One World Cinema

French street artist, JR, is well known for plastering large posters of everyday people’s portraits on outdoor spaces in favelas, the Gaza Strip, and cities all over the world. In 2014, he collaborated with the NYC Ballet on a ballet called Les Bosquets. Les Bosquets was inspired by JR’s first art project, ‘Portrait of a Generation’ and by the riots that took place in France in 2005, when two teens in Clichy-sous-Bois (a predominantly African American Parisian suburb), were electrocuted when they hid in a power station, because they were being chased by the police.

During the Tribeca Film Festival 2015, JR premiered his 18 minute short film by the same name, The Story of Ladj Ly, ‘Les Bosquets,’ which took over 10 years to make, and turns the parking lot of a project housing complex in the Paris suburb, Clichy Montfermeil, into a ballet stage.

J.ane R.osenthal introduced the film “Les Bosquets” stating that artists tell the truth and can bring something out in us.

When JR took the microphone away from Jane, the artist joked that “it’s a hard act to follow the real JR, Jane Rosenthal.”

The short starts off with a man holding up a videocamera like it is a weapon stating that he has a hard time filming people close to him.

A wall portrait of an eyeball is shown and then once again when a group of ballerinas come together to stand in a line next to one another and their full length polka dotted leotards form the eyes of the main lead principle ballerina.

The two photographers trigger a riot, scores of men begin running away in the rain and thunderstorms, and a beautiful principal ballerina, dressed in a white tutu, appears in the doorway.

They all transition into ballerinas and begin performing on a black paved parking lot. Their shadows are being displayed against the walls of the housing projects, and a helicopter shines their light down on them much like a stage light from a balcony at NYC Ballet would.

Music composed by Pharrell Williams, Hans Zimmer and Wookid.

After the short, JR-street artist, Pharrell Williams (via Skype), Lil Buck-dancer-hip-hop footwork, Lauren Lovette-soloist at NYCB, Hans Zimmer-German film composer, discussed how they all came to collaborate on the project with one another. Very clever. JR, once again, joked that the talk was longer than the short film. Look for his work on the cover of this weeks New York Times Magazine.

Article by Sharon Abella
One World Cinema
http://1worldcinema.com

Tribeca Film Festival 2015 Audience Award Winner: Narrative

Fifteen year old Jack, who was perceived to be a delinquent, never had a lot of friends. In fact, growing up in a small rural town, he was relentlessly and viciously bullied and attacked by two older townies. They spray-painted on Jack’s house and face, and repeatedly hit his younger cousin, Ben, with paintballs.

You might be thinking, if Jack was constantly bullied, how did he get his nickname, “King Jack”?

When “King Jack” was younger, his father would put him up on his shoulders, and carry him around the house declaring that Jack was the King of the Couch and the House! Jack’s older brother Tom, became jealous and detested this because Tom was the popular one, therefore, Tom was worthy of being the King, while Jack was merely a scab.

“King Jack” is a coming of age story, where a young teen and his little cousin bond over beer, truth or dare sessions at the popular girls’ house, and running and hiding from the vicious and violent town bullies.

Written and Directed by Felix Thompson.

Director’s Statement:

“With King Jack I wanted to tell a story about the secret childhood our parents weren’t around for: a childhood made up of hazy summer days that were long and idle. Summers were a time when everyone’s parents were stuck at work so you had to fend for yourself. They were a time for learning your first swearword, drinking your first beer or having your first kiss. It’s funny how those moments, experienced far from the prying eyes of adults, seemed to have such a telling impact on the people we eventually became. It was as if those summers were a perfect snapshot of adolescence: a time when a single weekend could change your life.

King Jack is a film about one of those weekends. Inspired by some of the kids and stories that I grew up around it tells the fictional tale of a kid trapped in a cycle of bullying. But though the film has its fair share of harrowing moments, for me this story was ultimately something our character would look back on fondly years later.

There is something inherently romantic about our rites of passage. The memories are worn and faded from frequent reliving and retelling. So while I wanted to capture a sense of realism and honesty, I was also guided by the idea that our story was a childhood fable. One that was scrappy and rough around the edges, but a fable with a heart and a moral nevertheless.”

Article by One World Cinema.
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“In Transit,” directed by Albert Maysles won the Best Documentary Feature, Special Jury Mention at the Tribeca Film Festival 2015.

Much like a Frederick Wiseman documentary, “In Transit”
observes and delves into the stories of passengers on one outbound and one inbound train journey on the United States’ longest cross country route from Chicago to Seattle.

Observe the interactions of the passengers as they describe the reasons why they are taking their trips. From young entrepreneurs, to those escaping reality, the film interacts with passengers who are willing to share their life stories with the audience. You will meet two 21 year old men who are heading to North Dakota to try to make some money working in the oil fields, an elder who tells his new male acquaintance about the time he met Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a young pregnant woman who is keeping the conductors on their toes as she is due to deliver at any time, children interacting with new friends, a father and son playing cards, and hippies playing guitar.

From the snowy mountains to the prairie plains, the scenery, life stories and the interactions with one another, become more and more fascinating.

Article by Sharon Abella
http://1worldcinema.com
One World Cinema

Directors Anna Sandilands and Ewan McNicol were recognized with the Tribeca Film Festival’s Albert Maysles New Documentary Director Award for their feature film UNCERTAIN.

Caddo Lake lies on the border between Texas and Louisiana.
On the Texan side of ‘Big Lake’/’Caddo Lake,’ lies a small fishing town named ‘Uncertain,’ with a population of 94.

What is there to do in Uncertain, Texas?

Well, you can hunt, fish, drink, farm, and hide from the law, but don’t expect to find a girlfriend, as most women get married and move away, and don’t expect to dream too large.

“Uncertain” follows four men who are residents in the town.

1. A botanist who is trying to help save the lake from the Salvinia, or floating ferns, which appeared on Caddo Lake in 2006, and by late 2013 had spread to cover an estimated 6,000 to 8,000 acres. Giant salvinia is an aggressive, free-floating aquatic fern native to South America that can double in size in four to 10 days. The fast-growing plant can interfere with water recreation, displace native vegetation and reduce oxygen content of the water, often harming fish and other aquatic life. The plant has invaded 17 Texas lakes and countless other water bodies in the southeastern U.S. The hope is that by releasing weevils or beetles out on to these lakes, that they will help to control the overgrowth of the salvinia plants.

2. A convicted felon who hunts boars with a rifle that would be illegal for him to carry if he lived just a few miles east over the Louisiana state border.

3. An elderly African American male who started going to church once his wife passed away, who enjoys fishing from his row boat on Sundays, and who also has a past.

4. A young man with Diabetes, who spends time drinking at the bar, that would like to move out and create a better life than ‘Uncertain’ can offer.

An additional screening of “Uncertain” added:

Sunday, April 26 at 5:30 pm at the Regal Battery Park.

Article by Sharon Abella
http://1worldcinema.com

Winner for Best Documentary Short at the Tribeca Film Festival 2015!

Out of 3100 submissions, only 60 short films were chosen to show at this years Tribeca Film Festival. As per the program director, all of the shorts revolved around the theme that “home is where the heart is”.

Produced by Olivia Wilde, Bryn Mooser, and written and directed by, David Darg, “Body Team 12” tells the story of the people who don hazmat suits and dispose of contaminated, recently deceased patients during the height of the Ebola crisis in Monrovia, Liberia. The challenges the staff face while working under these stressful conditions, the reasons why they do what they do, and how people treat them once they find out what they do for a living, are all discussed in the 13 minute documentary, ‘Body Team 12’.

When the Ebola outbreak first began there were only 239 cases, three months later, the caseload grew to 14,342.

‘Body Team’ employees go to work at 5:30am and return home at 11pm-12 midnight. One of the women on the team explains that because women are strong, yet soft, she has to be strong for her country, and help to prevent the spread of the disease throughout Liberia, and worldwide.

The families of Ebola victims want closure. They want to give their recently deceased family members a proper burial, to have a gravesite to visit in order to pay their respects to them, however, because Ebola is so highly contagious, the bodies must be transported to a crematorium to be burned and disposed of straightaway. The body team must plead and try to convince the family members to allow them to take the bodies away from them without them even so much as going near their loved one to give them a final hug goodbye.

http://www.ryot.org/cause/ebola
ebolaorphanproject.com

Article by Sharon Abella
http://1worldcinema.com

Tribeca Film Festival 2015 Winner for:

1. The Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature-Dagu Kari
2. Best Actor in a Narrative Feature Film- Gunnar Jonsson
3. Best Screenplay for a Narrative Feature Film

Both men AND women will fall in love with the lead character in ‘Virgin Mountain.” A shy, quiet man, who believes that actions speak louder than words, is named Fusi!

‘Virgin Mountain’ (Iceland/Denmark), is a 94 minute feature film by director, writer, musician, and the Head of the Director’s Program at ‘The National Film School of Denmark,’ Dagur Kari. ‘Virgin Mountain’ was VERY well received by the film reviewers at the pre-festival press screenings, including myself.

Question for the Director, Dagur Kari:

“What makes ‘Virgin Mountain’ a universal movie that people around the world can relate to?

Answer: “Well, it is an inspirational story about a man taking a significant step into the rest of his life. This is something that most people can relate to, I hope. Furthermore, I think that we have all felt the guilt of having misjudged someone.”

Poor Fusi. Who is Fusi, you ask? Fusi works as a baggage handler at the airport, and is being taunted and bullied by his co-workers for being overweight. He is shy, in his early 40’s, and still living at home with his mom. His family buys him lessons to country line dancing classes to encourage him to get out and meet people.

It works! Fusi does, in fact, meet a spunky, funny, personable young woman, and the two begin spending time together.

You have to really pay attention, watch and observe the real Fusi in action, and you will fall in love!!! What a nice man!

WED 4/22 at 5:30 PM Bow Tie Cinemas Chelsea 8

Article by Sharon Abella
http://1worldcinema.com

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Photos by Sharon Abella

There will only be 1.4 million people in the coding, programming, and computing world by the year 2020 and there will be one million unfilled software engineering jobs in the United States alone. Of the 1.4 million, only 29% will be American, and less than 3% will be women. ‘Code’ examines why women are not seeking out opportunities in the computer science fields. Do stereotypes, education, and cultural beliefs play a role in this digital divide?

Even though there is a lack of women in the tech world today, ironically, females, like Grace Hopper, helped set the stage for today’s technological world, as she was one of the first programmers of the Harvard Mark I computer in 1944. Teaching women to become qualified applicants for one of the job openings in the computer sciences, will not only boost women’s self-confidence, but will also make a difference in the world, as well as, help to ‘Debug’ the gender gap.

3:15 PM – TUE 4/21 BOW TIE CINEMAS CHELSEA 4
5:30 PM – FRI 4/24 BOW TIE CINEMAS CHELSEA 8
4:30 PM – SUN 4/26 REGAL CINEMAS BATTERY PARK 11-9

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One World Cinema

What is a 3D Virtual Reality Headset?

When you place the headset on over your head and eyes, 5 icons and a blue cursor appear. On this headset, there are 5 icons that represent 5 short films: 1. ‘Evolution of Verse,’ 2. ‘SNL Jeopardy-Lorne,’ 3. ‘SNL 40 Q & A-Creators,’ 4.’Clouds Over Sidra,’ and 5. ‘Vice’ News.

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Now, move your head until the blue cursor is over one of the five icons of the short film you wish to view and press the button on the side. Place the headphones on, and stand in an area away from others. As the film runs, you are able to turn your head in any direction, literally up, down, left, right, or behind, and you feel as though you are completely submerged in the movie. Of course, at first it is a strange sensation because you will look down and not see your feet, or look up and not see the ceiling. You are submerged in the Virtual Reality, or VR film.

For example, “Evolution of Verse,” is a 3.5-minute short film that places users in a serene mountainous landscape with streamers coming out of the sky and a baby extending it’s hand and giving a soft smile, meanwhile, meditational music is playing. As you turn your head, you will see the panoramic, 360 degree view.

Produced by Unicef, the virtual film, “Clouds Over Sidra,” created by Gabo Arora, and Chris Milk, is approximately 7 minutes long and narrated by a 12 year old girl named Sidra, who is a Syrian refugee living in the Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan. 3.7 million Syrians have fled the war and as of March 26, 2015, the camp population was estimated at 83,000 refugees.

The refugees walk for days to cross the desert in Jordan. The 12 year old, 5th grader, Sidra, appears sitting on couch cushions on the floor. She, and her family have been living in the camp for 1 and 1/2 years. She explains how she likes cloudy days because she feels as if she is under a cover, like a blanket.

The film depicts scenes in Sidra’s classroom, where she and her other female classmates, dressed in religious garb, are waiting to be called on by their teacher. Turn your head to your left and see their teacher. Visit a bakery where a kiln is preparing pita bread, clothes lines are drying laundry in the hot desert sun, and their family sits on the floor eating a Mediterranean style dinner. The Syrian boys play on the computers, lift weights, and wrestle, while the girls take turns playing soccer.

Very endearing and eye-opening.

This technology could easily be used as a teaching/learning tool, for example, to demonstrate surgeries to surgeons, etc.

Must try!

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One World Cinema

The documentary begins in computerized video game styled graphics of a doctor walking into a waiting room and telling a married couple (Ryan and Amy Green) that their son Joel has had a recurrence of his brain tumor, and that the recurrence means the chemotherapy has failed. At that time, Joel was one year old. As can be imagined, the couple was solemn, and left with a lot to contemplate. They have 4 boys, Joel, being the youngest of the four.

To handle the internal conflict, Ryan and his family create a video game called “That Dragon, Cancer,” where he, his wife Amy, and all of their sons reenact and document all of their experiences with Joel’s battle with cancer, believing that fighting cancer is like a game. From conversations with Medical Doctors, Joel being wheeled in a wooden wagon throughout the pediatric ward in a Children’s Hospital in Colorado attached to drips and nasogastric tubes, additional treatment modalities, and how they choose to spend time with Joel as though he was living and not dying, the digital video game reflects who they are as family grieving, and wanting to keep Joel in their thoughts.

In the hospital environment, Ryan realizes that he is surrounded by 500 other families possibly going through similar experiences, and how we in the United States, don’t like to talk about death.

Bereavement support:

Spend time listening to the needs of mourners. Pay attention to what is not said as well as to what is said.

Make referrals to community programs. The bereaved may need help with financial or legal matters.

Remember that this is a process of adjustment. Encourage social interactions and community involvement.

Be sensitive to the religious convictions of the bereaved.
Cultivate empathy and recognize one’s own feelings about death, dying and grief. -by Camille A. Servodidio, RN, MPH, CRNO and Maryann Steed, RN, MSN, CHPN

‘Thank You For Playing” is showing at ‘The Tribeca Film Festival 2015,’ with tickets still available.

FRI 4/17 5:45 PM Regal Cinemas Battery Park 11-10
SAT 4/18 6:15 PM Bow Tie Cinemas Chelsea 4
TUE 4/21 6:45 PM Bow Tie Cinemas Chelsea 5
THU 4/23 5:45 PM Regal Cinemas Battery Park 11-10

Article by Sharon Abella
http://1worldcinema.com