Alum Aaron Greer Returns for Screening

Alum Aaron Greer Returns for Screening

February 20, 2017

Alumnus Aaron Greer (MFA '02) returns to Temple University for a screening of his feature film Service to Man, as part of the Diamond Screen Film Series. The film will be shown at the Temple Performing Arts Center on Wednesday, February 22. 

Service to Man, tells the story of Eli Rosenberg, who in 1967 becomes the first white student at an all-black medical school in the South, and Michael DuBois, one of Eli’s black classmates, who is trying to live up to his father's legacy. Both outsiders in the school, Eli and Michael are forced to work together inside the pressure cooker of medical school in the turbulent 1960s.

Inspired by a true story, Service to Man has been the recipient of several awards including the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature at the American Black Film Festival, Audience Choice for Best Feature at the Sidewalk Film Festival and Grand Jury Prize for Best Film at the North Carolina Black Film Festival.

Writer and co-director Seth Panitch said the film is very loosely based on his father’s experiences as one of the first white students at Merharry Medical College in Nashville, Tenn., in the 1960s. While the film depicts a particularly charged time in U.S. history, including the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, co-director Aaron Greer notes, “In many ways Service to Man is a universal and timeless coming-of-age story, because it’s really about how these young people figure out who they are and who they want to be.”

Aaron Greer is a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and a graduate of Washington Unveristy in St. Loius. Since completing his MFA at Temple, Greer has developed a diverse professional portfolio of film and video projects including his award-winning feature filma Gettin' Grown and the documentary Flying Away. He is currently a professor at Loyala University Chicago.

Following the screening, Professor Jeff Rush will lead a Q&A session with Greer and lead actors Morgan Auld (Eli) and Christopher Livingston (Michael). More about the event.

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