Media Library Special Events

Melvyn Bragg begins the story of English in Holland, finding ancestral echoes in the Frisian dialect. What follows is a chapter on survival as the English language weathers Viking and Norman invasions, vying with and eventually absorbing rival tongues. Lively settings such as village pubs and markets bring home the lasting influence of Anglo-Saxon, Old Norse, and Old French. The connection between Christianity, Latin, and an alphabet is explored, as well as the role of the language's first champion, King Alfred the Great. Nobel prize-winning poet Seamus Heaney reads from and discusses the first epic in English, Beowulf.

The screening of the film will be followed by a Q&A session with Dr. Willem de Reusa, UNT Adjunct Research Professor.

The Linguistics Film Series, Linguistics in Motion, is cosponsored by the UNT Media Library and the Department of Linguistics and Technical Communication.

Smoke Signals

Smoke Signals tells the story of the relationship between a father and his son. The story unfolds as Victor Joseph and another young man from the Indian reservation, Thomas Builds-the-Fire, set off to collect Arnold Josephs pick-up truck and ashes from Arizona after Arnold has died. The two men remember Victors father along the way, but their recollections are very different from each other. Victor learns many things about his father during his journey and, in the end, begins to understand, forgive, and grieve his loss. (Courtesy of IMDB.com)

The Exiles 

Native Americans in Los Angeles. For 12 hours one Friday night, from late afternoon until dawn, we follow a handful of urban Indians. Yvonne is pregnant, commenting on her life and dreams as she shops, walks home, cooks dinner, and watches her husband Homer leave with his friends. Homer and his pals go bar hopping, play some poker, and end up, bottles in hand, with other Indians on a hilltop. During the night, the men pick up women, there are fights, there's camaraderie, and Homer reflects on life in the city versus life on the reservation. At dawn, Yvonne watches Hector from a window as he and two pals and two women head somewhere. "Let's do it again tonight," says one. (Courtesy of IMDB.com)

Forbidden City USA

Explores the history of the notorious and groundbreaking Chinese-American San Francisco nightclub and its performers, which had an international reputation in the 1030s-40s.

Hollywood Chinese

A captivating portrait of filmmakers and iconic images examining the ways the Chinese have been imagined in the movies, from silent classics to contemporary blockbusters.

Coming Out Under Fire

A historical account of military policy regarding homosexuals during World War II.

Family Fundamentals

This movie is about three conservative Christian families with gay and lesbian children. 

Journalist Robert MacNeil travels across the USA to observe the current state of the spoken American English language. The documentary series demonstrates that the way we speak is intrinsically tied to a number of complex factors, including ethnicity, political climate, socioeconomic status, historical events, and individual personality. The series offers a rare opportunity for viewers to hear and discuss how language shapes us as individuals, as communities, and as a nation. -www.pbs.org

The screening of the film will be followed by a Q&A session with Dr. Patricia Cukor-Avila, Associate Professor of Linguistics, who also appears in the documentary.