Film Screenings and Talks Highlight Free Activities at Yale in June

A screening of episodes from the HBO series “The Wire,” followed by a Q & A with screenwriter Richard Price; a preview showing of a new film based on a novel by the author of “Fight Club”; and a sci-fi festival with panel discussions featuring such notables as New York Times film critic A.O. Scott and novelist Jack Womack are among the free and public events sponsored by the Yale Summer Film Institute this June. 

 “The Wire” episodes that Price contributed to will be shown on June 10 at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of the Whitney Humanities Center, 53 Wall Street. Price, who is also a novelist, will take questions from the audience following the screenings.

On June 11, the Spike Lee film  “Clockers” (1995), co-written by Price and Lee and based on Price’s novel of the same name, will be shown at 10 a.m. at 212 York Street (the building that houses Yale’s Media Services), Room 106.

At 4 p.m. the following day, June 12, the Whitney Humanities Center will offer a preview screening of “Choke,” directed by Clark Gregg and based on a book by “Fight Club” author Chuck Palahniuk. The plot of this satirical film concerns a “sex addict” who, to pay for his Alzheimer-ridden mother’s hospitalization, feigns choking in restaurants to get the sympathy (and money) of other patrons. There will be a Q & A with producer Jonathan Dorfman following the film, which will not be released to the general public until September.

The Science-Fiction Festival, which takes place at the Whitney Humanities Center and is co-sponsored by the International Festival of Arts and Ideas, will begin on June 14 with the screening of Francois Truffaut’s 1966 classic “Fahrenheit 451.”  This cinematic re-telling of Ray Bradbury’s cautionary novel will begin at 1 p.m. At 3 p.m., Scott and Womack will take part in a discussion moderated by Yale faculty member Suzanne O’Malley.

Following the panel discussion, Steven Spielberg’s futuristic “Minority Report” (2002), starring Tom Cruise, will be screened at 4 p.m.

On June 15, the festival will present Andrew Niccol’s acclaimed 1997 film  “Gattaca” at 1 p.m.  In the film, the lead character, played by Ethan Hawke, tries to assume the identity of a “genetically superior” individual to qualify for a space travel program. The panel discussion following will feature a genetic counselor and a stem cell researcher from Yale, with film critic Scott as moderator.

The final offering of the Yale sci-fi festival will be Michael Winterbottom’s 2003 film “Code 46.” The movie, with Tim Robbins in the lead role, concerns a not-so-distant future society shaped by cloning and mind control. “Code 46” will be screened at 4 p.m.