The UW-Madison Havens-Wright Center’s Annual Film Series explores contemporary social topics from critical perspectives. The series is designed to appeal to a broad audience of students, faculty, and the general public who not only love film but are also interested in engaging in a discussion of significant social, political, and economic issues explored through film. Each screening is followed by a conversation led by a facilitator or facilitators well versed in the topic covered by the film.
Social Cinema is organized in collaboration with the Wisconsin Union Directorate Film Committee, and is screened at the Marquee Theater, the beautiful state-of-the-art cinema in the new Union South, located at 1308 W. Dayton Street in Madison (Google map). The series is free and open to all.
To suggest a film for the Social Cinema series, please use the form that appears on this page.
Upcoming films
The Devil We Know
Wednesday, February 13, 6:30pm
The Devil We Know is the story of how one synthetic chemical, used to make Teflon products, contaminated a West Virginia community. But new research hints at a much broader problem: nearly all Americans are affected by exposure to non-stick chemicals in food, drinking water, and consumer products.Invisible Lines
Wednesday, February 20, 6:30pm
Invisible Lines is a frank, unscripted conversation about segregation, racism, and discrimination by a diverse pool of Milwaukeeans (activists, artists, students, and historians all participate).The Human Element
Wednesday, February 27, 6:30pm
We humans are a force of nature. At the same time human activities alter the basic elements of life – earth, air, water, and fire – those elements change human life. In an arresting new documentary from the producers of Racing Extinction, The Cove and Chasing Ice, environmental photographer James Balog captures the lives of everyday Americans on the front lines of climate change.Digital Disconnect
Wednesday, March 6, 6:30pm
Renowned media scholar Robert McChesney traces how the democratizing potential of the internet has been radically compromised by the logic of capitalism and the unaccountable power of a handful of telecom and tech monopolies.Crime + Punishment
Wednesday, March 13, 6:00pm
Amidst a landmark class action lawsuit over illegal policing quotas, Crime + Punishment chronicles the remarkable efforts and struggles of a group of black and Latino whistleblower cops and the young minorities they are pressured to arrest in New York City.- More 2019 Social Cinema Series posts