In sharing his list of the top 30 films of the 2010s, Associate Professor of Rhetoric, Film, and Screen Studies Jon Cavallero notes how such lists tend to “say at least as much about the critic as they do about the movies.”

In that sense, the list reflects how, in recent years, the critic and his 乐播传媒 students have been working to build a film community at 乐播传媒, including establishment of .

The list also reflects the critic鈥檚 expertise, including film theory and criticism; race, gender, and international film, including Bollywood; and film history.

In 2014, Associate Professor of Rhetoric, Film, and Screen Studies Jon Cavallero welcomes Stacey Kabat ’85, who in 1994 was part of the team that won an Academy Award for Defending Our Lives, a documentary film that exposed the severity of domestic violence in the U.S. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

A third-generation Italian American, the critic is the author of聽Hollywood鈥檚 Italian American Filmmakers: Capra, Scorsese, Savoca, Coppola, and Tarantino (University of Illinois Press, 2011). As a child, he recalls 鈥渙ften looking to the movies and television for a sense of cultural definition.鈥�

The list also reflects that the critic does have certain priorities above watching movies, which is why 鈥渢here are few movies on the list from 2017. That was the year my wife, Kathryn, and I welcomed our son, Emmett, into the world!鈥�

Here are Jon Cavallero’s top 30 films of the 2010s:

I love father-son stories, and I love road stories. So, a father-son story written and directed by a son, Emilio Estevez, and starring his father, Martin Sheen (who in my eyes can do no wrong), about a journey they take together pretty much has me from the get-go.

50/50 tells the story of Adam (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a 20-something man who is diagnosed with cancer. As he battles the disease, his friends and acquaintances try to support him but don鈥檛 really know how, and Adam ends up in a place where he endures cancer treatments while trying to make those around him feel better about his diagnosis. It鈥檚 not that they are bad people. It鈥檚 just that they are out of their depth.

The film highlights the ways that those who suffer trauma are often saddled with the additional burden of having to educate the more fortunate. It also includes a noteworthy supporting performance by Portland, Maine, native Anna Kendrick (who, despite celebrity websites saying so, never attended 乐播传媒 鈥� although her mom tells me that she performed in Olin 104 as a teenager).

I鈥檝e been for almost 20 years now, and if you know his work, The Irishman takes on special meaning. Mean Streets and Goodfellas looked at the reasons young men were drawn to mobsters. The Irishman looks at men who are looking back at a life spent working with or in the Mob.

The characters weigh the decisions that led them to the life, and they consider the toll that life has taken on them and their families. It鈥檚 a necessary evolution for the 77-year-old filmmaker, a man who has spent so much of his professional career investigating the Mafia and spent so much of his childhood observing mobsters. This is the perspective of a mature filmmaker considering his own mortality.

Black Panther is one of the most important films of the last decade. Hollywood spent $200 million on a movie anchored by a largely Black cast and produced by a very diverse crew. That had never happened before, but thanks to the quality of Black Panther and its runaway commercial and critical success, it will happen again.

Ryan Coogler and his team used the comic book genre to comment on pressing political issues, and we have all benefited as a result. The film is not without its issues (乐播传媒 student Luc Alper-Leroux 鈥�20, advised by my department colleague Charles Nero, has addressed those in his recent rhetoric, film, and screen studies thesis), but its overall effect on the industry is immense.

Climbing movies like Free Solo are always thrilling to watch, but they often descend into highlight reels that are enamored with the climbers themselves.

Since they are usually shot by the subjects of the film, it all seems very narcissistic to me, with little regard for the way their pursuit of the next peak wreaks emotional, financial, and psychological damage on the people in their lives.

Free Solo certainly has thrilling visuals, but it also spends more time looking into the psychological makeup of Alex Honnold and what inspires him to climb without ropes. And it spends a fair amount of time with Sanni McCandless, Honnold鈥檚 girlfriend, who suffers more than he does in this film. It鈥檚 a great movie that pushes the genre in a productive direction.

I saw Inception 10 years ago, and I鈥檓 still wondering if that spinning top keeps spinning or wobbles and comes to rest on the table. The real trick is that the answer to that question reveals more about the viewer than the film.

Inception was mesmerizing. Its special effects created unique action scenes. Its representation of time and dreams kept me intellectually engaged throughout, and there was a story that I found compelling enough to keep me interested in the narrative.

Bollywood icons Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol anchored the quintessential Bollywood blockbuster romance Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (or DDLJ) in 1995. Their reunion in Karan Johar鈥檚 My Name is Khan, some 15 years later, was well-worth the wait.

The film tells the story of Rizvan Khan (played by SRK), an Indian immigrant to the U.S. with Asperger鈥檚. After the 9/11 attacks, Khan and his Muslim faith are questioned and targeted by a slew of Americans as he sets out on the road to prove his love for Mandira (Kajol) and their family.

In one famous scene, he is stopped by TSA agents and turned away from boarding a plane. When SRK, who is probably the biggest star in the world 鈥� bigger than any Hollywood celebrity 鈥� came to the U.S. to promote the film, the Muslim actor was pulled aside at the Newark airport and questioned for several hours.

My students love this film. They laugh. They cry. They talk about it for weeks 鈥� but it is not without its flaws. The film鈥檚 representation of African American characters is highly offensive, recycling many of the stereotypes of past American films.

Steve McQueen鈥檚 brutal, devastating film demonstrates how powerful the medium can be. Here鈥檚 a tale that has been with us for a long time 鈥� during the time of slavery, a free Black man is assaulted, kidnapped, and enslaved and then fights for 12 years to regain his freedom.

Solomon Northup鈥檚 memoir existed, but McQueen鈥檚 film brought it more attention and countered many (though not all) of the tropes of Hollywood鈥檚 typical representation of slavery. The film also marked the feature-length debut of Lupita Nyong鈥檕, one of the great revelations of the past decade.

Room constantly surprised me and pulled on my heartstrings. The film shows how trauma persists even after the news story ends.

With powerful performances from Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay, and adept, sensitive directing by Lenny Abrahamson (whose longtime publicist, Bumble Ward P’17, is a ), Room is not to be missed.

Combining virtuoso performances with technical inventiveness, Alejandro Gonz谩lez I帽谩rritu鈥檚 Birdman represents one of the best directorial efforts of the decade. I like to tell my students that I帽谩rritu accomplishes formal techniques that other directors can鈥檛 even imagine.

His willingness to constantly challenge himself is both courageous and inspiring, and Birdman is gripping and funny while advancing the art of cinema.

One of the first scenes in First Reformed is a simple conversation between Ernst Toller, a minister (played by Ethan Hawke), and Michael, a soon-to-be father who is also a troubled environmental activist (played by Philip Ettinger).

The movie is about so much more than this conversation, but master filmmaker Paul Schrader鈥檚 ability to use a simple dialogue scene to draw viewers into the movie astounded me and demonstrates his skill as a writer.

How many conversations have we heard about climate change? And yet in this simple, understated, small-budgeted indie film, Schrader advances the conversation in a new direction (at least for me) with two actors and a simple shot / reverse-shot editing pattern. Compelling. Remarkable. Seemingly simple. And just the tip of the iceberg (so to speak) in First Reformed.

We were so proud to screen The Last Black Man in San Francisco as part of this year鈥檚 乐播传媒 Film Festival, and it received a standing ovation.

The film stands out for the way it confronts one of the major issues with the Hollywood form. Usually, Hollywood narratives are so anchored in an individual character trying to achieve goals and solve problems that it becomes difficult for the movie to confront more systemic issues.

LBMSF counters that pattern by offering a personalized tale of gentrification. The film鈥檚 representation of racism targets a system that marginalizes and exploits characters like Jimmie (played by the film鈥檚 co-writer Jimmie Fails) by showing that money is power, another tool that has been leveraged to further marginalize the already marginalized and further exploit the already exploited.

Add to that some beautiful camerawork by Adam Newport-Berra and a star-making turn by Jonathan Majors as Montgomery Allen and you have one of the great films of the decade.

Throughout this decade, Ava DuVernay has consistently produced more groundbreaking media than anyone else. If she鈥檚 not making documentaries like 13th, she鈥檚 making limited series like When They See Us. If she鈥檚 not breaking down barriers with her film collective Array, she鈥檚 offering fresh takes on icons like the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

With Selma, DuVernay not only allows us to see history differently but also demonstrates that history remains sadly relevant. Along the way, she uses a unique formal style that breaks with conventional Hollywood editing practices to subtly question why those norms have been established and by whom.

In a year when “alternative facts鈥� entered our lexicon and we started talking about a 鈥減ost-fact world,鈥� I valued honesty in movies. Hell or High Water doesn鈥檛 shy away from the brutality of violence, the brutality of predatory banking institutions, and the myriad ways some enjoy doing harm to others.

This movie is unflinching, featuring a brilliant script by Taylor Sheridan (who also wrote Sicario and and wrote and directed Wind River).

Between Leave No Trace and Winter鈥檚 Bone, Debra Granik had quite a decade. Winter鈥檚 Bone tells the story of Ree, whose drug-dealing father put up the family homestead as collateral for his bail. When he fails to show up for his court date, Ree must track him down or lose the homestead.

The film made a star of Jennifer Lawrence, who played Ree, and features powerful performances by John Hawkes and Dale Dickey, among others.

During Short Term 2018, as a group of students and I planned for the 2019 乐播传媒 Film Festival, Ellen Alcorn, who oversees community-engaged learning programs at the college’s Harward Center, came by and asked if we had seen Woman at War. None of us had. All of us soon did. And when we screened it at the festival in November, the film received a perfect score from our audience.

Woman at War is an Icelandic film about Halla (played by Halld贸ra Geirhar冒sd贸ttir), an unassuming music teacher who becomes an ecoactivist and wreaks havoc on the Icelandic aluminum industry.

The film is timely, riveting 鈥� and funny. Director Benedikt Erlingsson pulls off a daunting balancing act effortlessly.

One of the cornerstones of my pedagogy is meeting students where they are, and as the age gap between us increases, that gets more and more challenging.

As I get older and my students stay the same age, I鈥檓 forced to speculate on what their lives have really been like. What has it been like to live your entire life in a post-9/11 world? What has the ubiquity of social media meant to this generation鈥檚 sense of self and their understanding of relationships? Bo Burnham鈥檚 feature offers a sensitive and nuanced take on those issues.

Eighth Grade is painfully awkward, but so is eighth grade, for most of us. For Kayla (featuring an underappreciated performance by Elsie Fisher), social media is both stifling and freeing. It puts her entire life under scrutiny, while also giving her a voice. The digital world gives her access to information that no eighth grader needs to know and puts pressure on her to operate as an adult before she should have to.

But it also allows her an outlet for self-expression, which becomes a powerful means of discovering herself even if the journey is painful. It鈥檚 not a comfortable film to watch, but it brings us older people closer to understanding young people today.

Some people call Kenneth Lonergan鈥檚 Manchester by the Sea 鈥渟ad.鈥� Others say it鈥檚 鈥渄epressing.鈥� I think it鈥檚 honest. Sometimes things happen that people just can鈥檛 get over, and they have to go on living just the same.

It鈥檚 rare to find that kind of perspective in a Hollywood movie, where so often individuals overcome whatever seemingly insurmountable obstacles block their way. This is a wonderful movie with remarkable performances, especially those of Lucas Hedges and Michelle Williams in their respective supporting roles.

At the start of the decade, many were hailing the arrival of Jeff Nichols, an Arkansas native who had made Shotgun Stories in 2007 and Take Shelter in 2011. But it is Mud that continues to stand out to me as Nichols鈥� best.

On the surface, the film is about a man, Mud (played by Matthew McConaughey, at the University of Texas’ Moody School of Communications last fall), who is assisted by two 14-year-old boys in his cat-and-mouse game with the law.

But really the film is about a teenage boy鈥檚 search to understand love in an environment where not many examples of it exist.

Searching for Sugar Man begins with the myths surrounding Rodriguez, an American folk musician who never found a U.S. audience but whose work had a formative influence on South African society. Thought to have died years ago, Rodriguez is in fact alive and well, and that is just the start of the tale.

An Academy Award鈥搘inner for Best Documentary Feature, Searching for Sugar Man is an uplifting and inspiring tale about the way art can transform lives and societies.

BlacKkKlansman is co-written by filmmakers Spike Lee and Kevin Willmott, the latter of whom visited 乐播传媒 in 2017.

They are both also film professors, Lee at NYU and Willmott at the University of Kansas. Their knowledge of film history, particularly the representation of African Americans in American cinema, adds a necessary layer to BlacKkKlansman.

The film features clips from Birth of a Nation, an extended discussion of Blaxploitation, and documentary footage from Charlottesville and the murder of Eric Garner. The implication is clear: The way movies have represented Black people has both influenced and been influenced by the way Black people have been imagined by whites.

It鈥檚 a lesson that needs to be heeded, especially since we all spent a lot of time talking about diversity in the movies in 2018, and then saw Green Book win Best Picture at the Oscars.

I鈥檓 a big fan of immigration stories, but Brooklyn stands out in its ability to incorporate unique twists and turns that seem completely believable. It鈥檚 one of the great films of the decade and features a career-defining performance by Saoirse Ronan.

Over a year before Nadia Mourad won a Nobel Peace Prize, Alexandria Bombach, who visited 乐播传媒 in 2016 and has , decided to start making a film about her life. The Yazidi activist was traveling the world trying to bring attention to the fate of her people under ISIS, the genocide that was being carried out, and the way the world stood by and did nothing.

Bombach鈥檚 film chronicles Mourad鈥檚 journey 鈥� one defined by bravery, exhaustion, and emotional trauma. A great film could be made about Mourad, but Bombach鈥檚 film stands out because it doesn鈥檛 stop there. This film admires Mourad, but it asks bigger questions about the norms that define our culture, the way the media covers stories, and the ways celebrity culture allows leaders and citizens alike to avoid larger political problems.

At each stop, Mourad is asked to revisit her traumas. On Her Shoulders shows that rather than addressing the real issue, media and politicians alike perpetuate the trauma. This kind of treatment extends beyond the individual. With a population displaced and spread throughout the globe, Yazidi culture becomes further diluted, and that raises new concerns for Mourad that her efforts are in vain.

Bombach has long been concerned with the personal toll that activism takes on an activist (see her remarkable documentary Frame by Frame, a film she brought to 乐播传媒 in 2016). In Mourad, she has found a perfect subject. It allows her to forward Mourad鈥檚 message while also asking all of us to think differently about the questions we ask and their effects.

7. Parasite (Bong Joon Ho, 2019)

With Parasite, in theaters now, Bong Joon Ho, one of the great filmmakers working today, weaves a tense tale about class difference and class conflict that is sometimes serious, sometimes horrifying, and sometimes humorous.

The film balances not just generic tropes but the literal and the metaphorical to create the most compelling viewing experience of 2019.

It is true what Bong said when accepting his Best Foreign Language Golden Globe this past weekend: 鈥淥nce you overcome the 1-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing movies.鈥�

Inside Out is an animated kids鈥� movie about depression, and I walked out of the theater feeling like I understood the issue better. Pixar has made a lot of great films, but this one is near the top of my list, along with Up and Wall-E.

A festival darling that played the , Sonita documents聽a teenage refugee from Afghanistan who flees to Iran to escape the Taliban. She dreams of becoming a rapper in a culture that does not see that as a viable (or even legal) pursuit for a woman.

Sonita鈥檚 journey takes on added urgency when her mother plans to sell her into child marriage in order to finance the wedding of Sonita鈥檚 brother. Filmmaker Rokhsareh Ghaemmaghami must choose between staying behind the camera and letting Sonita become a child bride or becoming involved in her story.

The film tells a powerful story about ethnic difference, refugee status, immigration policies, child marriage, art, and gender politics, while also opening a space to talk about the ethics of documentary production.

A regular screening in my film theory class, it is always the most popular film of the semester.

It鈥檚 become pretty predictable: Every semester, a student will recommend a horror film to me. “You have to see…” (Fill in the blank with A Quiet Place, Birdbox, Us, Midsommar, The Walking Dead, Hereditary, The Cabin in the Woods 鈥� the list goes on.) And I respond, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 like horror films.鈥�

Invariably, they then say, 鈥淥h, well it鈥檚 not really a horror film.鈥� That fools me sometimes, and I pick up the suggested title only to sit through it wondering, 鈥淲hat do they think a horror film is?!鈥�

Get Out is unmistakably a horror film, and I am shocked that it is so high on my list because, as you may have heard, I don鈥檛 like horror films. But this film blew me away. I loved the way it used horror to comment on racism, and I loved the way it used humor throughout to forward the message.

With all due respect to Psycho, Rosemary鈥檚 Baby, The Exorcist, The Shining, and others, Get Out may be the best horror film I have ever seen, and it left me wondering if I should be watching more.

When I saw Short Term 12 in 2013, the film featured a cast of unknowns. Today, it is known for its cast, which includes a long list of present-day stars 鈥� Brie Larson, Rami Malek, LaKeith Stanfield, Kaitlyn Dever, John Gallagher Jr., Stephanie Beatriz, and others.

Don鈥檛 let the star power distract from the film鈥檚 emotional power. Writer-director Destin Daniel Cretton (who just wrote and directed the feature film Just Mercy, adapted from the book of the same title by Bryan Stevenson, 乐播传媒’ 2018 Commencement speaker), based Short Term 12 on his own experience working in a facility for at-risk teens.

Throughout the narrative, Grace (Larson), the center鈥檚 director, learns that she must confront her demons if she is to live a full life and better serve the Short Term 12 teens. It鈥檚 a beautiful, powerful film.

Burn Your Maps stood in for so many conversations that I have struggled to articulate, and it changed the way I thought about our daughter, Annabella Grace, and the brief time she spent with us.

My wife, Kathryn, and I saw the premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, and it was the single most moving film-going experience I have ever had. We walked out of the theater, and it was several blocks before I could speak.

I was honored when we were able to bring the film to campus back in 2017, along with Jordan Roberts, its Academy Award鈥搉ominated writer and director and 乐播传媒 Film Festival advisory board member. While my experience of Burn Your Maps was very personal, the film speaks to anyone who has ever experienced loss and searched for hope.

Simply put, I loved everything about this movie, adapted from James Baldwin’s novel. I loved how it showed the effects of racism 鈥� the way it defines lives, fractures families and communities, and robs both racism鈥檚 victims and its perpetrators of their humanity.

I loved how in the era of #metoo and #timesup this movie showed how consent can be romantic and sexy while only adding to the passion of a love scene. I loved the direction, the writing, the sensitive performances from every member of the cast.

Bonus: 乐播传媒 Film Festival advisory board member 聽and his team at Annapurna handled the film’s marketing.

乐播传媒 has announced eight faculty promotions, including tenure awards and full professorships, effective Aug. 1 for the 2018鈥�19 academic year.

The promotions were recommended by the faculty鈥檚 Committee on Personnel and approved by the 乐播传媒 College Board of Trustees.

Malcolm Hill is vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty at 乐播传媒 College.

“One of the joys of working at 乐播传媒 is to be surrounded by exceptionally talented and creative people. This year’s tenured and promoted faculty provide outstanding examples of the consequential scholarship and creative work going on at 乐播传媒,” said Malcolm Hill, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty.

“As leaders in their respective fields and through their continuing hard work, these faculty offer our students unparalleled opportunities in the classroom, and give us all an opportunity to engage with the important ideas of our time.”

Meet the eight newly promoted professors, learn their research fields, and discover why they teach.

Promotions to associate professor with tenure

+Associate Professor of Religious Studies Ali Humayun Akhtar

Ali Humayun Akhtar has been promoted to associate professor of religious studies. (Michael Bradley/乐播传媒 College)

+Associate Professor of Rhetoric, Film, and Screen Studies Jonathan Cavallero

Jonathan Cavallero has been promoted to associate professor of rhetoric, film, and screen studies. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

+Associate Professor of German Raluca Cernahoschi

Raluca Cernahoschi has been promoted to associate professor of German. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

+Associate Professor of German Jakub Kazecki

Jakub Kazecki has been promoted to associate professor of German. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

+Associate Professor of Mathematics Katharine Ott

Katharine Ott has been promoted to associate professor of mathematics. (Sarah Crosby/乐播传媒 College)

+Associate Professor of Biology Larissa Williams

Larissa Williams has been promoted to associate professor of biology. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

Promotions to full professor

+Professor of Politics Stephen Engel

Stephen Engel has been promoted to professor of politics. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

+Professor of Classical and Medieval Studies Lisa Maurizio

Lisa Maurizio has been promoted to professor of classical and medieval studies. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

When the time came for the students and professor in the upper-level course 鈥淔ilm Festival Studies鈥� to produce an actual festival 鈥� the inaugural 乐播传媒 Film Festival 鈥� there were friends ready to lend a hand.

Friends like Academy Award鈥搘inner Stacey Kabat 鈥�85, Anike Tourse 鈥�92, Nicole Danser 鈥�15, Taylor Blackburn 鈥�15, and Alexandra Morrow 鈥�16, all creators of short films that will be shown at the festival. And like Constance 鈥淪tanzy鈥� Brimelow 鈥�16, who, as an associate producer of a , will take part in a festival panel on women in media.

Rhetoric professor Jon Cavallero leads his “Film Festival Studies” class in Pettigrew Hall on March 19, two days before the opening of the 乐播传媒 Film Festival. (Theophil Syslo/乐播传媒 College)

And Trey Callaway P鈥�20, a prominent producer and screenwriter who will lead a screenwriting master class on the festival鈥檚 final day. And Michael Sargent, a 乐播传媒 psychology professor whose filmmaking debut has its premiere at the festival: Witchcraft Blue, a feature-length documentary about .

The willingness of these folks to work with the 14 鈥淔ilm Festival Studies鈥� students as they organized exemplifies a collateral benefit of the 乐播传媒 education. Rhetoric professor Jonathan Cavallero opened the 乐播传媒 network of industry contacts, many of whom he has met or taught since coming to campus in 2013, to the class knowing that his students might benefit from those connections later on.

Even as the festival, and 乐播传媒鈥� overall exploration of film, is benefiting from them now. 鈥溊植ゴ� people who are in film want film at 乐播传媒 to grow,鈥� says one of Cavallero’s students, Luc Alper-Leroux 鈥�20 of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 鈥淪o they did everything they could to help.鈥�

The 乐播传媒 Film Festival features Frank Serpico, a documentary profile of the reform-minded undercover policeman whose story was fictionalized in a hit 1970s film, on March 23.

Another way the festival says 鈥溊植ゴ解�� is through its involved with social and environmental justice. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 one thing that we really wanted to do with this festival,鈥� says Nate Merchant 鈥�18 of Los Angeles, a rhetoric major focusing on screen studies.

鈥淲ith the overarching theme of social justice, we wanted to find different narratives that can influence people in powerful ways.鈥�

While there are some exceptions on the (notably the midnight screening of the 1998 teen thriller I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, written by Callaway), socially conscious films dominate the festival schedule. They delve into topics as timely as police misbehavior (e.g., Frank Serpico, a documentary profile of the reform-minded undercover cop); ethnic identities in the U.S. (White Rabbit, following the travails of a Korean American performance artist); and the consequences of rape (The Light of the Moon).

Clockwise from upper left, rhetoric professor Jon Cavallero is shown with some student organizers of the inaugural 乐播传媒 Film Festival: Nathaniel Merchant 鈥�18 of Los Angeles, Luc Alper-Leroux 鈥�20 of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Gillian Coyne 鈥�19 of New York, and Marisa Sittheeamorn 鈥�18 of Bangkok. (Theophil Syslo/乐播传媒 College)

Alper-Leroux adds that the class has sought out films that bring international perspectives to international concerns. For instance, he says, 鈥渨e often talk about climate change, but it鈥檚 only ever within our context鈥� as Americans. Hence the screening of Anote鈥檚 Ark, exploring the topic of climate change from the standpoint of Kiribati, an island nation that will likely be underwater within this century.

An afternoon session of short films by 乐播传媒 alumnae and an evening screening of Witchcraft Blue open the festival on March 21. Sargent’s topic might seem lurid at first, but Cavallero points out that what the psychology professor is really examining is body positivity 鈥渁nd getting to a comfortable place with that.”

Cavallero explains, 鈥淭hese performers outwardly seem quite confident in their bodies, but Michael is able, through his interviews, to reveal that there鈥檚 an inner dialogue. It鈥檚 often a struggle for them to get on stage and perform.

鈥淲hat I really appreciate about his film is that it reveals exactly how much his subjects trusted him鈥� to reveal so much in a public forum. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an impressive film, and very much is in line with what we鈥檙e trying to accomplish with the festival.鈥�

A scene from Sonita, showing on March 24.

The 乐播传媒 Shorts session, meanwhile, exclusively presents work by alumnae. Among them are Tourse, who directed America; I Too; writer-producer-editor Morrow (The River Behind My House and The First Coast); Academy Award winner Kabat, producer of Strong at the Broken Places: Turning Trauma to Recovery; Danser, who directed F***; and Blackburn, a former 乐播传媒 debater who wrote and executive-produced Where Things May Grow.

In addition to Brimelow 鈥�16, 乐播传媒-connected members of the Women in Media panel include Bumble Ward P鈥�17, an industry publicist whose clients include director Sofia Coppola, and Amy Geller 鈥�96, who co-directed, with Allie Humenuk, The Guys Next Door (2016), a documentary about a truly inspiring Maine family.

In this era of #MeToo, it鈥檚 timely 鈥渢o have a panel on women in media, given the current climate in Hollywood, specifically. It鈥檚 really socially-politically pertinent and I think it will really resonate on campus,鈥� says Gillian Coyne 鈥�19, a double major in rhetoric and French from New York City.

The 乐播传媒 Film Festival shows Father and the Bear, about an actor dealing with dementia, on March 24.

The social justice emphasis 鈥渉appened organically,鈥� Coyne notes. 鈥淚t came about from us watching anything and everything, from Sundance selects to 乐播传媒 grads鈥� work. It was something that the class winnowed out of all the films we watched.

鈥淚t was like playing a semester-long Tetris game, deciding what fits in and what gets priority. It turned into really fun, sometimes heated, discussions 鈥� filling up all the whiteboards, and who鈥檚 voting for what, and how do you prioritize the message that you want to get across.鈥�

鈥淔estivals have this image of famous people getting together to watch movies,鈥� says Cavallero. 鈥淏ut the students have not seen this just as an opportunity to bring films to campus, but an opportunity to lead conversations on campus about important issues that this community and others around it are facing.

A scene from Michael Sargent’s Witchcraft Blue.

鈥淪o the festival is right at home in a rhetoric department, because it is very much about engaging the public discussion and being informed citizens. I鈥檓 really proud of the way that they鈥檝e done this.鈥�

Looking back to rhetoric professor Bob Branham鈥檚 1992 shoe-industry documentary Roughing the Uppers and even earlier, 乐播传媒 has had a close relationship with the moving image. And as 乐播传媒 has redefined the liberal arts education as something that readies students for a life of meaningful work, it’s hard to think of a better academic course for that job than organizing a film festival.

For one thing, it鈥檚 assertively cross-disciplinary. 鈥淥ne of the things that I鈥檝e been most impressed by, since I came here, is the number of people who teach film and the number of departments that those people are in,鈥� says Cavallero.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a way of bringing in different perspectives and really having interdisciplinary conversations. Our hope for this year鈥檚 festival is that that happens.鈥�

In addition, while the film-festival course provides ample grounding in theory, there was plenty of hands-on work to do too. 鈥淭he skills that we鈥檝e developed are really versatile and can translate into the workforce,鈥� says Marisa Sittheeamorn 鈥�18 of Bangkok 鈥� everything from catering arrangements to negotiating distributor fees. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all been really interesting and new.鈥�

Nicole Danser ’15 answers questions about her short film Good Art after screening it in Schaefer Theatre during the Emerge Film Festival. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

Last week鈥檚 brought hundreds of New England cinephiles to Lewiston and Auburn to see 40 films made by local and national independent filmmakers.

Among the directors chosen from more than 2,300 applicants was Nicole Danser 鈥�15, now a student at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, who screened her short film, , in Schaefer Theatre.

During her visit, Danser also spoke to 乐播传媒 students taking the Short Term class 鈥淔ilm Festivals and Digital and Video Production鈥� taught by Assistant Professor of Rhetoric Jonathan Cavallero.

We caught up with her last week and asked her about movies, the liberal arts, and her desire to make films.

You were an environmental studies and English major. So how did you end up wanting to make movies?

What prompted me to apply to graduate school for filmmaking actually was environmental studies. I wanted to have a creative career and travel but I also wanted to “make a difference”聽鈥� specifically a positive one, and I think environmental documentaries encompass those specifics well.

Both majors have helped me in pursuing my career, just maybe not in the way I originally anticipated.

My senior thesis was an environmental documentary about the legal battle between the Penobscot Nation and the state of Maine over claims to the Penobscot River. It let me tell a story, see a new part of Maine聽鈥� and a new perspective on it聽鈥� and hopefully bring to light an issue others might not have known about.

I’ve always enjoyed writing stories of some sort, so majoring in English has played its part in my interest in filmmaking as well. Narrative and documentary films often deal with the same building blocks: character, tone, story, etc., so I think movement between the two forms is rather natural. And because one of my favorite parts of filmmaking is writing the script, I try to take that opportunity to “make a difference,” just more culturally than environmentally.

So I would say that both majors have helped me in pursuing my career, just maybe not in the way I originally anticipated.

I’ve always been interested in telling stories, I just didn’t know it was a realistic career path until I realized that聽鈥� well, even if it’s not, it makes me happiest so I should to do it anyway.

What is your short film, Good Art, about? What inspired聽it?

Good Art is about people confronting a piece of artwork, which leads characters into conversations about what it means to have different interpretations and interactions with art.

A scene from Good Art:

The inspiration behind it was the , where my partner worked as a gallery attendant. I would visit the museum weekly and listen to the conversations people would have, and I would start conversations with the attendants.

Everyone would interact with the pieces in very specific ways depending on who they seemed to be and who they were with. And I wanted to talk about the subject, so I made the film!

Has your liberal arts education helped you in your pursuit of filmmaking?

Well, without my liberal arts education, I wouldn’t have thought to apply to film school (or gotten in, most likely).

Danser describes the creative process of cinema to students in Assistant Professor of Rhetoric Jonathan Cavallero’s Short Term course. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

As for the actual creation of my films, my English major and the writing intensive courses I took at 乐播传媒 have definitely helped me with scriptwriting as well as my grant and scholarship requests. In general, the courses I聽took聽made me think in a different way.

I am not the person who came into 乐播传媒 as a first-year student, and I have a lot of brilliant professors and fellow students to thank for that. The conversations I have had inside and outside the classroom have helped me become a more complex and questioning person.

I am not content with making films that are most common in the status quo; not just because they are often rife with politically and socially toxic ideas, but because they are often confined rigidly to a system which doesn’t always reward originality in style and story.

You’re stuck on a desert island with only one movie loaded in your iPad. What’s the movie and why?

I tend not to watch any movies over and over again, even if I adore them, so this is a tough question.

But if you’re asking what my favorite movie is, I would say right now it’s , directed by Deniz Gamze Erg眉ven.

It’s a beautifully shot film that captures the relationship between sisters as well as how they cope with the culture of their small hometown in Turkey.

What really struck me emotionally was the fantastic performance and directing of the young girls in the movie, which made me think that the behavior of young girls is universal despite the culturally different places they may inhabit.

The story is both intense and meandering, with beautifully slow moments and moments of great boldness and desperation. Maybe I should watch it again…

Nicole Danser 鈥�15, a student at the USC School of Cinematic Arts who screened a film at the Emerge Film Festival, talks Thursday with students in 鈥淔ilm Festivals and Digital Video Production,鈥� a Short Term course taught by Assistant Professor of Rhetoric Jonathan Cavallero (right). The class is part of a formidable 乐播传媒 volunteer posse supporting the festival. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

The here in Lewiston-Auburn kicked off Thursday and runs through Sunday, and this year 乐播传媒 is one of the principal sponsors.

So what’s that mean?

Well, like much of 乐播传媒’ engagement with our community, the college’s sponsorship of this fast-growing festival is a two-way street lined with people and partnerships.

鈥淥ur film students will learn the business by seeing it in action.”

For example, Assistant Professor of Rhetoric Jonathan Cavallero sits on the Emerge board of directors, and he鈥檚 integrated his Short Term course, 鈥淔ilm Festivals and Digital Video Production,鈥� into this year鈥檚 event.

Cavallero鈥檚 17 students join 15 other 乐播传媒 students to form a formidable volunteer posse for Emerge.

鈥淥ur film students will learn the business by seeing it in action. That鈥檚 invaluable,鈥� he says. Festival experience will also 鈥渉elp to remove barriers to their entry into the business鈥� while letting them see 鈥渢he variety that exists鈥� in the film world.

Wiebke von Carolsfeld, the lead instructor of a Short Term filmmaking course, screens her film Stay, starring Aidan Quinn and Taylor Schilling, on Saturday at the festival.

The students have gotten to see work by one of their own, too.

Emerging filmmaker Nicole Danser 鈥�15, now a student the USC School of Cinematic Arts, spoke to Cavallero’s class on Thursday and screened her short film Good Art on Friday in Schaeffer Theatre.

Another 乐播传媒 connection at the festival is Wiebke von Carolsfeld, the lead instructor of 鈥淔ilmmaking, The Creative Process,鈥� one of the innovative, practitioner-taught courses offered during Short Term.

She’s showing her film Stay, starring Aidan Quinn and Taylor Schilling, at 3:45 p.m. Saturday in Schaeffer.

Besides working the festival, Cavallero鈥檚 students will break into four groups tasked with creating a documentary film that could help Emerge learn more about its identity and rapid growth.

One 乐播传媒 group will explore the college鈥檚 growing connection to Emerge, 鈥渨hat it is, what it could be, what that could mean for students,鈥� Cavallero says.

The three other groups will do educational outreach in local high schools; examine the interests and needs of Maine filmmakers 惫颈蝉-脿-惫颈蝉 Emerge; and look at how the festival audiences react to and embrace the festival and its films.

Now in its third year, Emerge will screen 40 films selected from some 2,300 submissions from 42 U.S. states and more than 100 countries.

The festival鈥檚 other film venues are the college鈥檚 Olin Arts Center, the Community Little Theatre in Auburn, and the Franco Center鈥檚 Performance Hall and Heritage Hall in Lewiston.

A scene from “12 O’Clock Boys,” featured at the Emerge Film Festival.

As the Emerge Film Festival returns to Lewiston-Auburn this Thursday, members of 乐播传媒 College will have important parts to play in the event’s second year.

“乐播传媒’ involvement with Emerge has become very diverse and extensive,” says festival adviser Jonathan Cavallero, a film expert and assistant professor of rhetoric at 乐播传媒.

“This year, 乐播传媒 students, alumni, faculty and staff are playing essential roles. They will serve on the Student Film Festival jury; moderate post-screening Q&As; design, manage and organize the festival鈥檚 technology needs; and sit on panels for post-film discussions.” Cavallero helped organize some of the faculty-led discussions that will follow screenings at the festival.

The festival runs from Thursday, April 9, to Sunday, April 12. Venues include the Franco Center, The Public Theatre, Community Little Theatre, Guthrie’s Independent Theater and Free Grace Presbyterian Church. VIP passes are $75, while regular film passes to all events are $35. At the door, tickets are $5 for matinee, $10 for evening聽鈥� dependent on available seating.

Students with valid student IDs attend for free. For a complete festival schedule and additional information, please visit .

“I鈥檓 delighted to see the involvement of 乐播传媒 people in Emerge,鈥� Cavallero said. 鈥淧artnerships and collaborations like these strengthen the bonds between our campus community and the larger Lewiston-Auburn community.

“By bringing a diverse set of films to L/A, Emerge enriches classroom experiences and creates a space where students with an interest in film can interact with working filmmakers.”

At 1 p.m. Saturday, April 11, at The Public Theatre, Emerge will present two thought-provoking Maine premieres, American Cheerleader and 12 O鈥機lock Boys, followed by a panel of filmmakers, professors and coaches for a deeper discussion of youth and American culture.

American Cheerleader follows the journey of two high school teams vying for the coveted National High School Cheerleading Championship. Overcoming challenges through discipline, dedication and teamwork, 12 girls from New Jersey and 12 from Kentucky redefine what it means to be an American cheerleader.

Set in Maine, “Bluebird” features John Slattery from “Mad Men.”

To Baltimore locals, the 12 O’Clock Boys are hooligans 鈥� a group of urban dirt-bikers that perform death-defying stunts at excessive speeds through traffic and impressively evade the hamstrung police, who must adhere to a no-chase policy to maintain public safety. Yet they are heroes to Pug, a bright, young adolescent living in the city’s dangerous Westside neighborhood with his charismatic mother Coco.

Stephanie Kelley-Romano, associate professor of rhetoric at 乐播传媒, will moderate the discussion of the two films with panelists Rebecca Fraser-Thill, lecturer in psychology; Aim茅e Bessire, visiting associate professor of art and visual culture; and Jennifer Roy, Lewiston High School cheering coach, as well as the co-directors of American Cheerleader, James Pellerito and David Barba.

鈥淭he partnership with 乐播传媒 faculty adds a dimension to the festival that we know will enrich the audience鈥檚 viewing experience,鈥� said Laura Davis, president of the film festival’s board.

She adds, 鈥淔or anyone who loves to watch a great movie and then discuss it, imagine having that insightful conversation with the actual filmmaker, crew and cast members. We are hosting more than 50 filmmakers at the festival, representing 90 percent of the films we are screening.鈥�

Emerge鈥檚 Student Film Festival, which presents the work of high school filmmakers, will be juried by 乐播传媒 students and faculty. The judges are Cavallero; Kelley-Romano; two members of the class of 2015, Taylor Blackburn and Julian Hackney; and Rosy DePaul of the class of 2017.

Accepted student films will be screened at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 11, at the Franco Center鈥檚 Heritage Hall.

The Emerge Film Festival is a nonprofit organization, established in Maine in 2014, that works with local and international filmmakers. Documentaries and short to feature-length films are presented during four days of screenings, panel discussions, and receptions.

鈥淚n addition to strengthening the bonds of community between those who live, work, and study here, Emerge makes Lewiston-Auburn a destination for visiting filmmakers and movie fans,鈥� Cavallero says.

鈥淏y sparking a love of film and an understanding of its social, cultural and political power, the value of the festival extends well beyond this weekend and well beyond L-A.鈥�

The Harward Center will be providing a free shuttle for 乐播传媒 students. The shuttle will make runs to festival venues departing from Chase Hall 3-6 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday.

Not long ago, Stacey Kabat 鈥�85 was talking with a friend, a longtime reporter for The Boston Globe, about the infamous case of Jared Remy, the serial abuser in Massachusetts who ended up murdering his girlfriend in 2013.

Stacey Kabat ’85 talks to students in a film theory course taught by Jonathan Cavallero, assistant professor of rhetoric. She brought her Academy Award, saying, “It’s fun to hold it, so I always feel like sharing.” Students passed it around and, yes, it’s heavy. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

They talked about how everyone around Remy 鈥� the courts, police and social systems 鈥� had failed to protect the victim.

Kabat and the reporter agreed: 鈥淚t felt like we were right back in the 1990s,鈥� she said, a time when activists like Kabat were lighting a fire under the problem of domestic violence and reporters covering their work were helping to put it on the national agenda.

Kabat related the anecdote during her visit to campus earlier this week, including a public talk on Sunday and visits to two classes on Monday taught by Assistant Professor of Rhetoric Jonathan Cavallero.

“Defending Our Lives” won the 1994 Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject.

In Cavallero鈥檚 class on film theory, Kabat talked about how the early 1990s were heady times on the domestic violence front.

In 1992, she won a Reebok Human Rights Award for her efforts with abused women, including work to found the nonprofit Peace At Home.

In 1994, she was part of the team that won an Academy Award for the documentary film Defending Our Lives that exposed the severity of domestic violence in the U.S.

A year later, Kabat presented at the NGO forum during the United Nations World Conference on Women, held in Beijing.

Kabat, who was just in her early 30s, was already dubbed a 鈥渧eteran laborer in the vineyards of social justice,鈥� wrote the Los Angeles Times.

鈥淭hings were snowballing, steamrolling. We were moving and changing,鈥� Kabat said.

In Cavallero鈥檚 class, Kabat screened the 1998 documentary Strong at the Broken Places, for which she was a co-producer.

Listening to Stacey Kabat ’85 are Rosy DePaul ’17 of Los Angeles, Mark Charest ’15 of Westbrook, Maine, Nora Kenny ’17 of Brooklyn, N.Y., and Gerald Nelson ’17 of San Antonio, Texas. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

A follow-up to Defending Our Lives, the film tells the story of four people, Arn Chorn-Pond, Max Cleland, Marcia Gordon and Michael MacDonald. Each survived horrific violence in their lives and used their experiences to help other victims of violence and to create powerful new identities for themselves.

Cleland, who would become a U.S. senator from Georgia, lost two legs and an arm in Vietnam after a hand grenade exploded in his hand.

鈥淚 lay there shattered and dying,鈥� he says in the film. Heroic efforts 鈥� a team of five physicians, hours in surgery and 43 pints of blood 鈥� saved his life. 鈥淭hat, it turned out, was the easy part,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou face a stark reality. You will never be the person you were, yet you don鈥檛 know who you will be. You don鈥檛 know you the hell you are.鈥�

The film has a more hopeful story arc than Defending Our Lives. With terrifying personal testimonies and graphic photographs of domestic violence by photojournalist Donna Ferrato, the film was 鈥渓ike a grenade,鈥� Kabat says, that blew open the topic of domestic violence.

鈥淚t was radical,鈥� Kabat says, to show Ferrato鈥檚 images. 鈥淚t was so different. No one had yet been able to expose visually this hidden family secret.鈥�

So what happened to shift the national gaze from domestic violence?

“I’m not a cynical adult because I know that change can occur,” says Stacey Kabat ’85. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

Bill Clinton, who signed the Violence Against Women Act in 1994 and talked about growing up in a violent home, lost credibility after Monica Lewinsky. Then, 9/11 and resulting wars forced America鈥檚 attention away from the domestic agenda.

When she was 18 and heading to 乐播传媒, 鈥渄omestic violence鈥� wasn’t a word, Kabat has said. She had been raised in a violent home but there was no way to talk about that in college.

In the 30 years since then then, “I鈥檝e gone from being ashamed and not be able to talk about it, to being able to talk about it and create programs of change and seeing people change and develop. It鈥檚 amazing.鈥�

Today, as Kabat sees example after example of America鈥檚 violent streak (such as the NFL鈥檚 clueless initial reaction to Ray Rice beating his wife), she is 鈥渁ppalled. It鈥檚 frustrating. We should be done with this already.鈥�

“But I thought [the Oscar] would help the violence to stop.”

She says that America, notwithstanding the current 鈥淚t鈥檚 On Us鈥� campaign and other efforts, has yet to 鈥渢ake hold of the issue and address it in a concrete, prioritized way.鈥�

And that鈥檚 the bittersweet legacy of winning an Oscar.

鈥淚t did bring clout to the issue and put a stamp on it that said, 鈥楾his is important,'” says Kabat, who soon after delivered the commencement address at Simmons College, won a number of awards and traveled the country speaking and showing Defending Our Lives for a couple years.

“But I thought [the Oscar] would help the violence to stop. That was the naive kid in me.鈥�

Sarah Koe ’16 of Portland, Ore., listens as Kabat talks about her career trajectory as an activist. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

Today, Kabat is 51 and has two children, one in high school and the other 8 years old. And if she鈥檚 no longer laboring in the vineyard, she鈥檚 still in the field. Transitioning from running her nonprofit, Peace At Home, she is now a maternal/child health nurse and a lactation consultant at Mass General.

鈥淎fter 9/11, it was so hard to receive aid for what we were doing,鈥� Kabat says. 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 be fundraising, working, speaking, counseling. It was too much. You can only do 20 years of that. My husband said, 鈥淪tace, the Beatles only had 10 good years.鈥� So I feel OK!鈥�

She鈥檚 no longer that naive kid but Kabat still has fire in her belly. 鈥淚鈥檓 not a cynical adult because I know change can occur,鈥� she says.

It comes from 鈥測our actions with people you meet every day. How you interact with your peers, how you interact in your community, how you choose what you want to speak out on, how you vote and how you get involved.鈥�

The best example is right in front of you, she said.

鈥溊植ゴ� was founded by abolitionists. And there鈥檚 a reason for that. They wanted us to think about being part of social change.鈥�

Jonathan Cavalerro, assistant professor of rhetoric (Mike Bradley/乐播传媒 College)

The sight of a raging giant ape on a skyscraper brings out the wise guy in most of us. But when Jonathan Cavallero first taught a class at 乐播传媒, he found that the classic film King Kong聽 evoked, more than anything, the intellectual spark of 乐播传媒 students.

As a candidate for the rhetoric faculty, film studies specialist Cavallero made his teaching presentation in February 2013. He taught a class in Charles Nero’s course “White Redemption,” which examines movies that use the black experience to, in effect, showcase the goodness of white people.

King Kong was the topic when Cavallero led the session. Having taught at the University of Arkansas and Penn State, he had to adjust in a hurry to the smallness of the class. At the same time, he was deeply impressed by the students’ initiative.

Read more profiles of tenure-track faculty new at 乐播传媒 in 2013:

• Lydia Barnett, assistant professor of history
• Travis Gould, assistant professor of physics
• Brooke O’Harra, assistant professor of theater

“They did a fantastic job of linking back our discussion to the things the course had been emphasizing for the weeks,” he says.

Cavallero started as assistant professor this fall. We tend to associate “rhetoric” with writing and speaking, but schools like 乐播传媒 see it broadly, defining rhetoric as the study of how people use symbolic systems — not only verbal languages — to play out their roles in the world.

Movies and television have their own symbolic systems, of course. And as moving images have conquered communications, understanding those systems is essential to cultural citizenship. The converse is also true: from King Kong to Citizen Kane to Modern Family to a one-handed catch contest on YouTube, moving images afford a powerful lens for examining society and culture.

“I鈥檓 interested in the cultural place of the movies, and how they help us think about social identities that we attached to others or ourselves,” says Cavallero 鈥� identities such as ethnicity, gender or sexuality.

“A lot of what I鈥檓 doing is using cultural studies to create a context around film” and to illustrate how films reflect or affect time, place and people. For example, in his course on Bollywood, a particular interest of Cavallero’s, students look at how Bollywood and other filmmaking centers have emulated one another in hopes of reaching still larger audiences.

“At what point do those crossovers water everything down to the point that it鈥檚 all homogenized, and you lose some of that local flavor?” he says.

“I鈥檓 conflicted because I love some Bollywood movies that are very slick and very Hollywood. They have action scenes and superheroes, and you can have a good time watching them — but I also worry about that. Because sometimes, those films can look like Iron Man, and part of the fun of Bollywood is that it’s different from Hollywood.”

Pedagogy in the multicultural classroom is another focus for Cavallero, and film builds cross-cultural connections. “Students bring in their own views and political perspectives, and they can talk about a movie with classmates who have very different views from them.”

Immersion in moving imagery gives everyone common references. “Students come in ready to participate, ready to talk, excited,” says Cavallero, who’s teaching Bollywood and film theory this fall. “As the course progresses, they’ll learn new theoretical perspectives and the vocabulary of film studies, but even in the early weeks of a class they’re pretty confident in their knowledge of the subject and they tend to be willing to jump right in.

“I鈥檝e always seen that as an opportunity because I learn so much from them.”

Cavallero earned a doctorate in communication and culture and in American studies at Indiana University. He has taught at the University of Arkansas; at Penn State, where he earned a master’s degree in media studies; and at Indiana. He earned a bachelor’s degree in government at Georgetown University.