SEATS AT THE TABLE
It’s like for the next three hours I can live,
I can be myself, I can open up, I can be me.”
I can be myself, I can open up, I can be me.”
Sunday 24 March | Picture House | doors 11.30am; film 12.00pm
Directed by Chris Farina 2018 | USA | English | 88 minutes | PG
Seats at the Table is a feature documentary film by Chris Farina (Rosalia Films) which portrays a remarkable college class which connects university students with prisoners of a maximum security juvenile facility as they discuss classic works of Russian Literature. University of Virginia Lecturer Andrew Kaufman created this course and has been teaching it since 2010. The literature provides a point of reference whereby they can discuss their lives openly
and honestly and learn from each other. Each group’s stereotypical views are replaced by a much more nuanced understanding of the other set of students as they form strong relationships which belies their original preconceptions. Both sets of students come away transformed by this singular educational experience, empowered to pursue lives of greater purpose and inspired by the discovery of their shared humanity.
Seats at the Table is a feature documentary film by Chris Farina (Rosalia Films) which portrays a remarkable college class which connects university students with prisoners of a maximum security juvenile facility as they discuss classic works of Russian Literature. University of Virginia Lecturer Andrew Kaufman created this course and has been teaching it since 2010. The literature provides a point of reference whereby they can discuss their lives openly
and honestly and learn from each other. Each group’s stereotypical views are replaced by a much more nuanced understanding of the other set of students as they form strong relationships which belies their original preconceptions. Both sets of students come away transformed by this singular educational experience, empowered to pursue lives of greater purpose and inspired by the discovery of their shared humanity.
FILMAKER
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Award-winning filmmaker Chris Farina (past films include World Peace and other 4th-Grade Achievements) has been drawn to telling the stories of individuals whose profound contributions to their community have often gone unnoticed.
Seats at the Table explores the relationship between education and transformation, revealing the humanity behind institutional stereotypes, both collegiate and correctional. This film situates itself in that common space of inquiry, observing the learning unfold and capturing the process of lives beginning to change. Through the power of film this seminal classroom experience will become an inspiration for educators, policy-makers and general audiences worldwide. Seats at the Table will serve as a tool for stimulating replication of this type of program by sharing the story of this particular class while expanding the audience’s very understanding of what it means to be human. |
