Reviews of an Anthropological Nature:

Texas Tavola: A Taste of Sicily in the Lone Star State

I was able to attend a screening of this film at the American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting in November 2008.

Texas Tavola immediately presents an interesting premise in the mix of Texan and Sicilian culture. The filmmakers present an appealing symbolic aesthetic in juxtaposing images of the empty ruins of the immigrant’s hometown in Sicily with the people populated celebratory gathering of three generations in their Texan town. The film chronicles the nine day process of Tavola di San Giuseppe, an important religious event at which a single Sicilian-American family hosts almost 1,000 guests in honor of St. Joseph, their Sicilian town’s patron saint.

This feast is rife with symbolism and references to the community’s own travels. There is an altar full of food, breads in the shape of hearts and crosses, fig cookies. Food is a large component of the celebration, including a traditional Texan barbeque where the priest jokes to the gathered community that the barbeque is “holy smoke”. This concentration on food is not only Italian in nature but also combats the legend of famine in their Italian town.

Another tradition of the feast is a reenactment of the Christ story where Maria and Giuseppe seek out a place to rest, a home. They are rejected and finally welcomed to the house of the host family. In their immigrant story, the Sicilian community has made a home in Texas.

As with many immigrant groups and the growing elderly population, they wonder if the young people will continue this tradition when they are gone. This feast, bringing together Texan and Sicilian cultures and religious fervency, is more so a gathering of people—a celebration of a shared life and history.

Reviews of an Anthropological Nature:

Chicago 10
I helped to promote a screening of Chicago 10 at the Jewish Cultural center in DC, and upon arriving discovered that I was the youngest attendee in the room. Chicago 10 had its East Coast Premiere at SILVERDOCS in 2007.

This film intrigued me in its use of animated scenes and archival footage from the Chicago protests at the 1968 Democratic Convention. The animated storytelling makes the story more accessible for youth while using the mechanism to work around casting and believability difficulties in reenactment scenes. Furthermore, an illustrated representation reflects how the public gains access to most closed court trials, pushing this aesthetic and making it all the more potent in the filmmaker’s use of the trial transcripts.

The most striking scene in the whole film was the revelations of the judge’s character and his demeaning attitude towards the defendants. In the personifications put forth of the judge one is given the antagonist of the film; however, at times the personalities of the activists are not fully heroic characters. All the characters in the film have their own flaws and heroisms presented. While a revealing film of the 1968 activist and alternative cultures, it fails to fulfill in a final climax, relying in some ways too much on the outcome of the trial rather than looking at the story more holistically.

For a young audience, Chicago 10 stimulates a renewed interest in the history of their elders, making it cool and appealing. The lack of female roles in the film, while understandable in that the characters involved in the Chicago 10 were all male, further highlighted that the audience for this film are male, and the leaders of the movement were male.

Obama and Women

A worthwhile acknowledgment of women and a great start to Women's Month 2009. Isn't it great that the majority of the American population get a month to remember our history as it certainly does not fall within the History of Man.

Presidential Proclamation on Women's History Month
Obama pays tribute to women who helped preserve, protect the environment
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
March 3, 2009

WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH, 2009
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
With passion and courage, women have taught us that when we band together to advocate for our highest ideals, we can advance our common well-being and strengthen the fabric of our Nation. Each year during Women's History Month, we remember and celebrate women from all walks of life who have shaped this great Nation. This year, in accordance with the theme, "Women Taking the Lead to Save our Planet," we pay particular tribute to the efforts of women in preserving and protecting the environment for present and future generations.
Ellen Swallow Richards is known to have been the first woman in the United States to be accepted at a scientific school. She graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1873 and went on to become a prominent chemist. In 1887, she conducted a survey of water quality in Massachusetts. This study, the first of its kind in America, led to the Nation's first state water-quality standards.
Women have also taken the lead throughout our history in preserving our natural environment. In 1900, Maria Sanford led the Minnesota Federation of Women's Groups in their efforts to protect forestland near the Mississippi River, which eventually became the Chippewa National Forest, the first Congressionally mandated national forest. Marjory Stoneman Douglas dedicated her life to protecting and restoring the Florida Everglades. Her book, The Everglades: Rivers of Grass, published in 1947, led to the preservation of the Everglades as a National Park. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1993.
Rachel Carson brought even greater attention to the environment by exposing the dangers of certain pesticides to the environment and to human health. Her landmark 1962 book, Silent Spring, was fiercely criticized for its unconventional perspective. As early as 1963, however, President Kennedy acknowledged its importance and appointed a panel to investigate the book's findings. Silent Spring has emerged as a seminal work in environmental studies. Carson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously in 1980.
Grace Thorpe, another leading environmental advocate, also connected environmental protection with human well-being by emphasizing the vulnerability of certain populations to environmental hazards. In 1992, she launched a successful campaign to organize Native Americans t o oppose the storage of nuclear waste on their reservations, which she said contradicted Native American principles of stewardship of the earth. She also proposed that America invest in alternative energy sources such as hydroelectricity, solar power, and wind power.
These women helped protect our environment and our people while challenging the status quo and breaking social barriers. Their achievements inspired generations of American women and men not only to save our planet, but also to overcome obstacles and pursue their interests and talents. They join a long and proud history of American women leaders, and this month we honor the contributions of all women to our Nation.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 2009 as Women's History Month. I call upon all our citizens to observe this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities that honor the history, accomplishments, and contributions of American women.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this third day of March, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.
BARACK OBAMA

Thank you, Mr. President.

DC/NY Film Commuters: Pondering?

Will Smith writes for Urban Turf questioning DC's status as a possible Suburb of New York City:

Richard Florida, renowned urban theorist and author of The Rise of the Creative Class, has made a splash with this month’s cover story in The Atlantic entitled How the Crash Will Reshape America. In the piece, Florida analyzes the changes, by geographic region, that he believes will come as a result of the current recession. Specifically, he predicts that certain cities and urban regions in the US will suffer a “body blow” from which they may never fully recover, while others will emerge stronger and more strategically relevant than before.

In a 45-minute NPR interview, he makes two comments about the DC area in particular. The first is complimentary:

“…Greater Washington, DC … I still think is a boomland. In fact in our ratings and rankings, it comes up as a great place for singles, a great place for families — and I’m not just talking about the city. Maryland and northern Virginia and the whole environment there.” (Minute 21:15 in the audio)

His second comment is more provocative:

“Part of Washington DC’s resurgence is not just that it’s a government town and has AOL high-tech. DC in a very real way has become a suburb of New York. And a lot of the media and broadcast — NPR functions that are there, XM Radio, many of the documentary film producers, many of the writers for The New York Times — have actually relocated [to DC] because of the affordability and connectivity.” (Minute 16:00 in the audio)

DC a suburb of New York?! Only if your definition of suburb extends 200 miles beyond a city’s borders.

In all seriousness, clearly Florida does not mean suburb in the conventional sense. And his point is an interesting one: technology enables some of New York’s elite to call DC home.

We’re curious, do you know anyone who “commutes” between DC and New York? Or for that matter, do you know anyone who commutes between DC and any other city outside the immediate metropolitan area?

Take this further and think about it in terms of filmmaking as Florida mentions (see bold above). My own work has taken me to New York and with Bolt Bus offerring WiFi and express service at a far reduced price to the train, can this be possible? Or is "being there" (anthro term) applicable to this situation and the benefits of existing in one location?

The interview goes on to mention the high speed rail as the future of transportation between metropolitan areas. The only problem with this is time and money and investing in this option over the highway. I've heard rumors of such a train going from DC to NY and I am not referring to the acela but rather a train closer to what is used in France. Considering the large amount of people that commute by metro/subway in NY and DC, having a superfast, reliable, and AFFORDABLE train would be a great draw and would be certain competition for the many bus options most people are preferring these days.

Listen to the podcast and share your opinions.

Great Female Directors

In response to one of my favorite blogs out there: Women & Hollywood, I have decided to compile a list of some of the great(est) WOMEN directors in the biz. I think one of the greatest difficulties in doing this is that many of their films are not well marketed, there are exceptions of course; however, these women are also not as acknowledged for their work as many of their male peers are (ahem, Oscars). So while this list is certainly a work in progress, the remembering and the watching of these women's films is a positive act in and of itself. I also want to acknowledge those women in the independent film world that are great to me and will soon, hopefully, be seen as great on a larger scale (if they aren't already)...

Claire Denis
Deepa Mehta
Julie Taymor
Mira Nair
Sarah Schenck
Maria Agui Carter
Aviva Kempner
Ildikó Enyedi
Adrienne Shelly
Rebecca Miller


Question: Is it because some of these women work in documentary (and narrative) film that they fly under the radar of what is a great director?

UN PAR DE SUENOS

I worked on this film as Production Coordinator (Coordinadora de Produccion)