From: Ariella Ben-Dov (email suppressed)
Date: Fri Nov 06 2009 - 07:13:04 PST
Dear Colleagues I hope you will come to the 33rd Annual Margaret Mead Film
& Video Festival at the American Museum of Natural History Nov 12-15.
http://www.amnh.org/programs/mead/2009/
The Festival holds many gems this year ‹ Travel the world all from the
comfort of the Museum‹ where you can get to know the people and places from
Mauritania to Mumbai, from Chongqing, China, to St. Petersburg, Russia, and
from the Gulf Coast of southern Florida to right next door in Brooklyn.
We¹ll follow the length of a race-track that starts in Paris and ends in
Dakar Senegal, pausing to meet with the communities along the way. We¹ll go
north to the Seward Peninsula where a Native Alaskan community comes
together to mourn the impending loss of their land to climate change. A
schoolyard in Brooklyn becomes a battlefield in the War on Terror. And two
historic neighborhoods facing the ugly side of urban renewal, one in
Beijing, the other St. Petersburg. Yu can BUY TICKETS ON LINE
http://www.amnh.org/programs/mead/2009/ or CALL (212) 769-5200.
DO NOT MISS THESE FILMS
Beyond the Game,
http://www.amnh.org/programs/mead/2009/films/beyond-the-game
<http://www.amnh.org/programs/mead/2009/films/beyond-the-game> , directed by
Jos de Putter, goes behind the scenes of the tight-knit and competitive
community of Warcraft III cybergamers, who compete professionally on an
international circuit.
Cooking History
http://www.amnh.org/programs/mead/2009/films/cooking-history
<http://www.amnh.org/programs/mead/2009/films/cooking-history> Tour the
field kitchens on the frontlines of the 20th century¹s battlefields. From
the savory blinis served to Soviet soldiers fighting off the Nazi from
Leningrad to the ³monkey meat² rations fed to French colonial soldiers in
the Algerian War, these recipes shared by war veterans reveal more than how
to feed an army. OPENING NIGHT
Fig Trees http://www.amnh.org/programs/mead/2009/films/fig-trees
<http://www.amnh.org/programs/mead/2009/films/fig-trees> Known for
combining realistic and magical elements in his fiction films, John Greyson
brings his creative powers to documentary. Predicated on the conceit that
Gertrude Stein and Virgil Thomson are writing their 1934 avant-garde opera
³Four Saints in Three Acts² based on the lives of Zackie Achmat of South
African¹s Treatment Action Campaign and Tim McCaskell of Canada¹s AIDS
Action, Fig Trees recounts the history of AIDS activism over the past two
decades.
Hair India http://www.amnh.org/programs/mead/2009/films/hair-india
<http://www.amnh.org/programs/mead/2009/films/hair-india> Every year
thousands of individuals make ritual sacrifices of their hair at temples all
over India. See what happens when this sacred offering becomes a hot
commodity on the international marketplace. CLOSING NIGHT
Intifada NYC http://www.amnh.org/programs/mead/2009/films/intifada-nyc
<http://www.amnh.org/programs/mead/2009/films/intifada-nyc> Hhalil Gibran
International Academy, the first Arabic-language public school in the U.S.,
opened in Brooklyn in 2007. Almost immediately, ³Stop the Madrassa² formed
out of fear that the school would teach radical Islam or even produce
terrorists. As critics and the mainstream media stoked the flames in
post-9/11 America, the controversy forced the school¹s Arab-American Muslim
principal from her job. Weaving together interviews and cinema verité
footage, the film is supplemented by graphic-novel style illustrations of
closed-door proceedings.
Perestroika: Reconstruction of a Flat
http://www.amnh.org/programs/mead/2009/films/perestroika
<http://www.amnh.org/programs/mead/2009/films/perestroika> Once the seat of
the Russian Empire, the Baroque historic center of St. Petersburg is up for
sale. Having had its architectural jewels hacked up into komunalka during
the Communist era, the city is now experiencing the wake of perestroika
reforms, where communal property promises capitalist-sized profits.
Christiane Büchner brings us along for a sardonic ride through the cramped
quarters, peeling-paint hallways, and water-damaged ceilings of Russia¹s new
economy.
The Philosopher Kings
http://www.amnh.org/programs/mead/2009/films/philosopher-kings
<http://www.amnh.org/programs/mead/2009/films/philosopher-kings> , directed
by Patrick Shen. Meet seven men and one woman responsible for keeping the
halls of America¹s universities spic and span. On the job, these ordinary
people share their hardships and heartaches, their joys and triumphs,
reminding us that everyone¹s life offers the opportunity to display heroism.
The Wondrous World of Laundry
http://www.amnh.org/programs/mead/2009/films/wonderous-world-of-laundry
<http://www.amnh.org/programs/mead/2009/films/wonderous-world-of-laundry> ,
directed by Hans-Christian Schmid, visits the Polish border town where
Fliegel Textile provides 24-hour turnaround service to its Berlin hotel
clients. The resulting story exposes how the global marketplace is affecting
small-town eastern Europe, where labor is cheaper and life is harder.
Join us for parties and fun at the 33rd annual Margaret Mead Film & Videos
http://www.amnh.org/programs/mead/2009/
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For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.