I'd like to pick your massive movie brains for a suggestion if that's fine by you :)
For an international students festival happening in my town in 2023 I want to find a good movie to be screened. The festivals broad topic is "Knowledge", so the movie should fit the topic in some way. Ideally the movie is entertaining but still thought-provoking. We would try to invite the director if they are available/still alive or some people related to its content to have a discussion afterwards. And it should rather not be a recent blockbuster so that our participants (mostly aged 18 to 30) are less likely to have already seen it.
I'm looking forward to any suggestions and want to thank you a bunch in advance :D
You might have to play a bit fast and loose with the theme "Knowledge" here, but I would recommend Mr. Nobody. It's not that well-known I suppose and it's definitely thought-provoking, so a discussion afterwards is undoubtedly on the table. Plus, it's an entertaining and accessible watch in my opinion.
Hope this was helpful and I wish you an awesome festival in 2023!
Hi fnick, I'd like to help. I have 3 movies to suggest. They are very very different and probably lead to 3 different approachs on the subject of knowledge, which is indeed vast. The first is very unformal and classic in its form; Goodwill Hunting, by Gus Vant, about a brightly acceler
Sorry, wrong manipulation! accelerated teenager and it tackles learning and education. The second is Rashomon, by Akira Kurosawa. No "school knowledge"here. It's about a murder seen through different point of view. It tackles knowledge and truth, and the things you think you know or take for granted. The last is really for fun and has at first sight nothing to connect it to the topic of knowledge. It is To Be or not To Be, by Ernst Lubitch. It is a comedy set during world war II. What is interesting here is to make people/students remark that the whole movie plays on what the spectator knows or doesn't. Indeed, sometimes the spectator knows more than the protagonists, sometimes less, and both are effective and funny devices. Lubitch brilliantly plays on this. To know or not to know; Hope it can help. have a good day!
@fnick Just thinking it could be also interesting to make them think about the words of the great T.S. Eliot: "Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?".
The movie Entre les murs (The Class) 2008, director Laurent Cantet, comes to my mind. But I don't know, feels more about education, classroom etc other than knowledge itself. But still related right?
The Man from Earth (2007) maybe? Questions all manner of things regarding knowledge and how it is connected to memory, point of view, upbringing and earlier life experience.
I second vepro's suggestion, came here to suggest the same movie. The Man from Earth (2007) is a splendid recommendation for what you're after. Some other suggestions: Primer, A Beautiful Mind, Arrival (2016).
Thanks for your suggestions. Some of the movies were already on my list, some I didn't even know existed and am excited to watch now :)
Also thanks to @lezard for thinking beyond the movie. I wanted to create some atmosphere around the screening anyway and displaying quotes and/or questions while people still enter the room sounds like a good idea.