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Curator Kyle Westphal just completed a bachelor’s degree in Cinema and Media Studies at UC, and his thesis documents the history of America’s “longest continuously running student film society.” About half the items were culled from alumni association materials donated to the library’s special collections; Westphal, Doc’s current programming chair, dug the rest of the stuff out of the group’s archives. Among the artifacts on display:
• Silk-screened posters for Psycho and To Catch a Thief, autographed by Alfred Hitchcock during his 1967 visit, as well as excerpts from an unpublished interview.
In addition to these items, says Westphal, the group’s calendars also allowed him to track programming trends and critical ideas that influenced Doc’s offerings to students over the years. “Doc Films at 75” is free and open to the public weekdays from 8:30 AM to 4:45 PM and Saturday from 9 AM to 12:45 PM. Westphal will give a guided tour of the exhibit during the opening reception on Monday, July 16, 3 to 4:30 PM. For more information contact the university’s Special Collections Research Center at 773-702-8705 or specialcollections@lib.uchicago.edu.
