Documentaries about social justice, international border and water supply issues highlight the Margaret Mead Traveling Film Festival during its stop at Cal State Long Beach begin today.
Steven Rousso-Schindler, assistant professor of anthropology, and co-organizer Scott Wilson, assistant professor of anthropology, coordinated the event for CSULB.
Rousso-Schindler said the Margaret Mead Traveling Film Festival is “one of a kind” because it travels and does not follow the typical film festival model.
“The Margaret Mead Traveling Film Festival gathers documentaries and ethnographical films from all over the world and showcases them all over the place,” Rousso-Schindler said.
The traveling festival takes select films from the Margaret Mead Film and Video Festival, housed at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, according to Lily Szajnberg co-coordinator for the Margaret Mead Film and Video Festival in New York. Most of the six films being shown were made within the last two years.
The festival both requests and receives over 1,000 submissions a year, said Szajnberg. The festival’s director, Ariella Ben-Dov, and a team of coordinators choose the films after being prescreened by anthropologists, professors and specialists in the anthropology field, Szajnberg said.
Films are then selected, packaged up and taken to different venues, Rousso-Schindler said. Last year the festival visited locations such as Florida, the Virgin Islands, and Manitoba, Canada, according to the AMNH website.
Russo-Schindler has organized the festival for the University of Southern California in the past and said CSULB is a better location for the film festival than downtown Los Angeles, where USC used to hold it.
“CSULB is better since there is need for venues for small independent films,” he said.
Long Beach does not have a large outlet to host such film festivals, and CSULB’s William Link Theater is giving exposure to films that could otherwise go unnoticed, according to the prepared statement.
Each of the three nights of the film festival will highlight a different theme and social issue.
Thursday night will showcase documentaries concerning border issues, which is currently a pressing issue in California. The films include an animated short directed by Jacqueline Goss, “Grito de Piedra,” and “Strangers Come to Town,” a Ton van Zantvoort film that profiles Potosi, Bolivia, which is known for its silver mining. With the silver mines nearing depletion, the city must now look for another way to attract tourists, which they heavily depend on for financial stability.
“Stranger Comes to Town” interviews six people about their recent experiences traveling to the United States from overseas and their reactions about the airport, airline staff and Homeland Security officers.
Friday night will deal with documentaries that highlight activism in Mexico and will draw attention to social justice problems. “Super Amigos,” by Arturo Perez Torres, and is about five former professional wrestlers in Mexico City who fight against corruption, homophobia, animal abuse, pollution and poverty, while wearing superhero masks.
The final night of the film festival will deal with issues involving water.
“Water is going to be the biggest issue of the 21st century,” Rousso-Schindler said. “Water isn’t just an important issue in California, but in the world.”
The films being showcased include “Village of Dust, City of Water,” “The Water Front” and “Gimme Green.”
“Village of Dust, City of Water,” directed by Sanjay Barnela, is about the misuse of access to water in India, where rural water supplies are redistributed to serve cities and communities.
Liz Miller’s “The Water Front” is set in Highland Park, Mich., where local activists tried to keep their water from being privatized.
“Gimme Green,” directed by Isaac Brown and Eric Flagg, focuses on the American obsession with lawns and its impact on the environment.
The film festival is named after cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead.
“She had big concerns about getting anthropology more publicity and that’s probably why the festival is named after her,” Rousso-Schindler said.
The Margaret Mead Traveling Film Festival, at CSULB from March 12 to 14, starts at 5:30 p.m. on all three days.
The film festival will be held at CSULB’s William Link Theater and is open to the public. Admission is free. For information, visit http://amnh.org/programs/mead/traveling