The Last Letter

Frederick Wiseman, 2002, U.S., 62m

Saturday, May 10, 2:30pm

The Last Letter follows a mother who was locked away in a Jewish ghetto of an occupied Ukrainian town in 1941 as she revisits her life in a last letter to her son, who was safe outside enemy lines. The letter, with its detailed observations of daily life in a ghetto, reveals the fear, courage, frailty, compassion and dignity of this woman as she reviews her life and faces her death.

Deaf

Frederick Wiseman, 1986, U.S., 164m

Saturday, May 10, 4pm

The School for the Deaf at the Alabama Institute is organized around a theory of total communication, i.e. the use of signs and finger spelling in conjunction with speech, hearing aids, lip reading, gestures and the written word. The film shows sequences dealing with various aspects of this comprehensive training such as teaching students and parents to sign; speech therapy; psychological counseling; regular academic courses; vocational training; disciplinary problems; parents visits; sports and recreational activity; training in living and working independently; and developing skills in home and money management.

Meat

Frederick Wiseman, 1976, U.S., 113m

Saturday, May 10, 7:15pm

MEAT traces the process through which cattle and sheep become consumer goods. It depicts the processing and transportation of meat products by a highly automated packing plant, illustrating important points and problems in the area of production, transportation, logistics, equipment design, time-motion study, and labor management.