SCA Alumni Screening Series

The USC School of Cinematic Arts is proud to present the

This summer, the School of Cinematic Arts invites you to an exciting free screening series hosted in Norris Cinema Theatre, featuring a dynamic selection of studio blockbusters, festival-winning indies, docs and foreign films releasing from May through August, 2008. Every Sunday in June will feature new documentaries and recent fiction films written, directed or produced by young alumni. Unless otherwise noted, screenings will be followed by Q&As with guests from the production, including writers, directors, actors and producers.

Film descriptions and reservation links are listed separately for each screening. To access more information about the films and guest bios, please click on the movie titles.

SCHEDULE OF SCREENINGS
(TUESDAY, MAY 20TH - THURSDAY, JULY 24TH)

Tuesday, May 20th

7:00PM: War, Inc.
Recreating his role as a hitman, John Cusack gives a hilarious performance in War, Inc., a political satire set in Turaqistan, a country occupied by an American private corporation run by a former U.S. Vice President (Dan Aykroyd). In an effort to monopolize the opportunities the war-torn nation offers, the corporation's CEO hires Hauser (Cusack) to kill a Middle Eastern oil minister.

Thursday, May 29th

7:00PM: You Don't Mess with the Zohan
In You Don’t Mess With the Zohan, a comedy from screenwriters Adam Sandler, Robert Smigel (Triumph the Insult Comic Dog), and Judd Apatow (Knocked Up), Sandler stars as Zohan, an Israeli commando who fakes his own death in order to pursue his dream: becoming a hairstylist in New York. Dennis Dugan directs.

Sunday, June 1st -- DOUBLE FEATURE

5:00PM: Fields of Fuel
America’s addiction to oil has endangered the environment, taken the nation to war and threatened our long-term stability. Driven by his own emotionally-charged motives, filmmaker, author and environmentalist Josh Tickell shuttles us on a revelatory fast paced journey to unravel this addiction. Followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Josh Tickell.

7:30PM: Suspension
After Daniel loses his wife and son in a car accident, he rebuilds his son’s video camera that was damaged in the crash. Infused with power from the moment of the crash, the camera develops the ability to stop time when Daniel presses the pause button. This discovery restores Daniel’s sense of purpose, and he fills the vacuum in his life by taking responsibility for another victim, Sarah, a newlywed who lost her husband in the same accident. Followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers, including producer-director Ethan Shaftel '02 and writer-producer Aris Blevins '02.

Tuesday, June 3rd

7:00PM: The Go-Getter
A vivid, original road movie with a little sex, drugs and an instantly-classic rock'n'roll score by M. Ward, The Go-Getter is the story of Mercer White (Lou Taylor Pucci), a straight-arrow 19 year-old who, eight months after the death of his mother, steals a car and sets out to find his older half-brother he hasn't seen in fourteen years. Followed by a Q&A with director Martin Hynes and producer Lucy Barzun Donnelly.

Thursday, June 5th

7:00PM: Quid Pro Quo
Isaac Knott (Nick Stahl) is a disabled journalist in New York City who meets Fiona (Vera Farmiga), a beautiful, able-bodied woman with a perverse desire to become disabled at all costs. Directed by USC alum Carlos Brooks.

Sunday, June 8th -- DOUBLE FEATURE

5:00PM: Spirit of the Marathon
Four years in the making, Spirit of the Marathon is the first ever non-fiction feature film to capture the drama and essence of the famed 26.2 mile running event. Filmed on four continents, the movie brings together a diverse cast of amateur athletes and marathon luminaries. Followed by a Q&A with director Jon Dunham '00 and executive producer/faculty member Mark Jonahthan Harris.

7:30PM: All the Days Before Tomorrow
A quirky tale about a friendship that's almost something more, Joey Kern (Cabin Fever) and Alexandra Holden (Drop Dead Gorgeous) play pals who ought to be lovers, but their timing has never been right. Also stars Richard Roundtree (Shaft). Followed by a Q&A with cast & crew, including writer-director Francois Dompierre '05.

Thursday, June 12th

7:00PM: The Incredible Hulk
Edward Norton and Liv Tyler star in Marvel's iconic comic book-turned movie franchise. Physicist Bruce Banner takes flight in order to understand -- and hopefully cure -- the condition that turns him into a monster. Q&A to follow with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige '95 and director Louis Leterrier.

Friday, June 13th

7:00PM: The Happening
M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Signs) directs this paranoid thriller about a family on the run from a natural crisis that presents a large-scale threat to humanity. Starring Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel.


Sunday, June 15th -- DOUBLE FEATURE

5:00PM: I Love Hip Hop in Morocco
This feature-length documentary follows the creation of Morocco’s first-ever Hip Hop festival, called ‘I Love Hip Hop in Morocco’, from its inception all the way to the stage. Following the screening, there will be a Q&A wth director-producer Jennifer Needleman '06.

7:30PM: Dance of the Dead

Thursday, June 19th

7:00PM: The Wackness

Sunday, June 22nd -- DOUBLE FEATURE

5:00PM: Recycled Life & The Pixar Story
Leslie Iwerks presents her powerful Academy Award-nominated short film about the inhabitants of the Guatemala City Garbage Dump and her acclaimed, in-depth look at animation juggernaut Pixar Animation Studios.

7:30PM: Garden Party
15-year-old April is running from one bad situation into another, hoping to find an answer that doesn't involve taking off her clothes. As April navigates Los Angeles, she falls in with a group of confused kids struggling to chase their dreams and takes umbrage from a pot-dealing realtor named Sally St. Clair (Vinessa Shaw).

Friday, June 27th

7:00PM: Wanted
Based upon Mark Millar's explosive graphic novel series and helmed by stunning Russian visualist director Timur Bekmambetov (Night Watch), Wanted tells the tale of one apathetic nobody's transformation into an unparalleled enforcer of justice. 25-year-old Wes (James McAvoy) was the most disaffected, cube-dwelling drone the planet had ever know. There was little else for Wes to do but wile away and die in his slow, clock-punching rut. Until he met a woman named Fox (Angelina Jolie).

Sunday, June 29th -- DOUBLE FEATURE

5:00PM: Something is Killing Tate
Days before his birthday and weeks before his wedding, Tate Bradley, a twenty-five year old, African-American man attempts to commit suicide. He survives the ordeal, but from his actions, it is obvious that "Something is Killing Tate." The question is: "What?" SCA alumni writer/director Leon Lozano and producer Jessica L. Funches will participate in a post-screening Q&A.

7:30PM: Hurt
A gothic thriller from SCA alumna Barbara Stepansky, Hurt follows the Coltrane family as they grapple with the untimely death of patriarch Robert. Forced to abandon their privileged lifestyle, Helen Coltrane (Melora Walters) and her teenage children are given shelter by her husband's reclusive brother Darryl (William Mapother) in his ramshackle desert home.

Thursday, July 10th

7:00PM: Tropic Thunder
The movie they think they're making... isn't a movie anymore. Through a series of freak occurences, a group of actors shooting a big-budget war movie are forced to become the soldiers they are portraying. Starring Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black and Nick Nolte.

Sunday, July 13th -- DOUBLE FEATURE

5:00PM: Baghead
The Duplass Brothers (The Puffy Chair) present Baghead, an attempt to take the absurdly low-concept idea of a “guy with a bag on his head” and make a funny, truthful, endearing film that, maybe, just maybe, was a little bit scary, too. The film combines "mumblecore" verité aesthetics with genre elements in new and surprising ways.

7:30PM: Freezer Burn
Virgil Stamp is a 30 year old scientist developing technology to permanently preserve human organs for transplant. However, his obsession with his work takes a toll on his marriage. Virgil' s only distraction is Emma, a 14 year old student in his wife's high school art class. His sanity hangs in the balance as he struggles to suppress his taboo attraction to the girl. Virgil decides to use his experimental technology to freeze himself in order to align his age with the young girl's, but his plan does not turn out the way he hoped...

Tuesday, July 15th

7:00PM: American Teen
The touching and hilarious Sundance hit that follows the lives of five teenagers - the jock, the popular girl, the artsy girl, the heart-throb and the geek - in one small town in Indiana through their senior year of high school. All five teenage subjects will participate in a post-screening Q&A.

Thursday, July 17th

8:00PM: The Dark Knight

Sunday, July 20th -- DOUBLE FEATURE

2008 SUNDANCE GRAND JURY PRIZE WINNERS FOR BEST DRAMATIC AND BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURES

4:30PM: Frozen River
Ray Eddy (Melissa Leo), an upstate New York trailer mom, begins smuggling illegal immigrants from Canada into the United States over a Mohawk Indian Reservation as the only way to keep her family together after her husband takes off with the all of the family’s money. Filmmaker Courtney Hunt and leading actresses Melissa Leo and Misty Upham will participate in a post-screening Q&A. Winner -- Grand Jury Prize (Dramatic), 2008 Sundance Film Festival!!!

7:30PM: Trouble the Water
An aspiring rap artist and her streetwise husband, armed with a video camera, show what survival is all about when they are trapped in New Orleans by deadly floodwaters, and seize a chance for a new beginning. Followed by a Q&A with  filmmakers Carl Deal and Tia Lessin. Winner -- Grand Jury Prize (Documentary), 2008 Sundance Film Festival!!!

Tuesday, July 22nd

7:30PM: Darfur Now
Written and directed by Writing Division Assistant Professor Ted Braun and produced by Distinguished Professor Mark Jonathan Harris, this critically acclaimed documentary explores the ongoing Sudanese conflict through the experiences of six individuals trying to stop the atrocities.

Thursday, July 24th

7:00PM: Paraiso Travel
The story of Marlon Cruz, a young Colombian man who, motivated by his girlfriend Reina, leaves his comfortable life in Medellín and flees with her through Guatemala and Mexico, across the borders, illegally into the United States. Paraiso Travel broke box-office records in Colombia.