The Global Media Festival is the Georgia Tech School of Modern Languages’ annual film and discussion series focusing on sustainability across languages and cultures. The 2023 festival explored the theme “reduced inequalities within and among countries” (# 10 of the UN sustainable development goals). This year, the festival ran from Monday, April 17th to Sunday, April 23rd, 2023. ALL SCREENINGS WERE FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC! All events were held in the Atlantic and Cypress Theaters at Georgia Tech’s John Lewis Student Center. See here for directions.
2023 Festival Highlights
“THE REVOLUTION AND THE LAND” (Peru, 2019).
Screening and Q&A with Director Gonzalo Benavente Secco
Considered the most-watched Peruvian documentary of all time and a tribute to marginalized cinema, “La Revolución y la Tierra” discusses the Agrarian Reform implemented by the military dictatorship of Juan Velasco Alvarado in 1969. Velasco’s so-called “Peruvian revolution” marked a controversial and contentious chapter in the history of struggles for the land and citizenship in Peru. Watch the trailer here.
Saturday, April 22 // GT Student Center, Atlantic Theater // 5-8 P.M.
“MAKING PANDEMICS”/ “La Fabrique des pandémies” (2021).
Screening and Q&A with Director Marie-Monique Robin (film director) and three of the featured scientists
Dengue, Chikungunya, Covid-19, AIDS, Ebola: The number of emerging diseases that were previously unknown has exploded in the last 40 years. The majority are zoonoses, infectious diseases transmitted to humans from animals. In this award-winning documentary, French actress Juliette Binoche seeks to understand the causes of this “epidemic of pandemics”. She meets with scientists, specialized “disease ecologists” from around the world, to understand the links between human health and the health of ecosystems. Watch the trailer here.
Sunday, April 23 // GT Student Center, Cypress Theater // 2-5 P.M.
“ABOVE THE DROWNING SEA” (China, 2017).
Screening and Q&A with Director-Producer Rene Balcer & Producer Nicola Zavaglia
This documentary details the story of Jewish refugees from Nazi Europe who found sanctuary in Shanghai on the eve of World War II, thanks to Chinese diplomat Ho Feng Shan who defied the Nazis and his own government by issuing travel visas to the desperate refugees. Watch the trailer here.
“ASCENSION”(China, 2021).
Screening and Q&A with Director Jessica Kingdon
Juxtaposing everyday life of assembly line workers with the nouveau riche, Ascension examines an increasingly stratified China beneath its economic growth. The cinematography and minimalistic dialogues also raise questions about the pluralistic and innovative ways inequalities can be visualized and animated in film. Watch the trailer here.
Tuesday, April 18 // GT Student Center, Atlantic Theater // 5-8 P.M.
“ONE DAY WE ARRIVED IN JAPAN” (2017).
Screening and Q&A with Directors Ana Paula Kojima Hirano and Aaron Litvin
Responding to a labor shortage in the 1990s, the Japanese government opened immigration to second- and third- generation Japanese descendants. This documentary follows three Brazilian-Japanese families as they undergo migration from Brazil to Japan, working through issues of labor, identity, and change in contemporary Japan. Watch the trailer here.
Friday, April 21 // GT Student Center, Cypress Theater // 5-8 P.M.
“Beyond This Backyard” (Brazil 2021)
Documentary Screening + Q&A with Director Alfredo Suppia
During the COVID-19 pandemic, a mother experiences social isolation in her son’s home. Dreams, memory, and Brazilian people’s struggle with fascism are explored in this sci-fi style documentary. Written-directed by Alfredo Suppa with Alfredo Luiz and Dolores Beatriz. Watchthe trailer here.
Wednesday, April 19 // GT Student Center, Atlantic Theater // 3:30-4:45 P.M.
Tropic Ice (2010-2019). Short Film Screenings and Q&A with Director Barbara Dombrowski
German director Barbara Dombrowski’s four short documentary films explore how climate change has affected peoples’ livelihoods. Instead of only focusing on the catastrophic dimension, her Tropic Ice project shares the voices of people from Greenland, the Amazon, the Gobi Desert, the South Pacific, and more.
Wednesday, April 19 // GT Student Center, Atlantic Theater // 5-8 P.M.
See this year’s complete festival schedule here.
View our collection of events on Eventbrite here.
