2010 Film and Music Festival
Starts: January 20, 2010
Ends: February 21, 2009
Full Description
A COMMUNITY FESTIVAL AND INTERNATIONAL, INTERDISCIPLINARY CURRICULAR INITIATIVE MADE POSSIBLE BY
The Reves Center for International Studies & The Roy E. Charles Center for Interdisciplinary Studies
*SCHEDULE DRAFT 12-9-09*
Pre-Festival Film Series: Wednesday Nights, Jan. 20-February 17, Wiliamsburg Library Theater
Film Festival Weekend: February 18-21st, Kimball Theater
William and Mary's Global Film Festival is an annual, non-profit, free-of-charge cultural event that brings world cultures to Williamsburg through film. The animus for the 2010 festival is "Film and Music" - two of the most popular and powerful forms of expression worldwide. How do motion pictures and music interact? How do they compliment, complicate, and challenge each other? What results from the marriage of the two?
Local audiences can consider these questions through a pre-festival series of five films introduced by William and Mary faculty and then during the Gala festival February 18-21st which will feature film screenings, presentations, guest filmmakers, musicians, musical performances, free banquets and receptions throughout the weekend. This year's festival maintains these core goals:
*Acknowledging and countering the dominant Hollywood film industry by supporting and generating exposure to global film alternatives.
*Showcasing foreign-, student-, and American-produced motion pictures and musical performances that illustrate the dynamics of local, national, and global film and music.
*Assembling an impressive repertoire of international filmmakers, musicians, and dancers to perform live and participate in dialogues with the community.
*Engaging the community in a shared experience, bringing together students, faculty, and a diversity of residents of Williamsburg and the broader Tidewater region.
*Offering a weekend-long Gala that brings together reflection, celebration, and greater understanding of global film, music, and the diversity of our local community.
Under the auspices of The Reves Center for International Studies and The Roy E. Charles Center of Interdisciplinary Studies at College of William and Mary, we hold the Global Film Festival annually to celebrate and foster a better understanding of film's place within the world. The Festival's ultimate goal is to inspire discovery, learning, and conversation while supporting the cultural appreciation of a regional audience.
PRE-FESTIVAL FILM SERIES
Wednesday Nights, 7pm, January 20 - February 17
Williamsburg Library Theater, 515 Scotland Street, Williamsburg Virginia
The 2010 Global Film and Music events will begin in late January with the launching of a pre-festival film series. The series will consist of five films highlighting dynamic relationship between film and music produced in a range of international cinema productions and will run in FREE public screenings at the Williamsburg Regional Library. The series will run in conjunction with a 1-credit course offering in Film Studies at the College, and each film will be introduced with brief presentations by William and Mary faculty (and one visiting scholar/musician).
January 20th
Possibility: Ba wang bie ji/Farewell My Concubine (1993/China, Hong Kong/Kaige Chen/171 min./R)
Considered by many to be one of the best Chinese films ever made, this passionate story of a triangle of love and friendship offers an exceptionally rich aural and visual rendering of Beijing opera while delivering an epic treatment of modern China and its ancient musical traditions simultaneously.
Presented by: Prof. Roy Chen (Modern Languages and Literatures, Chinese)
January 27th Opera Jawa
(2006 / Indonesia, Austria / Garin Nugroho / 120 min. / Not Rated)
Married Javanese Ramayana dancers become part of an operatic love triangle in this exotic, beautiful and innovative musical. Opera Jawa generates a combination of cinema and music like none you've ever seen or heard before.
Presented by: Prof. Arthur Knight (Director of Film Studies)
February 3rd Once
(2006 / Ireland / John Carney / 85 min. / R)
Co-sponsor: Celtic Film Festival
A street musician and an immigrant in contemporary Dublin are falling slowly for each other, one songwriting session at a time. The power of this simple, moving, Academy Award-winning film rests on director John Carney's unique, compelling marriage of his dual loves of music and film.
Presented by: Prof. Christy Burns (English, Women's Studies, and Film Studies)
February 10th Pakeezah
(1972 / India / Kamal Amrohi /126 min. / Not Rated)
Amrohi's opulent yet touching magnum opus tells the story of a talented dancer's journey to escape the brothel in which she was raised - a classic Bollywood "courtesan" film. (Note: be sure not to miss the contemporary Bollywood follow up to this classical 70s-era Bollywood film during the festival weekend: see festival schedule: Thursday Night)
Presented by Prof. Max Katz (Music)
February 17th Tamra Henna
Co-sponsor: Middle East Studies and the Critchfield Endowment
(1957 / Egypt / Hussein Fawzi / 120 min. / Not Rated)
In this Egyptian musical classic of the 1950s, a lower-class gypsy dancer seeks the finer things in
life. The film features Naima Akef, an iconic belly dancer from Egyptian cinema's golden age.
Presented by: Sami Abu Shumays (visiting scholar /Artist in residence and director of
Zikaryat-see festival schedule: Thursday night)
FESTIVAL WEEKEND FILMS & EVENTS
Thursday, February 18 - Sunday, February 21
Kimball Theater, 424 Duke of Gloucester St., Williamsburg, Virginia
Thursday, February 18th
5:30pm: "Worlds of Music in Williamsburg" Community Documentary Project
This screening of student-produced documentaries showcases the world music traditions alive in Williamsburg today, featuring local musicians and community members. Interwoven with the screening of the documentary will be live performances by local musicians and dancers.
7:00pm: "Foods of the World in Williamsburg" Community Banquet
Join us for a free reception featuring foods from around the world, prepared by local restaurants and William & Mary student groups.
8:00pm: Zikaryat: Egyptian Music, Dance, and Film
Co-sponsor: Middle East Studies and The Critchfield Endowment
Led by Visiting Scholar and Artist in Residence Sami Abu Shumays, this event will blend LIVE performance with a film screening for a unique experience of classical Egyptian musicals of the 1950s.
10:00pm: Contemporary Bollywood Film & Dance
Co-sponsor: W&M Southeast Asian Student Association (SASA)
A Match Made by God/ Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi
(2008 / India / Aditya Chopra / 167 min. / Not Rated)
Shahrukh Khan stars in this enchanting Bollywood romantic comedy about a shy office worker who finds love in a young and vivacious woman. An exemplary and wildly popular contemporary Bollywood musical, this film also includes a playful survey of past musical traditions of both Bollywood and Hollywood.
This film will be introduced with a live dance performance by members of William and Mary's Southeast Asian Student Association
Friday, February 19th
3:00pm: Awards Ceremony & Presentations: NiCad Music Video & 24Speed Film Contests
Come see the work of William & Mary student filmmakers! By the end of this event, the global alternative rock group NiCad will have an official music video selected for their single "In Color," and a few lucky filmmakers will walk away with a prize from the annual W&M 24Speed contest. Awards, including audience awards, will be presented.
5:00pm: French "Wine & Cheese" Reception with Live "Chanteuse" Performance
Join us prior to La Vie en Rose for a free French-themed reception, featuring a LIVE chanteuse performance with Anne Rasmussen on vocals, Sophia Serghi on piano, and Max Katz on guitar.
7:00pm: Chanteuse, Cinema, and the Musical Biopic
Co-sponsor: French Tournées Festival
La Vie en Rose/La môme
(2007 / France, UK, Czech Republic / Oliver Dahan / 140 min. / PG-13)
This Academy Award-winning biopic of singer Edith Piaf, starring Marion Cotillard, chronicles the rise to fame and the extraordinary, tragic life of the French star.
10:30pm: Global Cult Film and Music
Co-sponsor: Alma Mater Productions
This film will be selected by popular audience vote - you chose it, we're showing it!
(Go to filmfestival.wm.edu to find out the winner!)
Saturday, February 20th
1:30pm: Animated Film Origins, Music Made Today (For the Whole Family!)
Dreamland Faces (Andy McCormick & Karen Majewicz and guest violist, Jackie Beckey) will give a LIVE performance of original accompaniment for the films!
The Lion Becomes Old/ Le Lion Devenu Vieux
(1932 / France / Władysław Starewicz / 9 min. / Not Rated)
This film from a pioneer of stop motion animation, Władysław Starewicz, adapts the classic fable about an old king lion who dreams about adventures and exploits of his younger days.
The Adventures of Prince Achmed/Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed
(1926 / Germany / Lotte Reiniger / 66 min. / TV-G)
The earliest surviving animated feature, a silent film based on the romantic, exotic and exciting stories from "The Arabian Nights"-featuring a prince and his flying horse.
FINALE: Surprise Cartoon First and "Kazoo-along" audience participation
*FREE KAZOOS for all audience participants!*
3:30pm: Global Film/Local Music & the Art of Film Scoring: Student Film Scoring Contest
Come hear and see the art of film music composition! In the fall, W&M students scored original music for clips from landmark international films. These will be presented, with an award ceremony to follow. Prizes selected by a jury of W&M faculty and guest celebrity filmmakers and musicians.
5:00pm: Filmmakers/Musicians Round Table on Global Film and Music
An interactive discussion featuring our special guest filmmakers and musicians - bring your questions about global film and music!
7:00pm: Cuba, Iran, and Global Film and Music Today
Co-sponsors: Asian Studies Initiative & Middle East Studies and The Critchfield Endowment
Ode to the Pineapple/ Oda a la piña
(2009 / Cuba / Laimir Fano / 10 min. / Not Rated)
This musical parody, an homage to the poem that forged Cuban cultural identity, centers on a cabaret dancer who suddenly loses her rhythm. (2009 Tribeca Festival Program)
Presented by: Laimir Fano, Director
Nobody Knows About the Persian Cats/ Kasi az gorbehaye irani khabar nadareh
(2009 / Iran / Bahman Ghobadi / 106 min. / Not Rated)
This film was the talk of the 2009 Cannes Film Festival where it premiered. Two Iranian musicians, recently out of prison, strive to put together a music group and travel to perform in Europe, but only if they can find money and visas to leave Tehran.
Presented by: TBA
9:30 pm: The Sights and Sounds of Coming Home: Sigur Ros's Icelandic Tour on Film
Co-sponsor: Alma Mater Productions
Heima
(2007 / Iceland / Dean Deblois / 97 min.)
A visually stunning and heartfelt musical documentary depicts an ambitious homeland tour of Iceland undertaken by the enigmatic post-rock band Sigur Ros. Accomplished Hollywood animation director Dean Deblois turns his filmmaking talents to a tour-de-force poetic visualization of Sigur Ros's uniquely ethereal, Icelandic musical sound.
Presented by: Dean Deblois, director
Sunday, February 21st
12:30pm: Ozu & Capra: Silent Film Origins, Music Made Today
Co-sponsor: Asian Studies Initiative
Fultah Fisher's Boarding House
(1922/ USA / Frank Capra / 12 min. / Not Rated)
The first film Frank Capra ever directed, this silent short consists of an early Hollywood experiment adapting Rudyard Kipling's lusty and colorful ballad about a bawdy/boarding house in Calcutta. With her original musical compilation for this short, Christine Niehaus brings music into Capra's blending of poetry and film.
Live piano accompaniment composed and performed by Prof. Christine Niehaus.
Tokyo Chorus/Tokyo No Gassho
(1931 / Japan / Yasujiro Ozu / 90 min. / Not Rated)
This silent comedy portrays a Japanese father who loses his job during the Depression after standing up for a co-worker. Dreamland Faces (Andy Mccormick & Karen Majewicz and guest violist, Jackie Beckey) will provide LIVE, original accompaniment!
Presented by: Prof. Hiroshi Kitamura (History and Film Studies)
Documenting Music, Revolution and the African Diaspora
Co-sponsors: Alma Mater Productions, The Office of Student Diversity & Africana Studies
3:00pm: Amandla! A Revolution in Four Part Harmony
(2002 / South Africa, USA / Lee Hirsch / 108 min. / PG-13)
Hirsch's powerful documentary chronicles the role of popular song in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. This film demonstrates the power of music to generate both political revolution and compelling documentary filmmaking.
Presented by: Prof. Rob Vinson (History and Africana Studies)
5:00pm: Soundtrack for a Revolution
(2009 / USA, France, UK / Bill Guttentag & Dan Sturman / 82 min. / Not Rated)
This dynamic musical and historical documentary, which premiered at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and has been short listed for an Oscar nomination, explores the freedom songs that spread, motivated, and spurred the American civil rights movement on to success. As a kind of African Diaspora sequel to Hirsch's Amandla! this film interpolates archival footage with contemporary musical performances and interviews and moves to a new terrain of American documentary using film and music as integrated aesthetic forms, on the one hand, and tools of politics and history, on the other.
Presented by: Dan Sturman, co-director
7:00pm: African Diaspora Banquet: African and Soul Food Reception
Co-sponsor: African Cultural Society, and other W&M Student Groups
Join us after Soundtrack for a Revolution and before the "Blind Boys" concert for a free reception featuring traditional African dishes and "soul food" provided by both community and student groups.
8:30pm: LIVE CONCERT Festival Finale: The Blind Boys of Alabama
Local opening gospel performance: TBA
A gospel group originally founded in 1939 at an Alabama school for blind African-American children, the Blind Boys, featured in Soundtrack for a Revolution, will share their spirit-filled music in a performance fit for our Global film and music festival's finale.
