Doc Films
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Documentary Film Group, better known as Doc Films, is a student-operated film society at the University of Chicago. The society is on record with the Museum of Modern Art in New York as the longest-running organization of its kind in the United States. The organization was founded in December 1940 as the International House Documentary Film Group, though its antecedents stretch back to 1932.[1] Initially the group focused on “the realist study of our time via nonfiction film,” but the documentary alone could not sustain the organization; within a few years, the group’s programs expanded to include fiction and experimental films, a mixture that it maintains to this day. In Vanity Fair's "Film Snob's Dictionary", Doc Films is described as: "Hard-core beyond words and lay comprehension, the society is populated by 19-year olds who have already seen every film ever made, and boasts its own Dolby Digital-equipped cinema and an impressive roster of alumni that includes snob-revered critic Dave Kehr."[2] Doc presently screens films every night of the academic year at the Max Palevsky Cinema, located in Ida Noyes Hall on the University's campus.
Its selection is eclectic. Each quarter of the academic year, it takes proposals for themes and films from the University's student body; its members then vote to designate a theme for each weeknight (Sunday through Thursday) and recent films, normally delayed one quarter from their nationwide release date, on weekends. Occasionally, it screens films which have not yet been released to the general public, including Corpse Bride in 2005, Stranger than Fiction in 2006, and Apocalypto also in 2006. Doc is open to the public.
Doc has hosted forums and presentations by many luminaries of the cinema, including Alfred Hitchcock, Frederick Wiseman, Fritz Lang, Stan Brakhage, Maya Deren, John Milius, John Ford,[1] Howard Hawks, Andrew Sarris, Terrence Malick, Harold Ramis, Kevin Spacey, Laura Linney, Woody Allen,[3] Darren Aronofsky, Thom Andersen, Billy Woodberry, Charles Burnett,[1] and Robert Redford.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Jane Schaults. "Keeping students in the dark for 75 years", Chicago Tribune, 2007-05-18.
- ^ "The Film Snob's Dictionary," Vanity Fair, March 2004, p 332
- ^ In 2000, on a four-college toure, screening the film Small Time Crooks, Joel Brown. "Scene in Brief", Boston Globe, 2000-04-21.
- ^ In 2007 to promote Lions for Lambs, Redford reaches out to younger generations, Chicago Maroon (college paper).
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Video profile from The University of Chicago
- Current calendar
