Romance languages film symposium to be held at WFU

“Humor in Film” will feature screenings and discussions of films in French, Italian, and Spanish. Registration for the symposium is $25, but admission to the films is free. For registration information, call 336-758-5487.

SECCA will screen four films as part of the Wake Forest symposium.

“The Mandrake,” in Italian with English subtitles, is an adaptation of Niccolò Machiavelli’s 1518 play. The film chronicles a love triangle rife with deception and murder. Alberto Lattuada directed the 1965 film. The film will be followed by a discussion led by Giuseppe Faustini of Skidmore College.

“Tanguy,” in French with English subtitles, is a humorous tale of what a pair of harried parents will do to force their 28-year-old son to move out of the house. Etienne Chatiliez directed the 2001 film. The film will be followed by a discussion led by Janos Kovacsi of the North Carolina School of Filmmaking.

“A Paradise Under the Stars,” in Spanish with English subtitles, is a 1999 Cuban film by director Gerardo Chijona. The farcical plot centers on a young woman who wants to dance at the famed Club Tropicana in Havana. Humorous situations ensue as her father forbids her dream, her choreographer attempts to seduce her, and she falls in love with the local bad boy.

“His Secret Life,” in Italian with English subtitles, was directed by Ferzan Ozpetek. The 2000 film follows a widow’s journey into her late husband’s shadowy past, which culminates in a love affair. The film will be followed by a discussion led by Ben Lawton of Purdue University.

Various Romance film scholars from the United States and Canada will present their research in Room 162 of Wake Forest’s Greene Hall. Presentations will include “The Figure of the Waiter in Italian Comedies” by Corrado Corradini of Wake Forest; “Psychoanalysis and Film: What’s so Funny about the Couch Business?” by Silvestra Mariniello of the University of Montreal; “Looking for Humor in Francophone African Films” by Russell Rose of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte; and “Home Sweet Hombre: Masculinity, Rent Control and Death in Two Spanish Neo-Realist Films” by Samuel Amago of the University of Virginia.

For more information, or a full schedule of events, call 336-758-5487.