Are you looking for something to do on Friday evenings? CineCulture offers free screenings of independent films nearly every Friday during the school year to Fresno State campus students, faculty and staff and the broader community. The movies are followed by a discussion with someone involved in the film or an expert on the subject.

All films screened on campus are free and open to the public. Parking is not enforced after 4 p.m. on Fridays.

"Singing Our Way to Freedom" (2018)
When: 5:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 21.
Where: Peters Education Center Auditorium (west of the Save Mart Center in the Student Recreation Center building)

Discussant: Paul Espinosa (screenwriter and director)

How did a young Mexican-American kid from a small rural town in the middle of nowhere become a leading musician of the Chicano civil rights movement? How did he learn about the power of music and imagination to take us on a journey towards freedom? "Singing Our Way to Freedom" chronicles the life of Ramon “Chunky” Sanchez from his humble beginnings as a farmworker in Blythe, California, to the dramatic moment when he received one of his nation’s highest musical honors at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. As a young man in the 1960s, Chunky joined the picket lines in the California fields with Cesar Chavez, eventually becoming Chavez’s favorite musician. His gradual transformation from a marginalized farm kid to a charismatic social activist shows how one person can mobilize people to change the world. In his songs and his life, Chunky offers an inspiring narrative, reminding us that the battle for freedom has to be fought anew by every generation.

Sponsors: Office of the Provost, College of Arts and Humanities and Center for Creativity and the Arts

Coming next — "The Swallows of Kabul" (2018)

Directed by film makers Zabou Breitman and Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec, "Les hirondelles de Kabou" ("The Swallows of Kabul") is a delightful and extremely moving animated film adapted from the eponymous novel by Algerian novelist Mohammed Moulessehoul better known by his pen name of Yasmina Khadra. The film brings us back to the summer of 1998 and Kabul when Afghanistan was under Taliban rule. It tells the touching story of Zunaira and Mohsen, a young couple deeply in love. Despite the daily violence and misery, they hope for a better future. One day, a foolish gesture causes life to take an irrevocable turn.

For a complete schedule, visit the College of Arts and Humanities blog.