The latest Fire Escape student project— And The Pursuit of Happiness-—will premiere at Max Palevsky Cinema at 9:15 p.m. on Tuesday, October 12. Co-produced by the University of Chicago Arts Planning Council and University Theater, the film, shot in five weeks during Spring Quarter 2004, is a 35-minute narrative absurdist comedy that satirizes American politics.

After the film’s screening, a question and answer session will be held in the theater led by the director, Will Slocombe, a third-year in the College, and the writer and assistant director, Ben Kolak, also a third-year in the College. Kolak and Slocombe will field questions on the motifs presented in the film and the resources available for any student interested in independent student filmmaking at the University of Chicago.

Following its initial premiere, And The Pursuit of Happiness will show multiple times at the Max Palevsky Cinema, and will be entered in two dozen film festivals nationwide.