The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, November 13, 2002, Page 8, Image 8
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.
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gamecocJcmixeditor@hotmail.com