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CONTACT TIS THEY SAIDIT LiUINlALil UO JAMES THURBER: “Early to rise Story ideas? Questions? Comments? , and early to bed makes a male E-mail us at gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com healthy and wealthy and dead.” # Festival takes a closer look at American Indian culture B Seventh annual Native American Film Festival begins Friday at the Nickelodeon BY MEG MOORE THE GAMECOCK The Columbia Film Society will hold the seventh annual Native American Film Festival beginning Friday. Gamering numerous awards, representing diverse tribes and detailing the often overlooked lives of the Americas’ indigenous peoples, the films exemplify an ex panding group of filmmakers. The Nickelodeon organized and hosted the festival in col laboration with the Eastern Cherokee, Southern Iroquois _ n m rl TTmi+a/1 aP South Carolina. The event, which will run from Friday through Tuesday, will spotlight American Indian pro ductions, many of which have earned acclaim in the movie mainstream. Will Moreau Goins, CEO of Eastern Cherokee, Southern Iroquois and United Tribes of South Carolina, has been in in nrooni7inn iVin IJ festival since its beginning. Anne ■ Raman, executive director of the J Columbia Film Society, said, “Doctor ■ Goins does a great deal of research J on the films and also circulated a na tional call for entries.” His nationwide I contacts with American Indian I screenwriters, actors, filmmakers and I producers have helped to bring a wide I array of films to the festival, Raman I said. This year, the Nickelodeon’s film se lection committee expressed particu lar interest in bringing “Atanarjuat, the Fast Runner” to the festival. The film, which will be shown Friday through Satin-day, is the first to be shot entirely in Inktitut, the language of the Inuit tribe. As the collaborative effort of an Inuit cast and almost entirely Inuit crew, the feature has been praised by crit ics and has received awards, including the Cannes Film Festival’s Camera d’Or, an award for best first film. The screenplay is based on an Inuit leg end that tells of a nomadic community As a testament to the festival’s emphasis on variety, the event tries “to represent a variety of Native American communities each year.” ANNE RAMAN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE COLUMBIA FILM SOCIETY cursed by an evil shaman. In the years that follow, a tu multuous change in leadership occurs, and the con quered rival of the camp leader is vengefully dis graced. Time passes, and the leader’s foe soon has two sons of his own, Atanarjuat and Amaqjuaq. These two broth ers grow into skillful hunters, who are spited by the leader’s son, Oki. Atanarjuat steals the bride-to-be of Oki, who then plots the brothers’ demise. Oki and his friends kill Amaqjuaq while he sleeps, but Atanarjuat escapes by fleeing across the ice. The film chronicles his struggle for survival and self-ac tualization, detailing the experiences that will ulti mately lead him to either perpetuate or rise above the cycle of revenge that has plagued his community. The festival will show “Skins” on Sunday. “Skins” was produced by American Indian filmmaker Chris Eyre, who has also earned critical acclaim for his 1998 mmrin “CmAlrn Qianolo ” “Skins” tells the story of a man driven to the edge. Starring Eric Schweig as reservation police officer Rudy Yellow Lodge, the film evidences the guilt that engulfs Rudy after he inadvertently kills his brother in a firebomb inci dent. The Nickelodeon will also show “The Business of Fancydancing” on ThocHqv tlio focfival’c final day. The film concentrates on friends Seymour Polatkin and Aristotle Joseph, who come home from Seattle for the burial of their friend Mouse. Seymour, now a gay poet and novelist, and Aristotle, an angry and bullying individual, can no longer relate to each other. In addition to the three feature-length films, the five-day event will also showcase a variety of docu mentaries. “The selection of documentaries is espe cially strong at this year’s festival,” Raman said. She also said there will be a new addition to the film lineup this year: a selection of American Indian music videos that will alternate as preview shorts before the feature films. Made possible in part through contributions from the S.C. Humanities Council and the Nord Family Foundation, this year’s Native American Film Festival will highlight a weekend of underground features that have earned mainstream praise. As a testament to the festival’s emphasis on vari ety, Raman said the event tries “to represent a vari ety of Native American communities each year.” A complete listing of films and show times is avail able at www.nickelodeon.org. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockmixeditor@kotmail.com rnuiua ortUIAL. IU IMt UAMtUUUrx I From top: Thomas Banyacya stars In “in the Light of Reverence”; Aristotle confronts I Seymour In “The Business of Fancydancing”; Gene Tagaban and Michelle St. Roth star In I “The Business of Fancydancing”; Devils Tower, Wyo., and San Francisco Peaks, Ariz., from ' “In the Light of Reverence”; the cast of “The Business of Fancydancing.” TOP 10 The most-requested songs from WUSC-FM for the week of Nov. 4-10 came from the following albums. 1. “SOCIAL LIFE” _ Koufax 2. “LOST HORIZONS” Lemon Jelly 3. “ON TV” Oranges Band 47“HAVE you fed THE FISH?” Badly Drawn Boy 5. “0” __ Sigur Ros 6. “INDIAN SUMMER” King Kooba 7. “HNS TO MAKE US LOOK MORE FISH-LIKE (EP)" Rocket From The Crypt 8. “NEW DEAL” Waco Brothers 1)7“BETTER OFF WITHOUT AIR” Jazz June 10. “AMERICAN SUPREME” Suicide J-Spot to share insights into sexuality BY WILLMISCHNER THE GAMECOCK “Come on, look at the name; if this doesn’t sound fun and en tertaining enough, I don’t know what is,” said George Raad, Ideas and Issues commissioner for Carolina Productions, refer ring to “The J-Spot, A Sex Educator Tells All,” coming to campus Wednesday night. If you thought that creepy University 101 sexual seminar was a little dry, then give it one more shot with certified sex ed ucator Jay Friedman. He’s sure to make it Worthwhile. Wednesday’s performance will complete Carolina Productions’ semester-long theme of sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll. Armed with a liberal attitude on sex that some college stu dents can positively relate to, the J-Spot, a play on words de rived from his name and the body part, shares his insights into sex and relationships. Friedman’s resume is exten sive, overflowing with experi ence. He was an undergraduate .at Cornell University and re ceived his master’s of education from the University of Vermont. In recent years, he has authored several award winning articles, including one in the Journal of American College Health; written a cur riculum for Cornell’s male-sex uality peer-education program, “How To Be a Better Lover”; and served as the resident ad vice columnist for a health and wellness Web site. Friedman’s new focus is on what he likes to call the “lecture performance.” The new format for the self-proclaimed “sex pert” aims to be both entertain ing and informative, comically tackling the topic of sexual awareness. Tearing down taboos, Friedman addresses a wide range of issues. He unabashedly discusses gender roles, sexual acculturation, cross-cultural perspectives and the general state of sexual affairs in America. “Unfortunately, we live in a sex-negative, sex-repressed and sex-phobic society which has trouble talking about sex and which provides inadequate sex education,” Friedman said. “My goaNs to give a thought-pro Jay Friedman will give his sex lecture Wednesday at 8 p.m. In the Russell House Ballroom. PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK voking, conversation-creating and perhaps life-changing per formance that breaks the taboos in talking about sex. If people could be more open, I’m sure we’d avoid the dangers that re sult from sexual ignorance, and instead enjoy healthy relation ships and more pleasurable sex ual lives.” On the lighter side, Friedman will also examine ideas varying from the truth about whether men really explode if they don’t have sex, to how to make con doms feel better. Friedman will usher in a question-and-answer forum im mediately after hisi-sex-educa tor-tells-all routine. The action all starts Wednesday at 8 p.m. in the Russell House Ballroom. To combat previous problems associated with popular campus lectures, Carolina Productions stresses that attendees get there early to avoid being denied ad mittance. “I’m very much looking for ward to it,” Raad said. “He’s just a guy who wants to get his mes sage across. He’s real person able, and he aims to please. Pun intended.” Comments on this story?Email gamecockmixeditor@hotniail.com CD REVIEW Amos returns to simple sound “SCARLETS WALK” Tori Amos ★★★★ out of BY MARY HARTNEY THE GAMECOCK Tori Amos’ new album, “Scarlet’s Walk,” is an ambitious work unlike anything she has at tempted before — but still re flects much of her earlier work stylistically. It’s a concept album that fol lows the travels and trials of a woman named Scarlet as she canvasses America; the songs are reflections of her emotions, explorations and the people she meets along the way, including several lovers. Scarlet is meant to be, in part, a reflection of Amos and of every woman. The album includes a map of Scarlet’s travels, detail ing her moves through the states, and the songs detail her moves through life. Amos questioning on “Scarlet’s Walk” of what America means and its relationship with its citizens is one that some crit ics have said comes at an inap propriate time in America’s his tory. But actually, when could be better? She looks at how Americans have begun to view their country as more of a being than a land and what America means to her and Scarlet. In “I Can’t See New York,” based on her being in the city on Sept. 11, 2001, Amos details a plane crash. In the lyrics “You said you’d find me/But I can’t see New York as I’m circling through this white cloud falling out,” Amos juxtaposes the con fusion about the attack with a failing relationship, and com ments on ideas of dependency on others and on country. The album also delves into the plight of American Indians, es pecially on the songs “Wampun Prayer,” “Scarlet’s Walk” and “Virginia.” On “Scarlet’s Walk,” Amos traces settlers coming to America and how they shoved American Indians out of their homes. In the lyrics, a sheriff asks, “What do you plan to do with all your freedom? ... What do you plan to do with all your stories?” In “Virginia,” Scarlet goes to Jamestown and wonders how freedom ultimately exclud ed American Indians. While the album and the methodology behind fictional Scarlet are high-concept and at times hard to follow, the music is simple Tori Amos, going back to her roots as a pianist and away from the synthesized sound of her last few albums. “Amber Waves,” the album opener that takes its name from a character in “Boogie Nights” and reflects the exploitation of women in the porn industry, is one of the album’s strongest pieces musically. Other high lights include “Strange,” a serene song in which Scarlet questions the independence of her beliefs; “Taxi Ride,” which layers Amos’ voice and distorts it against a stronger beat; and “Don’t Make Me Come to Vegas,” in which she tests the range of her voice against a theme of protecting loved ones. “Scarlet’s Walk” is one of the better albums Amos has pro duced, and it’s because of her re fined sound and concept explo ration. Amos’ intention was to let listeners interpret the album to their own lives, and it’s well worth the effort. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocJcmixeditor@hotmail.com