The film series “What’s In Sanity?” will screen its first movie, “Taxi Driver,” on April 17 at 2 p.m. in the Great Hall as part of a three-film series that aims to challenge audiences’ current perception on what is defined as sanity and insanity.
The series is presented by the Media Arts Department and the film club. “American Psycho” and “The Tenant” are scheduled to screen in the Great Hall on May 3 at 7 p.m. and May 16 at 7 p.m. respectively. A panel and Q&A will follow each film presentation.
According to Ken Windrum, adviser of the film club, the intention behind this semester’s theme is to make people re-evaluate what they consider to be rational and reasonable.
“We want to see if people can understand that the definitions are sort of loose,” Windrum said. “We want people to come out with more questions rather than answers to what is sane and insane.”
The theme of this semester’s series came from Harout Avakeretsyan, one of the film club’s members.
Avakeretsyan said that he took a literature class in high school, where the topic of insanity was explored. He said this is where he got the idea from.
“The main idea that we are supposed to get is that insanity is kind of an acute perception of the world,” Avakeretsyan said. “It’s something that’s different that we don’t understand and because we don’t understand it, we call it insane or mentally ill. That’s the big idea to understand.”
Members of the film club presented different ideas about what the theme should be this semester, but “What’s In Sanity?” was ultimately chosen because of its ability to capture an audience’s attention.
“My classmates felt that this idea was interesting and I think that Windrum was very fascinated by it because it’s a touchy subject by some people and it’s complex,” Avakeretsyan said.
Film club member DeShawn Cavanaugh expects that those who attend the series will get a better understanding of the films and of people in general.
“We try to bring to life all the valuable things that the film is trying to tell us because sometimes with films and literature, the concept doesn’t go straight to the point,” Cavanaugh said. “Talking about what the film means to me or what it means to you will hopefully help the audience understand what the film is trying to portray.”
