Screening at 8.50 p.m. on Thursday August 6th.

Another chance to see this distinctive and extremely relevant satire on US campus life. I found the film absorbing and interesting but somewhat flawed. Some others at the screenings were more more impressed and it it is certainly very funny at time, though also deliberately disturbing.

Set in the fictional world of Winchester University, the film explores the continuing racism to be found in US Higher Education. Like US police forces Universities over the Atlantic have faced a number of scandals in recent years and the film provocatively picks up on these.

The film makes effective use of film form and style, whilst the young cast are excellent. One of the merits of the film is how it handles a relatively large cast of key characters. These are not fully developed characters, they are there to serve the satire – directed at the white elite, the world of Education and, importantly, the media.

Film fans familiar with the work of Spike Lee will recognize a strong influence in the film. And whilst this first-time director has not yet developed his mature style, this film does offer many of the pleasures and stimulations found in the work of the major US filmmaker.