Photo credit: Fally Afani – Alex Kimball Williams & Mike Quillin.

Screening Venue: Douglas County Fairgrounds Open Pavilion
Due to forecasted rain, this event has moved inside the Douglas County Fairgrounds Open Pavilion and will be a lawn chair screening rather than a Drive In.
Please enter off Harper St. and follow signs (and volunteers) to parking. 

Advisory: The second film in this program contains adult content and may not be suitable for all audiences.

An odyssey of Audio-Visual accessibility featuring two classic silent films with live music, multilingual audio description, visual art projections and hands-on activities. 

The Immigrant 

Director: Charlie Chaplin 

Narrative short.
Running time: 30 minutes

LIVE Audio Description by Audio-Reader 

The silent comedies of actor-director Charlie Chaplin have delighted cinematic audiences for over a hundred years and none of Chaplin’s two-reeler comedies are as well-constructed, preserved, and esteemed as his 1916 short film, The Immigrant. In this film, Chaplin appears in his iconic role of The Little Tramp who is coming to America to seek his fortune. However, The Tramp’s sea voyage and ultimate arrival in the U.S. are filled with misadventure, satire, and romance. 

Un Chien Andalou (An Andalusian Dog)

Director: Luis Buñuel

Narrative short.
Running time: 21 minutes

LIVE Audio Description by Audio-Reader 

French presentation by KU Department of French, Francophone & Italian

LIVE music by Alex Kimball Williams & Mike Quillin

With its iconic and jarring imagery, Un Chien Andalou is an unforgettable surrealist classic from 1929 that is still shown in film classrooms and festivals around the world today. Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí teamed up to create the bizarre and unnerving sequences that make up this short film, including the most widely remembered: the slicing open of a woman’s eye.

Pre-show experience: 

While you wait for the films to begin, whet your palate with Spencer Projects, a series of popup projections that beam works of art from the Spencer Museum’s collection into the community. This Free State Festival edition features works prompted by these two films and explores the immigrant experience, romance, dreams, dislocation, and free association.

Also, pick up a free Spencer Museum Art Cart Kit to make your own zoetrope, an early animation toy that creates the illusion of motion, then write a 6-word poem to describe your animation. Available while supplies last.

Event Details:

• Tickets: $10/ party
• Doors open: 8pm / 8:30pm Spencer Projects / Film screening: 9pm
• Please bring your own lawn chairs and refreshments.
• Bathrooms will be available on site.

Event Sponsors & Partners: