Echoes of War

May 11, 2013 By Leave a Comment

River Raisin Centre for the Arts presents Echoes of War

On Saturday, June 22, the River Raisin Centre for the Arts will present Echoes of War. An evening of history and beauty, the multimedia event celebrates the rich history of Monroe and the region’s pivotal role in the history of the United States of America.

Echoes of War will approach the pivotal battle during the War of 1812  from both a literary and an historical standpoint, in grateful remembrance of the toils and risks of those who made possible our freedom today. The conflict will be remembered with exhilarating performances by dance companies, musicians, choral groups, poetry and spoken word.

The performance is based upon the poems, not of great poets, but upon “the simple, home-spun effusions of the American Muse breathing the spirit of time: contributions to contemporary papers by subscribers, who in most cases, would not even sign their names.”

The poetry used in this production are taken from a collection of poems relating to evens of our last war with England entitled: “War: Echoes of 1812-13,” found in the Published Quarterly by St. John’s University, Toledo, Ohio.

Echoes of War is produced by the River Raisin Centre for the Performing Arts and the Monroe County Historical Museum. You can enjoy a preview video on YouTube.

“Dance and the performing arts have the power to not only encode memory, but also evoke it.” — Lora Wilson Mau

 

Filed Under: Community, Education, Film, History, Spotlight, Video, Who We Are Tagged With: ,

The Poet – The Green Room

March 30, 2013 By Leave a Comment

“Undercurrent” is the latest of poems by Victor “Billione” Walker, a native Detroit writer and activist who uses poetry as a method to share his cultural experiences. He is the founder and editor of Detroit Poetry Blog detroitpoetry.blogspot.com a source of information about poetry related events and venues in the Detroit Area. “Billione” will be releasing a collection of poetry entitled “Grand River” later this year.

PRODUCER NOTE: In an effort to remain true to the poet’s vision the location of each image was suggested by Mr. Walker.

ZOO WATER TOWER PICTURE: by William Archie used with the kind permission of the Detroit Free Press.

All other images by Roy Feldman.

The Green Room series is produced by Roy Feldman for Detroit Performs. To see more artists in the Green Room, please click here.

Filed Under: Detroit Inspires, Film, Photography, Reviews, Video, Words Tagged With: , , , ,

Four Strings Like You’ve Never Heard

March 2, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Jake Shimabukuro

In the hands of a master, the ukulele can be a most amazing musical instrument. Its four strings are capable of sounding like a classical guitar or like the rhythm section of a jazz ensemble or a sound only a uke can make.

In the hands of Jake Shimabukuro, the ukulele is all that and then something else entirely. The instrument becomes a portal to special world where music brings people together in a very special way.

Experience for Jake Shimabukoro: Life on Four Strings comes to Detroit Public Television Channel 56 on Sunday, May 12 at 5 p.m. The program tells  the heartfelt story of a musical sensation who has catapulted the ukulele to never-before-imagined heights as he touches the lives of the young and old who inspire his brilliance.

Learn more online and catch the trailer at www.lifeonfourstrings.com.

In Michigan, ukulele’s have become a craze on the local music scene. They can be relatively inexpensive to buy and easy to play and learn. Some stores are catching the wave and sponsor “Intro to the Ukulele” classes. A number of adult summer music camps are also offering ukulele programs, as well.

 

Filed Under: Film, Jazz, Music, Popular, Video, Who We Are, World Tagged With: , , , ,

Day Tripper Film Series

February 27, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Cave of Forgotten Dreams by Werner Herzog

Cranbrook Art Museum describes its new “Day Tripper” film series as “Art House Cinema, Close to Home.”

As those who appreciate the cinematic arts and sciences, we agree wholeheartedly. And if you’re anywhere in Southeast Michigan and enjoy the finest in filmmaking, we think you’ll agree.

The Day Tripper Film Series will run on Sunday afternoons and will begin at 2:30 p.m. by showcasing video and film shorts from current Cranbrook Academy of Art students. The feature film will follow at 3 p.m.

The films will be presented in deSalle Auditorium using Cranbrook Art Museum’s new state-of-the-art high-definition projector and screen ensuring an incomparable visual experience.

The films scheduled are:

February 10: “Paris, Texas” by Wim Wenders

February 24: “Slacker” by Richard Linklater

March 10: “Cave of Forgotten Dreams” by Werner Herzog (image pictured above)

March 24: “Wild at Heart” by David Lynch

 The “Day Tripper” film series is curated and introduced by Cranbrook Academy of Art student Chanel Von Habsburg-Lothringen. The program works in tandem with the current exhibition, “From Here to There: Alec Soth’s America.” The films presented ask the viewer to reconsider our shared conventions of the American road trip and to examine the characters we encounter along the way who become the center of our experience.

Each film is free with museum admission.

Thank you for the heads-up to David and Kathleen Marcaccio, publishers of the Weekly eCalendar of Detroit History and Cultural Heritage Events.

 

Filed Under: Art & Design, Culture, Film, Reviews, Video, Who We Are Tagged With: , , , , ,

Voices of Light

January 11, 2013 By Leave a Comment

RSC presents Voices of Light

Rackham Symphony Choir and the Friends of the Detroit Film Theatre present Voices of Light on March 23, 2013. In the multimedia production, Carl Dreyer’s silent film masterpiece “La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc” will be screened as the 80-voice Rackham Symphony Choir and the Detroit Winds & Strings perform a powerful oratorio composed by Richard Einhorn.

Einhorn’s score is built around a series of texts by women writers of the Middle Ages. The composer brings to it a combination of historical research in medieval chant and his keen appreciation of musical minimalism. The libretto is a montage of ancient writings, which vary in language, from Latin to Ancient and Middle French. The film about the life and times of Joan of Arc is presented with English subtitles.

Elliot Wilhelm, Curator of Film, Detroit Institute of Arts says of the film, “Highlighted by Renee Falconetti’s still-astonishing performance, director Carl Th. Dreyer’s silent masterwork The Passion of Joan of Arc remains one of the world’s great films, a pioneering example of how motion pictures can explore the deepest emotions of its characters through a combination of brilliant acting, cinematography, editing and direction. As magnificent as it is when seen as a purely silent film.”

Wilhelm adds, “Dreyer’s creation assumes yet an even richer dimension when presented with Richard Einhorn’s inspired musical oratorio Voices of Light. This overwhelming combination of film and live musical performance generates a unique, sybaritic, stunningly emotional pull that is unparalleled in my own moviegoing experience.”

Wilhelm will give a pre curtain introduction to the film at the event at 8 p.m. on Saturday, March 23. The performance features a 70-member choir, 8 soloists and members of the Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings under the direction of Rackham Symphony Choir’s Artistic and Musical Director, Suzanne Mallare Acton.

Voices of Light takes place in the Auditorium at the Detroit Institute of Arts, 5400 Woodward Avenue, Detroit. Patrons can enter the John R entrance to the Auditorium. Tickets are $25. There is also a Dress Rehearsal on Friday, March 22 at 8 p.m. Tickets for the Dress Rehearsal on Friday are $18. Both can be purchased at www.dia.org/dft or by calling the DIA Box Office at 313.833.4005.

Rackham has twice performed Voices of Light for sold out houses at The State Theatre and the historic Redford Theatre. The Metro Times said of the combination, “Dreyer belatedly joined by a worthy collaborator and, seen live, should be quite literally a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

Featured soloists include Emily Bennett (Grass Lake) , Elizabeth Cedroni (Macomb), Annie Klark (Canton) and Carol Ambrogio Wood (Grosse Pointe Park), as the voice of Joan; soprano Angela Theis (Grosse Pointe Woods) and mezzo-soprano Monica Swartout-Bebow (Ann Arbor) , joined by tenor Brian White (Plymouth) and bass Errin Brooks (Sterling Heights).

Composer Richard Einhorn calls Voices of Light “a celebration of female spirituality and heroism.” The film brings to life the trial and end of life of Joan and the oratorio brings a voice to Joan. Joan of Arc, born in 1412, was an illiterate young woman who led an army, was burned at the stake, and long after her untimely death, was canonized a saint. She was guided by divine voices – a core element in Einhorn’s piece. The performance is presented in March to celebrate Women’s History Month.

The film, La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc has its own mysterious and miraculous history. Months after it premiered in 1928, the negative was destroyed in a fire. Dreyer painstakingly assembled a second version only for it too to be lost to fire. In 1981 a copy of the original version of the film was discovered in a closet in an asylum in Norway and the film was restored in 1985. The film is cited as one of the top ten films of all time as it revolutionized modern filmmaking and influenced many contemporary filmmakers.

The Rackham Symphony Choir is supported in part by grants from the Kresge Foundation, The Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation, the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and the National Endowment for the Arts. The Detroit Film Theatre is presented by Buddy’s Pizza.

More information on Voices of Light and the Rackham Symphony Choir is available at www.rackhamchoir.org.

Filed Under: Classical, Culture, Film, History, Music, Reviews, Theatre, Words Tagged With: , , ,

More Than a Month, Black History Is Year-Round

January 7, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Shukree Hassan Tilghman - More Than a Month

The Carr Center hosted a DVD Release Party featuring filmmaker Shukree Hassan Tilghman and his film “More Than a Month.”

In the film, Mr. Tilghman proposes that Black History Month should not be considered as the only time Americans consider the contributions of African Americans to progress. Rather, the figures, events and stories should be taught as part of history, year round.

Held Friday, Feb. 7, the evening consisted of a screening of the film, a question and answer period and an opportunity to personally “Meet the Artists”. Tickets for the event were $10 and included a copy of the DVD. Tickets were available at the Carr Center, located at 311 E. Grand River in downtown Detroit’s Paradise Valley/Harmonie Park.

While in Detroit, Mr. Tilghman worked with and presented the film and DVD to students from local high schools. Those sessions also took place at the Carr Center.

From the Carr Center:

 “INDEPENDENT LENS: MORE THAN A MONTH” on DVD. Should Black History Month be ended? That’s the question explored by African American filmmaker Shukree Hassan Tilghman as he embarks on a cross-country campaign to do just that. Both amusing and thought provoking, “MORE THAN A MONTH” examines what the treatment of history tells us about race and power in contemporary America and asks the questions: How do we justify teaching American history as somehow separate from African American history? What does it mean that we have a Black History Month? What would it mean if we didn’t?

More Than a Month aired on the Public Broadcasting Service “Independent Lens” series.

Shukree Hassan Tilghman, a 29-year-old African-American filmmaker, sets out on a cross-country campaign to end Black History Month. He stops in various cities, wearing a sandwich board, to solicit signatures on his petition to end the observance. He explains that relegating Black History Month to the coldest, shortest month of the year is an insult, and that black history is not separate from American history. Through this thoughtful and humorous journey, he explores what the treatment of history tells us about race and equality in a “post-racial” America.

His road trip begins in Washington, D.C., crisscrosses the country during Black History Month 2010, and ends with an epilogue one year later. Each stop along the journey explores Black History Month as it relates to four ideas: education, history, identity, and commercialism.

Tilgman’s campaign to end Black History Month is actually a provocative gambit to open a public conversation about the idea of ethnic heritage months, and whether relegating African American history to the shortest month of the year — and separating it from American history on the whole — denigrates the role of black people and black culture throughout American history. But it is also a seeker’s journey to reconcile his own conflicting feelings about his own identity, history, and convictions.

More Than a Month is not just about a yearly tradition, or history, or being black in America. It is about what it means to be an American, to fight for one’s rightful place in the American landscape, however unconventional the means, even at the risk of ridicule or misunderstanding. It is a film is about discovering oneself.

Click here to learn more.

Filed Under: Film, History, Reviews, Video, Who We Are, Words Tagged With: ,

Julie Dash selects ‘Funny Valentines’

January 7, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Julie Dash WSU Professor and Hollywood Filmmaker

Filmmaker and educator Julie Dash discusses her work in a special presentation on Saturday at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. The program, “Julie Dash Selects: A Retrospective Celebration featuring “Funny Valentines,” begins at 2 p.m. in the General Motors Theater.

From the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History:

Filmmaker and Wayne State University Allesee Professor in Residence Julie Dash, director of the classic Daughters of the Dust, the first film by an African American woman to receive a general theatrical release in the U.S., will introduce one of the many films from her remarkable career, Funny Valentines (1999), starring Alfre Woodard, Loretta Devine and CCH Pounder. The film screening will be followed by a Q&A with Ms. Dash.

This event is free and open to the public, and is presented in partnership with Wayne State University.

 About the Filmmaker

Julie Dash is a filmmaker, music video and commercial director, author and multimedia creator. Her landmark first feature — Daughters of the Dust (1991) — was the first film by an African American woman to receive a general theatrical release in the U.S., and the Library of Congress named it to the National Film Registry in 2004. Set at the dawn of the 20th century, the film chronicles two pivotal days in the life of the Peazant family, descendants of enslaved Africans, as they prepare to leave their island home off the seacoast of the Southern U.S. and make their journey to the mainland. The emotionally charged drama explores the unique culture and heritage of the Gullah people as it brings to life the conflict and struggles that confront every family leaving their homeland for the promise of a better future.

Dash began her film studies at the Studio Museum in Harlem in 1969, receiving her B.A. in film production from the City College of New York in 1974. She went on to become a fellow at the American Film Institute’s Center for Advanced Film Studies before earning her M.F.A. in film and television production at UCLA in 1985. In 1977 she made The Diary of an African Nun, a film based on a short story by Alice Walker, which won a student award from the Directors Guild of America. Dash’s critically acclaimed short film Illusions (1982) won the Black Filmmakers Foundation Jury Prize for Best Film of the Decade. Her 2004 short film Brothers of the Borderland is on permanent exhibition at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Her roster of television films includes the romantic thriller Incognito (1999), the domestic drama Funny Valentines (1999), Love Song (2000) featuring R&B singer Monica Arnold, and The Rosa Parks Story (2002), starring Angela Bassett, which was nominated for an NAACP Image Award. She has directed music videos for Tony! Toni! Toné!, Keb’ Mo’, Peabo Bryson, Adriana Evans, Sweet Honey in the Rock and Tracy Chapman. She is slated to direct the feature film Tupelo 77, which is scheduled to begin production in summer 2013.

 

Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History

315 East Warren Avenue

Detroit, Michigan 48201

The Wright Museum™ | TheWright.org

Filed Under: Detroit Inspires, Film, History, Reviews, Who We Are Tagged With: , , ,

Lenore Marwil Jewish Film Festival

January 5, 2013 By Leave a Comment

AAFF presents She Gone Rogue

You don’t have to be Jewish or religious to enjoy the outstanding cinema presented at the 2013 Lenore Marwil Jewish Film Festival. This year’s festival includes 29 feature subjects, each of which will move hearts and leave lasting impressions on minds.

Screenings started Sunday and run through Thursday, April 18. Films will screen at the Berman Center for the Performing Arts on the West Bloomfield campus of the Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit.

2013 Lenore Marwil Jewish Film Festival Line-Up

Sunday, April 7

Hava Nagila (The Movie) 12 p.m. (75 min)

Tevye 2 p.m. (96 min)

Kinderblock 66: Return to Buchenwald 5 p.m. (87 min)

A Bottle in the Gaza Sea 8 p.m. (100 min)

Monday, April 8

A People Uncounted: The Untold Story of the Roma 2 p.m. (99 min)

God’s Neighbors (HaMashgihim) 8:30 p.m. (86 min)

Tuesday, April 9

Numbered 2 p.m. (55 min)

AKA Doc Pomus 5 p.m. (98 min)

The Flat (Ha-Dira) 8 p.m. (97 min)

Wednesday, April 10

The Boys of Terezin 2 p.m. (51 min)

Torn 5 p.m. (72 min)

The Other Son 8 p.m. (105 min)

Friday, April 12

Invisible (Lo Roim Alaich) 12 p.m. (90 min)

Sonny Boy 2 p.m. (140 min)

Saturday, April 13

Blank Bullet 9 p.m. (100 min)

Sunday, April 14

Hello I Must Be Going 12 p.m. (95 min)

By Summer’s End (Ad Sof Hakaitz) 2 p.m. (95 min)

SPECIAL COMMUNITY-WIDE, YOM HAZIKARON CEREMONY, NO CHARGE 5:30 p.m.

Follow Me: The Yoni Netanyahu Story 8 p.m. (84 min)

Monday, April 15

Kaddish for a Friend 2 p.m. (94 min)

One Day After Peace 5 p.m. (86 min)

Life In Stills (HaTzalmania) 8 p.m. (60 min)

Tuesday, April 16

The Price of Kings: Shimon Peres 2 p.m. (78 min)

Belarus: A Trip and Besa: The Promise 5 p.m. (95 min)

Yossi 8 p.m. (84 min)

Wednesday, April 17

Take Us Home 2 p.m. (70 min)

Lipstikka 5 p.m. (90 min)

My Best Enemy 8 p.m. (109 min)

Thursday, April 18

Mendelsohn’s Incessant Visions 2 p.m. (71 min)

The Ballad of the Weeping Spring (Balada Le’Aviv Ha’Bohe) 5 p.m. (105 min)

The Day I Saw Your Heart 8 p.m. (98 min)

For tickets and more information, click here.

Filed Under: Community, Culture, Film, History, Reviews Tagged With: ,

A Separation

January 3, 2013 By Leave a Comment

DIA-presents-A-Separation

The Detroit Institute of Arts presents “A Separation,” winner of the 2012 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2012, on Thursday at 7 p.m. Written and directed by Asghar Farhadi, the film stars Leila Hatami (photo), Peyman Moaadi, Shahab Hosseini, Sareh Bayat and Sarina Farhadi.

A Separation is an Iranian Rashomon – a searing family drama that morphs into a gripping legal thriller. Married couple Simin (Leila Hatami) and Nader (Peyman Moadi) manage to obtain coveted visas to leave Iran for a life in the United States, where Simin hopes to provide a more promising future to their 11-year-old daughter. But Nader isn’t comfortable abandoning his sick father; to help him care for the old man, Nader hires a deeply religious woman who takes the job unbeknownst to her husband; almost immediately there are complications, culminating in an unexpected incident that challenges our own perceptions of who (if anyone) is to blame, what really happened, and what the legal and moral implications may be. Academy Award®, Best Foreign Language Film. In Persian with English subtitles. (123 min.)

 “A remarkably poised marital thriller, full of surprise developments. A film of great power and subtlety.” –Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian (UK)

Admission to this performance is free for DIA members. Click here for reservations.

Presented in conjunction with the DIA special exhibition Shirin Neshat, opening April 7th, 2013. This exhibition is organized by the Detroit Institute of Arts. Generous support has been provided by the MetLife Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. Additional support has been provided by the City of Detroit.

 

Filed Under: Community, Culture, Film, Reviews, Who We Are Tagged With: , , , ,

Ann Arbor Film Festival

January 2, 2013 By Leave a Comment

AAFF presents She Gone Rogue

Recognized from Hollywood to Bollywood as one of the world’s great film exhibitions, the Ann Arbor Film Festival opens Tuesday. Ken Burns, Ann Arbor native and documentary filmmaker guru, will be a featured guest at this year’s festival.

Celebrating its 51st year, the AAFF is a showcase for quality filmmaking as well as for innovative work. This year, 238 films from 17 nations will screen over the course of six days. The works span the cinematic spectrum, with “art” films, narrative films, documentaries, animated and live action shorts. Animation Night is Friday, March 22.

Those who enjoy cinema also will want to catch two panel discussions on the current state of film writing and film criticism.

The festival runs through Sunday, March 24. Get full details here.

The image above is a still from “Girls Gone Rogue.”

 

Filed Under: Community, Culture, Film, Reviews Tagged With: ,
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