The Agronomist
Jonathan Demme's portrait of Hatiian journalist/hero Jean Dominique
Jonathan Demme's now-inspiring, now-shattering The Agronomist is another portrait of a doomed storyteller embellished with subtle audio cues and almost mnemonic camera movements -- the stamps of a gifted filmmaker who may never be better than when he works with the stuff of real life. For The Agronomist, Demme's portrait of an outspoken Haitian journalist, Jean Dominique, forced by the historically unstable Haitian government into multiple stints in exile (Demme interviewed him between fifteen and twenty times during one such period in 1993-94), the director's unusual empathy for the oppressed and the colourful finds a keen, vibrant, moving vehicle that is career-defining. Herein, Demme manages the near-impossible: a current, important biography that is unapologetically political without sacrificing artistry, and unapologetically sentimental without sacrificing backbone. It's capable of renewing convictions, strengthening resolve, and inspiring a defensiveness for the causes of freedom from persecution, freedom of the press, and freedom to hope that one person, convicted and articulate, can still make a difference. Source: Walter Chaw, Film Freak Central.
The Agronomist
Sponsored by Present Tense Film Soiree Series
Wed October 6, 2004, 7:00 & 9:00, Muenzinger Auditorium
U.S., 2003, in English, Color, 90 min, Rated PG-13 • official site
Tickets
10 films for $60 with punch card
$9 general admission.
$7 w/UCB student ID,
$7 for senior citizens
$1 discount to anyone with a bike helmet
Free on your birthday! CU Cinema Studies students get in free.
Parking
Pay lot 360 (now only $1/hour!), across from the buffalo statue and next to the
Duane Physics tower, is closest to Muenzinger. Free parking can be found after 5pm at the meters
along Colorado Ave east of Folsom stadium and along University Ave west of Macky.
RTD Bus
Park elsewhere and catch the HOP to campus
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Established 1941 by James Sandoe.
First Person Cinema
(Originally called The Experimental Cinema Group)
Established 1955 by Carla Selby, Gladney Oakley, Bruce Conner and Stan Brakhage.
C.U. Film Program
(AKA The Rocky Mountain Film Center)
First offered degrees in filmmaking and critical studies in 1989 under the guidance of Virgil
Grillo.
Celebrating Stan
Created by Suranjan Ganguly in 2003.
C.U. Department of Cinema Studies & Moving Image Arts
Established 2017 by Chair Ernesto Acevedo-Muñoz.