Acclaimed filmmaker Henry Ferrini will present his newest documentary at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 16, in the Fine and Performing Arts Center at Western Carolina University. The event is free and open to the public.

Ferrini’s documentary, titled “Polis Is This - Charles Olson and the Persistence of Place,” is about Charles Olson (pictured at left), who was a rector at Black Mountain College during the final years of the influential experimental liberal arts college. Olson is best known as a charismatic and complex poet during the time of “the Beats,” whose challenge to the world was to either rediscover the earth or leave it. The one-hour documentary, which features actor John Malkovich, explores the meaning behind Olson’s art.

“This is a sublime film ... It is simply stunning,” said Jim Harrison, author of “Legends of the Fall.”

Ferrini will be available to meet with classes in the morning and afternoon. Faculty should call Martin DeWitt, director of the Fine Art Museum, to arrange a meeting time.

This event is sponsored by Black Mountain College Museum and Arts Center and the Captain’s Bookshelf in Asheville, and the College of Fine and Performing Arts and the Fine Art Museum, in collaboration with the department of stage and screen’s motion picture and television production program at WCU.

For more information, contact Martin DeWitt at (828) 227-2553 or mdewitt@email.wcu.edu.

Photo: Charles Olson (left), courtesy of Black Mountain College Museum and Arts Center of Asheville.