Published by Communications and Public Affairs 519 824-4120, Ext. 56982 or 53338

News Release

January 19, 2007

U of G Hosts Shakespeare on Screen Series

The University of Guelph’s annual international film series, "Beyond Hollywood," will participate in the “Shakespeare − Made in Canada” festival by presenting a “Shakespeare on Screen” series. It begins Jan. 28 and will showcase a dozen films over four Sundays.

All films will be screened in the Florence Partridge Room on the third floor of the McLaughlin Library. Discussion and light refreshments will follow each film. All screenings are free and open to the public.

“There’s no doubt this special series has a certain buzz around it because of its connection to a network of activities,” said English and theatre studies professor Paul Salmon, film series programmer. “It’s a mixture of accessible works with new and different films, such as the silent Shakespeares.”

On Jan. 28, a 10-minute screening of the silent 1910 adaptation of Merchant of Venice directed by Gerolamo Lo Savio will be introduced at 6:45 p.m. and shown at 7 p.m. that will be followed by Lo Savio’s 16-minute 1910 silent version of King Lear. The evening will conclude with a screening of The Taming of the Shrew, directed in 1967 by Franco Zeffirelli and featuring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.

On Feb. 11, film buffs will have the opportunity to compare three adaptations of in an afternoon Salmon calls “Richard III Times Three.” Introductions will begin at 3:45 p.m., and the 23-minute 1911 version of Richard III directed by Sir Frank Benson will be shown at 4 p.m. It will be followed by James Keane’s 1922 version. Following a supper break, Sir Laurence Olivier’s 1955 Richard III film will be introduced at 6:45 p.m. and screened at 7 p.m.

On March 4, the film screenings are co-sponsored by U of G’s Eastern Europe and Russia Project. German director Dimitri Buchowetzski’s 1922 Othello will be introduced at 3:45 p.m. and screened at 4 p.m. After a supper break, Polish director Anrzej Wajda’s 1961 Siberian Lady Macbeth will be introduced at 6:45 p.m. and shown at 7 p.m.

The series concludes March 11 with a “Shakespeare for Springtime” theme. The 12-minute 1909 silent version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream directed by Charles Kent and J. Stuart Blackton will be introduced at 6:45 p.m. and shown at 7 p.m. A 12-minute silent 1910 version of Twelfth Night directed by Kent and Eugene Mullin will follow. Kenneth Branagh’s 1993 adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing will conclude the series.

Once the series is over, all the films will be available in the library, said Salmon. “The series is about resource development as well, which is one of my pet passions.”

For more information about the series, contact Salmon at psalmon@uoguelph.ca or visit www.lib.uoguelph.ca/news/films.htm.