Broad Underground Film Series

Fri, February 19, 2021 - Fri, February 19, 2021 at Virtual

Broad Underground Film Series: Petrocinema, from Wheels of Progress to Auto-Apocalypse 

Cinema has an enduring fascination with cars. From the lure of speed and movement to the threat of the crash, experiences behind the wheel have inspired filmmakers to deliver similar kinetic pleasures. The car also promised jobs, middle-class lifestyle, and movement without limits, but it was built on the dream of cheap gas. We now know that the car’s midcentury “autopia” helped set us on the road to our current climate disaster. Programmed by Justus Nieland, Professor of English (MSU), Kyle Sittig, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of English (MSU), and Brian R. Jacobson, Professor of Visual Culture (CalTech).

“Petrocinema” explores the fateful entanglement of automobiles, film, and finite natural resources. Ranging from government and industrial films produced by the Office of Public Roads, GM, Shell Oil, and BP, to a range of experimental works, this screening program scrutinizes the promise and threat of the car as a commodity, technology, design object, and unsustainable fantasy. This screening is presented in coordination with InterStates of Mind: Re-writing the Map of the United States in the Age of the Automobile, currently on view at the MSU Broad.

Click here to register for this free online event.

This online event will take place on Zoom. Screenings should happen on your own time individually prior to the event. Links to the films will be available in the event registration confirmation email.