Course Description Documentaries have never been more popular–in theaters, on television, and online—and they’re doing more than telling stories: they’re shifting the way we see the world. This course will sharpen your critical eye on the social function of documentary films, examining their role in shaping our collective political reality. We’ll be exploring a broad […]
News
63rd Ann Arbor Film Festival Traveling Tour
December 9, 2025
The Ann Arbor Film Festival (AAFF) traveling tour provides filmmakers the unique opportunity of having their work screened in front of audiences for whom, in many places, the tour venue is their only access to this form of film art. Each filmmaker participating in the AAFF tour is also paid for each tour stop, directly […]
Blue Moon
November 24, 2025
Blue Moon is a lyrical biographical comedy-drama from director Richard Linklater, starring Ethan Hawke, Margaret Qualley, Bobby Cannavale, and Andrew Scott. Inspired by real correspondence between lyricist Lorenz Hart and aspiring designer Elizabeth Weiland, the film follows Hart over a single night in 1943 as he slips away from the historic opening of Oklahoma!, the […]
Where’d You Go, Bernadette
November 17, 2025
Adapted from Maria Semple’s bestselling 2012 novel—praised for its sharp wit, inventive structure, and cultural satire—Where’d You Go, Bernadette brings to life the story of Bernadette Fox (Cate Blanchett), a once-renowned architect whose brilliance has been buried under years of creative loss, anxiety, and domestic chaos. When Bernadette suddenly disappears before a long-promised family trip […]
Practical Magic
November 17, 2025
Adapted from Alice Hoffman’s beloved 1995 novel, Practical Magic blends romance, fantasy, and sisterhood into a story that has only grown more cherished over time. Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman star as Sally and Gillian Owens—two sisters from a long line of witches living under a generations-old curse that dooms any man an Owens woman […]
The Color Purple
November 12, 2025
Adapted from Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize–winning 1982 novel, The Color Purple is a landmark drama from director Steven Spielberg that marked a bold shift from his blockbuster roots to deeply human storytelling. The film follows Celie Harris (Whoopi Goldberg, in her breakout role) as she endures a lifetime of abuse, separation, and resilience in the […]
If Beale Street Could Talk
November 12, 2025
From Academy Award–winning filmmaker Barry Jenkins (Moonlight), If Beale Street Could Talk is a lyrical and deeply moving adaptation of James Baldwin’s 1974 novel. Set in 1970s Harlem, the film follows young lovers Tish (KiKi Layne) and Fonny (Stephan James), whose dreams of a shared future are threatened when Fonny is falsely accused of a […]
Nineteen Eighty-Four
November 5, 2025
Michael Radford’s haunting adaptation of George Orwell’s classic novel brings to life a chilling vision of totalitarian control and lost humanity. Set in a war-torn London ruled by the oppressive superstate of Oceania, Nineteen Eighty-Four follows Winston Smith (John Hurt), a low-ranking bureaucrat who dares to seek truth and love in a society where independent […]
The Last Class
November 5, 2025
The Last Class is a nuanced and deeply personal portrait of master educator Robert Reich teaching his final course and reflecting on a period of immense transformation, personally and globally. It is a love letter to education. The former Secretary of Labor might be famous for his public service, best-selling books, and viral social media […]