"Punishment Park" Film Screening

CIMS Student Molly Han will present a special screening of Peter Watkins's "Punishment Park". Molly is a senior from Beijing, China, majoring in Film & TV with a minor in Cinema and Media Studies. After graduation, I plan to pursue a masters and PhD in film studies. After Professor Peter J. Schwartz introduced me to Punishment Park freshman year and through subsequent courses in film theory and documentary with Professor Roy Grundmann and Professor Bruno Guaraná, I’ve developed a growing appreciation for its complexity and relevance. What happens when a government turns dissent into a deadly game, and documentary crews keep rolling? In a world where camera lenses become both witness and weapon, Punishment Park portrays this precarious reality while dissolving the boundaries of fiction and documentary. I chose to screen this film because it continues to challenge viewers to question their relationship with media and truth— something we need more than ever in our era of endless feeds, mediated violence, and political polarization. While not an easy watch, I firmly believe the film’s provocative nature and unflinching faze makes it ideal for generating the kind of meaningful discussions we should be having on campus.