NIRV films at Viterbo University: “a much needed wake-up call”

November 20, 2020

Students at Viterbo University, a private Franciscan university in Wisconsin, gathered on Tuesday, November 17 to screen and discuss films from the NIRV collection. (See below for a full-length recording of the Zoom event.)

“I loved this presentation! The movies were a much needed wake-up call and hearing from so many different points of view was refreshing!”

They watched three films with a focus on faith and freedom, namely Worlds Apart at Home by Somali refugee Abdirahman Abdi, Navigating Hope by Afghan refugee Sayed Najib Hashimi and Seeking Settled Ground by Mohammad Arifuzzaman of Bangladesh.

“The motivation and perseverance of the people in the films inspires me to help more immigrants feel welcome.”

“I have a greater respect for immigrants and what they go through to be American citizens.”

Following the films, attention turned towards dialogue with panelists Rahmatullah Aka, Community Services Manager at the International Institute of New England; Mani Biswa, Bhutanese Christian refugee and film subject of Navigating Hope; Michelle Pinzl, Assistant Professor of English/World Languages at Viterbo University; Ernesto Rodriguez, a Cuban refugee who has lived in the Midwest for 40 years; and CSFilm Founding Director Michael Sheridan.

“Seeing and hearing how difficult it is for immigrants to fit in makes me want to raise awareness and change the minds of the anti-immigration people in my hometown.”

“I never realized how long some immigrants are in refugee camps before arriving to the United States.”

The event was hosted by Viterbo University’s Identities Project, a cross-campus collaboration that provides opportunities for students to explore and discuss facets of identity through intentionally-reflective civil dialogues, lectures, documentaries with discussions, and other programs.

“I learned about my own biases and how they impact others. I also learned how different the [immigrant] stories were from what I thought.”

“I think as Americans we need to be more open to those who are simply trying to make a better life for themselves.”

Special thanks to Colin Burns-Gilbert, Megan Pierce and the Viterbo Campus Ministry for hosting and organizing this event!

Related Posts:

War is a Racket! by The Department of Homeland Inspiration – featuring the Art Ranger and Michael Sheridan

War is a Racket! by The Department of Homeland Inspiration – featuring the Art Ranger and Michael Sheridan

Art Ranger, along with her colleague Michael Sheridan, review “War is a Racket” by Brigadier General Smedley D. Butler. This highly decorated war hero becomes dogged activist and tours the country giving speeches about how he was in effect, a bully for the corporations, then quit.  Art Ranger and Sheridan share excerpts of the text as well as a piece of their minds. Sonic textures provided by our back up band, The Dirty Pens.

ON THE MEDIA | Disrupting Journalism: How Platforms Have Upended the News, Columbia Journalism Review

ON THE MEDIA | Disrupting Journalism: How Platforms Have Upended the News, Columbia Journalism Review

After decades of shrinking revenues, and an increasing expectation among consumers that journalism should be free, the global media industry has reached a crisis point. As legacy news outlets shut down or lay off staff, misinformation and conspiracy theories run rampant, blurring the line between fantasy and reality. Trust in our institutions of governance continues to decline, fueling an alarming rise in extremism and political violence across previously stable democracies. In the Global South, the impact of journalism’s decline has been even more striking, with the rise of a new generation of autocrats skilled in manipulating the online conversation to suit their consolidation of power.

ON THE MEDIA | Meet the Next Generation of Mexican Filmmakers, Global Press Journal

ON THE MEDIA | Meet the Next Generation of Mexican Filmmakers, Global Press Journal

After the 1994 [Zapatista] uprising, a boom in documentary films focused on indigenous themes and communities — but the overwhelming majority, Sojob says, were made by people from outside the state. Her own interest in storytelling began when, using a camera that her father gave her, she recorded an ongoing land conflict between the people of Chenalhó and the neighboring town of Chalchihuitán. Unless there was some sort of testimony, she realized, no one would know what was happening, “that it was us, ourselves, who had to get out everything that was happening within, from our own context, from our community.”

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *