Pfft… you don’t have midterms next week! Or at least you can pretend you don’t whilst taking in some of the amazing sights and sounds of Morningside’s arts scene. If you would like readers to escape their realities at your events, please e-mail us at events@bwog.com.

It's like having your own theater!

Thursday

  • French Film: Qui m’aime me suive, East Gallery, Buell Hall, 7:30 pm. This film tells the story of 35-year-old Maxime, a brilliant doctor, who leads an orderly life with his lawyer wife and is admired by his friends and family. But one day he meets Chine, a singer, and gets the shock everyone close to him has always dreaded. With Mathieu Demy, Éléonore Pourriat, and Julie Depardieu. Free.
  • Opening reception: The Silent Strength of Liu Xia, Casa Italiana, 6 to 8 pm. The exhibition features photographs of life‐like dolls in a series of sets devised by the artist. The dolls, called “ugly babies” by Liu, are positioned between large stacks of books, wrapped in plastic, and lying on planks against a bright sky, among other tableaux. Liu Xia has been a noteworthy figure on the contemporary Chinese art scene for more than three decades.  Her work in various media focuses on freedom of expression rooted in traditional values and styles. Through March 1. Free.

Friday

  • Athena Film Festival, Diana Center and Miller Theatre, various times. Through Sunday, Feb 12. Film is a medium known to nearly all people in nearly every part of the world. And films have power. They create conversation. They reveal truths. They inspire. The festival will examine the values women leaders share—vision, courage, resilience—and explore leadership across race, class, and culture. They will screen approximately 30 films and hold conversations with actors, directors, producers, writers and other members of the film community on the Barnard campus in Morningside Heights. Check the schedule. Student tickets $7 or $30 for an all access pass.
  • Festival Neue Literatur, Deutsches Haus, 1 pm to 5 pm. Six of the best up-and-coming German-language authors come to New York for a weekend of readings, interviews and interaction with American colleagues. Featured authors are Inka Parei, Linda Stift, Larissa Boehning, Catalin Dorian Florescu, Erwin Uhrmann and Monica Cantieni, in conversation with Columbia students. Free.

Sunday

  • Raw Elementz open dance class, Aerobics Room 4, 2 pm to 4 pm. Raw Elementz is hosting an open hip-hop dance class. Join them to learn some high-energy, fun, swagtastical choreo for. No experience necessary! Free.

Monday

  • Film Screening: The Pruitt-Igoe Myth, Avery Hall, Wood Auditorium, 6:30 pm. Documentary film presenting an urban history of Pruitt-Igoe and examining changes that occurred in American Cities throughout the 20th century. The screening will be followed by a discussion with Catherine Fennell of Columbia’s Anthropology Department.
A big comfy couch via Wikimedia Commons