Premiere documentary festival coming to Mathers Museum

Widely considered the foremost anthropologist of the 20th century, Margaret Mead devoted her life to studying culture and its interaction with personality.\nNow, with the Margaret Mead Traveling Film and Video Festival, her commitment to cultural anthropology is coming to Bloomington.\nThe festival, which runs from Feb. 23 to March 4 and is free to the public, will present nine cultural documentaries ranging from indigenous community media to experimental nonfiction. Grouped by program themes, these films are highlights from the American Museum of Natural History’s Margaret Mead Film and Video Festival in New York. The festival is the “premiere showcase for independent cultural documentaries in the United States,” according to an event news release.\n“It’s the opportunity to see films you many not see anywhere else,” said Judith Kirk, assistant director of IU’s Mathers Museum of World Cultures.\nAmong the films in the festival is the Oscar-winning documentary “Ryan.” The film tells the story of late Canadian animator Ryan Larkin, who rose to fame for his work before ending up on welfare and begging for change on the streets of Montreal. \n“The way in which it’s done,” Kirk said, “they actually use animation to tell the story of the animator’s life.”\nJoshua Malitsky, assistant professor in the IU Department of Communication and Culture, said the Mead festival is significant because of its well-regarded reputation and because it gives viewers the opportunity to contrast its documentaries with TV ethnographic films, such as those on the Discovery Channel. Malitsky said he believes documentaries in general provide a level of authenticity to filmmaking.\n“(Documentary filmmaking) has a direct connection to material reality,” Malitsky said. “It captures something that is important and serious.”\nAlong with the Mathers Museum and the Glenn Black Laboratory of Archaeology, 12 campus organizations will sponsor the film series. Supporters include the La Casa Cultural Center, the Department of Communication and Culture and the International Studies Program.\n“It’s really indicative of the vast range of interest that can be served by this festival,” Kirk said of the campus groups’ involvement.\nBesides documentary films, the festival will feature John McDowell and Judah Cohen, professors in the IU Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology. McDowell, the department’s chair, will lead an informal session following the showing of the first film, “Al Otro Lado.” Cohen will lead a conversation Feb. 25 after the film “Awake Zion.”\nAll films will be shown at the Glenn Black Laboratory of Archaeology Auditorium, 416 N. Indiana Ave. For more information on the festival, contact the Mathers Museum at 812-855-6873.