Tag Archives: Ron Robinson Theater

Vietnam Documentary Premieres at CALS Ron Robinson Theater

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The emergency evacuation of U.S. forces in the final days of the Vietnam War is examined in Last Days in Vietnam, a PBS American Experience film which has been nominated for numerous awards including an Academy Award for Best Documentary.

The film’s theatrical premiere in Arkansas is at the Central Arkansas Library System’s (CALS) Ron Robinson Theater, 100 River Market Ave., on Saturday, March 21, at 2 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public. Seating is first come, first served, and the doors will open at 1:30 p.m.

The film’s television broadcast premiere is Tuesday, April 28, at 8 p.m. on AETN.

Last Days in Vietnam documents the chaotic final days of the Vietnam War, when the North Vietnamese Army closed in on Saigon as South Vietnamese resistance crumbled. The United States had only a skeleton crew of diplomats and military operatives still in the country.

As Communist victory became inevitable and the U.S. readied to withdraw, some Americans began to consider the certain imprisonment and possible death of their South Vietnamese allies, co-workers, and friends. Meanwhile, the prospect of an official evacuation of South Vietnam became terminally delayed by Congressional gridlock and the inexplicably optimistic U.S. Ambassador.

With the clock ticking and the city under fire, a number of heroic Americans took matters into their own hands, engaging in unsanctioned and often makeshift operations in a desperate effort to save as many South Vietnamese lives as possible.

Last Days in Vietnam was produced and directed by Rory Kennedy, an Emmy Award-winning independent documentary filmmaker and co-founder and president of Moxie Firecracker Films. Her work has been shown on PBS, HBO, A&E, MTV, and Lifetime.

The screening is presented by the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, a department of CALS. For more information, call 501-918-3033.

Films from creators of “Beasts of the Southern Wild” are featured at Arkansas Times Film Series

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As part of the Arkansas Times monthly film series at the Ron Robinson Theater, tonight they will be showing a series of shorts from the creators of Beasts of the Southern Wild. The series is produced in partnership with the Little Rock Film Festival.

This will be a special presentation of short films and music videos from Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Benh Zeitlen and others in Court 13–a New Orleans film and arts collective.

Following the screenings, Court 13 members Casey Coleman and Nathan Harrison will participate in a panel discussion.

The films being screened are:

  • “Glory at Sea”
  • “Death of a Tin Man”
  • Music videos from MGMT and Big Freedia

Tickets are $5. The screening starts at 7pm.

NATIONAL GALLERY film shown tonight through Clinton School/LR Film Festival partnership

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Frederick Wiseman’s “National Gallery” takes the audience behind the scenes of a London institution, on a journey to the heart of a museum inhabited by masterpieces of Western art from the Middle Ages to the 19th Century. 

The documentary is the portrait of a place, its way of working and relations with the world, its staff and public, and its paintings. In a perpetual and dizzying game of mirrors, film watches painting watches film. 

Fred Wiseman is one of today’s greatest living documentary filmmakers. For close to thirty years, he has created an exceptional body of work consisting of thirty full-length films devoted primarily to exploring American institutions.

The film will be shown tonight at the Ron Robinson Theater at 6pm. It is sponsored by the Clinton School for Public Service and the Little Rock Film Festival. 

ANNIE (1982 version) at the Ron Robinson Theater tonight

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Leapin’ Lizards, the John Huston-directed 1982 version of ANNIE is being shown on the big screen at the Ron Robinson Theater tonight.  The film starts at 7pm; admission is $5. 

Based on the 1977 Tony winning musical and the 1930s Harold Gray comic strip, the film stars Albert Finney, Carol Burnett, Bernadette Peters, Ann Reinking, Tim Curry, Raymond Thorne, and Geoffrey Holder. Playing the title role is Aileen Quinn.  

In the depths of the 1930’s, Annie is a fiery young orphan girl who must live in a miserable orphanage run by the tyrannical Miss Hannigan. Her seemingly hopeless situation changes dramatically when she is selected to spend a short time at the residence of the wealthy munitions industrialist, Oliver Warbucks. Quickly, she charms the hearts of the household staff but can Annie charm the seemingly cold-hearted Mr. Warbucks or discover what happened to her real parents? 

It’s a Bolly Holi Day at Ron Robinson

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Zokkomon

Celebrate the festival of Holi on Saturday, March 7, during Bolly Holi Day, a day of Bollywood films, at the Central Arkansas Library System’s (CALS) Ron Robinson Theater, 100 River Market Avenue, on the Main Library campus. All Bolly Holi Day films are free and open to the public.

The day, designed by the Main Library Adult Non-Fiction department, includes three Bollywood films which are in Hindi with English subtitles and Bollywood dance performances.

  • Qurbani (NR)
    noon
    Two best friends and the woman they both love are caught up in a plot to steal a fortune from a powerful crime boss and find themselves in mortal danger.
  • Zokkomon (PG)
    3:15pm
    With the help of a scientist hermit, an orphan poses as a ghost to haunt the uncle who abandoned him and becomes a hero to the abused children attending his uncle’s school.
  • Dance Performances
    5:15pm
  • English Vinglish (NR)
    5:30pm
    During a visit to Manhattan, a woman decides to learn English and gains new friends who are on the same transformational journey to find confidence and master the language.

Holi is a popular Hindu festival that celebrates the arrival of spring. The festival coincides with the full moon in March, and begins on Friday, March 6, 2015. It is traditionally celebrated by throwing vibrantly colored powder and water, playing music, dancing, and eating special treats. During Holi celebrations the strictness of social structures is loosened, closing the gaps between classes and bringing people together. Legends associated with the festival depict triumph of good over evil.

For more information on Bolly Holi Day or other CALS programming, call 918-3000.

 

Charley Sandage and Harmony tonight at the Ron Robinson Theatre

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sandage

In its continuing quest to cover the depth and breadth of Arkansas’ musical heritage, tonight Arkansas Sounds presents another concert at the Ron Robinson Theatre.

Charley Sandage and Harmony, a Mountain View trio comprising Mary and Robert Gillihan and Dave Smith, present original songs that tell stories about people and events that shaped Arkansas. The group uses an array of traditional instruments including fiddle, banjo, guitar, mandolin, autoharp, bass, button accordion, harmonica, pickin’ bow, and spoons.

The concert is free.  It starts at 7:30 pm at the Ron Robinson Theater.

The Charley Sandage & Harmony concert is supported by the Arkansas Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, and the National Endowment for the Arts. This concert is also supported in part by a grant from the Arkansas Humanities Council and the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

THE GODFATHER on the big screen at CALS Ron Robinson tonight at 7

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the-godfatherTonight the Central Arkansas Library System is making an offer the public cannot refuse – a chance to see Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 opus The Godfather on the big screen.  No, if you miss it you won’t wake up with a horse head in your bed tomorrow – but you will have missed a chance to experience this masterpiece as it is meant to be.

Based on Mario Puzo’s novel, Puzo and Coppola crafted a screenplay which tells of the business and family affairs of the Corleone family.  Deftly directed by Coppola, it stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire and John Cazale.  Creating other memorable characters are Richard S. Castellano, Al Lettieri, Abe Vigoda, John Martino, Alex Rocco, Gianni Russo, Tony Giorgio and Vito Scotti among others.

The film was nominated for ten Oscars and took home Best Picture, Actor (Brando) and Adapted Screenplay.  Famously, Brando refused the award and sent Sacheen Littlefeather to make a speech.  The other nominees were Caan, Duvall and Pacino all up for Supporting Actor; Coppola for Director; as well as nominations for Costume Design, Sound and Film Editing.

Since this is Grammy week, it is notable that the film’s score by Nino Rota (ruled ineligible for an Oscar) won the Grammy for Music composed for movie or TV.

The screening starts at 7pm at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater.  Tickets are $5 and concessions are available.