FEBRUARY 8

FOXY BROWN

1974. USA.. Dir: Jack Hill.. With Pam Grier, Antonio Fargas. 94 min
Grier's follow-up to COFFY cemented her status as a female blaxploitation icon – smart, charismatic, ready to kick ass and look fine doing it. Here Foxy enacts revenge with righteous brutality, burning and castrating the drug- and whore-traffickers who killed her man. Is this film sleazy? Is it empowering? Can it be both? Speaker: Prof. Scott Higgins, Film Studies.  
FEBRUARY 9

THE MATCHMAKER

2010. Israel. Dir: Avi Nesher. With Adir Miller. 112 min
In 1968, a teenager spends his summer working for a mysterious Holocaust survivor who makes a living brokering marriages and smuggling goods. The lad takes a dangerous coming-of-age ride into the deepest underbelly of Haifa, uncovering a tender story of love, loss, and survival in the aftermath of WWII. Speaker: Prof. Owen Shapiro, Syracuse University Film Program.

FEBRUARY 10

ATTACK THE BLOCK

2011. UK. Dir: Joe Cornish. With John Boyega, Nick Frost. 88 min
When furry, fanged, and fluorescent creatures plummet from the sky into the London projects, a gang of stoned hoodlums take it upon themselves to defend their neighborhood from the wicked space invaders. If the kids from SUPER 8 weren't a bunch of damn wusses, it might look something like this: lean, intense action bolstered by clever characterization and devilish humor.  
FEBRUARY 11

Black Entertainers of the 1930s and 1940s

. USA. Dir: . With . 90 Min
Rare “all-colored cast” shorts showcase Black musical and comedy performers yet still manifest the racist and stereotypical content of their era. In these valuable historical curiosities, luminaries like Ethel Waters and Lena Horne (and a host of forgotten minor players) display talents that transcend the complex, often tragic, cultural baggage.