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Celebrate the birth of spring with the renewing of hope that Bioneers films bring!,
March 16, 2007
The Next Industrial Revolution
Tues, Mar 20, 3–4pm
Teatro Santa Ana, Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
50 pesos
On Tuesday, March 20, the Bioneers film focuses on the birth of the sustainable economy. On a practical economic level, how do we get from here to a viable future? As Susan Sarandon narrates The Next Industrial Revolution, you see architectural design and “green chemistry” that are already changing corporate DNA. Filmed in the US and Europe, this could be the most exciting thing you see this year!
While many of us are stuck in doomsday scenarios, (and understandably so), environmental architect William McDonough sees an exciting and hopeful future. In his vision, humanity takes nature itself as our guide, reinventing technical enterprises to be as safe and ever-renewing as natural processes.
A few years ago TIME magazine named Bill McDonough as a “Hero for the Planet.”
TIME wrote, “His utopianism is grounded in a unified philosophy that—in demonstrative and practical ways—is changing the design of the world.” William McDonough and his partner, chemist Michael Baumgart, bring together commerce and ecology. Their innovation is an invitation to a hopeful revolution. They believe this next industrial revolution is unleashing the same level of energy and creativity as did the first Industrial Revolution. That revolution changed the world. So can the next one.
The film is followed by an optional conversation café where issues raised by the film are discussed.
Fidel returns to San Miguel
Fidel: The Untold Story
Tues, Mar 20, noon
Teatro Santa Ana, Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
50 pesos
Fidel Castro is very popular in San Miguel. Last week’s screening of Estela Bravo’s film, Fidel: The Untold Story, packed the Teatro Santa Ana to overflowing. And so, by popular demand, the Center for Global Justice has scheduled a repeat performance. Come early so you don’t get left out again. After the film we will have another lively discussion led by Cliff DuRand.
Fidel Castro has outlived 9 US presidents, foiled numerous assassination attempts and single-handedly defied the most powerful, militaristic nation on the planet for nearly half a century. This remarkable documentary examines the life of the Cuban leader beginning with his childhood as one of seven children of a sugar planter.
Fidel: The Untold Story (91 minutes), directed by acclaimed US filmmaker Estela Bravo, covers 40 years of the Cuban revolution and is unprecedented in providing its viewers with an understanding of Cuba and its leader. Bravo uses exclusive archival footage and a remarkable mix of interviews with Fidel and such luminaries as Harry Belafonte, Aleida Guevera (Che’s daughter), Alice Walker, Ramsey Clark, Sydney Pollack, Angela Davis and longtime friend of Castro, Nobel Prize-winning writer Gabriel García Marquez. Whether dismissed as a relic, or revered as a savior, all agree that Fidel Castro is one of the most influential, controversial figures of our time.
Academy Award-winning film to be screened by the Center for Global Justice
By Cliff DuRand
Benefit film
Center for Global Justice
The Panama Deception
Thurs, Mar 22, 3pm
Teatro Santa Ana, Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
50 pesos
The US invades a weak country to arrest a brutal dictator who President Bush says is a threat to national security. The American public is also told they will be greeted as liberators and our military will restore democracy to a country that has a strategic resource essential to our way of life. Does this sound like Iraq 2003? Actually, it is Panama 1989. That time the strategic resource was the Panama Canal and the President was George Bush the Elder.
The similarities don’t end there. Among other things, both invasions opened up these countries to privatizations of their economies, dismantled social supports for the people, and expanded foreign investments—hallmarks of what today we call neo-liberal globalization. And in both cases the media was in bed with the Pentagon so that the American public was told only the official version of what happened and why.
But fortunately we had an independent film-maker who challenged that official story. Barbara Trent made a documentary, The Panama Deception, and went on to receive an Academy Award for it, even though it was not widely shown in the US and was actually banned for a time in Panama. Barbara Trent was in San Miguel recently to screen her new film, Solders Speak Out, and was surprised to see how many people here had not seen her most famous film. That’s why the Center for Global Justice is bringing it to the screen at Teatro Santa Ana on March 22 in a benefit performance.
This riveting critique of the government’s history of militarization is made all the more timely by the current war on terrorism. In fact the US invasion of Panama helped to overcome the so-called Vietnam Syndrome and establish the Powell doctrine that allowed military interventions when they could achieve quick, decisive success before public opinion could turn against them. In many ways this can be seen as the slippery slope that finally led to the present disaster in Iraq, 14 years later.
The Panama Deception documents the untold story of the December, 1989, US invasion of Panama, the events which led to it, the excessive force used, the enormity of the death and destruction and the devastating aftermath (the poor neighborhood of Chorrillo was destroyed and has not been rebuilt to this day). The Panama Deception uncovers the real reasons for this internationally condemned attack, presenting a view of the invasion which widely differs from that portrayed by the US media and exposes how the US government and the mainstream media suppressed information about this foreign policy disaster.
Cinemateca
José Luis Pick and Tips
The Pick:
The Big Animal
I suppose we’ve all wondered at one time or another what would happen if one morning a camel suddenly appeared in our front yard…well OK, maybe not. But after seeing Jerzy Stuhr’s delightful film, The Big Animal, I have now given the matter some thought and have concluded that I’d fare no better (and probably worse) than the Polish couple depicted in this film. They gamely adopt the camel and then try to get on with their lives. It’s their neighbors who’ve got a problem with the big animal, and everyone’s life becomes way too complicated…except perhaps for the camel’s.
This story comes from a screenplay by Stuhr’s friend Krzysztof Kieslowski, (The Decalog, the Three Colors trilogy) and is a comic study of what happens when an ordinary town is put to an extraordinary test. It looks at the good and bad in human nature with a fairly even hand. It’s a wise and entertaining adult fable.
This black & white film may not be for everyone, but it is climbing fast to become one of the greatest films on my list. No flash filming here, just timeless story-telling, amazing acting and a camel that will keep you saying "I can't believe it!" Take a chance! You will love this movie and want to share it with lots of other people you know.
The Tip:
Important:
In order to provide the best viewing experience, the show times for some movies may be adjusted to accommodate their length, be sure to check the schedule carefully. I also want to remind you of our new ticket price; 50 pesos and discount cards, 12 shows for 450 pesos.
Starting Monday, after 12 noon, buy your tickets in advance for any movie or show of the week. If you have a discount card, collect your pass to assure your seat; don’t take the risk of being locked out…. Nos vemos en el Cine….
You want to receive this info by email? Write to Jose Luis at alephamour@hotmail.com
Thank you.
The Movies:
Special Summer Camp Movie
Animals Are Beautiful People (1975)
Tuesday, March 20 at 6:30pm
Wednesday, March 28 at noon
Science and Nature Documentaries, English with Spanish subtitles, 92 minutes
Director: Jamie Uys
Cast: Paddy O'Byrne
The proceeds of this movie will support the kids summer camp program
Paddy O'Byrne narrates this entertaining and humorous look at African wildlife from the creator of The Gods Must Be Crazy. This family film, filled with fascinating footage, compares animals and humans—and finds much in common between the two. Filmed over four years in the Namib and Kalahari deserts and the Okavango Delta region, the movie won Best Documentary at the Golden Globes in 1975.
Martha Graham: An American Original in Performance (1988)
Wednesday, March 21 at noon
Thursday, March 08, 2007 March 22 at noon
Ballet & Modern Dance, English, 93 minutes
Cast: Martha Graham
This documentary contains three historic performances. (1) "A Dancer's World" - 30-min film demonstrating the challenge and beauty of expression through movement. (2) "Night Journey" - retelling of the legend of Oedipus. (3) "Appalachian Spring" - an American folk tale communicated through the medium of dance.
The Big Animal (Kodak/B&W 2000)
Wednesday, March 21 at 7:30pm
Friday, March 23 at 7:30pm
Director Jerzy Stuhr
Dignity drama, Small-Town Life, Polish with English subtitles, 73 min.
Working from a recently rediscovered script from late Polish filmmaker Krysztof Kieslowski, veteran actor and frequent Kieslowski collaborator Jerzy Stuhr directs this wry fable about intolerance and individuality. The film opens with bank clerk and clarinet enthusiast Zygmunt Sawicki (Stuhr) discovering a huge two-humped camel in his garden -- apparently left behind by a traveling circus. Though his schoolteacher wife Marysia (Anna Dymna) initially doesn't know what to make of the cud-chewing animal, Zygmunt takes an immediate shine to the beast, and takes it in. His fellow villagers also seem to take to the camel: Zygmunt is greeted warmly as he parades it around their little town and Marysia's pupils clamor over each other to name the animal. However, the townsfolk soon grow tired and suspicious of the beast. Friends and neighbors start to avoid the Sawickis, and children are forbidden to go near the animal.
El Padrecito (The Small Priest 1964)
Thursday, March 22 at 7:30pm
Director: Miguel M. Delgado
Cast: Cantinflas, Jose Elias Moreno, Rosa Maria Vazquez, Angel Garasa
Foreign Comedies, Spanish with English subtitles, 130 minutes.
This movie was totally filmed in San Miguel, so, for all the San Miguel lovers who want to see how San Miguel was in the 60’s is a must. In this Classical movie, Mexican film legend Cantinflas (a cross between Italian comedian Roberto Benigni and silent film star Buster Keaton) stars as an unconventional priest who’s assigned to a new position in a small town. The townspeople are skeptical of the new arrival, and the priest's own unconventional ways do little to boost his popularity. This is a good chance to practice your Spanish!
Israel Special Movie Festival
Movies sponsored by the San Miguel municipality, titles to be announced
Thursday, March 22 at 5:30pm
Friday, March 23 at 5pm
50 pesos.
Kids Movie: Cartoons
Free entrance theatre capacity
Saturday, March 24 at 12 noon
Musical Saturdays:
Georges Bizet’s Carmen
Saturday March 24 at 2:30 pm, Teatro Santa Ana
Next week: Stravinsky: Firebird
This is not our usual Carmen. What we have here is a fiery red-haired, blue-eyed, erotically super-charged whirlwind of a woman, on whom the world is centered since the very first moment we see her bursting on the upper part of the stage with a sonorous whistle. Von Otter is not only physically stunning to look at throughout she'll also amaze you vocally and absolutely reinvents the character, a Carmen wholly of her own.
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