Institute for the Humanities Film Series
This film series is being done in partnership with the UM Institute for the Humanities (IH).
Collapsed Walls
November 12
From Moroccan auteur Hakim Belabbes, this haunting memory piece takes place in a small Moroccan town, where residents go through cycles of loss and happiness, coping with grief while life continues. Connected by family, friendship, and community, they both support and hurt each other through weddings, funerals, love, and forgiveness. As the living strive for hope and connection, the spirits of the dead remain close, watching over their loved ones.
A Night of Insect Encounters: Films by Catherine Chalmers
September 16
Insect Encounters brings together two distinct bodies of video artwork by artist and filmmaker Catherine Chalmers: the American Cockroach series and the Leafcutters quadrilogy. The five films of American Cockroach capture a surreal and at times hauntingly anthropomorphic view of the contemporary cockroach, using intricate set design and immersive macro cinematography to trace a path from the creature’s chaotic life in the wild to a bizarre yet equally hostile existence inside modern kitchens and bathrooms. Meanwhile, the four Leafcutters videos are an unusual and mesmerizing collaboration with millions of wild ants, filmed in Panama and Costa Rica.