Film Fest and National Public Health Week

By John R. Finnegan, Jr., Ph.D.
March 26, 2007

Spring has sprung and with it comes the National Public Health Week Film Festival. The festival is the School of Public Health’s annual weeklong event that last year drew more than 300 people from throughout the Twin Cities.

Each night of the festival—April 2-6—features a different public health theme. This year’s topics include aging, immigrant health, AIDS/HIV, and sex education. The films include the Oscar-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth, which features former vice president Al Gore’s quest to halt global warming.

Also new this year is the SPH’s first ever public service announcement competition. The school put a global call out to professional and amateur filmmakers to submit 10- or 30-second clips on the public health topic of their choice. The entries will be screened during the festival. View the entries at www.sph.umn.edu/film/entries.

The festival is free and open to all, the speakers will be engaging, and the films, compelling. Please plan to join in for any or all of the nights.  Festivities begin at 5:30 p.m. and take place in our state-of-the-art Mayo Auditorium. For a full list of films, see www.sph.umn.edu/filmfestevents.html.

On another note, congratulations to SPH faculty members Rosalie Kane and Jim Rothenberger, who have received awards in recognition for their outstanding work at the University. The details of the honors are outlined below in Faculty News.   Well done, Jim and Rosalie!