WFU economics department offers free film series

All films are open to the public and show at 7 p.m. in Carswell Hall’s Annenberg Forum, Room 111. Each film presentation will include a brief introduction and a post-film question and answer session.

The series begins with “Cast Away” Sept. 9. The film stars Tom Hanks as a FedEx employee stranded on a deserted island who has to combine his labor with the little capital available just to stay alive.

On Oct. 5 the series will continue with “The Efficiency Expert.” Starring Anthony Hopkins, this comedy features Hopkins as a consultant who devises painful belt-tightening measures for struggling companies. He is hired to resurrect a family-run business but must decide if it can be done without laying off workers and destroying the moral fiber of the company.

“Tulsa,” a 1949 film starring Susan Hayward as a rancher’s daughter fighting a one-woman war in oil-field country, shows on Nov. 8. Nominated for an Academy Award in Best Special Effects, the film follows the fight for land use and the personal cost involved in building an oil empire.

The series concludes Dec. 8 with “Startup.com.” In this 2001 documentary, two best friends start an internet company during the dot-com boom. The film chronicles the role of venture capitalism through the rise and fall of govWorks.com and the trials the business brings to the relationship of the two friends.

For more information, contact Jac Heckelman at 336-758-5923.