This spring the Kenan Institute for Ethics is organizing its annual film series around the theme of the American South as a place marked by both great social and cultural progress yet enormous inequalities.
The series, "The South: Navigating the Past, Carving Out a Present," consists of four films released within the past decade and is free and open to the public.
Each film will begin at 7 p.m. in Griffith Theater at Duke's Bryan Center. Free parking passes are available.
The series offers opportunities to engage in debate and discussion with faculty and filmmakers.
Jan. 21: Moving Midway
New York film critic Godfrey Cheshire documents his travels home to North Carolina as his cousin plans to uproot and move Midway Plantation, an antebellum manor home held in their family for generations. To his surprise, the move uncovers an African-American branch of the family, descended from Midway's slave owning past.
Feb. 18: Junebug
Filmed in North Carolina by Winston-Salem native Phil Morrison, the story unfolds of a Chicago-based art dealer specializing in outsider art who journeys to rural North Carolina for the first time with her husband. What follows complicates notions of family, love, obligation and the ethical responsibilities of art.
Mar. 18: Deepsouth
Inspired by the work of Duke researcher Kathryn Whetten, director Lisa Biagiotti documents the lives of four individuals living with or in proximity to HIV/AIDS. Through their stories, issues of poverty, racial tension, rural isolation, and political struggle are brought to light as new kinds of Southern identities are formed.
Apr. 15: Beasts of the Southern Wild
This fantastic odyssey follows a spunky six-year old named Hushpuppy (pictured above) as she and her neighbors in the isolated "Bathtub" fight for existence in the face of natural disaster, seeking to retain their sense of identity and pride while struggling for resources.
The series is held in collaboration with Duke's Screen/Society at Arts of the Moving Image and the Center for Documentary Studies. For information, visit http://kenan.ethics.duke.edu/events/ethics-film-series/