Lawrence Jackson, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Film and Head of Film Practice, has curated a season of films, ‘The Future is X-Rated’, to be screened in the Gulbenkian, Kent’s on-campus commercial cinema.

The season consists of three mainstream films from 1969 that were originally certificated X for their content. As well as celebrating each film’s fiftieth anniversary, the screenings aim to capture a moment that, culturally, anticipated the greater freedoms of the 1970s and beyond. Just a few years later lay X-rated arthouse and studio smash hits such as Last Tango in Paris and The Exorcist were released. Before that, in 1969, these films blazed a trail and foretold the future.

The series begins on Monday 3 June with The Wild Bunch (dir. Sam Peckinpah). The film is considered a masterpiece by, among others, western expert Ed Buscombe, and demands to be seen on the big screen. Its handling of extreme violence arguably influenced later mainstream American cinema from The Deer Hunter to Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, and it was memorably lampooned by Monty Python as Sam Peckinpah’s Salad Days. The screening will feature an introduction by Professor Peter Stanfield from the School of Arts. For more details, please see the page here.

Monday 10 June sees the screening of Midnight Cowboy (dir. John Schlesinger). Another modern American classic underpinned by a sensitive Oscar-winning screenplay by Waldo Salt and complemented by a great John Barry score and powerful performances from Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman. What’s also astonishing is the trajectory of its British director John Schlesinger, who went from British New Wave hits such as Billy Liar and Far From the Madding Crowd to winning a Best Director Oscar for this New York tale of heartbreak. The film will be introduced by Alaina Schempp, a PhD in Film student from the Department of Film. For more details, please see the page here.

Finally, the final film in the series, Taste the Blood of Dracula (dir. Peter Sasdy), will screen on Thursday 13 June. Fairly late in Hammer’s Dracula cycle, this is nonetheless an impressive entry in the studio’s roster, featuring Christopher Lee returning in his signature role and, in Anthony Hinds’ sophisticated screenplay, a satire of the hypocrisy of Victorian patriarchal society. The film will be will be introduced by Professor Julian Petley, Brunel University, London. For more details, please see the page here.

Tickets cost £8.70 with concessions available. For full details, please see the Gulbenkian’s website.

Congratulations to all the students, staff and alumni who were a part of the University Cecilian Choir‘s service of Choral Evensong, directed by Deputy Director of Music, Dan Harding, at Canterbury Cathedral yesterday.

Comprising students, staff and alumni from across the University community, it was the first time the Cecilian Choir has sung at Canterbury Cathedral, and as seasoned choral evensong singers will know, it’s quite a discipline to learn; the pointing and flexibility of psalm-singing, the need for security in delivering the unaccompanied Responses, and the constant having-to-be-on-your-toes throughout the service so you are ready for what comes next, with the right music in the right order, able to pluck the note of your chord from the intoned sentence from the Precentor. Not withstanding the additional challenge of singing in split formation across an extremely wide aisle in the Cathedral Quire, in mixed-voice arrangement without the security of singing amongst others of your voice-part. And all in front of an expectant congregation, fitting your contribution flawlessly into the well-oiled machinery of the Liturgy…

The Choir rose the occasion marvellously, particularly in Stanford’s Canticles in C and Elgar’s ‘Ave Verum Corpus,’ a heady blend of lyricism and stirring ensemble singing.

It was lovely to welcome back some former members of the Choir and University alumni to take part.

Undergraduate and postgraduate students from the Department of Film will be showcasing their work in an afternoon screening at Lupino, the School of Arts student cinema, on Wednesday 29 May 2019. The event has been organised by Lawrence Jackson, Head of Film Practice, and will begin at 3pm.

The films to be screened include:

• A Good Cigar by Sam Tornio, MA Film with Practice.
• A Student in Sheep’s Clothing by Niall Hayes and Sam Murphy, Stage 1 students on the BA (Hons) in Film.
• First Flower by Jessica Bongi, Jessica Brito-Silva, and Lina Witow, Stage 1 students on the BA (Hons) in Film.
• Blue by Wassiq Ahmed, Marisol Bassino, and Massimiliano Folgheraiter, Stage 2 students on the BA (Hons) in Film.
• Cleft by Tatiana Hristova and Ana Tapia, Stage 2 students on the BA (Hons) in Film.
• Optimistic Station by Jake Andre, Elise Noakes and Adam Synyszyn, Stage 2 students on the BA (Hons) in Film.
• If Memory Serves by Yu Ai, Rachel Dodds, Ke Fang, and Kawita Nunthakunatip, Stage 3 students on the BA (Hons) in Film.
• How to Start a Cult by Natalia Abrol, Toby Barber, Rola Hafez, and Nimasu Namsaren, Stage 3 students on the BA (Hons) in Film.
• Force of Change by Harry Nott, ​MA Film with Practice.

For full details, please see the page here:
www.kent.ac.uk/arts/newsandevents/calendar.html?eid=37852

The University of Kent’s LGBT+ Staff Network is looking to publish Gay as in Happy, a collection of interviews and personal stories that focus on LGBTQ+ members of staff, students, and the wider community.

We want to provide a positive outlook on coming out and on being queer in a predominantly straight world. Why? Because it is crucial to live in hope and to know that a fulfilled life as a queer person is possible (and, dare we say it, desirable). Sharing positive stories gives us hope and allows us to imagine happy endings for ourselves and for our loved ones. Thus, hope becomes a radical act. Because to imagine a better life is an important step towards creating a better life.

In order to make this happen, come and speak to us! We are looking for contributors who want to share their positive experiences about coming out and being out. Each interviewee will have an illustration done by Jadine Ingram and the interview recording and/or transcript will be archived at The Templeman Library. We will be doing interviews on campus on 5, 6 and 12 June. If you’re interested in getting involved please email lgbtqbook @kent.ac.uk, or drop us a line if you’d like to know more.

The University Music department launches its annual Summer Music Week on Friday 31 May, a nine-day festival bidding a musical farewell to the end of the academic year at the University.

Showcasing many students and staff across the University, alumni and members of the local community, the celebrations kick off this Friday night as the University Chamber Choir and Consort performs in the historic and sonorous acoustics of the Crypt of Canterbury Cathedral. The festival also sees the University Big Band playing at the Deal Memorial Bandstand on Sunday 2 June; the University Rock Choir in action on Monday 3 June; a recital by University Music Scholars; the usual farewell performances from the Concert and Big Bands; the premiere of a new work exploring the meeting-point between music and science, ‘Between Worlds,’ by composer/violinst Anna Phoebe written for the Chamber Choir and String Sinfonia; all culminating with the Chorus, Orchestra and Chamber Choir in ‘Music for a Summer’s Day’ on Saturday 8 June, complete with cream tea on the Registry lawn.

Find out about all that’s coming up, including many free events, online here and download the brochure. Come and be part of a final, musical farewell!