The next screening in Ohio State’s Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies’ “Magic & Mayhem” Film Series, which will show the 1968 movie “Witchfinder General,” will take place at Hagerty Hall Thursday. Credit: Nick DeSantis | Asst. Arts & Life Editor
With Halloween nearly around the corner, Ohio State’s Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, also known as CMRS, is ready to fulfill students’ seasonal movie desires with the return of its film series, with this year’s theme being “Magic and Mayhem: Films on Magic & Witchcraft.”
After taking a brief hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual film series — created in 2005 — returned this year with an Aug. 22 screening of Jean-Jacques Annaud’s 1986 film “The Name of the Rose”, which follows a 14th century Franciscan monk who must challenge the church’s authority in order to solve the mysterious deaths of the other monks. CMRS is set to present three more films throughout the semester as a part of its series.
The next film in the series is Michael Reeves’ 1968 film “Witchfinder General” — which takes place in the 1640s during the English Civil War and follows a young soldier who seeks vengeance on a witch hunter who terrorized his fiancée and executed her uncle — which will be shown Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in room 180 of Hagerty Hall.
The following two films in the screening series include “The Crucible” — which takes place in 1692 during the Salem Witch Trials and follows a group of teenage girls who get caught performing a ritual in the woods that is falsely accused of being witchcraft by the townspeople — which will be shown Oct. 24, and “The Love Witch” — a horror film that follows a modern-day witch who uses magic to make men fall in love with her — which will be shown Nov. 21.
Christopher Highley, an Ohio State professor of English and director of CMRS, said he is hoping the film series will pull in students of all majors.
“We are always on the lookout for new ideas that would attract undergraduate students,” Highley said. “We are here for everyone in the university, not just people who are already devotees of ‘Game of Thrones’ or Tolkien.”
Nick Spitulski, administrative coordinator for Ohio State’s Humanities Center Consortium and instructor of Ohio State’s magic and witchcraft class — formally known as “MEDREN 2666: Magic and Witchcraft in the Middle Ages and Renaissance” — said he has been helping lead the efforts for this year’s series. He said every screening is free to the public and includes pizza and refreshments.
“We have a lot of lectures in medieval and renaissance studies that are aimed more toward our faculty and grad student affiliates, but we didn’t really have a component of programming for undergrad students,” Spitulski said. “We thought the film series would be a nice way to hopefully get undergrads engaged with the kinds of things that we do.”
Following each screening, Spitulski said there will be a Q&A, during which CMRS faculty members will answer questions about the film as well as any other academic-related questions they may have.
“We will have a few leading questions and then if people want to talk about something that they found interesting in the film or other types of historically based questions, they’re certainly welcome to jump in,” Spitulski said.
Spitluski said the theme of this semester’s films were chosen to align with the CMRS magic and witchcraft class, a course that examines the history of witchcraft from late antiquity through the 18th century.
Highley said he was happy to see the series return this year and already has plans for next semester.
“In the spring, I’m scheduled to teach a course on Shakespeare’s London and I will definitely be offering a movie series in connection with that,” Highley said.
Spitulski said he hopes the film series will continue to attract undergraduates to learn more about the wide array of offerings at CMRS.
“We hope that people will remain connected to the series across the term and use that as a jumping-in point to hopefully find out a little more about the center,” Spitulski said.
More information about the CMRS Film Series can be found on The Ohio State University website.
