Category Archives: Film

The 2014-2015 Acxiom Pops Live Series of Arkansas Symphony Orchestra kicks off with Bill Conti’s Academy Awards Show

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ASO ContiThe Arkansas Symphony Orchestra (ASO), Philip Mann, Music Director and Conductor, opens the 2014-2015 Acxiom Pops Live! Series with Bill Conti’s Academy Awards Show. The concert is held at the Pulaski Academy Connor Performing Arts Center, 12701 Hinson Road, Little Rock, AR, on  Saturday, October 4, 2014 at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, October 5, 2014 at 3:00 p.m.

Oscar and five-time Emmy-winner Bill Conti – conductor of the Academy Awards Orchestra and composer of film scores “Karate Kid” and “Rocky”  – leads the ASO in a celebration of the big screen. In addition to the lush sounds of live symphonic orchestra, patrons will be treated to an exciting multimedia experience. Patrons of all ages are invited to get popcorn, find a seat, and settle in for an evening of movies, music, and silver screen glitz and glamour.

The Pops Live! Series is sponsored by Acxiom.

 

Tickets are $19, $35, $49, and $58; active duty military and student tickets are $10 are can be purchased online at http://www.ArkansasSymphony.org; at the Connor Performing Arts Center box office beginning 90 minutes prior to a concert; or by phone at 501-666-1761, ext. 100. All Arkansas students grades K-12 are admitted to Sunday’s matinee free of charge with the purchase of an adult ticket using the Entergy Kids’ Ticket, downloadable at the ASO website.

ARTISTS
Bill Conti, guest conductor

PROGRAM

  • CONTI: “Fanfare  –  “The  Final  Bell”  from  Rocky
  • CONTI:  “Television  Medley”  –  Olympics  ’88,  Falcon  Crest,  Lifestyles  of  the  Rich  and  Famous,  Dynasty,  Cagney  and  Lacey
  • CONTI:  “North  and  South”  –  Theme  from  the  TV  mini-series  North  and  South
  • CONTI:  “An  Unmarried  Woman”  –  Theme  from  An  Unmarried  Woman
  • CONTI  (Arr.): “Czardas”  –  Dueling  violins  from  Unfaithfully  Yours
  • CONTI  (Arr.): “Salute  to  the  Cinema”  –  Academy  Award  Show

INTERMISSION

  • CONTI  (Arr.): “A  Tribute  to  Walt  Disney”
  • CONTI:  “The Adventures of Huck Finn”  –  Theme  from  The Adventures of Huck  Finn
  • CONTI:  “For  Your  Eyes  Only”  –  Theme  from  For  Your  Eyes  Only
  • MORODER: “Oh  What  A  Feeling”  –  Theme  from  Flashdance
  • CONTI:  “The  Right  Stuff”  –  Music  from  The  Right  Stuff
  • CONTI:  “Gonna  Fly  Now”  –  Theme  from  Rocky

ABOUT THE ARKANSAS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra celebrates its 49th season in 2014-2015, under the leadership of Music Director Philip Mann. ASO is the resident orchestra of Robinson Center Music Hall, and performs more than sixty concerts each year for more than 165,000 people through its Stella Boyle Smith Masterworks Series, ACXIOM Pops LIVE! Series, River Rhapsodies Chamber Music Series, and numerous concerts performed around the state of Arkansas, in addition to serving central Arkansas through numerous community outreach programs and bringing live symphonic music education to over 26,000 school children and over 200 schools.

 

Tonight – The 78 Project Movie Screening

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Tonight, the Oxford American and CALS Ron Robinson Theater are excited to present The 78 Project Movie at the Ron Robinson Theater! Inspired by the field recordings of legendary folklorist Alan Lomax, director Alex Steyermark and recordist Lavinia Jones Wright created The 78 Project, an ongoing documentary journey to record today’s musicians with yesterday’s technology. Doors open at 7:00 P.M. day of show, and the film starts at 7:30 pm.

All pre-sale tickets are $10 each and available via www.metrotix.com or by calling (800) 293-5949 until noon on September 30. Tickets will also be available at the venue on September 30 at 7:00 P.M. All seating is general admission and available on a first-come basis.

ABOUT THE PROJECT – With just one microphone, an authentic 1930s PRESTO direct-to-disc recorder, and a blank shellac disc, the members of the 78 project invite musicians to cut a record anywhere they choose. The result is an artifact—a 78rpm record—and a new connection to our cultural legacy. 78 Project participant Rosanne Cash called the experience “time-travel.” In March, author William Gibson, writing for the Oxford American, called The 78 Project “one of the most intriguing contemporary approaches to technology I know of, and one that bodes well for its century and our future.” Participants of the 78 Project have included Loudon Wainwright III, Rosanne Cash & John Leventhal, Richard Thompson and others. You can watch them cut their records here: http://the78project.com/watch/

ABOUT THE FILM – This year, Steyermark and Wright have released a feature-length film showcasing their work and the singular performances the on-site 78rpm recording process inspires in the musicians they encounter. The 78 Project Movie includes performances by a variety of musicians and appearances from a kaleidoscopic cast of technologists, historians, and craftsmen from every facet of field recording—Grammy-winning producers, 78 collectors, curators from the Library of Congress and Smithsonian. In Tennessee, Mississippi, California, Louisiana, the folk singers, punk rockers, Gospel and Cajun singers in the film share their lives through intimate performances, and find in that adventure a new connection to our cultural legacy.

During the night, a Little Rock musician will play live for the audience and Steyermark and Jones will cut the performance into a 78, so anyone in attendance will be able to become a part of The 78 Project’s ongoing journey! And in addition to the screening, Oxford American Associate Editor, Maxwell George, will introduce the film and moderate a Q&A with the filmmakers after the screening.

Perks, Missives, & Lux Melancholia tonight at CALS Ron Robinson Theater

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perks

As part of Banned Books Week, two divisions of the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies are coming together to celebrate books and music.

This collaboration of the Arkansas Literary Festival and Arkansas Sounds will feature a screening of The Perks of Being a Wallflower and a concert by Scoop Slone and the Infinite, Thursday, September 25, beginning at 7:00 p.m. in the CALS Ron Robinson Theater. The winner of the Banned Books Perks Letter Writing Contest will also be announced.

Sponsored by the Fred Darragh Jr. Foundation, this event event is free and open to the public.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a 2012 film written and directed by Stephen Chbosky, based on his own novel.  It stars Logan Lerman, Emma Watson and Ezra Miller.  Dylan McDermott, Kate Walsh, Paul Rudd and Joan Cusack are also in the cast.

HOME OF THE BRAVE is feature of 7th Day of 2014 Reel Civil Rights Film Festival

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LRFF Home_of_the_Brave_PosterLittle Rock Central High School National Historic Site commemorates the 57th anniversary of the desegregation crisis in September with the Reel Civil Rights Film Festival featuring special guests, panel discussions, and a special commemoration to honor local educators and civil rights activists. All events at local venues are FREE and open to the public

Thursday, September 25, 6:00 p.m. –Mosaic Templars Cultural Center (501 West 9th Street)
Home of the Brave

(Director: Paola di Florio) – Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Paola di Florio directs Home of the Brave, a documentary about the impact of Viola Liuzzo’s murder. A Detroit housewife and mother of five, Liuzzo was a civil rights activist who went to Alabama to help with voter registration in 1965. She was in town during the pivotal march organized by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which ended in violence at the Edmund Pettus Bridge near Selma.

While trying to transport the tear-gassed marchers in her car, she was shot by three members of the Ku Klux Klan. Suspects Eugene Thomas, Collie Leroy Wilkins Jr., and William Orville Eaton were found guilty of civil rights violations and later acquitted. The film also explores the FBI investigation in the aftermath of her death, as well as the reaction in the Liuzzo home.  The film is narrated by Stockard Channing.

The ceremony will be moderated by Dr. Victor Snyder, former seven-term U.S. Congressman (D-AR, 2nd district).

The film will be followed by remarks from Mary Liuzzo Lilleboe and Sally Liuzzo-Prado, daughters of Viola Liuzzo.

Presenting Sponsor –Little Rock Film Festival

Premier Sponsor –Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site

Supporting Sponsors: arfilm|Arkansas Production Alliance, Central High Museum Inc., City of Little Rock, Conyers Institute of Public Policy, Jefferson National Parks Association, Little Rock Central High School, Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau, Little Rock School District, Marriott Little Rock, Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, Moses Tucker Real Estate, Riverdale 10 Movies, National Park Service, Sue Smith Vacations/Vacation Valet, North Point Toyota, University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, Philander Smith College, Whole Hog Cafe –North Little Rock, Arkansas Education Television Network, and Arkansas Motion Picture Institute

Six educators, activists honored tonight as part of 2014 Reel Civil Rights Film Festival

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lrff_film-projects_civil-rightsLittle Rock Central High School National Historic Site commemorates the 57th anniversary of the desegregation crisis in September with the Reel Civil Rights Film Festival featuring special guests, panel discussions, and a special commemoration to honor local educators and civil rights activists. All events at local venues are FREE and open to the public.

Honoring Liberators of a Collective Conscious Community

Tonight at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center (501 West 9th Street), Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site will honor local educators and social activists including: Dr. Dexter Booth, Dr. Beverly Divers-White, Othello Faison, Ed Hawkins (in memoriam), Nancy Rousseau, and Sammie Nell Irving Tollette.

The keynote will be delivered by Dr. Terrence Roberts, member of the Little Rock Nine; the ceremony will be moderated by Dr. Michael Twyman, director of the UALR Institute on Race and Ethnicity.

Presenting Sponsor –Little Rock Film Festival

Premier Sponsor –Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site

Supporting Sponsors: arfilm|Arkansas Production Alliance, Central High Museum Inc., City of Little Rock, Conyers Institute of Public Policy, Jefferson National Parks Association, Little Rock Central High School, Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau, Little Rock School District, Marriott Little Rock, Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, Moses Tucker Real Estate, Riverdale 10 Movies, National Park Service, Sue Smith Vacations/Vacation Valet, North Point Toyota, University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, Philander Smith College, Whole Hog Cafe –North Little Rock, Arkansas Education Television Network, and Arkansas Motion Picture Institute

Day 5 of 2014 Reel Civil Rights Film Festival features THE NEW BLACK

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lrff newblackLittle Rock Central High School National Historic Site commemorates the 57th anniversary of the desegregation crisis in September with the Reel Civil Rights Film Festival featuring special guests, panel discussions, and a special commemoration to honor local educators and civil rights activists. All events at local venues are FREE and open to the public

Tuesday, September 23, 6:00 p.m. – Riverdale 10 Movies (2600 Cantrell Rd)
The New Black

(Director: Yoruba Richen) –From church pews to the streets to kitchen tables, The New Black follows the African-American community as it grapples with the gay rights issue in light of the recent same-sex marriage movement. The film follows the struggle over marriage equality in the state of Maryland, where the battle for the hearts and minds of black voters —almost a third of the electorate —is fought from the pulpit. Through the stories of activists, families, and clergy on both sides of the debate, the film charts the evolution of this divisive issue within the black community.

In February 2012, after much discussion, the Maryland legislature passed a law allowing same-sex marriage. Immediately, opponents of the law geared up to put the issue before the voters through a ballot referendum —a strategy that had defeated same-sex marriage in other states. On one side, supporters of same-sex marriage included a number of black ministers who were challenging homophobia in the black church. Opposing them were other ministers who believed that gay marriage violated religious principles and who disagreed with placing the issue in the context of civil rights.

Against this backdrop, the film traces the historical importance of the church to the black community, and explores the personal stories of African-Americans who, although raised in the church, felt unwelcome when they identified themselves as gay.

The film will be followed by a moderated discussion with members of the local LGBT community.

Presenting Sponsor –Little Rock Film Festival

Premier Sponsor –Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site

Supporting Sponsors: arfilm|Arkansas Production Alliance, Central High Museum Inc., City of Little Rock, Conyers Institute of Public Policy, Jefferson National Parks Association, Little Rock Central High School, Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau, Little Rock School District, Marriott Little Rock, Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, Moses Tucker Real Estate, Riverdale 10 Movies, National Park Service, Sue Smith Vacations/Vacation Valet, North Point Toyota, University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, Philander Smith College, Whole Hog Cafe –North Little Rock, Arkansas Education Television Network, and Arkansas Motion Picture Institute

Clinton School, Central High National Historic Site partner with Little Rock Film Festival on screening of BESA: THE PROMISE as part of Reel Civil Rights Festival

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Besa_PosterAs part of the 2014 Reel Civil Rights Festival, the film BESA: The Promise is being shown tonight at 6pm at Riverdale Theater on Cantrell Road.

BESA: The Promise is the never-before-told story of Albania –a small European country which opened its borders to shelter Jewish refugees, even as it endured a brutal Nazi occupation. It’s witnessed through the prism of two men joined together in a remarkable and unexpected quest: Norman H. Gershman, a renowned Jewish-American photographer determined to record the bravery and compassion of the Albanians;and Rexhep Hoxha, a Muslim-Albanian toy shop owner who sets out to return three precious books to the last surviving member of the Jewish family his father sheltered sixty years before. When these two men meet, an extraordinary and utterly unexpected personal drama is set in motion –one that bridges generations and religions…uniting fathers and sons…Muslims and Jews.

The film will be followed by a moderated discussion with Skip Rutherford, Dean of the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, and film subject Johanna Neumann about her life in Albania during the Holocaust.

The film is being shown by the Clinton School Speaker Series in partnership with the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site.

Presenting Sponsor –Little Rock Film Festival

Premier Sponsor –Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site

Supporting Sponsors: arfilm|Arkansas Production Alliance, Central High Museum, Inc., City of Little Rock, Conyers Institute of Public Policy, Jefferson National Parks Association, Little Rock Central High School, Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau, Little Rock School District, Marriott Little Rock, Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, Moses Tucker Real Estate, Riverdale 10 Movies, National Park Service, Sue Smith Vacations/Vacation Valet, North Point Toyota, University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, Philander Smith College, Whole Hog Cafe –North Little Rock, Arkansas Education Television Network, and Arkansas Motion Picture Institute