Philosophy in the Dark Film Festival

The World's FIRST Philosophical Film Festival!
In 2008 Everett Community College hosted the"Philosophy in the Dark" Film Festival which was presented by The Humanities Center at Everett Community College, the Everett Public Library, and Humanities Washington during November 17-22, 2008 at the Everett Public Library at 2702 Hoyt Avenue, Everett. The event was free and open to the public with no required reservations. The event was also promoted throughout Washington state and brought a large variety of viewers to the area. A select group of Hollywood classics which brought to life important philosophical issues were discussed by philosophers from around the Northwest. The line-up included:
Monday November 17: Ethics
Dr. Joel Martinez of Lewis and Clark College (Portland, OR) discussed ethics using the 1989 Woody Allen film with disturbing similarities to Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment.” Ethical systems are personified in the film, which has two plot lines, one with Allen playing a documentary filmmaker, and the other featuring Martin Landau as a successful ophthalmologist trying to get away with murder.
Tuesday November 18: Truth and Justification
Dr. Holly Phillips Emeritus Professor of Whitman College (Walla Walla, WA) lectured on truth and justification as depicted in the first film directed by Sidney Lumet. The film, considered a classic, stars Henry Fonda as one of a dozen men sequestered in a sweltering room with the clock ticking and a life or death decision to make.
Wednesday November 19: Postmodernism
Dr. Jeffrey Hipolito of Everett Community College addressed issues in postmodernism with the help of the 2006 Marc Forster film starring Emma Thompson as a writer in a slump and an earnest Will Ferrell playing an IRS agent whose routine is upset when he begins hearing a voice narrating his life.
Friday November 21: The Future is in the Past
Helen Harrison of Central Washington University investigated the mind and time travel using the 1995 Terry Gilliam film starring Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt. The film features Willis traveling between a future where the earth has become uninhabitable for humans and the past where he looks for the key to what happened. Pitt plays a wealthy activist gone haywire.
Saturday November 22: Human Identity and Determinism
Dr. Anita Ho of the University of British Columbia discussed human identity and determinism as seen in Andrew Niccol’s futuristic 1997 film starring Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman and Jude Law. In this film, genetics force Ethan Hawke to go to any length for the right genes because his society severely limits those who carry the wrong ones.
A review published in the Everett Herald titled “Film fest probes philosophical issues” By Eric Stevick Herald Writer can be found at http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20081103/NEWS01/711039914
http://www.everettcc.edu/programs/socsci/humanities/index.cfm?id=8546

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