Tag Archives: Oxford American

Oxford American’s SoLost celebration honoring Dave Anderson

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solost_logoCome have dinner and join in the SoLost celebration, honoring the Oxford American’s award-winning filmmaker Dave Anderson’s original video series.

SoLost is an off-kilter video journey through the side roads, backrooms, cellars, and psyche of the modern South. Anderson’s artful film shorts are released monthly on OxfordAmerican.org. The series won the 2011 National Magazine Award for Video and was a finalist for the 2013 award. In April, SoLost received a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts to fund the project during 2013–14.

Special guests for the evening include SoLost editor Jonathan Childs and several subjects from the series: David Moore (also known as DayDay MoeMoe), a visionary musician-artist who creates instruments from recycled oddities; Timothy Hursley, the photographer who captured a silo in Hale County, Alabama, almost a million times; and Jimmy Rhodes, a magician, mortician, and former mayor. Anderson will also unveil the debut installment of SoLit, a new series for the Oxford American.

The event will take place at South on Main (1304 Main Street) at 7:30pm.

To learn more about Dave Anderson, please visit www.dbanderson.com

or check out his award-winning SoLost series at www.oxfordamerican.org/articles/sections/solost/

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Oxford American features Charles Portis film adaptation

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2e6b4_1320267846-oxa_logoToday, August 26, 2013, the Oxford American website features the world premiere of a film adapatation of Charles Portis’ “I Don’t Talk Service No More.”

In addition to the film, the website features an interview of the filmmaker Katrina Whalen.  Jay Jennings, who edited Escape Velocity: A Charles Portis Miscellany chats with Ms. Whalen about Portis and the process of making films.

Whalen worked in production for directors Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich; Adaptation; Synecdoche, New York) and Julie Taymor (Titus; Frida; Broadway’s The Lion King) after her undergrad education at Yale.  She then enrolled in graduate school at New York University.

Jennings is a freelance writer whose journalism, book reviews, and humor have appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the Oxford American, and many other newspapers and magazines.

To see the film, which features Peter McRobbie and Richard Marshall, visit the OA website.

LR Film Fest: OXFORD AMERICAN Best Southern Film

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bayou_maharajah_the_tragic_genius_of_james_bookerThe OXFORD AMERICAN magazine has been a part of the Little Rock Film Festival since the first year.  A couple of years ago, they established an award for Best Southern Film.

The winner this year was Bayou Maharajah: The Tragic Genius of James Booker directed by Lily Keber. The documentary explores the life, times and music of piano legend James Booker, who Dr. John described as ‘the best black, gay, one-eyed junkie piano genius New Orleans has ever produced.’

The award was chosen by OA editor Roger Hodges and presented by publisher Warwick Sabin.

LRFF 2013 – Day 4

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IMG_5409The fourth day of the Little Rock Film Festival features twelve hours of movies. Along the way there will be a Wimpy Kid and the football star Mitch Mustain.

One of the events in the spotlight today include a screening of Diary of a Wimpy Kid-Rodrick Rules with producer (and Little Rock native) Brad Simpson and cast members Zachary Gordon and Robert Capron present.

Other spotlight events include the documentaries Breaking Through; The Making of Beasts of the Southern Wild; and Fake It So Real.

Today’s screenings of films in contention for the Golden Rock Narrative Award are The Discoverers by Justin Schwarz; This Is Where We Live by Josh Barrett, Marc Menchaca; The Girl by David Riker; Coldwater by Vincent Grashaw; Burma by Carlos Puga; Good Night by Sean Gallagher; Reality Show by Adam Rifkin and Zero Charisma by Katie Graham and Andrew Matthews.

Films screening today in contention for the Golden Rock Documentary Award are Our Nixon by Penny Lane; Bayou Maharajah by Lily Keber; Dirty Wars by Richard Rowley; 12 O’Clock Boys by Lotfy Nathan; Spies of Mississippi by Rick Powers and Dawn Porter; We Always Lie to Strangers by A.J. Schnack and David Wilson and Pussy Riot-A Punk Prayer by Mike Lerner, Maxim Pozdorovkin.

One film shown today is part of the Made in Arkansas competition: The Idenity Theft of Mitch Mustain by Matthew Wolfe.

Arkansas Shorts: “Battles” including “Sky Begins to Storm” by Ron Walter, “The Van” by Nathan Willis” and “December 1982” by Lyle Arnett. “Futures” features “Foot Trackers” by Brandon Bogard, “Lasting the After” by Blake Elder, “Death of a Superhero” by Brandon Bristol and “Bad Water” by Amman Abbasi. “Heartbeats” includes Joe York’s “Bump,” Zach Turner’s “Mary,” Nolan Dean’s “Last Shot Love,” and Daniel Campbell’s “The Discontentment of Ed Telfair.”

World Shorts: “Quirks” includes “The Associate,” “The Audition,” “The Places Where We Lived,” “Die Like an Egyptian,” “Catnip: Egress to Oblivion?” “boy.girl.drum” and “Mousse.” ”The Edge” consists of “Bo,” “Root,” “Grasshopper!,” “#PostModern,” “The Giant,” and “Organ Grinder.”

“American Dreams” includes “The Commitment,” “Sweet, Sweet Country,” “Kalifornija,” “The Acting Lesson,” and “An American Mosque.” “Some Times” featuring “When We Lived in Miami,” “Off Season,” “Black Metal,” “Ojala,” “Sleep” and “113 Degrees.”

There will also be discussions in the filmmaker’s lounge as well as a party at the Oxford American.

Oxford American hosts an evening with Nathaniel Rich

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odds-against-tomorrow-250x300The Oxford American magazine is pleased to welcome novelist Nathaniel Rich to Little Rock tonight.

Rich will read from his novel ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW.

Local writer Jay Jennings will emcee the event, and music will be provided by the John Burnette Duo. WordsWorth Books & Co. will have copies of the novel for sale.

The event is free and open to the public.  It starts at 7pm. The event will take place at the Oxford American headquarters at 1300 South Main Street

Nathaniel Rich is the author of The Mayor’s Tongue. His essays and short fiction have appeared in the Oxford American, Harper’s, The New York Review of Books, McSweeney’s, and The New York Times Magazine.

Born in New York City, he now lives in New Orleans. Visit his website at www.nathanielrich.com.

LR Film Fest announces Golden Rock competitors

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The Llrff_mp_hdr_logoittle Rock Film Festival is pleased to announce the following films as Official Selections for the 2013 Golden Rock Narrative Competition lineup.

The Narrative Feature film lineup this year brings to Little Rock an impressive list of award winning filmmakers including David Riker, Justin Schwarz, Sean Gallagher, Destin Daniel Cretton, Brad Simpson and Adam Rifkin among others and a cast lineup that includes noted actors Griffin Dunne, Abbie Cornish, Brie Larson, Stuart Margolin and stars from the hit HBO TV Series “Girls” – Christopher Abbott and Alex Karpovsky.  LRFF2012 alumni Destin Daniel Cretton returns to open LRFF2013 with his film Short Term 12.

Each of the following films will compete for the LRFF2013 Golden Rock Narrative for Best Feature title.

Some will be also eligible for the Oxford American Best Southern Film Award and the Heifer International Humanitarian Award.

  • Burma, directed by Carlos Puga (82min).
  • Coldwater, directed by Vincent Grashaw (104 min)
  • Good Night, directed by Sean Gallagher (85 min)
  • Hide Your Smiling Faces, directed by Daniel Patrick Carbone (81 min)
  • Junk, directed by Kevin Hamedani (104 min)
  • Reality Show, directed by Adam Rifkin (92 min)
  • Short Term 12, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton (96 min)
  • The Discoverers, directed by Justin Schwarz (104 min)
  • The Girl, directed by David Riker (90 min)
  • This is Where We Live, directed by Josh Barrett and Marc Menchaca (92 min)
  • Wajma-An Afghan Love Story, directed by  Barmak Akram (115 min)
  • Zero Charisma, directed by Katie Graham & Andrew Matthews (87 min)

All screenings for the LRFF2013 (May 15th – May 19th, 2013) will be held in downtown Little Rock/NLR this year.

Mary Birthday

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It is Oscar month, so it is fitting to highlight at Arkansas’ own Academy Award winning actress, Mary Steenburgen on her birthday.  She was born on February 8, 1953 in Newport, Arkansas.  After moving to North Little Rock as a schoolgirl, she attended North Little Rock public schools and had her first starring role as Emily in the 1971 North Little Rock Northeast High School production of Our Town, which was the new school’s first play.

After moving the start of a successful film career, she started returning to the stage in a London production of Holiday in 1987.  In 1993, she made her Broadway debut in the Roundabout Theatre Company’s production of Candida (during Roundabout’s initial season with a Broadway house).  Her costars included Robert Foxworth and Robert Sean Leonard.

The next year, she starred in Marvin’s Room in Los Angeles.  She returned to the New York City stage with 2000′s The Beginning of August at the Atlantic Theatre Company.  Steenburgen has remained an active supporter and is now a member of Atlantic.  In 2007 she and husband Ted Danson were honored by the Atlantic Theatre Company.

Throughout her career, Mary Steenburgen has been a champion of the arts in Central Arkansas.  She has long been a supporter of the Arkansas Repertory Theatre, where she and Danson served as honorary chairs of the Rep’s recent successful capital campaign.  In addition, she has been very involved in two other Central Arkansas arts endeavors.  Steenburgen has spoken at acting workshops and lent her support in many other ways for The THEA Foundation (which encourages arts education in Arkansas).

Steenburgen has also been a supporter of theOxford American magazine as well as the new Argenta Community Theatre in North Little Rock.  She and another Arkansan, President Bill Clinton, headlined the grand opening of this complex in 2011.