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Art Museum to host ‘On Watching’ film series

September 3, 2013

Rear Window movie posterThe NIU Art Museum will host a fall film series in conjunction with its exhibition, “On Watching and Being Seen.”

“On Watching and Being Seen” is on display through Saturday, Oct. 19, in all four galleries of the Art Museum. A public reception is planned from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 12.

It explores the roles of voyeur and exhibitionist, especially through the impact of social media and surveillance technology. How we define what is private and what is public – or what we think should be – has ramifications in feeling engaged, threatened or ambivalent.

Supplementary programming will be offered throughout the course of the exhibition; check www.niu.edu/artmuseum for updates.

Film screenings are sponsored in part by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.

Monday, Sept. 23: Rear Window (1954)

  • Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Starring James Stewart and Grace Kelly.
  • A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.
  • 7 p.m. at the Egyptian Theatre, 135 N. Second Street, DeKalb
  • Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for students, senior citizens and NIU Art Museum members.
  • Discussion following film to be led by professors Scott Balcerzak and Tim Ryan of the NIU English Department. Balcerzak regularly teaches a course on the films of Alfred Hitchcock.
  • Rated PG, 115 minutes, IMDB rating: 8.6/10

Thursday, Sept. 26: Marwencol (2010)

  • Directed, produced, and edited by Jeff Malmberg
  • After a vicious attack leaves him brain-damaged and broke, Mark Hogancamp seeks recovery in “Marwencol,” a 1/6th scale World War II-era town he creates in his backyard.
  • 7 p.m. in Montgomery Auditorium, NIU
  • Not rated, 84 minutes, IMDB rating: 7.5/10; Metascore: 81/100

Catfish movie posterThursday, Oct. 10: Catfish (2010)

  • Directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman
  • Young filmmakers document their colleague’s budding online friendship with a young woman and her family, which leads to an unexpected series of discoveries.
  • 7 p.m. in Montgomery Auditorium, NIU
  • Discussion led by professor Dee Anna Phares of North Central College and Tim Ryan of NIU. Phares regularly uses this film as a point of departure for class discussions.
  • Rated PG13 (some sexual references), 88 minutes, IMDB rating: 7.0/10; Metascore: 65/100

For more information, call (815) 753-1936.