Gerardo Cummings, assistant professor of Spanish at Indiana State University, and members of ISU’s Hispanic Student Association, will be giving a talk on how Hispanic/Latino traditional end of the year festivities are represented in Hispanic films, at 3 p.m., Friday, Nov. 16, at ISU’s Cunningham Memorial Library.
The talk, entitled “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year: The Cinematic Representation of the Holiday Season in Hispanic Films,†is being presented as part of ISU’s International Education Week observance.
“While we are still weeks away from Christmas, it’s never a bad time to get into the spirit of the season, and that’s the main reason why this interactive lecture will cover such traditional Hispanic festivities as the pastorelas, posadas, Christmas and New Year’s,†Cummings said. “We will also discuss the relevance of an American character such as Santa Claus; and the Latino ‘Santas,’ who are the Three Wise Men.â€Â
The public also will get a sense as to why the devil plays an important role in Hispanic Christmas celebrations, while viewing movie clips of traditions and seasonal characters. Some of the clips to be shown come from films such as "El inocente," "Los tres reyes magos," "El dÃÂa de la bestia," the trippy Mexican film "Santa Claus," and even Luis Buñuel’s "La ilusión viaja en tranvÃÂa."
The event, which is being co-sponsored by the department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics and the Cunningham Memorial Library, is free and open to the public.
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Contact: Gerardo Cummings, assistant professor of Spanish, Indiana State University, (812) 237-2359 or gcummings1@indstate.edu
Writer: Katie Spanuello, media relations assistant director, Indiana State University, (812) 237-3790 or kspanuello@isugw.indstate.edu