Cinema International announces fall 2026 film series

By Dr. Carrie Jerrell | Sep 8, 2026

MURRAY, Ky. — Murray State University’s Cinema International program is pleased to announce its fall 2026 film series in support of the University’s educational mission.

Admission is free and open to the public. Films are shown on Thursday and Saturday evenings in Faculty Hall room 208 at 7 p.m.

Cinema International is a longstanding tradition at Murray State, having begun when the Curris Center opened more than 40 years ago. Every film has a post-screening discussion led by the faculty member who specializes in the culture of the film. These discussions are meant to encourage students and other audience members to further contemplate the culture, themes and meaning behind the film.

Departments from across campus co-sponsor films that pertain especially to their areas of study. Programs and organizations such as Medical and Health Humanities, the Spanish Film Club, and the Watershed Studies Institute also regularly sponsor screenings.

Dr. Ben Post, associate professor of Spanish at Murray State and co-director of Cinema International, says the fall 2026 series examines the importance of connection, belonging and collective identity. 

“As we started gathering ideas from some of our longstanding partners on campus, we realized we had the opportunity to build a slate of films that did lots of interesting things with the theme of community,” said Post.

The season begins with what Post describes as “magical and gritty films about family as community.” Little Amélie on September 10 and 12, is a charming animated coming-of-age story that follows a young girl whose vivid imagination and curiosity lead her to discover the world around her and the importance of friendship and connection. The Second Mother, on September 17 and 19, is a Brazilian drama about a live-in housekeeper whose daughter’s arrival challenges the boundaries of class, family and belonging within the household where she works.

Next, the program will showcase three celebratory films about multinational communities of artists: The Tallest Dwarf on September 24 and 26, a documentary in which filmmaker Julie Wyman explores her family history of “partial dwarfism” and works with a wide-ranging community of Little People to examine and celebrate their culture; The Girls are Alright, on October 1 and 3, a Spanish film about four women who gather at a country house for a summer theater rehearsal, where their conversations and shared experiences lead to moments of friendship, self-discovery and connection; and the Colombian documentary La salsa vive, on October 15 and 17, which traces the history of salsa music and dance from New York City to present-day Colombia, where the city of Cali keeps the beat alive with a lively performance and dance culture.

Post says the end of the fall series will feature “three intense films about how communities fight back against colonialism and government repression,” including We Shall Not Be Moved, on October 22 and 24, which follows a cantankerous lawyer haunted by her brother’s death in the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre as she pursues the soldier responsible and confronts the limits of justice and revenge. Halloween weekend, October 29 and 31, will feature Exhuma, a South Korean supernatural thriller in which a team of paranormal experts uncovers a dark ancestral secret after being hired to relocate a wealthy family’s ominous grave. The semester will end on November 5 and 7 with Post Mortem, a drama by acclaimed Chilean director Pablo Larraín, that follows a lonely morgue clerk whose obsession with a dancer unfolds against the backdrop of the 1973 military coup and the rise of Pinochet’s dictatorship. 

“This theme was so fun to program because it reminded us that Cinema International is also a community,” said Post; “one where people can gather to experience eight wonderful and challenging films that cover four continents and six languages, and discuss their thoughts and questions with experts from on campus.”

For the full schedule and more information on each film, visit bit.ly/CinemaInternational, contact the series co-directors, Dr. Ben Post (bpost1@murraystate.edu) or Dr. Tamara Feinstein (tfeinstein@murraystate.edu), or follow Cinema International on Facebook and Instagram (@cinemainternationalmsu).