Series

Michael A. McRobbie's Choice

In September 2017, more than 30 Indiana University faculty and staff members presented gifts to endow the Michael A. McRobbie President’s Choice Film Series Fund. The series is now officially part of IU Cinema’s program every semester in perpetuity, honoring  Chancellor Michael McRobbie’s leadership and his affinity for cinema. Each semester,  Chancellor McRobbie selects films that represent some of the masterworks of cinematic art to screen in IU Cinema’s world-class theater.

Fall 2024 | Duplicity, Deception, and Detail: The Cinematic World of John le Carré

Celebrated for revolutionizing the spy genre, novelist John le Carré crafted psychologically complex stories of political, social, and corporate intrigue replete with multi-dimensional characters grappling with loyalty, betrayal, and identity as they navigate intricate webs of relationships and complex motivations. It’s no surprise then that his novels have served as rich texts for cinematic adaptations, resulting in some of our most iconic images of espionage and conflicted morality on screen. This semester’s Michael A. McRobbie’s Choice series celebrates three of these film adaptations, each providing a different shade of le Carré’s enduring impact and cultural legacy.

Read Chancellor's McRobbie's remarks on the films in the series and le Carré’s legacy.

Films in the series include:

9.7, 7pm: The Spy Who Came in From the Cold | John le Carré's precise and ruthless Cold War thriller adapted into one of the most compelling and hard-edged spy epics there is.

9.12, 7pm: The Russia House | Intrigue abounds when a British publisher, a mysterious woman, and a manuscript containing nuclear secrets collide in Cold War-era Moscow.

9.19, 7pm: The Constant Gardner | A widower's transcontinental quest to find answers about his wife's death leads him to explosive secrets.

Curated by IU University Chancellor Michael A. McRobbie.