Boston Cultural Calendar 9/26/11 – 10/2/11
Harvard Film Archives, MFA and Much More
By: Nelida Nassar - Sep 23, 2011
Monday September 26, 2011 7.00 P.M.
Harvard Film Archives: Radical light Alternative Film and Video in the San Francisco Bay Area
Introduction by Kathy Geritz of the Pacific Film Archive
Punk was more than the music. It was an attitude that swept through culture like an angry roar. It thundered in the Bay Area's dank clubs, but it could also be detected in brash works made by bratty artists intent on aesthetic insurrection. Everything in this program is about loud. A caustic collage of found images, The Units' Training Film was a visual backdrop for this groundbreaking punk-syntho band. While the music was churning in the clubs, video artists were mangling the medium. Whether it be Dale Hoyt's last gasps of anxious youth, Barney Haynes's sonic travels through the wasteland, or Ivar Smedstad's slice-and-dice orchestrations, the proof was in the pummeling. Finally, sluggo selections from Target Video's Joe Rees take us into the core of the hardcore maelstrom.
Your World Dies Screaming: Dale Hoyt, 1981, video, color, 5 min.
Deaf/Punk: Richard Gaikowski, 1979, 16mm, b/w, 8 min
Thought Crimes in the Satiation Pool: Barney Haynes and Barry Shrwartz, 1987, video, color, 7 min
The Units' Training Film: Scott Ryser and Rachel Webber, 1980, color, 16mm, 12 min
Brent Aske: Ivar Smedstad, 1987, color, video, 5 min
Third Reich and Roll: The Residents, 1977, b/w, 16mm, 4 min
Louder, Faster, Shorter: Mindaugis Bagdon, 1979, b/w, 16mm, 17 min
Dancing Death Monsters: Dale Hoyt, 1981, color, video, 5 min
Selections from Target Video: Target Video, 1977–1980, color & b/w, video, 20 min
Total Running Time: 85 min
Other screenings from this program will take place at ArtsEmerson on Saturday, September 24 and at MassArt on Wednesday, September 28.
Tuesday September, 27, 2011 8:00 PM
Goethe Institute Boston Films: Short & Sweet III Animated Films from Germany
A witching hour awaits the audience in the Dreams and Demons program. The 7 films in this series give an overview over the works and developments of German Animation during the years 2000 to 2007. Almost all shorts were invited to Animation Festivals, both in Germany and internationally, and have won numerous prizes. Among them: The Patchwork Queen, The Runt, Sprout
Wednesday September, 28, 2011 7:00 PM
Harvard Film Archives: Sunrise (1927)
Arrival of a Train; Coney Island at Night; A Policeman's View of the World; Marseille Vieux Port;
Paris Qui Dort
Wednesday September 28, 2011 10:30 AM – 12:10 PM
Museum of Fine Arts Boston Film: The Lips (Los Labios)
Directed by Iván Fund and Santiago Loza (Argentina, 2010, 100 min.). This subtle, challenging mix of documentary and narrative filmmaking follows a trio of women who deeply inhabit their cinematic roles as social workers interacting with members of an impoverished rural Argentine neighborhood. Facing poverty that threatens to overwhelm even the greatest reserves of calm, humor, and empathy, the three move into makeshift living quarters in a run-down hospital. They record data of the community needs and get to know each other, while trying to make their living quarters habitable (and still find time for an occasional night out). “A small film with a gigantic heart, The Lips casts a spell far greater than its modest narrative. . . A minimalist poem to the not-so-simple act of survival” (Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times). In Spanish with English subtitles. New Latin American Cinema, March 2012. Discussion with screenwriters Paul Marcarelli and Molly Pearson follows screening.
Wednesday September, 28, 2011 7:30 – 9.30 PM
Thursday September 29, 2011 5.00 PM – 7:00 PM
Museum of Fine Arts Film: Shadows and Faces (Gölgeler ve Suretler)by Dervish Zaim (Turkey, 2010, 116 min.). This drama from acclaimed director Dervish Zaim is set at the beginning of the conflict between Turks and Greeks in Cyprus in 1963. Salih, a Karagöz shadow play master and his daughter Ruhsar, are forced to leave their small Cypriot village and live with their relative Veli, a statesman of the Turkish community. When a Greek neighbor spots guns in Veli’s backyard, the mounting tension and suspicion erupts in a violent outbreak. A winner at the International Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, Senses of Cinema calls Shadows and Faces “a remarkable achievement.”The Boston Turkish Film Festival, March – April 2012
Thursday September 29, 2011 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM
Saturday October 1, 2011 12:30 PM – 2:00 PM
Museum of Fine Arts Boston Film: Lights Out (Simon Werner a disparu)
by Fabrice Gobert (France, 2010, 91 min.). With a soundtrack by Sonic Youth, Lights Out is the critically acclaimed directorial debut of Fabrice Gobert. During an alcohol-fueled party in suburban Paris, teenagers discover a lifeless body hidden in the bushes of a forest. Two weeks earlier, Simon, a 16 year-old teenager, has not shown up for class, and bloodstains are found in a classroom. A few days later, Laetitia, a student from the same class with no connection to Simon, goes missing. The next day, Jean-Baptiste, a third student, also disappears. Rumors start to spread and the psychosis begins. “A first feature film that reveals uncommon mastery and control . . . Lights Out is full of pure cinema pleasure” (Libération). The Boston French Film Festival, July 2012
Thursday September 29, Friday 30, Saturday October 1, Sunday October 2, 2011 8 PM
Central Square Theater: The Hound of the Baskervilles
spoofs Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous Sherlock Holmes novella. Originally, it was conceived by Steven Canny and John Nicholson, with Nicholson casting himself as Dr. Watson. After a successful tour it landed at London's Duchess Theatre. Subsequent productions have been performed to rave reviews at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, and the Central Square Theater.
This production of The Hound of the Baskervilles marks the first time a Central Square Theater Leadership Program production has transitioned from a special, stand-alone event to become part of the main stage subscription season at the theater. The Leadership Program showcases the work of Boston’s emerging theater artists. In the case of The Hound of the Baskervilles, they collaborate with veteran mentors. Elliot Norton-winning actor and American Repertory Theater veteran Thomas Derrah helmed The Hound of the Baskervilles, working with several emerging artists including sound designer and composer Nathan Leigh, whose work was recognized with the Independent Reviewers of New England Award for Sound Design.
Thursday September 29, 2011 7 PM
Coolidge Corner Theatre; National Theatre Live: One man, Two Guvnors
Fired from his skiffle band, Francis Henshall becomes minder to Roscoe Crabbe, a small time East End hood, now in Brighton to collect £6,000 from his fiancee’s dad. But Roscoe is really his sister Rachel posing as her own dead brother, who’s been killed by her boyfriend Stanley Stubbers.
Holed up at The Cricketers’ Arms, the permanently ravenous Francis spots the chance of an extra meal ticket and takes a second job with one Stanley Stubbers, who is hiding from the police and waiting to be re-united with Rachel. To prevent discovery, Francis must keep his two guvnors apart. Simple.
In Richard Bean’s English version of Carlo Goldoni’s The Servent of Two Masters, a classic Italian comedy where sex, food and money are high on the agenda. James Corden returns to the National for the first time since The History Boys to play Francis.
Friday September 30, 2011 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM
Harvard Film Archives: The Leopard
Directed by Luchino Visconti. With Burt Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale, Alain Delon
Italy 1963, 35mm, color, 187 min. Italian with English subtitles
Like the classic novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa on which it is based, Visconti's masterpiece is an opulent evocation of a society in flux during the fight for Italian unification. Burt Lancaster plays the Sicilian nobleman of the title who attempts to maintain his power amid the escalating rise of the bourgeoisie. Visconti weaves intimate details about a large cast of characters from a variety of positions in society into a novel-like density. The tragic and triumphant changing of the guard culminates in the long and famous ballroom sequence during which "The Leopard" reaches a summit of understanding and acceptance. Restored print from 20th Century Fox. Funding provided by Gucci and The Film Foundation.
Friday September 30, 2011 8:00 PM – 9:30 PM
Museum of Fine Arts Concert: Darcy James Argue
Brooklyn-based composer/bandleader Darcy James Argue is one of most talked-about musicians in jazz thanks to the phenomenal response to Infernal Machines, his 2009 debut recording featuring his 18-piece big band, Secret Society. That response has included a series of features in jazz and non-jazz publications alike, Best Debut honors in the prestigious Village Voice Jazz Critics Poll, and nominations for both the 2010 JUNO and 2010 GRAMMY® Awards. In June 2010, he won both Up & Coming Artist and Large Ensemble of the Year at the Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards in New York. A few months later, he topped the Big Band Rising Star, Composer Rising Star, and Arranger Rising Star categories in the 2010 DownBeat Critics Poll, while also being recognized in the Jazz Album of the Year and Jazz Artist Rising Star categories.
Friday, Sept. 30, 2011 at 7.30 PM
WGBH Fraser Performance Center: Marc-Andre Hamelin
A truly memorable and intimate concert with pianist Marc-André Hamelin that will help celebrate the bicentennial of the birth of Franz Liszt. Join us on
The concert we are calling “Lisztiade” will feature one of the world’s foremost interpreters of Liszt’s music. The soirée host is Fred Child of American Public Media’s Performance Today.
Saturday October 1, 2011 2:30 PM – 4:00 PM
Sunday October 2, 2011 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Museum of Fine Arts: The Hunter (Shekarchi)
by Rafi Pitts(Iran/Germany, 2010, 90 min.). Recently released from prison, Ali now works as a night watchman in Tehran. One day, Ali comes home from work to discover that his wife and child have disappeared. The police inform him that his wife and daughter were murdered. Out of anger, he kills two innocent policemen. Ali runs into the woods to hide while the police are hot on his trail. “It’s gorgeously shot, and the weight of the Iranian present can be palpably felt . . . it’s impeccable” (Peter Brunette, The Hollywood Reporter). In Persian with English subtitles. The Boston Festival of Films from Iran, January 2012
Sunday October 2, 2011 5 PM
Celebrity Series of Boston: Audra McDonald in Concert at Symphony Hall
Four-time Tony Award-winner Audra McDonald is a powerful performer who blends her lustrous, classically-trained voice with an unfailing gift for dramatic characterization. Her presence on stage is utterly commanding. While McDonald is indeed a true Broadway and television star, her uncanny ability to connect immediately with audiences makes hearing her perform live an absolute must. Total Run time is approximately 90 minutes. Program to be announced from the stage.
Tuesday September 27 to Sunday October 2, 2011 7.30 PM
American Repertory Theatre: Porgy and Bess
In 1935, Porgy and Bess premiered at the Colonial Theatre in Boston. Now, 76 years later, the A.R.T. brings back Porgy and Bess in a new production. This classic American tale is set in the 1930s in Catfish Row, a neighborhood in Charleston, South Carolina. Bess, beautiful and troubled, turns to Porgy, the crippled beggar, in search of safety after her possessive lover Crown commits murder. As Porgy and Bess’s love grows, their future is threatened by Crown and the conniving Sporting Life. This heartbreaking love story boasts some of the most famous and beloved works from the Great American Songbook, including: “Summertime,” “Bess, You Is My Woman,” “It Ain’t Necessarily So" and “I Loves You, Porgy.”
Tuesday September 27, 2011 7.00PM
Wednesday September 28 and Thursday 29, 2011 7.30 PM
Friday September 30, 2011 8.00 PM
Saturday October 1, 2011 2 PM and 8.00 PM
Sunday October 2, 2011 1.00 PM and 6.30 PM
Boston Opera House Musical: South Pacific
well known for its extraordinary score -- the songs include Some Enchanted Evening, Younger Than Springtime, Bali Ha'i, There Is Nothin' Like A Dame, and A Wonderful Guy -- South Pacific is also a deeply felt drama. Its portrayal of Americans stationed in an alien culture in wartime is as relevant today as when it first thrilled audiences in 1949.
Now in its first Broadway revival, South Pacific won seven 2008 Tonys and has been playing to sold-out houses since the first preview in March 2008. The marvelous cast of 40 is directed by Tony winner Bartlett Sher.
Saturday October 1, 2011 8 PM
First Church: Chameleon Arts Ensemble: From the Realm of Light and Song
The Chameleon Arts Ensemble of Boston presents the first concert of the 2011–2012 season. Performance of classics by Ludwig van Beethoven, Samuel Barber and Christopher Rouse.
Sunday October 2, 2011 2 PM
New England Conservatory at Jordan Hall
From the Top returns to its home at NEC's Jordan Hall to tape its NPR radio program, a national radio show founded at NEC. Hosted by pianist Christopher O'Riley '81 A.D., this taping occurs before a live audience with representation of NEC Preparatory students among the participants.
Sunday October 2, 2011, 3:00 PM
Goethe Institute Boston: Chameleon Arts Ensemble: Sounds, Echoes & Wandering Strains
Chamber music season of luminous performances in Boston's most intimate concert environments. Chameleon Arts Ensemble integrates old and new music into unexpected programs that are themselves works of art, transporting audiences and transforming the chamber music experience. Program include works by Franz Schubert, Francis Poulenc, Libby Larsen, Johannes Brahms