Alan Alda (‘M*A*S*H,’ ‘The West Wing’) and director Rod Lurie (‘The Contender,’ ‘Resurrecting the Champ’) will show an advance screening of their new movie ‘Nothing But the Truth’ in the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium at 6:45 p.m. today. Following the screening, the two will take questions from the audience. Alda will also participate in a panel discussion and Q&A session today in the Hergenhan Auditorium at 3:30 p.m.

Syracuse University adjunct professor Douglas Brode, a friend of Lurie, approached Barbara Fought, the director of the Tully Center for Free Speech, about the possibility of bringing an advance screening of ‘Nothing but the Truth’ to campus.

‘I think it brings up some really interesting ethical questions,’ Fought said about the film.

Fought knew the film brought up a lot of issues the Tully Center tries to address, such as freedom of speech, shield laws and freedom of information. She also thought that the founder of the center, Joan A. Tully, would approve of the film being brought to campus.

‘I knew it was a media law issue that was near and dear to her heart,’ Fought said. ‘Alan Alda is one of – if not the most – accomplished actors of our time.’

Fought will lead the conversation between Alda and Lurie after the screening by asking questions about writing, producing and directing. Afterwards, students will be free to ask Lurie and Alda questions.

Students will also have another chance to ask Alda questions at the panel discussion.

‘We wanted to show off how smart our students are,’ said Peter Moller, a television-radio-film professor, who set up the panel.

Moller selected four students to serve on the panel and quiz Alda, two from the Television-Radio-Film Department in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and two acting and design students from the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

Each panelist will ask Alda a couple of questions and then questions will be taken from the audience, Moller said.

Eamon Brenna, one of the four students selected, hopes to find out the details and background behind Alda.

‘I’d like to focus on why Alda has made the choices he has,’ said the television-radio-film major. ‘I feel that Newhouse gets too focused on the how and not the why. Alda has had a long and multifaceted career. He’s touched so many different subjects. I want to know what drove him, what inspired him.’

The Emmy award winner Alda is still relevant to students today because of his ability to span decades, Brenna said.

‘Alda represents an idea. The idea that one artist can grow and flourish in many different mediums,’ Brenna said. ‘He’s an actor, a writer, a director, an author, and a philosopher among other things. He really is a spokesperson for the idea of the communication artist.’

Adbrow03@syr.edu