Rosemary Pennington | Sept. 21, 2007
What does it take to go from immigrant to screen idol to politician? Students and Bloomington residents can find out Tuesday when documentary filmmaker Dan Cox screens his film, Running with Arnold, which follows Arnold Schwarzenegger’s meteoric rise from bodybuilding champ to movie star to governor of California. The free event will be at 7 p.m. in the Whittenberger Auditorium in the IMU. Cox, B.A ’84, has had a wide range of experience, working for organizations such as CBS to Reuters to Variety. The School of Journalism is sponsoring Cox’s visit and Communications Director Beth Moeller thinks it will give students a chance to see another way to put their degrees into practice.
"I think he represents something different and interesting our students can do with a degree," Moellers said. "It’s kind of on the edge of what our students do in the classroom. We don’t teach this long-form investigative journalism. It’s kind of a combination of journalism and telecommunications and communications and culture. "
Running with Arnold also could be a way for students to learn how to handle controversy. A portion of the film deals with allegations that Schwarzenegger’s father was a Nazi storm trooper, allegations Cox says are true.
The movie has been making its way along the film festival circuit and students will get the chance to judge it themselves at the screening. And if they have questions about filmmaking, journalism or the movie’s controversy, they can put them to Cox during a question and answer session directly following the film.
"I’ve seen the trailer and I’m excited to see the rest of the film," Moellers said. "It should be a lively Q&A, a lively session."
Cox will also speak to several journalism classes about his experiences as a filmmaker. For more information about the film, check out the movie’s Web site.
Questions? Comments? Email the Web editor.
