Dionte Berry
[email protected]
Contributing Writer 

This semester is like no other. Murray State’s social atmosphere is now facing obstacles, but Cinema International is driven to continue showing films while maintaining safety precautions.

Cinema International, led by associate professor of French Thérèse Saint Paul, is a program that has free showings of international films. 

Saint Paul chooses films that will stimulate discussion and thought as well as go along with the theme for this semester’s Cinema International: aspects of masculinity and gender representation.

“In the last few years I have been trying to pick movies that had a similar theme to create a focus for discussions,” Saint Paul said. 

Being a member of the global languages and theater arts department, Saint Paul takes film suggestions from her fellow professors. 

“I ask my colleagues what type of films I should play considering what they are teaching in their classes,” Saint Paul said. “We brainstorm together before the program and then I am the one that has the final pick and puts the program together.”

This semester Cinema International will be playing 11 films from all over the world starting on Thursday, Aug. 27. There will be  a Spanish Festival starting in September.

A list of the films, days and times can be found here

For the first film Cinema International will be showing “The Mustang.” The film takes place in America but was made by a French director, so both English and French are spoken.

“The Mustang” is a film about prisoners who are given the chance to go through animal rehabilitation by taming wild mustangs. For those interested, the film will be playing on Thursday, Aug. 27 in the Barkley room and on Friday, Aug. 28, in the Curris Center Theater, both at 7:30 p.m. 

The Spanish festival will begin on Sept. 3 and last until Oct. 3.

“We will be showing four Spanish speaking films and one Portuguese one in five weeks,” Saint Paul said.

With the risk of COVID-19, Saint Paul has made it imperative to provide guests with a safe experience.

“We have to abide by the University rules which may be stringent but they are for our own good,” Saint Paul said.

To attend, film guests will have to wear face masks, use hand sanitizer before they enter and sit physically distanced from one another. The showing rooms will have a limited seating capacity, and masks will be provided if guests do not have one. 

“Since we have to share the Curris Center Theater with other groups, sometimes we are in the Barkley Room,” Saint Paul said. “Due to the pandemic, we can only have 16 people in the Barkley Room and 40 people in the Curris Center Theater.”

Despite social distancing rules friends are still allowed to sit together.

One norm that won’t be coming back is the serving of popcorn. Saint Paul said food is a risk because of littering and contamination, but guests are allowed to bring their own food as long as they dispose of it properly.

With the added precautions Saint Paul is comfortable with safely continuing Cinema International. 

“I am not apprehensive about showing films,” Saint Paul said. “I think people are really responsible on campus. I don’t see people sitting in a cinema different to being in a classroom.”

Saint Paul has some of her fellow language professors, like assistant professor of Spanish Ben Post, helping her run Cinema International.

“For the past two or three years I have been helping Saint Paul with Cinema International,” Post said. “I help facilitate the program, so sometimes I introduce the film and lead the discussion afterwards.”

Along with Saint Paul, Post is happy to be continuing Cinema International because the program doesn’t only provide entertainment but educational opportunities as well. 

“Cinema International isn’t entertainment in the same way a normal movie theater is,” Post said. “It’s also educational. We are showing these movies so that people on campus and in the community will have an opportunity to expose themselves to the best of world cinema.”

For those interested in attending Cinema International, there are informational flyers that can be retrieved from the Waterfield Library, Bauerfeind Business Building and outside of the Theater on the third floor of the Curris Center. The flyer can also be found on the global language and theater arts tab of the Murray State Website, or by searching “Cinema International Murray State” and selecting the first search result. 

“We are thankful to all of the contributors on campus that have helped us this year, and we are very happy to be able to continue Cinema International this semester,” Saint Paul said.