March 18
GUEST: Jen Marlowe, award-winning author, documentary filmmaker and playwright, talks about her most recent film, "There Is a Field," and how Black actors help audiences understand the links between Black Lives Matter and Palestinian liberation.
Director’s Statement
Jen came to Vassar with her play several years ago. The performance was scheduled to build support for a vote by the student body on boycotting Israeli products. It was a cold and snowy night, but the actors and the audience came together in our understanding of why Palestinian rights are so important.
The vote came several weeks later. The president of the college warned students that she would take control of all spending on student activities if the vote was for boycotting. The story going around was that some very influential alums had pressured her into making these crude threats. It was shameful to see how a prestigious college, known for its "liberal" campus environment, could stoop so low. The boycott initiative lost by a very few votes.
So I have alway linked the play to outing the establishment. Colleges are run for money in the US, and not for intellectual growth of students. Countries like the US that protect and condone apartheid in the Holy Land are run for power and greed, and not for liberty or justice. Art has this transforming power to help us rethink false narratives, and rid ourselves of hypocrisy. That's why the play and now the movie are so powerful.
