Fourth Cinema director engages crowd with film series, vision

From Princeton to Paris, Dr. Sally Shafto has spread her love for film as a student, professor and translator.

On Thursday, she brought the same passion to Bloomington as the fourth candidate to compete for the new IU Cinema director position.

“The arts here are quite exciting and vibrant,” she said. “You’re lucky to have a president with an artistic vision. IU is putting money into a cinema at a time when other universities are pulling funding out.”

Before a small crowd in the Indiana Memorial Union’s Frangipani Room, Shafto presented three film series she’d share with the campus as director: “Shell Shock Cinema,” a collection of German, post-WWII films, which would cater to foreign language students and instructors; “Movies of the Apocalypse,” a series of action-adventure science fiction flicks, which would align with “Sustainability,” the 2010 academic spring Themester; and “Globalization and its Effects,” the third cycle of films she suggested, which would provide audience members with multicultural perspectives.

IU professor James Naremore of the Department of Communication and Culture said the new Cinema will bring exciting possibilities to campus.

“It’s badly needed,” he said. “I’ve been looking forward to this all my life.”

Naremore said the decision for director appointment, though ultimately left up to the Provost Karen Hanson, involves much community member feedback.

“It’s being done in style,” he said. “We have interesting candidates, and I’m happy about it.”

Senior Nell Collins, student representative of the director search committee, said all four candidates would effectively lead Cinema business.

“All of the people we’ve brought in are so different, and each would bring a different flavor to the Cinema,” she said. “All of them would be good. It’s just a matter of what direction the Cinema will take.”