University of South Carolina Libraries
6 THE GAMECOCK ♦ Wednesday, April 14, 2004 £ C , I “N6 culture can live, if it at uontact. tempts to be exclusive.” Story ideas? Questions? Comments? MAHATMA GANDHI E-mail us at gamecockfeatures&gwm.sc.edu Indian leader I ople I ions ^"^KE^mtnankind Jewish ^™ appeals to all Nathaniel, son of famed architect Louis I. Kahn, shown above, is the subject of the documentary “My Architect.” PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK BY JULIA SELLERS THE GAMECOCK The Nickelodeon Theatre will play host to the Columbia Jewish Film Festival be ginning this Saturday and run through April 26. The festival will showcase the films “Gloomy Sunday,” “Taking Sides,” “My Architect” and “My Terrorist” this week end. “A committee meets together to decide what films will be shown each year. The Cultural Arts committee makes sure at least one film is a documentary,” ex plained Anne Raman, executive director of the Nickelodeon Theatre. The film festival began after the Columbia Jewish Community Center ap proached the Nickelodeon Theatre with hopes of organizing the event. “Several years ago the Columbia Jewish Community Center established a committee known as the Columbia Jewish Cultural Arts ... to promote pro grams of Jewish music, art and drama, and the idea developed that the group should also promote a Jewish Film Festival,” said Arline Polinsky, of the Columbia Jewish Cultural Arts Committee. “The Nickelodeon was approached as the venue for the event first because it is operated by the Columbia Film Art Society which is committed to showing foreign films that often involve subtitles and that deal with subjects that are dif ferent from those produced by large com mercial film companies.” Each film touches on a different aspect of human emotion, allowing the stories to transcend strictly Jewish audiences and address issues everyone can relate to. “We are interested in having our films viewed not just by persons in the Jewish community but also by persons in the non-Jewish community, and we have been fairly successful in achieving that goal,” Polinsky said. “Gloomy Sunday,” a romance set in 1930s and 1940s Budapest, was in spired by the legendary curse that surrounds the song of the same name, made famous by Billie Holiday. The film begins in the present, when a wealthy German indus trialist named Hans re turns to a favorite cafe from his youth and re quests to hear the song “Gloomy Sunday.” The film then retreats into the past when Hans falls in love with a girl named Ilona. Another admirer composes the song “Gloomy Sunday” for Ilona and as its popularity grows. The song casts a spell, complicating lives and relationships during the treachery of the Holocaust. “Gloomy Sunday” will be shown Saturday and Sunday. “Taking Sides,” from the Academy Award winning director of “Sunshine,” Istva'n Szab'o, and Ronald Cbe, screen writer for “The Pianist,” retells the con troversy surrounding German conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler. The film depicts Furtwangler’s refusal to leave Germany with other artists during Hitler’s rise to power. Instead, Furtwangler continued to conduct the Berlin Philharmonic and used his position and contacts to save hundreds of Jewish musicians. The film features original recordings of Furtwangler and stars Stellan Skarsgard as Furtwangler and Harvey Keitel as American Major Steve Arnold. “Taking Sides” will be screened Monday and Tuesday. An Academy Award nominee for best documentary, “My Architect” tells the story of architect Louis I. Kahn’s illegit imate son, Nathanial. Kahn designed the Salk Institute and the Kimbell Art Museum. At age 11, Kahn’s son decides to embark on a five-year journey to un derstand his father through the making of this film. Nathaniel interviews peo ple from his father’s past — from long lost relatives to colleagues — to gain fur ther insight into his father’s life and re lationships while also featuring the beautiful images of his father’s build ings. “My Architect” will be shown April 21-26. Following the pass hold ers’ screening of “My Architect” on Thursday, April 22, there will be a pan el discussion featuring ar chitect Adrienne Montare, film historian Dan Streible and graphic designer Chris White. The discussion is or ganized by the Columbia Design League and will be moderated by architect Tom Savory. “My Terrorist” is a doc umentary from Yulie Cohen-Gerste,l who was wounded in a terrorist at tack by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in 1978 when she was worKing as a mgnt attendant tor tne Israeli airline, El Al, and was involved in a plane hijacking. For many years Gerstel considered .herself a strict Israeli nationalist until, when working on a film shoot, she visit ed occupied territories. Gerstel came to realize that both Israelis and Palestinians advocate the cycle of hos tility and bloodshed. Gerstel stood up as a terrorist survivor and began a journey to call for reconciliation and forgiveness on each side. The screening will go along with a spe cial pass holders’ brunch at 10 a.m. at the Beth Shalom Synagogue in conjunction with the Israel Independence Day Festival Sunday, April 25. “Students should come see the films at the festival this year. They should be interested in tne mms Decause wnat is going on in Israel has a global effect,” Raman noted. “With the films you have a more intimate experience because, as a tourist, you don’t go into the homes of these people. The films are much more direct.” Film festival passes are $44.50 for gen eral audiences, $41.50 for students and se niors and $38.50 for Columbia Film Society members. Individual tickets for films are $7.50 for general audiences, $6.50 for students and seniors and $5.50 for Film Society members. Passes can be ordered by phone at 254-8234 and tickets are also available at the theater for each film the day of viewing. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecockfeatures@gwm.sc.edu PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK “My Architect” will be one of the films in the Jewish Film Festival at the Nickelodeon theatre. 4 i i i i i ii i i m i rrr — Jewish Film • “gloomy Sunday- “ — Cnctivol Saturday, 7 and 9:20 p.m. _ reSUVai Sunday 3, 7 and 9:20 p.m. — features “taking sides- - schedule Monday 7 and 9:15 p.m. — — Tuesday 3, 7 and 9:15 p.m. _ “ "MY ARCHITECT” _ — Wednesday through Monday 7 and 9:20 — p.m! _ 3 p.m. matinees on Wednesday, _ Saturday and Sunday — ^ I I I I I I I I I I' I n~r Arts society ends on high note BY MEG MOORE THE GAMECOCK USC’s Creative Music and Film Society has decided to end the spring semester on a musical note. The group is ending with two tuneful events, culminating another year of film screenings and innovative concerts this Sunday. “The Rutles,” which features Bill Murray, Mick Jagger, Paul Simon and a slew of other stars, will be shown k Sunday on the I bi§ i screen in Gambrell 153. The film pokes fun at The Beatles in clas sic, mock-umentary style. Mirroring the Fab Four’s pop music journey, the film chroni cles the musical adventures of The Rutles, a fabulous fictional foursome with their own collec tion of original times. The movie’s comedic appeal stems not only from its well-cho sen cast of Monty Python veter ans and Saturday Night Live stars, but from simple elements such as narration and k camera placement that & humorously give it ■ the requisite docu ' mentary feel. Directed by Gary s’ Weiss and Eric Idle — t who also composed the p soundtrack — “The jg^ Rutles” is saturated ■ with satiric riffs. On April 23, CMFS will bring musi cians to the New Brookland Tavern for the semester’s final concert. The free pre-show food is sure to attract its share of students, but the headlining talent, avant-garde drummer Chris Cutler, is worth staying for. Having experimented with various instruments, Cutler took up the sticks for his first band in the early 1960s. On his Web site, Cutler ex plained that he “never studied music,” but he has certainly had his share of onstage experience. From stints in R&B bands to working with rock orchestras, Cutler has been consistently in novative, expanding his musical bounds over the course of the% past few decades. He has been in volved in various collaborations and improvisational projects. He’s playing several dates in the states — many solo, some with other select musicians. His April 23 appearance at the New Brookland Tavern is a solo per formance. Showtime is 7 p.m. and admission is $8. Sunday’s film screening begins with film shorts at 6 p.m. followed by “The Rutles” at 6:30 p.m. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecockfeatures@gwm.sc.edu $ PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK The Creative Music and Film Society will end its semester with a showing of “The Rutles." TV.Show.Review ‘Survivor All-Stars’ beat out rest of reality TV castaways “SURVIVOR ALL-STARS” ★ ★★★outoftt**** BY PAT CAULEY THE GAMECOCK Reality TV standards have reached new lows in recent months. From “My Big Eat Obnoxious Fiance” to “The Swan,” people are being humili ated to the moral and social ex tremes. Just in the nick of time, the father of all reality TV, Mark Brunett, has brought us the best reality TV series in years, “Survivor All-Stars.” The original “Survivor” was hip, innovative and fresh. It earned a massive following that has propelled its seven consecu tive seasons to TV rating highs. The plot is relatively simple: split a group of offbeat people into two tribes and then drop them off in a tropical location where they have to fend for them selves. The catch is that the two tribes compete in contests in which the losing tribe must vote a member off until eventually the two merge and we are ultimate ly left with one sole survivor. When nature mixes with hu man nature, tne results are devil ishly entertaining. Deception and trust become ele ' ments of survival. The premise be hind “Survivor All-Stars” is that all of the fan fa vorites ot previous seasons come together to compete in the ulti mate “Survivor.” Only two former castaways declined the invitation to appear on the All-Stars compe tition. Colleen Haskell and Elisabeth Filarski, the debut sea son darlings, do not make an ap pearance. One of the best things about the new season is that we already know the contestants — and have our opinions formed about them. The few weeks usually spent de ciding who should be liked and de spised are eliminated. “All-Stars” has started to heat up in recent episodes, mostly be cause of a romantic interest be tween Boston s Kob Mariano and Pittsburgh’s Amber Brkich. The breaking of al liances is already well under way and previews for upcoming episodes show the drama ana emotion continuing to esca late. * Brkich may very well be the last All-Star standing. She has played a slick game thus far, and her good looks, youth and sweet demeanor work in her favor. “Survivor All-Stars” airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on CBS. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockfeatures@gwm.sc.edu ft ft The “Survivor All Stars” competition features favorite cast members from the previous seven seasons.