Sunday Night Movies – Discovering New Worlds Under the Stars

By: Emma Livingston, Staff Writer

The past three Sunday evenings, the Fish, usually reserved for barbecues and pool parties, has been transformed into an outdoor movie theater. Thunderbird students sit together in the grass under the night sky and let the images on the projector screen transport them to entirely different worlds.

We’ve traveled to Germany during World War II and encountered the gritty reality of tank warfare through the movie Fury.  We’ve discovered the animated Victorian town of Cheesebridge and explored the underground caves of the Boxtrolls. And we’ve wandered the labyrinthine backstage of a Broadway theater and entered the disturbed mind of a washed-up actor and wannabe playwright in Birdman.

I spoke with our tour guide, the organizer of these Sunday Movie Nights, Das Tor’s own news editor and campus ambassador Alina Buzgar, first-year MBA student from Romania.

The idea of having movie nights at Thunderbird had always been in the back of her mind. “But the catalyst was when the alumni coordinator told us [Thunderbird] stories from the past.” Outdoor movie showings are part of Thunderbird lore, and Buzgar wanted to bring the tradition back.

Once she had decided she wanted to show the movies, all the logistics fell easily into place: “I’m always impressed with how many resources you get at this school. You really don’t need to formalize or make a big case. If you ask for a projector and all the material you need, they’ll just make it happen.”

The past few movie nights have been focused on Oscar nominees, but Buzgar says the only consistent theme is diversity: dramas, comedies, foreign films. She wants to show a diverse set of movies so students can gain insight into a diverse world.

“For me, movies are exactly like countries. I can’t say I have a favorite. I like good movies. Movies that leave a mark. That’s my relationship with movies: what can I learn, what can I discover? That’s why I love foreign movies. It’s really a window,” says Buzgar.

The next window on a world that Buzgar will show is Big Hero 6, the winner of the 2014 Best Animated Picture Oscar. Showtime is Sunday, March 1^, at 7:45 PM. All are invited to take a break from their studies and watch boy genius Hiro and his robot Baymax solve a mystery that is threatening the city of San Fransokyo.

“Hopefully it’s just a great experience for people to get together and enjoy the movie,” Buzgar says.

I will be there with my blanket and munchies, getting a glimpse into another world beneath the Arizona stars.

 

Alina’s Romanian movie recommendations:

I asked Buzgar what Romanian movies she recommends people watch to get an insight into Romanian culture. Here are her two recommendations:

“Silent Wedding is fun. It’s a dark comedy. Europe loves dark comedy. You just laugh out loud and all of a sudden you cry the next scene. It’s beautiful. Very funny, very dramatic.”

“4 Months, 3Weeks, 2 Days… A drama, beautifully acted. It will give you a glimpse of Communist Romania.”