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| Roberto Rossellini: The Godfather of Philosophy & Film |
My proposal to start a philosophy film series where I teach has been received with $500 worth of support. I have had mixed success using films in my classes in the past, both in showing films in their entirety and in showing clips, but I'm hoping that self-selected audiences will be more open to watching philosophy on the big screen than students who thought they were getting some in-class nap time.
My criteria for choosing films:
- First do no harm financially, i.e., screening cost must not exceed the budget (have to pay screening fees though, so no Netflix-ing)
- While I do believe movies like Freddy vs. Jason have philosophical value (e.g., Freddy's Cartesian Rationalism vs. Jason's Humean Empiricism), such movies are better for the classroom than for extra-curricular film screenings
- Should hopefully open students up to the idea that philosophy is useful, interesting, and relevant, so more Derek Jarman's Wittgenstein than I Heart Huckabees...
Films I've looked into screening thus far:
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| Hannah Arendt (Zeitgeist) |
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| The Pervert's Guide to Ideology (Zeitgeist) |
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| An Encounter with Simone Weil (Line Street) |
Suggestions from Twitterverse (in order received):
- Bull Durham (DCGomez)
- Foucault (RdH)
- Being in the World, The Ister, The Turin Horse, Waking Life (anavastha)
- When Nietzsche Wept, Derrida, Examined Life (Cranky Student)
- The Matrix (Gary Davis)
Suggestions from Blogosphere (please suggest films in the comments below)???
