The People Before Profit Film Series aims to increase awareness of social issues and encourage students to think about local and global problems and solutions. The series started last fall and continues this semester with weekly films on Mondays at 6:30 p.m.
Film topics include water rights, labor rights, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, international justice issues and education. The schedule is below.
Travis Simis coordinates the series for his Peace Studies Program internship, working with Desi Brown, advisor and instructor, Peace Studies Program. The peace studies minor requires an internship where students apply theoretical learning to concrete situations, network with people engaged in peace-related professions and activities, and develop university-community partnerships.
University-community partnership is at the core of People Before Profit. The film series connects student groups, university departments and community organizations to bring exposure to the films and make them more accessible to students and others. People Before Profit descends from a series of the same name organized by the Albuquerque Peace and Justice Center for several years.
“We’re trying to make this a real community event,” Brown said.
The series is sponsored Students Organizing Actions for Peace, or SOAP, and the Peace Studies Program, in collaboration with UNM’s Amnesty International, Coalition for Peace and Justice in the Middle East, Department of Geography, Department of American Studies, Fair Trade Initiative and Graduate Employees Together, and community groups the ANSWER Coalition, New Economy Book Club and Party for Socialism and Liberation.
All films are on Mondays in the Student Union Building Lobo Theater. Introductions begin at 6:30 p.m., films at 7 p.m. Films are subject to change. Search for “People Before Profit Film Series” on Facebook or e-mail peace@unm.edu or peoplebeforeprofit@groups.facebook.com.
Film schedule:
Feb. 28: “The Future of Food” and “Genetic Chile”
March 7: “Dirty Pretty Things,” with a post-film discussion facilitated by John Carr, assistant professor, Department of Geography
March 14: “The Yes Men” and “The Yes Men Fix the World”
March 21: “I Am Cuba”
March 28: “Economics of Happiness”
April 4: “Murder of Fred Hampton”
April 11: “Poto Mitan: Haitian Women, Pillars of the Global Economy,” with guest speaker Alyosha Goldstein, assistant professor, Department of American Studies
April 18: “Ghosts of Cite Soleil”
April 25: “Salt of the Sea,” with a post-film discussion facilitated by Teresa Cutler-Broyles, faculty, Department of Cinematic Arts
May 2: “Cultures of Resistance” and “Occupation 101”
May 9: “Waiting for Superman”
