Update: The event on July 10 has been postponed to October 7.
By Daniel Dunaief
Films can take us far from our lives, even as they can also bring us closer to truths about our world.
From July 9 to 12, the Cinema Arts Centre, 423 Park Ave., Huntington is presenting a four-day festival that highlights the intersection between politics and Hollywood. The screenings, which cost $16 for nonmembers and $10 for members, will include the films Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Best Man, and The Candidate.
On the first night, former Congressman and the festival’s curator Steve Israel will host a discussion entitled “Campaigning on Celluloid: How Cinema Informs and Reflects Changing Political Communication on Film.”
Israel, who taught a class at Cornell University about politics and film after he left public office, selected the movies.
“I thought it would be interesting and fun to offer a similar series” to the films he discussed at Cornell “on Long Island to the general public,” he said.
Israel describes the film The Best Man, which pits the principled William Russell, played by Henry Fonda, against the populist opportunist Joe Cantwell, acted by Cliff Robertson, as eerily prescient of recent political battles.
“It’s an example of a film in 1964 that was regarded as entertaining and implausible that has been overtaken by the reality,” said Israel.
The Cinema Arts Centre is debuting this series of movies this year and may run another similar program in future years.
Israel anticipates a discussion about how films are a “projection of our times and politics often influences films,” and added that some films seem political, but they aren’t, while others don’t seem political, but they are.
“We are going to explore that dynamic,” Israel explained.
Atticus Finch, the hero in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, served as a role model for Israel, who spent his early time in public service trying to emulate the determined lawyer. “Atticus Finch wouldn’t survive in our current political environment,” Israel said.
The novel is relevant in the world of today, as a modern day Finch would struggle to confront the anger, vitriol and division that defines contemporary society, Israel suggested.
The reality of the modern political environment has surpassed the fiction, making the two satirical novels Israel has written difficult to produce.
“The market for satire is dead because the reality has surpassed the story,” Israel added.
Non partisan
Nate Close, the Director of Marketing and Communications at the Cinema Arts Centre, explained that the mission of the festival is to be nonpartisan.
Indeed, guest speakers come from both parties, with republican Representative Peter King joining Israel for a discussion after Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and political strategist and policy advisor Basil Smikle participating in the post discussion after The Candidate.
The festival hopes to “shine a light on how these two institutions [politics and Hollywood] influence American culture and shape each other,” said Close. “There’s interplay there.”
Films are “more important than ever,” said Israel. “You sit through it, you take in the textures, the characters and the writing” and it “should inspire us to think.
Program Schedule:
Tuesday, July 9 at 7:30 p.m.
Campaigning on Celluloid: How Cinema Informs and Reflects Changing Political Communication on Screen — Lecture with former Congressman Steve Israel
*Postponed to October 7: Wednesday, July 10 at 7 p.m.
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington — Film screening and discussion with Rep. Steve Israel and Rep. Peter King
Thursday, July 11 at 7 p.m.
The Best Man — Film screening and discussion with Steve Israel
Friday, July 12 at 7 p.m.
The Candidate — Film screening and discussion with Rep. Steve Israel and Basil Smikle
For tickets, visit www.cinemaartscentre.org. For more information, call 631-423-7610.
