn't had any film activities.

"Film is an important part to what a lot of art museums do," Alpers said.

Alpers said he chose the theme of Russians working outside Russia when he found out about the upcoming "American Artists From the Russian Empire" exhibition, which opens Oct. 4 at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art. The exhibition will examine the impact of American culture and art movements on Russian artists living in the United States and will highlight the influence and contributions of Russian artists in shaping American culture.

Each semester, FredFilms and the other programs at the museum center around a specific theme tying in with a current exhibition, said Michael Bendure, public relations officer for the museum.

This fall's "American Artists from the Russian Empire" carries over into the theme of FredFilms, lectures, Presidential Dream Courses, even Art After Hours, he said. In the spring, the museum will display three exhibitions with Native American/Western themes, and those themes will blanket the other museum programs as well, he said.

Although some loyal visitors come to every FredFilms screening, the series is designed so that each film can stand alone, Alpers said. That way, people can view the films they are interested in.

He said he usually gives a short introduction to the film, but the focus of the event is the film screening. Alpers said he wants guests to have fun at FredFilms.

"I always hope that the films are somewhat educational, films people haven't seen before, but they're also fun," he said.

The series opens with the 1922 German silent version of "Othello," directed by Russian-born Dimitri Buchowetski, and finishes with an American film about terrorism, "Day Night Day Night," made by Russian-born director Julia Loktev in 2006.

In addition, Alpers plans to screen a French comedy from 1931, director Ren? Clair's "A Nous La Libert?," whose innovative production design was by the Russian-born Lazare Meerson. Additional films include two American musicals, "Love Me Tonight" from 1932, directed by the Tbilisi-born Rouben Mamoulian, and "Easter Parade" from 1948, with music by Irving Berlin, who came from Mogilev in what is now Belarus, and a famous documentary about Cuba by Soviet director Mikhail Kalatozov.

A full schedule of films and dates is available at the museum's front desk or online at online at www.ou.edu/fjjma.

The FredFilms series runs Thursday nights in the Mary Eddy and Fred Jones Auditorium on the museum's lower level. Admission to the films is free with paid admission to the museum. All screenings begin at 7 p.m. and are intended for mature audiences.

The Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art is at 555 Elm Ave., on the corner of Boyd Street and Elm Avenue.

Admission to the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art is free to all OU students with a current student ID and all museum association members, $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, $3 for children 6 to 17 years of age, $2 for OU faculty/staff and free for children 5 and under. Admission is free on Tuesdays. Information and accommodations on the basis of disability are available by phone at 325-4938.

Julianna Parker 366-3541 jparker@normantranscript.com