After a long day in Chicago, cherubs filed into Fisk Hall for the final event of the night: a viewing of the movie “Citizen Kane.”
Throughout the program, instructor John Kupetz showed students three movies centered around investigative journalism. The decades-long tradition gives students a glimpse into the real-world impact of reporting.
“I really liked being introduced to movies I hadn’t heard of because I’m not a very big film person, so I only see the ones that come out recently,” said Sirena Chen of Portland, Oregon.
Kupetz said he enjoys seeing students’ initial reactions to cinema classics.
“That’s very exciting, to have a student come to great art for the first time, because you only do that once,” he said.
After each screening, Kupetz led students in a discussion of the film. He awarded “shiny new dimes” to students who correctly answered film trivia questions, including Ignas Petrus of Chicago.
“That shiny new dime is, of course, making it back to Chicago,” Petrus said. “It’s somewhere safe in my dorm right now.”
Olivia Karp of Miami said she enjoyed hearing a variety of perspectives about each movie.
“Everyone had a different response because we’re all different people that come from different places, and we interpret things in different ways,” Karp said.
Petrus said he especially liked “All the President’s Men,” which follows the reporters who exposed the Watergate scandal. He said the film encapsulates the role of journalism in society.
“Had it never been for these two journalists from The Post following the paper trail, we may have never known that any of that was going on,” Petrus said. “That’s what journalism is. It’s about being the watchdogs of society.”
Students in past years gave Kupetz gifts like a “Citizen Kane” movie poster and miniature sled. Chen gave him a matchbox she found labeled “Rosebud,” a recurring word in the film.
“He didn’t react at first,” Chen said. “I thought he hated it, but then he smiled and it was the sweetest thing.”
These small acts of kindness are “one of the great pleasures of teaching,” Kupetz said.
To him, watching films is a different way to experience learning.
“You’re under no pressure,” Kupetz said. “There’s not going to be a test. You’re not going to have to write an essay about it or anything — just go and respond to the art.”
