2024 College Town Film Series Explores Throwback Theme

Author: News Bureau
Posted: Thursday, November 30, 2023 12:00 AM
Categories: Events- Students | Faculty/Staff | Pressroom | School of Arts and Letters | Events- Public

Macon, GA

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"Throwback" is the theme of the 2024 College Town Film Series, which kicks off Thursday, Jan. 25, at the Douglass Theater in downtown Macon. The 2024 series will serve as the 25th anniversary of the popular event.

A collaboration of Middle Georgia State University (MGA), Wesleyan College, and Mercer University, the annual College Town Film Series brings students, faculty, and the public together to view and discuss educational and entertaining films with a common theme. A professor from each institution hosts the discussions.

"We interpreted the theme of 'Throwback' loosely," said Dr. Patrick Brennan, MGA English professor and film history specialist who helps organize the series. "Basically, we chose films that in their style or in their plot addressed revisiting the past. 'Paper Moon' is not only set in Depression Era America but also structured and filmed much like a late 1930s Hollywood movie. 'Back to the Future' structures its plot around a hero who travels back in time, and 'Groundhog Day' presents its protagonist reliving the same day over and over until he gets it 'right.'"

Here’s more about the 2024 film selections and the screening schedule:

7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 25 - Paper Moon (1973). During the Great Depression, a con man finds himself saddled with a young girl who may or may not be his daughter, and the two forge an unlikely partnership (IMDb). Discussion led by Patrick Brennan of Middle Georgia State University.

7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 1 - Back To The Future (1985). Marty McFly, a 17-year-old high school student, is accidentally sent 30 years into the past in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his close friend, the maverick scientist Doc Brown (IMDb). Discussion led by Evey Wetherbee Wilson of Mercer University.

7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 8 - Groundhog Day (1993). A narcissistic, self-centered weatherman finds himself in a time loop on Groundhog Day (IMDb). Discussion led by Tom Ellington of Wesleyan College.

All films will be screened at the historic Douglass Theater, 355 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Students with college ID are admitted free. Admission for faculty/staff and the general public is $5. Tickets may be purchased at the door.