The Global Media Festival is the Georgia Tech School of Modern Languages’ annual film and discussion series focusing on sustainability across languages and cultures. The 2024 festival explores themes around a variety of the UN sustainable development goals. The festival will be from Friday, March 29th to Sunday, April 7th, 2024. ALL SCREENINGS ARE FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC! All events will be held in the Atlantic and Cypress Theaters at Georgia Tech’s John Lewis Student Center.  See here for directions.

Festival Director: Paul Alonso, paul.alonso@modlangs.gatech.edu

Assistant Coordinator: Alexandra Pounds, alexpounds@gatech.edu

Link here: https://globalmediafest.modlangs.gatech.edu/

2024 FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS

“ROLLING STRONG (RODAR CONTRA TODO)” (Peru, 2016). 

Screening and Q&A with Director Marianela Vega

This documentary tells the story of the first wheelchair rugby team in Peru. A group of men and women, from different cultural and socio-economic backgrounds, get together to play a new sport of which they know little. The film shows their process of coming together as a team, the excitement of their first international tournaments and the motivations that guide their everyday struggle on and off the court. Watch the trailer here.

Friday, April 5 // GT Student Center, Cypress Theater // 5:30 P.M.

RSVP here.

“WE WERE KIDS BACK THEN” (Peru + USA, 2022)

Screening and Q&A with Director Rafael Alvarado

Emilio, a young Peruvian living in NYC, is caught off guard when Mary, a Peruvian childhood acquaintance (now his cleaning woman), arrives with her baby to his apartment. The situation tests Emilio’s loyalties as he tries to satisfy his demanding partner, Andrew, and support a compatriot in need. Watch the trailer here.

Friday, April 5 // GT Student Center, Cypress Theater // 5:30 P.M. 

RSVP here.

“ALICE JÚNIOR” (Brazil, 2019). 

Screening, Q&A, and Discussion panel with Producer Diana Moro

Alice Júnior, a carefree, spoiled, trans YouTuber, has everything she could ask for. But when her father announces their move from the vibrant Brazilian city of Recife to a conservative small town where she must attend a traditional catholic school, the rebellious Alice prepares herself for small-minded prudery. Alice Júnior celebrates rethinking outdated perspectives of gender, sexuality, and differences as a whole. Watch the trailer here.

Friday, March 29 // GT Student Center,Cypress Theater // 5:30 P.M.

RSVP here.

“BIGGER THAN US” (France, 2021). 

Screening and Q&A with Director Flore Vasseur 

The documentary follows Melati Wijsen, an 18-year-old Indonesian girl and well- established activist against plastic pollution in her country. She wants to understand how to hold on and continue her action, so she goes on to meet six other young activists across the globe. The film features Greta Thunberg as part of the cast. Watch the trailer here.

Sunday, April 7 // GT Student Center, Cypress Theater // 2:30 P.M.

RSVP here.

“HIDDEN LETTERS” (China, 2022).

Screening and Q&A with Director and Producer Violet Du Feng

Hidden Letters is a story about the power of female talent, the bonds of sisterhood, and the parallels between generations of struggles drawn together by Nushu—a centuries-old secret text shared amongst women. It tells the story of two Chinese women trying to balance their lives as independent women while confronting the traditional identity that defines but also oppresses them. Watch the trailer here.

Friday, March 29 // GT Student Center, Atlantic Theater // 5:30 P.M.

RSVP here.

“UNTOLD (WAR OF MEMORIES)” (South Korea, 2018). 

Screening and Q&A with Director Lee-Kil Bora

In the 1960s, South Korea fought in the Vietnam War as a US ally. The massacres of Vietnamese civilians by Korean soldiers are yet to be recognized by the Korean government. Untold brings forth the memories of three Vietnamese survivors, asking: “After 50 years of silence, what does the Vietnamese War really mean to us, and what should it be?”  Watch the trailer here.

Tuesday, April 2 // GT Student Center, Cypress Theater // 5:30 P.M.

RSVP here.

“WE WILL HAVE EVERYTHING” (China, 2020)

Screening and Q&A with Director Jiang Nengjie 

In the Chinese society where 5.68 million mentally disabled citizens often remain unseen, the documentary follows a Beijing charity organization’s devoted efforts to offer care and support to this marginalized group. It prompts reflection on whether and how individuals with mental disabilities can secure dignity, welfare, and human rights. Watch the trailer here.

Monday, April 1 // GT Student Center, Cypress Theater // 5:30 P.M.

RSVP here.

“MR. BACHMANN AND HIS CLASS” (Germany, 2021)

Film Screening

This documentary portrays the bond between a school teacher known for his unconventional teaching methods and his 12- to 14-year-old students living in a provincial German industrial town shaped by its history of forced labor under Nazi rule and migration of “guest workers” in the 1960s and 1970s. It’s a timely commentary on the role of education for the 21st-century and its challenges in today’s multicultural Germany. Watch the trailer here.

Sunday, March 31 // GT Student Center, Cypress Theater // 2 P.M.

RSVP here.

See this year’s complete festival schedule here

View our collection of events on Eventbrite here.

2024 GMF Collaborators and Sponsors

School of Modern Languages
Atlanta Global Studies Center
School of Literature, Media, and Communication
Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems
LGBTQIA Resource Center

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