Global Lens Preview: The Fantastic World Of Juan Orol

Do you like to think of yourself as “cultured?” Time to put your money where your mouth is.

The Texas Tech College of Media and Communication is hosting a weekly series of free films selected from across the globe in an effort to broaden students’ understanding of different cultures through the universal language of cinema. One film will be screened each Thursday in the College of Media and Communication building and panel discussions will take place following the screenings with faculty and individuals connected to the culture of the film in some form or fashion.

The series is presented in association with the Institute for Hispanic and International Communication, the Texas Tech Cross-Cultural Academic Advancement Center, and Dr. Jimmie L. Reeves and Kathryn Quilliam Reeves.

Here is the synopsis for this week’s film, “The Fantastic World of Juan Orol,” pulled from the Global Film Initiative website:

“Move over Ed Wood! Mexico’s half-forgotten B-movie master, “involuntary surrealist” Juan Orol, receives a pitch-perfect tribute in this irresistible love letter to a self-made man of showbiz, whose career spanned nearly sixty films. In a glorious black-and-white flashback mingling movie-tainted memories of his Galician childhood, forced exile to Cuba and arrival in Mexico, intrepid “Juanito“ pursues failed careers as
baseball player, boxer, bullfighter and gangster before landing in the movies—where failure kind of works for him. As Orol, Roberto Sosa exudes droll underdog charm, anchoring a fast-moving comedy where every frame is an infectious homage to a golden age of cinema, the wile of memory and the art of fantasy.

Curious for more information? Visit the Global Film Initiative website HERE or contact Dr. Robert Peaslee in the College of Media and Communication at robert.peaslee@ttu.edu.

 

Catch “The Fantastic World of Juan Orol” tonight, Thursday, March 7 at 6:00 p.m. in room 083 of the Media and Communication building.
About Taylor Shofner