Film Screening

Set in 1881, just before the start of British colonial rule, this film directed by Shadi Abdel Salam tells the true story of an Egyptian clan that has been robbing tombs for three thousand years. When Antiquities Service officials find mummies on sale in the open market in Cairo, mayhem ensues. Egypt, 102 min., color, in Arabic with English subtitles. Critically acclaimed as one of the best Egyptian films ever made. Introduced by Farbod Honarpisheh, Postdoctoral Associate, Film & Media Studies, Yale University.

A collaboration between filmmaker Avijit Mukul Kishore and architect Rohan Shivkumar, this documentary explores Indian modernity, the citizen, and the architecture of the home through four buildings made over the course of a century: the gigantic Lukshmi Vilas Palace in Baroda; Villa Shodhan in Ahmedabad, designed by Le Corbusier; Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad; and public housing in Delhi designed for Pakistani refugees. 54 min., in Hindi and English with English subtitles. Introduced by the filmmaker, with Q&A.

In 1983, television producer and journalist Joseph Lovett successfully pleaded with ABC's 20/20 executives to create the first investigative reports on AIDS for network TV. He will show selected video clips (50 min.) and discuss the responsibility and the difficulties of reporting on a plague during a decade of discrimination.

Perry Mason (1957–1966, CBS-TV) is known for its formulaic plots—attorney Mason (Raymond Burr) defends an innocent client and forces the real murderer to confess in a courtroom finale. With its stylish noir filming, outdoor locations, and deep background characterizations, the series arguably also featured a prescient queer subtext. Burr was a gay man who led a covert life, but on the show, Mason is consistently paired with his investigator, Paul Drake (William Hopper), in harmonious, sometimes domestic contexts—especially notable in the episode we'll screen: The Case of the Borrowed Baby (1962).