In collaboration with Columbia Maison Française, The Society of Fellows and Heyman Center for the Humanities is proud to co-sponsor the 2025 film festival: Censored.

Co-curators Shanny Peer, Emi Schlosser and Fanny Guex are delighted to present five feature-length and three short films that were censored upon their release in France, Lebanon, or the United States – and often banned in other countries as well. Produced between 1943 and 1985, these films were suppressed by state authorities who considered them searing indictments of the prevailing social and political order.

About the Festival

The film series presents five feature-length and three short films that were censored upon their release in France, Lebanon, or the United States – and often banned in other countries as well. Produced between 1943 and 1985, these films were suppressed by state authorities who considered them searing indictments of the prevailing social and political order. Several have been rarely – or almost never – screened in the U.S. Their objects of critique range from fascism and wartime occupation, to colonialism, racism, police brutality, class inequities, repression of labor movements, patriarchism, and McCarthyism – often exposing several of these forms of oppression at once. Several films present joyous portrayals of communal cooperation and successful resistance to social ills (Rendez-vous of the Docks, Salt of the Earth), or affirmative counter-histories (Leila and the Wolves). Some bear witness to events as they unfold – whether told directly (October 1961, The Hollywood Ten) or through allusion (The Raven). The formal ingenuities used by the directors are highly innovative, avant-garde, even revolutionary – going beyond conventional filmmaking practices to unleash the creative potential of the medium. This film series explores vital questions about the possibilities of alternative and engaged filmmaking – and about the political and inspirational power that movies can wield.

FEATURED FILMS

Thursday, September 11 | 6:30 PM
The Raven (Le Corbeau)
Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1943, 92 min.
In French with English subtitles
Discussion with Nicholas Elliott and Shanny Peer

Thursday, September 18 | 6:30 PM
Rendez-vous of the Docks (Rendez-vous des quais) and La Recréation (short film)
Paul Carpita, 1955, 75 min.
In French with English subtitles
Introduced by Shanny Peer

Wednesday, September 24 | 6:30 PM
Salt of the Earth
Herbert J. Biberman, 1954, 94 min.
In English and Spanish with English subtitles
Preceded by The Hollywood Ten, John Berry, 1950, 15 min.
Discussion with Nico Baumbach and Doyne Farmer

Tuesday, September 30 | 6:30 PM
Statues also Die (Les Statues meurent aussi)
Alain Resnais, Chris Marker, and Ghislain Cloquet, 1953, 30 min.
In French with English Subtitles
Discussion with Zoë Strother and Sam Di Iorio

Thursday, October 9 | 6:30 PM
October in Paris (Octobre à Paris)
Jacques Panijel, 1962, 70 min.
French with English subtitles
Discussion with Madeleine Dobie

Thursday, October 16 | 6:30 PM
Leila and the Wolves
Heiny Srour, 1984, 90 min.
In Arabic with English subtitles
Q&A with director Heiny Srour