CF Ira Holmes International Film Series Returns in September

The Ira Holmes International Film Series at the College of Central Florida returns in September with a full season of 12 films from across the globe – plus special events including a preseason anime cosplay event, a family-friendly Sunday matinee, a live filmmaker Q&A and two unique collaborations with the Ocala Symphony Orchestra. The season kickoff’s evening screening of “The Seventh Seal” will be a memorial event to honor the series founder and beloved professor Ira Holmes, who passed away June 9 at age 90.

“Before his passing, Ira requested this film as a message of hope for us all,” said series director and CF professor Wendy Adams. “We’ll start by sharing our favorite memories of Ira before watching this classic film that ushered in a new era of art-house cinema in the U.S. around the time Ira became enamored with the medium as a young man.”

“The Seventh Seal,” a 1957 Swedish historical fantasy film, tells the tale of an exhausted medieval knight who encounters Death on a desolate beach and challenges him to a fateful game of chess. Directed by Ingmar Bergman, the exploration of life, death and faith was one of the benchmark foreign imports that launched America’s art-house heyday of the 1950s. Screenings will be held at 2 p.m. at the Appleton Museum of Art and 7 p.m. at the CF Ocala Campus, Building 8, Room 110, 3001 S.W. College Road.

Series Schedule:

Sept. 20 – “Belle” anime preseason event at 8 p.m. at the Marion Theatre – cosplay welcome!

Oct. 8 – “The Seventh Seal” – evening screening includes memorial reception honoring Ira Holmes

Oct. 22 – “Psycho” – evening screening starting at 7:30 p.m. at the Marion Theatre includes film talk by Ocala Symphony Orchestra Music Director Matthew Wardell

Nov. 12 – “Long Flat Balls”

Nov. 26 – “Close to Vermeer” – evening screening includes film talk with Arts in Health Ocala Metro Executive Director Patricia Tomlinson

Jan. 19 – “The Red Balloon” and “A Cat in Paris” family-friendly matinee double feature at 1 p.m. at the Marion Theatre

Feb. 11 – “Hit the Road”

Feb. 25 – “Some Kind of Heaven”

March 11 – “My Donkey, My Lover & I”

March 25 – “Following the Ninth ” – 7 p.m. evening screening at the Marion Theatre includes film series member exclusive meet and greet with director Kerry Candaele at 6 p.m., facilitated by Ocala Symphony Orchestra Music Director Matt Wardell

March 26 – “A League of Their Own” – 2 p.m. screening at CF follows 12:30 p.m. film talk with Kerry Candaele, whose 1987 documentary preceded the 1992 feature film

All films will be shown Tuesdays at 2 p.m. at the Appleton Museum of Art, 4333 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala, and at 7 p.m. at the College of Central Florida, 3001 S.W. College Road, Building 8, Room 110, unless otherwise noted. Films at the Ocala Campus are free and open to the public. Films at the Appleton are free to all museum and film series members; nonmembers pay museum admission. Films may contain mature content.

For more details, visit CF.edu/FilmSeries.