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Storm Warnings - Polish Cinema

The Film Society of Lincoln Center presents Storm Warnings: Resistance and Reflection in Polish Cinema from February 3-11, 2010 at Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater in New York City. The series deals with a specific period of time in Poland, 1977-1989, when the unflinching visions of these filmmakers actually stood to affect social change. Filled with drama and impeccable technique, this is one important series that lovers of cinema will not want to miss.   

Polish filmmakers working from the late 1970s to the fall of Communism managed to produce extraordinarily rich and powerful films despite the enormous challenges and censorship they faced from the totalitarian regime. Some were influenced by the socially conscious films of the Neorealist movement and others by their commitment to Poland's burgeoning Solidarity movement. Well-known, like Agnieszka Holland, Krzysztof Kieslowski and Andrzej Wajda or less so, like Marcel Lozinski and Kazimierz Kutz, they all produced unflinching and profoundly moving visions of the regime's economic, political and spiritual failures.

Major works include:

Andrzej Wajda's Without Anesthesia a.k.a. Rough Treatment / Bez znieczulenia (1978) was praised as the first daringly critical portrait of modern-day Poland. The Oscar®-winning director’s drama focuses on a journalist whose post and privileges are taken away after he raises the issue of press freedom during an appearance on a television talk show.

Krzysztof Zanussi's Camouflage / Barwy ochronne (1977) is a philosophical thriller set on a university campus that becomes a metaphor for the Polish state. When impressionable 26-year-old academic Jaroslaw falls under the sway of veteran professor Jakub, he finds his youthful notions of morality and justice challenged by the older man’s world-weary cynicism. The director will appear at the Saturday screening.

Stanislaw Bareja’s Teddy Bear / Miś is a surreal comedy about the absurd plight of sports club manager Rysiek, a.k.a., “Teddy Bear,” whose efforts to accompany his team to a foreign tournament are thwarted when he discovers his ex-wife has torn pages out of his passport. A cult hit in Poland, where it spawned two sequels, Teddy Bear ranks among the most fearless satires of the decaying Communist state.

Also included are works that were banned outright and often remained unseen until years later:

Ryszard Bugajski's Interrogation / Przesłuchanie (1982/1989) is a harrowing, fact-based prison drama starring Krystyna Janda (Man of Marble, Mephisto) as Tonia, a cabaret singer in 1950s Warsaw who wakes up in jail after a night of drunken revelry to find herself accused of crimes against the state, and thus submitted to torture, humiliation and betrayal (director Agniezska Holland plays a cellmate). The film was banned upon its completion in 1982, viewed secretly on bootleg video copies, and finally premiered at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival, where Janda won the Best Actress prize for her performance.

Agnieszka Holland's remarkable A Woman Alone / Kobieta samotna (1981/1987) tells of a single mother living on the outskirts of Wroclaw struggling to support herself and her young son by working as a letter carrier, while also caring for an elderly aunt. She tries to convince local Party officials to improve her housing conditions, but she is unsuccessful. This film was also banned despite its award-winning premiere at Poland’s own Gdynia Film Festival.

Marcel Lozinski's How Do We Live / Jak żyć (1977/1981) is a 'mockumentary' about a socialist training camp for young marrieds.

Presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Polish Cultural Institute in New York, in association with the Polish National Film Archive and Polish Television, as part of Performing Revolution in Central and Eastern Europe, a festival coordinated by the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, November 2009 – March 2010.

For further information, visit http://filmlinc.com/wrt/onsale/polish10.html

Storm Warnings: Resistance and Reflection in Polish Cinema
Feb 3-11, 2010


Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center
West 65th Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam Ave.
New York Cit
y

San Francisco Ocean Film Festival

The 7th Annual San Francisco Ocean Film Festival is being held February 3-7, 2010 in J’lachic Theatre 39 at PIER 39 at The Embarcadero and Beach Street, San Francisco, CA. Co-sponsored by Aquarium of the Bay and The Bay Institute, the San Francisco Ocean Film Festival will be bigger and better than ever as the event expands to encompass five days of ocean-inspired films. 

“Adding two days to the festival has the dual advantage of providing attendees with more flexibility on the days and times that films are shown, as well as tripling the number of free weekday screenings for Bay Area public school students,” stated Festival Founder and Board Chair Krist Jake. “We are particularly excited about moving the venue to PIER 39 where there are more restaurants and amenities to meet our festival-goers’ needs.”

With a reputation as the largest and most diverse festival of its kind, the San Francisco Ocean Film Festival features documentaries, animations, narratives and other traditional and experimental genre on topics ranging from ocean adventures to the environment to marine wildlife to island culture and more.

The festival is organized as a series of programs that feature attention-riveting films and in-depth discussions with filmmakers and content experts, creating a unique public forum on the environmental, social and cultural importance of the world’s marine resources.

Starting off the Festival is the short film about Dr. Sylvia Earle, the First Lady of oceanographers, in Sylvia Earle: A Profile, directed by Amy Miller and Joan Johnson. Dr. Earle has  been recognized by the Library of Congress as a Living Legend.

The highlight of feature films is, of course, The Cove, now an Oscar® nominee for Best Feature Documentary after already winning 46 film awards worldwide (so far). The awards are well-deserved for this account of dolphin activist Ric O’Barry’s dedicated attempts to expose the secret capture and slaughter of dolphins in a Japanese fishing village. Director Louie Psihoyos makes his film directing debut after years as a world-class photographer.

Many selections in the festival deal with sea creatures at risk in the eco-challenged oceans, including whales, sharks and numerous birds, as well as coral reefs and polar icescapes. Among those films:

In To Save the Whale, directed by Gavin Newman, the Emmy Award-winning cinematographer follows Greenpeace crews as they attempt to foil Japanese whalers who defy an international ban on commercial whaling to slaughter whales in the interests of “science”.

Requiem, directed by Bryce Groark, discusses the steep decline in shark stock worldwide. One cause is due to shark finning, the on-board removal of a shark’s fins and the discarding at the sea of the remainder of the shark, which is sometimes alive during the process. As apex predators, sharks regulate the abundance of other fish, and therefore have a direct effect on ocean life.

Other films cover such “fish-ues” as depletion of species, pollution, and the demise of fishermens’ livelihoods and way of life. Some films are:

In The End of the Line, director Rupert Murray outlines the depletion of wild fish, once thought to be an inexhaustible resource. Some scientists estimate that 90% of all large fish have disappeared, such as the once-popular cod, which vanished from the western Atlantic by 1992.

The Bering Sea: An Ecosystem in Crisis, directed by Brent Balalas, studies the effect on the Aleuts of the devastation by factory trawlers, whose obscene wastefulness and massive habitat destruction are wiping out the last remnants of the pollock fishery.

But several films are also positive in their presentations of human endeavor, such as:

Free Swim, directed by Jennifer Galvin, is an award winning documentary about the paradox of coastal people not knowing how to swim. On an island in the Bahamas, a group of kids are taught to swim in open waters, thus helping them overcome their fears, gain confidence and reconnect with their challenging environment.

The Official Selection of the Festival, From the Badlands to Alcatraz, directed by Nancy Iverson, follows five Oglala Lakota youth from South Dakota to San Francisco to swim from Alcatraz to the City. The film weaves the past and present of both Alcatraz and the Pine Ridge Reservation into a vivid depiction of the awe-inspiring journey the five youth navigate as they plunge into the waters of Alcatraz Island.

And many films remind us of the amazing life and dazzling beauty of the seas, including:

Surfing Dolphins, directed by Greg Huglin, whose film goes beyond simply beautiful or sublime, as this jubilant and lyrical montage combines exquisite dolphin footage with excellent water imagery and sound.

In Ocean Chronicles, director Leandro Blanco’s kaleidoscope of images whirls through time and space in this exploration of humankind’s relationship with the ocean.

South Georgia Island: A Southern Ocean Paradise, by Corina Gamma, JJ L’Heureux and C. Hunter Johnson. This film needs no narration as the rich score and superb images remind us that this paradise needs our protection.

Also included is a panel discussion on Oceans and Sustainability with local seafood purveyors, restaurateurs and conservationists, hosted by David McGuire, director of Seastewards.org.

For further details, visit www.oceanfilmfest.org.  

San Francisco Ocean Film Festival
February 3-7, 2010


Theatre 39 at PIER 39
The Embarcadero and Beach Street
San Francisco, CA.

Texas Black Film Festival Through Feb. 7

The Texas Black Film Festival, in Dallas, Texas, screens for its fourth year Wednesday, February 3, to Sunday, February 6, with a host of movies designed to showcase the Lone Star State's film-industry resources and works that express the African-American experience, as well as to provide filmmakers with networking and opportunities to sharpen marketing and production skills through workshops.

Based at the Studio Movie Grill, a much-written-about Dallas staple where moviegoers can indulge in a full-menu dinner while watching a new Hollywood release, the family-friendly festival will as well screen "best of" events at future dates at the Alamo Draft House in Austin, Texas, and the Studio Movie Grill Copperfield, in northwest Houston.

Wednesday's premiere-night event features the esteemed actor Giancarlo Esposito, of Spike's Lee's Do the Right Thing, Mo' Better Blues, School Daze and Malcolm X, and the star of the cult-classic seriocomedy Bakersfield P.D.

The festival will also present awards in the Feature Film, Short Film, Animation, Documentary and Texas Film categories, and for Actor, Actress and Director.

Film categories are screened in two-hour blocks, with each block ticketed as an $8 event. Day passes for Thursday to Friday are $25; a three-day pass is $60. The official hotel is the  Radisson Central, which offers a TBFF Special room rate of $75 plus tax.

See the next page for the film schedule >>

Studio Movie Grill
11170 N. Central Expressway
(Royal Lane & 75 Central Expressway)
Dallas, Texas 75243
(214) 361-2966

Radisson Central

6060 N. Central Expressway
Dallas, Texas 75206
(800) 333-3333
(214) 750-6060

Festival Web site: http://www.texasblackfilmfestival.com/index.html


 

TBFF 2010 FILMS AND SHOWTIMES


FEATURES

Bilal's Stand
dir. by Sultan Sharrief (Ann Arbor, MI) TEXAS PREMIERE
INSPIRATIONAL DRAMA. After secretly submitting a college application, and taking up
the art of ice carving in order to win a scholarship, Bilal is forced to decide 
whether he will continue working at the family cab stand. (FRI- Noon)

Disowning Claire
dir. by A.C. Abbott (Dallas, TX) WORLD PREMIERE
ROMANTIC COMEDY. Shot in Dallas. This suburban WF admits to her family that she prefers black men. (THUR- 10PM)

Dream Mali

dir. by Barbara Kowa (Berlin)
U.S. PREMIERE. ART DOCUMENTARY. Digital multi-cultural film project. If art is a universal language, is it possible to use it to communicate with people of totally different social, religious, educational and cultural backgrounds? Two visual and performing artists from Berlin travel to remote villages in Mali – where people speak only Bambara. An artistic exploration of social similarities and economic disparities. Multilingual: German, English, French and Bambara with English subtitles. (FRI 2:00) (83 mins)

Frederick Douglass and the White Negro
dir. by John J Doherty (Dublin, Ireland). U.S. PREMIERE. HISTORICAL DOCUMENTARY. Produced in Ireland, this documentary discusses Frederick Douglas’ visit to Ireland and the mutual impact the two had on each other. (SAT- Noon)

Grown in Detroit: Teen Moms become Urban Farmers

dir. by Mascha Poppenk, Manfred Poppenk (Netherlands).
DOCUMENTARY. DALLAS PREMIERE. Just imagine... Teen moms becoming urban farmers. Utopia? Not in Detroit. Nature is taking over the city and the new generation is taught to harvest its profit. (THUR- 2PM)

Neshoba
dir. by Micki Dickoff (Los Angeles, CA) & Tony Pagano (South Salem, NY)
HISTORICAL DOCUMENTARY. a Mississippi town still divided about the meaning of justice, 40 years after the murders of civil rights workers, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, an event drmatized in the Oscar-winning film, Mississippi Burning. (FRI- 2PM)

Sweet Justice
dir. by Kelly Grey (Dallas, TX) COMEDY. Shot in Dallas. Child support detectives on the job. (FRI- 10AM)

The Good Fight: James Farmer Remembers the Civil Rights Movement
dir. by Jessica Schoenbaechler (Dallas, TX). BIO-DOCUMENTARY. Chronicle of Farmer’s life from his earliest days as a "Great Debater" at Wiley College to his legacy teaching a new generation of students about the movement that shaped a country. (THUR- 4PM)

Unequal

dir. by John White (Compton, CA)
CHRISTIAN ROMANCE COMEDY. After learning of a "church girl" (Candace) who's "saving herself for marriage,"  a playboy (Urban) decides to pursue her in order to become her "first." (FRI-8PM).

SHORT FILMS


A Voice of the People

dir. by LaDonna Castro (Dallas, TX)
BIO-DOCUMENTARY. The story of Norma Adams-Wade, the first full-time African-American staff writer for the Dallas Morning News.

All Out
dir. by O'Shea" Myles (Long Beach, CA)
WORLD PREMIERE. DRAMA. After catching their daughter with a man, two lesbian parents come to terms with their daughter’s heterosexuality. (FRI- 10PM)

Always With You
dir. by Troy warwell (CA)
TEXAS PREMIERE.  DRAMA. A man is left by his wife after his neglect causes their 4-year-old son to be involved in a fatal accident. (SAT-4PM)

Asbury Park
dir. by Robert Andersen (Jersey City, NJ) TEXAS PREMIERE.
DRAMA. A young man returns to his hometown seeking redemption and forgiveness for the wrongs of his past. While his mother greets his return happily, he must struggle to rebuild his relationship with his brother, just as the town around him struggles to rebuild itself. (FRI-10PM)

Change

dir. by Jay Rodriguez (Jackson, NJ)
WORLD PREMIERE. DRAMA. A film reflecting upon the point of view of young and deprived individuals. Becoming a product of their environment is an all too common experience but it's not something that is etched in stone. (SAT-6PM)

Changing

dir. by Lela Bell (Plano, TX)
WORLD PREMIERE. DRAMA. Scott and Aliza Holt relocate to Texas in 1983, and discover that being an interracial family in the South is an added battle they didn't expect. (FRI-4PM).

Empty Space

dir. by Rob Underhill (Raleigh, NC,) TEXAS PREMIERE.
DRAMA. Every morning Mike wakes like this. Soon after, the voices in his mind wake too. Vivid recollections, situations, and each scene he acts out on a bare stage. (FRI-6PM)

Forgive Us Our Transgressions
dir. by Walter Richardson (Los Angeles, CA)
WORLD PREMIERE.
DRAMA. FORGIVENESS. 20-year-old African-American college student who’s haunted by the lynching of a relative in the South and has to choose between moving forward or avenging the unpunished crime when he has the opportunity to confront the perpetrator who is responsible. (SAT-4PM)

Free Meal

dir. by Evita Castine (Los Angeles, CA)   TEXAS PREMIERE.
COMEDY/ DRAMA. Andre Cox thinks that with his high school graduation approaching life is going to get easier for him in inner-city Los Angeles, but his older sister has other plans. (SAT-4PM)

Go Getta!

dir. by Sean Phillips (Houston, TX) WORLD PREMIERE.
DRAMA/ COMEDY. Beautiful young professional female has led a partying life, and anxiously awaits the results of an HIV test. (FRI-4PM)

Grace
dir. by Steven Mondesir (Irvington, NJ) WORLD PREMIERE.
DRAMA. After helping an old girlfriend in desperate need, young man is forced to recall a painful past. (SAT 6PM)

In Retrospect...

dir. by Logan Coles (Brooklyn, NY) WORLD PREMIERE. DRAMA. Unexpected passing of young woman forces an uncomfortable reunion between her estranged jazz-been husband and her emotionally detached daughter. (FRI-10PM)

Jitters
dir. by Jason S. Williams (Winter Parl, FL) WORLD PREMIERE.
DRAMA. FORGIVENESS. Black woman asks estranged father to give her away at her wedding. Discussion of her marrying a white man The film deals with issues of race, religion, abandonment, cultural differences and forgiveness. (SAT 6PM)

Jodi
dir. by Jordan Auten (Van Nuys, CA) TEXAS PREMIERE. DRAMA.
INSPIRATIONAL/ RACE. While at the neighborhood grocery store with her 6-year-old daughter Lux, Jodi confronts her past when she unexpectedly runs into the love of her life. (SAT 4PM)

Letters From Home
dir. by Keva Keyes (Goose Creek, SC) TEXAS PREMIERE.
PATRIOTIC DRAMA.  A team of U.S. Army soldiers deployed to a remote base in Afghanistan anxiously await mail call. It's through this encounter we get to know team members and witness the effects the letters have on them. (SAT 6PM)

Memoirs of a Black Latina

dir. by Crystal Roman (Staten Island, NY) WORLD PREMIERE.
An intimate portrait of 4 voices that have yet to be heard and their inner most thoughts and feelings towards their Triple Minority Status. Memoirs characters are based upon four emotions (Anger, Sad, Love and Empowered). (THUR 8PM)

Nobody Has to Know

dir. by Julian Walker (Davidson, NC) TEXAS PREMIERE.
DRAMA. Silent film about a man steps outside of his marriage and has an affair with another man. When his wife gets pregnant he calls off the affair. However, a phone call a month later reveals that the affair may stay with him for the rest of his life. (FRI 10PM)

Nothing More, Nothing Less
dir. by Dui Jarrod (New Orleans, LA) WORLD PREMIERE.  ROMANCE. The beautiful story of a young woman dealing with the death of her fiancé and the secrets that may never allow her to love again. (SAT-6PM)

Online
dir. by Keith Purvis (Chicago, IL) WORLD PREMIERE. COMEDY/ EXPERIMENTAL. ONLINE takes viewers along for the ride of a whirlwind romance that spotlights two fashionable 20-somethings who meet, fall in love, get married and get divorced all in a matter of seven minutes. (SAT-4PM)

Osvaldo's
dir. by Randy Wilkins (Bronx, NY) TEXAS PREMIERE. COMEDY ROMANTIC. Hispanic widower dates younger woman and addresses the difficulty his young daughter has with the new relationship. (THUR-8PM)

Painting Poetry
dir. by Earl Latchley (Houston, TX) ROMANCE. A poetic tale that tells the story of a painter struggling to cope with the loss of his beloved. (FRI-6PM)

Picnic
dir. by Alexandra Thomas (Austin, TX) COMEDY. Two black documentary film makers covering the story of a white supremacist sect. (FRI-10PM)

Proven Guilty
dir. by Kalyce Simpson (Dallas, TX) HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT FILM. DRAMA MYSTERY. (THUR-10AM)

Ralph, Esq.
dir. by Corey Shields (Houston, TX) WORLD PREMIERE. DRAMA. Attorney gives up his career to live the life of an amusement clown. (FRI-4PM)

Renouncing Angelica

dir. by Temi Ojo (CA) TEXAS PREMIERE.
CHRISTIAN ROMANCE. Best Short Film Port Harcourt, Nigeria 2009 (Film Festival) Gold Lion Film Festival WINNER Director's Award Swaziland, South Africa. Man falls in love with woman for whom he was a bone marrow donor.  (FRI-8PM)

Shades of Gray

dir. Sharon Hill (Los Angeles, CA) DRAMA ROMANCE. TEXAS PREMIERE.
Two inter-racial couples (WM-BF and BM-WF) examine each persons individual perspective on the relationships. Brilliantly written and acted. (THUR-8PM)

Sounds of Poetry
dir. by Henderson Maddox (Atlanta, GA) TEXAS PREMIERE.
DRAMA INSPIRATIONAL. Features Robin Givens. Young girl endures household with drugs and abuse, and uses her ability to write poetry as an escape which proves cathartic.  (FRI-6PM)

Steps
dir. by Barney Cheng (West Hollywood, CA) TEXAS PREMIERE.
CHRISTIAN. Young black girl is saved by the steps of Hispanic woman. (SAT-4PM)

Strait Talk

dir. by Chris Howell (Arlington, TX) WORLD PREMIERE.
Shot in Dallas. TV Pilot/ Talk show. (FRI-10AM)

Sugarman Fly High
dir. Robert Lavenstein (MD) WORLD PREMIERE.
DRAMA Young man discovers his estranged Aunt lives nearby and seeks her advice and 
guidance. He discovers a family secret that has been silenced 
by his father for over thirty years. (SAT-6PM)

Tags
dir. by Dominique DeLeon (Brooklyn, NY) WORLD PREMIERE.
SHORT "STREET BIOGRAPHY" Story of the commitment of a young graffiti artist to her craft. (FRI-10PM)

Thank You For Washing

dir. by Camille Brown (Los Angeles, CA) WORLD PREMIERE.
COMEDY/ ROMANCE. Brilliant short about a germaphobic office worker who falls in love with a co-worker.  (THUR-10AM; FRI-6PM)

The Funeral
dir. by Iverson White (Shorewood, WI) TEXAS PREMIERE.
A woman's husband dies and his girlfriend shows up at the funeral. How will the wife react? (SAT-4PM)

The Man in the Glass Case

dir. by Maxwell Addae (Los Angeles, CA) TEXAS PREMIERE.
DRAMATIC NARRATIVE FICTION.  James, an emotionally detached warehouse employee commits an irrational violent act against a co-worker, resulting in a confrontation with his boss that challenges his apathetic view of life. (FRI-4PM)

The New 20's
dir. by Maurice Dwyer  (North Hollywood, CA) WORLD PREMIERE.
WOMEN DRAMA MATURE ADULT Six friends, now all in their thirties, navigate through life’s trials and triumphs,dealing with real world issues they had not faced in college, or even in their twenties.  (SAT-4PM)

The Night We Died

dir. by Ron Gonzalez (TX) WORLD PREMIERE.
ROMANCE. Young professional man is faced with the difficult decision of what to do when once advised by an angel that someone he loves will be called to heaven. (FRI-6PM)

The Secret
dir. by Daria James (Houston, TX) DALLAS PREMIERE (FRI-4PM)

Type O
dir. by Brianna Brown (Mississauga, ON Canada) U.S. PREMIERE.
DRAMA INSPIRATIONAL. Divorcee is faced with challenge when her daughter who suffers from sickle-cell anemia  requires a blood transfusion, and the only potential donor is the girl’s Caucasian new step-mother. (FRI-6PM)

Unspoken
dir. by Rocky McKoy (Landover, MD) TEXAS PREMIERE.
ROMANCE DRAMA. A husband and wife struggle with a dying relationship while the husband is unable to communicate his pain.  (SAT-4PM)

Who Would You?

dir. by Todd Eric Valcourt (Los Angeles, CA)  TEXAS PREMIERE.
COMEDY ADULT A husband and wife who go a little too far while talking about each other's secret desires. (SAT-4PM)

You Better Run
dir. by David Beier (Natchitoches, LA) TEXAS PREMIERE.
DRAMA COURAGE. Aspiring college student has a run-in while on his way to an interview that will test his courage and perseverance.  (FRI-Noon)

DOCUMENTARIES


A Voice of the People, Biography of Norma Adams-Wade
dir. by LaDonna Castro (Plano, TX) Biography of the life of the first African-American female staff writer for the Dallas Morning News.  (THUR-10AM)

Black Soldiers in Blue
dir. by Warren Bass (Philadelphia, PA) TEXAS PREMIERE.
The story of the recruitment of black volunteers and their training at Camp William Penn, the first and largest federal training camp for black soldiers during the American Civil War. (FRI-Noon)

Can She Be Saved?

dir. by Yasmin Shiraz (Chantilly, VA) TEXAS PREMIERE.
Youth Activist, Yasmin Shiraz, interviews middle school girls who have been labeled as 'aggressive' and finds out the reasons behind their explosive behavior. (THUR-10AM)

Carry Me Home

dir. by Channing Godfrey Peoples (Dallas, TX)
Reveals the elaborate tradition of African-American funeral homes burying the dead in grand flair.  (FRI-10AM)

Ebony Goddess: Queen of Ile Aiye
dir. by Carolina Moraes-Liu (Bahia, Brazil) TEXAS PREMIERE.
This is a story of three young women competing for the title of Ebony Goddess in the largest urban black city outside Africa, Salvador da Bahia, Brazil. (THUR 8PM)

Herskovitz – At The Heart of Blackness

dir. by Smith, Brown & Sommers (CA) TEXAS THEATRICAL PREMIERE.
Special screening co-sponsored by Dallas Holocaust Museum. Biography of the Jewish professor credited with founding the academia of modern-day African-American studies.  (THUR- 6:15)

Inside Buffalo

dir. Fred Kuwornu (Rome, Italy) TEXAS PREMIERE.
Inside look at the African-American soldiers of World War II, and the social discrimination they endured. (FRI-Noon)

Nourishing The Kids Of Katrina - The Edible Schoolyard

dir. by Robert Grant (Sacramento, CA) WORLD PREMIERE.
Chef/educator Alice Waters' "edible schoolyard" program improves the emotional and physical health of African-American adolescents at a Hurricane Katrina ravaged grammar school. (THUR-4PM)

One Square Mile
dir. by Carl Crum (Fort Worth, TX)  DALLAS PREMIERE. The Lake Como community in Fort Worth, Texas; a neighborhood born out of segregation a century ago, now tries to cope with surrounding development and the effects of its heritage. (THUR-2PM)

Pray For Eric 

dir. by Ken Wyatt TEXAS PREMIERE.
NY-based filmmaker decides to visit his rural North Carolina neighbors who "allegedly" supported or sympathized with serial bomber Eric Rudolph. (THUR-4PM)

ANIMATION

O Pintor de Ceos (The Painter of Skies)
dir. by Jorge Morias Valle (Vigo-Pontevedra, SPAIN) WORLD PREMIERE.
DRAMA MYSTERY. A crazy painter, marked by his past, and his faithful assistant try to find a solution against perpetual storms. (FRI-2PM)

 

ReelAbilities

The Second Annual ReelAbilities: NY Disabilities Film Festival is running January 28 through February 1, 2010, at The JCC in Manhattan at 334 Amsterdam Avenue, and at other locations throughout the New York metropolitan area. ReelAbilities is dedicated to promoting awareness and appreciation of the lives, stories and artistic expressions of people with different abilities.

The festival presents award-winning films, discussions and other engaging programs to bring the community together to explore, discuss and celebrate the diversity of our shared human experience.

The award winning animated feature Mary & Max, directed by Adam Elliot, opens the festival on January 28. This clay-animated film tells the story of a pen-friendship between a lonely 8-year-old girl in Melbourne and a 44-year-old Jewish man with Aspergers Syndrome living in New York.

The Closing Night film is Coming Down the Mountain, directed by Julie Anne Robinson. It's the story of David, a teenager whose 17-year-old brother, Ben, has Down's Syndrome, and how the family's world revolves around Ben's needs while David's are unwittingly neglected by their parents.

Other films are:

Beeswax, directed by Andrew Bujalski, a story of twin sisters who share a house, and their loves and dilemmas.
   
Among the Giants, directed by Cory Tomascoff, about the Adaptive Design Association, a nonprofit organization that builds customized equipment for kids and adults with disabilities, mainly using cardboard.

Nobody's Perfect, directed by Niko von Glasow. This documentary follows von Glasow as he looks for 11 people who, like him, were born disabled due to the side-effects of Thalidomide, and who are prepared to pose — naked — for a book of photos.

Shooting Beauty, directed by George Kachadorian, a documentary of fashion photographer Courtney Bent, who discovered a hidden world of beauty at a center for people living with significant disabilities, and began inventing cameras accessible to her new friends.

White Balance, directed by Dorit Hakim, is the story of a 12-year-old with a deep passion for ice skating, who is slowly losing his hearing, and therefore his balance, but refuses to give up his dream.

Henry O!, directed by Ziad H. Hamzeh, a documentary about Enrique (Henry) Oliu, a blind baseball commentator, who hears the crack of the bat and knows if it's a single, double or home run.

Zig-Zag Love, directed by Gillies Mackinnon. This is a love story about a relationship between a teenage cancer patient and a girl with cerebral palsy.

The Hunger House, directed by Justin Edgar, a moving short film touching on the dehumanization of people with disabilities by the Nazis during World War II.

All films are followed by discussion with filmmakers and speakers.

Other events:

Crooked Beauty
Following a screening of this excerpt from the work-in-progress film, Jonah Bossewitch, Ashley McNamara, and Annie Robinson of the Icarus Project will discuss viewing "mental illness" as a disability versus The Icarus Project's vision of a new culture and language that resonates with their actual experience of "mental illness". This panel explores questions of creativity and "madness," "divers-ability" and normality, mutual aid and biomedical psychiatry.

Flame
A band made up of 11 musicians/performers with developmental and physical disabilities.

Infinity Dance
A non-traditional dance company featuring dancers with and without disabilities

Gimp
Choreographer Heidi Latsky presents a roster of performers who embody unique physical virtuosity.
   
To Be Seen
An original theater piece written and performed by The Creative Alternatives NY (CANY) and The JCC in Manhattan's Adaptations Drama Group.

Music for Autism
An Interactive, "Autism Friendly" Concert with Tony Award-winner Jarrod Emick and singer/guitar player Andrew Ross.

Practical Guide to Autism
Author discussion and book signing with Dr. Fred Volkmar.

Seeing with Photography
The Seeing with Photography Collective is a group of photographers based in New York City who range from sighted to visually impaired and and totally blind.
 
Kids Club Art Exhibit
Featuring self- portraits created by the children of the Kids Club for Special Children.

For more information, visit www.reelabilities.org.

ReelAbilities: NY Disabilities Film Festival
January 28 through February 1, 2010


The JCC Manhattan
334 Amsterdam Avenue
New York Cit
y

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