In his Antigone, the fifth-century B.C.E. Greek playwright Sophocles tells the story of the Theban woman Antigone, daughter of Oedipus, who seeks to fulfill her family obligations and perform funeral rites for her brother Polynices in defiance of King Creon’s edict, risking her own life in the process. From April 30 - May 6, 2021 Cornell Cinema in conjunction with the Department of Classics will screen a modern adaptation of the ancient tragedy, also titled Antigone.
The award-winning adaptation, directed by Sophie Deraspe and starring Nahéma Ricci as Antigone, originally premiered at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival. The film tells the story of an Algerian immigrant named Antigone living in present-day Montreal who is driven to risk her promising future and act against the state when her brothers meet with tragedy at the hands of the police. Antigone deals with important and timely issues, as Cornell Cinema states: “This modern adaptation of the classic Greek tragedy incorporates urgent contemporary questions of immigration, identity, and the power of idealism.”
The film screening is the product of a collaboration between Cornell Cinema, Professor Athena Kirk, and Postdoctoral Associate Mathura Umachandran. Kirk explains that the idea for the collaboration came about while she was teaching Initiation to Greek Culture in Fall 2020. She says, “I was seeking to screen the film for my students. I turned to Cornell Cinema for help, and the Cinema manager and director expressed interest in showing Antigone to a wider audience in partnership with Classics; we also thought this would be a wonderful opportunity to involve scholars whose work addresses tragedy and migration. We now have a stellar lineup of panelists from across the country, including our recent post-doc Ella Haselswerdt, whom we welcome back to Ithaca virtually.”
In addition to Ella Haselswerdt, now Assistant Professor of Classics at UCLA, the panel, organized by Kirk and Umachandran, will include Demetra Kasimia, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, and Katherine Lu Hsu, Assistant Professor of Classics at College of the Holy Cross. The panel, scheduled to take place on May 5, 2021 from 4:30-6:00 pm EST via Zoom, will offer participants the opportunity “to discuss the film and its relationship to Sophocles' play, current and ancient issues surrounding refugees and migrants, and social justice.” A link to the panel will be provided to all those who sign up to view the film.
Anyone interested in viewing Antigone can access the streaming link for free between May 30 and April 6 on the Cornell Cinema website (https://cinema.cornell.edu/antigone). Patrons can stream the film at any time during this one-week period.
For more information on Antigone, visit the film’s website here.
