‘Science and Magic in Film’ series continues

SYRFILM INC. and The Red House Arts Center continue their collaboration on the series Science and Magic in Film. This four-part series began in January and runs through April 2012 on the fourth Tuesday of each month. Each screening includes a discussion.

Single screening tickets are available at the door for $8/$5 Red House members and students. Programs begin at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. at the Red House Arts Center, 201 S. West St. Free parking is available.

This collaborative series celebrates the science fiction genre, and brings the audiences a chance to explore the impact of technology, artificial life, electronic music and the science of memory in cinema. The guest speakers provide an opportunity to delve deeper into the world of science fiction and the history of the science and magic in film.

On April 3, the series will present “The Last Wave” (1977), with guest Owen Shapiro, professor of film in the Department of Transmedia in the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University, and an award-winning experimental documentary filmmaker.

The film asks, “What if someone with a very pragmatic approach to life experienced a premonition?” Directed by Peter Weir, “The Last Wave” is about a white Australian lawyer whose seemingly normal life is disrupted after he takes on a murder case for Aborigine defendants. He discovers that he shares a strange and unexplained mystical connection to the small group of local Australian Aborigines accused of the crime.

On April 24, the series will presesnt “Blade Runner” (1982), with guest Jim Loperfido, CEO for the Syracuse International Film Festival, founder of the Auburn Cinefile Society, who has been at the forefront nationally of independent video dealers’ efforts to regulate and lobby for their industry.