By Blake Wedding

Chances are, if you sat down several students from the University of Louisville and asked each one of them if they were familiar with the Film Liberation Unit (FLU), most of them would say no.

President of the FLU Madelyn Carey is working to change that. “We plan to have more screenings this semester, and since I’ve had a year’s experience, next year we hope to have more frequent screenings with discussion elements,” she said.

More importantly, Carey is trying to spread awareness on the impact that film can have on all of us and how film as an art form affects us emotionally.

“There is something really beautiful and even comforting in knowing that your feelings are so valid that people can make entire movies about them,” Carey said.

Carey said the mission of FLU is to showcase films that might not otherwise show in Louisville like indie and foreign films. They want people to enjoy film in its entirety.

“When I first stepped into a casual meeting for the FLU,” Carey said, “I knew I was home, and it opened a door to a whole new community in Louisville of people who adored film—not just movies playing in the cinema, but old movies, weird movies, foreign movies, cult classics, etc.”

“Most of my favorite movies were made in the 1960s– filmmakers were so blatantly trying to redefine their own culture after decades of tradition. It’s so fun to watch that energy of people breaking free,” she said.

However, the 1984 movie “Paris, Texas” by Wim Wenders really had an impact on her. “When you watch a movie, you can simply be and take in the sights and sounds,” she said. “I realized that in this movie, there was so much silence, and it was so powerful to me.”

Carey also works at the Speed Cinema. She writes program notes for the screenings and edits descriptions for the marketing department. “I compile features about the movies into small “one-sheet” papers to give the marketing department a better idea of what film they have to advertise,” she said.

Carey said that every student should try and see the Czechoslovakian movie “Daisies.” It’s about the Prague Spring when artists were rioting against the government. “I think it is the embodiment of what a movie can do and what power a movie can have,” she said.

Meetings for the FLU are Fridays at 5 p.m. in the library Starbucks. Carey said in April they plan to show different international films. They have done different themes in the past like “movies that inspired Star Wars” and “female directors.”

Photo Courtesy / Madelyn Carey