Charting Imaginary Worlds: Three Fantasy Films

Programmed by: Chris Todd Carloy, Sierra Wilson

This fall, Doc Films presents three films in support of Charting Imaginary Worlds, a University of Chicago Libraries Special Collections exhibit exploring intersections between the fantasy genre, games, and play. While the exhibit presents objects from over a century of fantasy and play across a range of media and artforms, this film series focuses on a narrower timeframe: the early-to-mid 1980s. In this moment, both tabletop and digital games were developing lasting conventions drawing on elements shared with fantasy films: quest-like structures, parties of adventurers representing a range of character types, magic objects tied to the fate of the world, imaginary landscapes to explore, deep lore to uncover, and puzzles to solve. However, ties between fantasy and games in this period reach beyond shared formal and narrative elements. As fantasy fiction and games became major cultural forces through the 1970s and '80s, each was greeted with a growing backlash. While some saw fantasy and games as crude escapism or dangerous distractions from reality, others saw them as promoting evil — especially when combined in a game like Dungeons and Dragons. Though not taking a clear “side” in these debates, the films in this series dramatize moments of imbalance or crisis in the relationship between the real and the fantastic — the disappearance of magic from the world, the danger of improper contact between the magical and the mundane, and the need to continually renew dreams and legends from generation to generation.This film series and the library exhibit it supports are part of the Year of Games at the University of Chicago. To learn more about this celebration of play, creativity, and collaboration on campus, visit yearofgames.com.