A community conversation about hope and healing
By Maya Balle March 28, 2008 San Miguel de Allende
Film Premiere & Discussion
A Glory from the God
Mon, Mar 31, 3pm
Teatro Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
50 pesos
“During the war when people were running, my first-born drowned in the river. When I first met Gloria…I thought this person will help me. So for me, the name of Gloria is a glory from the God.”
—Achol Cyier Rehan Akon, Sudan
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Rev. Dr. Gloria White-Hammond, Rev. Liz Walker and Maya Balle are on a mission of faith. They have come to San Miguel because they believe it exemplifies “community.” |
“We believe there is healing in creating conversations about purpose and hope,” says Maya Balle, co-founder with CBS News journalist Liz Walker, of Liz Walker Journey Productions.
Walker observes: “As a veteran television journalist, I am intimately aware of the power of video to change circumstances, minds and hearts. My purpose is to focus the Journey lens on the world’s needs. My prayer is that as people come together to meet those needs they will be inspired to find their greater purpose in life.”
Liz Walker Journey Productions tells stories that honor the interrelatedness of all humanity and organizes forums for public conversation on global relationships and healing.
“We believe that by joining hands in diverse communities around the world we can stop the atrocities and raise awareness about the genocide in Sudan. People often ask us, “With all of the problems in our own communities, why should we look thousands of miles across the world at Sudan or Rwanda or Kenya. What can we really do to make a difference?”
“The answer is a simple one that many of you who have chosen to be in San Miguel know. We live very blessed lives and we are all connected.” says Balle. The power of that connection was brought home to Liz Walker in 2000 on her first trip to Sudan.
Walker was invited by her dear friend Rev. Dr. Gloria White-Hammond and a group from Bethel AME Church in Boston. They were going to investigate rumors of slavery. Walker asked her TV station to send a camera crew, but the station was not interested in what was “going on over there.”
In Sudan, Walker heard about a terrorist cell that was forming in the south. As a news reporter she had brought her own camera. At great personal risk, Walker shot footage of the horrors of Sudan. She heard about a terrorist cell that was forming and did interviews to write a story that was to air on September 11, 2001.
The terrorist cell she was investigating was led by Osama bin Laden. Sadly, it never aired. “We all learned a profound lesson. What goes on “over there” affects all of us where ever we are,” says Walker and Balle.
With Balle’s help, Walker set out to create a film about Dr. Gloria White Hammond and the remarkable work of My Sister’s Keeper in Sudan.
Knowing the power of community and of film, Walker and Balle are creating conversation circles around the world to discuss the ideas and feelings raised by the film.
All of the proceeds from the showings of A Glory From the God and the following discussion are for the Akon School for Girls that is being built in Southern Sudan.
About the film
A Glory from the God is a documentary of one woman’s inspiring leadership in the movement against rape and genocide in Sudan. Liz Walker filmed the story of Reverend Dr. Gloria White-Hammond whose journey draws her into a conflict where the brutal rape of women is a tool of war. These remarkable steps of faith take us from the thatched roof tukuls in Darfur through the highest corridors of American power to the broken places healing in her own heart.
White-Hammond is a Boston minister and pediatrician whose vision drives the mission of My Sister’s Keeper, a small faith-based group of women helping Sudanese women rebuild their lives and community.
In confronting those horrors Gloria is forced to face the pain of her own sexual abuse nearly five decades earlier. She becomes our inspiration and leads us to see the healing power of purpose and hope.
Cinemateca, March 31 through April 6, 2008
José Luis Pick’n’tip
The Picks
Hitchcock Suspense Festival
Alfred Hitchcock pushed the limits of the suspense genre for generations of moviegoers around the world. From his nascent works he wove an unforgettable blend of fear, dreams, dread and suspense into a memorable and chilling body of works. He was an iconic and influential English film director and producer who constantly broke new ground in the suspense and thriller genres. With directing credits in 50 mesmerizing films, his career spanned six decades, from silent films through talkies to the advent of color. He was among the most highly acclaimed and widely celebrated directors on the planet during his life and remains one of the most famous and beloved directors of all time, renowned for his unparalleled mastery of timing and suspense.
The Tip: 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 buy 12 shows for 450 pesos. Starting Monday, after 11am, buy your tickets in advance for any movie or show of the week. If you have a discount card, collect your pass to secure a seat; don’t take the risk of being locked out…Nos vemos en el Cine… Would you like to receive this info by email? Write to Jose Luis at
alephamour@hotmail.com . Thank you.
The Movies
Hitchcock Suspense Festival
Champagne (1928)
Monday, March 31 at 5:30pm
Black and white, Silent, 86 minutes.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock. Starring: Betty Balfour.
A wealthy Wall Street philanthropist is exasperated with his daughter’s behavior so he looks to teach her a lesson.
Jamaica Inn (1939)
Tuesday, April 1 at 5pm
Black and white, 93 minutes.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock. Starring: Charles Laughton.
A gang of ship wreckers using the local inn as their base of operations must try to keep their activities hidden from a gang member’s niece and also a Lloyd’s of London investigator who have presently arrived.
The Lady Vanishes (1938)
Wednesday, April 2 at 5 pm
Black and White, 97 minutes
Director: Alfred Hitchcock. Starring: Margaret Lockwood.
During a transcontinental train trip in Europe, a young woman is alarmed to discover a passenger has disappeared.
Blackmail (1929)
Thursday, April 3 at 5pm
Black and white, 84 minutes.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock. Starring: Anny Ondra.
A shopkeeper’s daughter seeks to keep her involvement in a murder away from her Scotland Yard detective boyfriend.
Young and Innocent (1937)
Friday, April 4 at 5pm
Black and white, 80 minutes.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock. Starring: Derrick DeMarney.
A writer accused of murdering his girlfriend escapes police custody with a young woman in tow and the two fugitives attempt to find the real killer to prove the man’s innocence.
Documentary Rev. Dr. Gloria White-Hammond
A Glory from the God
Monday, March 31 at 3pm
Filmmakers: Liz Walker and Maya Balle.
After the film Liz and Maya will give an interactive talk on purpose and activism.
A Glory from the God documents the Rev. Dr. Gloria White-Hammond and her My Sister’s Keeper organization in the Sudan. It is the story of how one woman’s energy can ignite a movement, the growth of that movement and ultimately the oneness of the human race. It is the story of women in one part of the world victimized by war; women in another part of the world who vow to speak for them, and the healing that takes place between commitment and need. It is the story of a life- and world-changing experience. It is a journey of calling, community and healing.
Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus
Tuesday, April 1 at 7pm
Documentary, English, 84 minutes
Director: Andrew Douglas. Cast: Jim White, Brett Sparks, Rennie Sparks, Johnny Dowd.
Jim White, the wry, sorrowful singer, songwriter and hero of alt-country music who narrates the documentary Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus, has the gift of poetic gab. As he conducts a highly selective back-roads tour of the rural Deep South, salty epigrams fall from his lips like drippings from a plug of chewing tobacco. His journey takes him from the bayou country of Louisiana to the mountains of Kentucky and Virginia with stops at roadside juke joints, Pentecostal churches, diners, biker bars, hair salons and a prison. Along the way, musicians appear like apparitions, play stringed instruments and sing. The soundtrack amounts to a partial dictionary of alt-country, the catchall term for alternative country. The movie came about when Andrew Douglas, its British director and cinematographer, was captivated by a copy of White’s 1997 debut album. If the movie (which has its own soundtrack) lacks the mythological structure of O Brother, Where Art Thou?, its music—by White, Johnny Dowd, the Handsome Family,
Lee Sexton and others—sounds older and weirder than most of what’s on the O Brother disc.
Lolita (1962)
Monday, March 31 at 7:30pm
Thursday, April 3 at 7pm
Classic comedy, English, 152 minutes
Director: Stanley Kubrick. Cast: James Mason, Shelley Winters, Peter Sellers, Sue Lyon.
Kubrick’s 1962 film version of Vladimir Nabokov’s novel scandalized audiences—and still shocks today. James Mason’s Humbert is uncontrollably attracted to jailbait teen Lolita (Sue Lyon). Mason knows no good can come of his pursuit, but he continues despite the overwhelming reasons to stop. Peter Sellers costars as Mason’s nemesis.
Kids Movies: Cartoons
Saturday, April 5 at noon
Sunday Matinee Concerts continue March 30 and April 6 at 2:30pm at the Teatro Santa Ana, tickets 50 pesos
Tenor Xavier Hernández and pianists Liliana Gutiérrez and Enrique Prado perform a series of concerts for tenor voice and piano. The “Love Songs” program on March 30 features Hernández and Prado. The tenor will join pianist Gutiérrez for the “Latin Soul” program on April 6, the last concert in the four-part series.
Musical Saturdays
Saturday, April 5 at 2:30pm
Verdi’s La Traviata
La Traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It takes as its basis the novel La dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas, fils, published in 1848. It was first performed at the Teatro la Fenice in Venice, on March 6, 1853. The title La Traviata means literally “the woman who strayed” or perhaps more figuratively, “the fallen one.” Piave and Verdi wanted to follow Dumas in giving the opera a contemporary setting, but the authorities at La Fenice insisted that it be set in the past. It was some years before the composer’s and librettist’s original wishes were carried out. However, the opera has become immensely popular and a staple of the standard operatic repertoire. It is third on Opera America’s list of the 20 most-performed operas in North America, behind only Madame Butterfly and La Bohème.