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Welcome to the monthly Theatre Newsletter for the Honolulu Academy of Arts. In this Issue Pass it on Know anyone who might be interested in our newsletter? Click here to forward this email to up to 5 friends at once. |
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Dear Friends of the Doris Duke Theatre, The Jewish Film Festival has been a great success. This weekend, don't miss Noodle, Max Minsky and Me, and Blessed is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh. For more information about the films in the Jewish Film Festival, go to our website at www.honoluluacademy.org. We're looking forward to celebrating the Persian New Year, or Narouz, with six award-winning dramatic and comic features from Iran. We're also thrilled to have landed the beautifully animated film Azur and Asmar , which is only playing in exclusive theaters on the mainland. Azur and Asmar will appeal to children as well as adults --- and is only $3 for children under 12. See below for more details. At the end of the month, we have two exciting films about athletes who go to extremes: 20 Seconds of Joy and Jump! If you liked Planet B-Boy, these films will take your breath away. We look forward to seeing you at the Doris Duke Theatre in March! Gina Caruso
OSS 117: CAIRO, NEST OF SPIES French comic star Jean Dujardin is secret agent Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath, a.k.a. OSS 117, who, like Inspector Clouseau, succeeds in spite of his ineptitude. Haznavicius meticulously re-creates the look of early James Bond in this witty spy-movie spoof that was a box-office hit in France. After a fellow agent and close friend is murdered, Hubert is ordered to investigate Jack’s death—undercover as head of a poultry farm in Cairo. Hubert also monitors the Suez Canal, checks on the Brits and Soviets, and brokers peace in the Middle East. But OSS 117 goes beyond 007 send-up to poke fun at neocolonialism, ethnocentrism, and the very idea of Western covert action in the Middle East. Tuesday, March 3, Wednesday, March 4 at 1 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. PERSIAN NIGHTS: SIX AWARD-WINNING FILMS FROM IRAN 
PERSIAN NIGHTS: SIX AWARD-WINNING FILMS FROM IRAN To celebrate the Persian New Year, or Narouz, on March 20, Doris Duke Theatre presents six box-office favorites from Iran. Comic and serious, the films address contemporary issues in Iran such as the feminist struggle. In the lineup are two recent films by filmmaker Tamineh Milani, whom Tehran authorities arrested for her defiant filmmaking and for speaking out against the revolution of 1979. Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese were among the American filmmakers who came to her defense. Special thanks to Fatemeh Hajiani of thirtyninehotel, Hawaii Community College professors Marty Nikou and Marcia Roberts-Deutsch, and Amir Kalantari of the Iranian Film Society in Fremont, California, for their support of this film festival. 
SANTOURI, THE MUSIC MAN From celebrated Iranian director Dariush Mehrjui (The Cow; The Cycle ) comes this drama about Santouri, a musician (he plays the ancient stringed santoor) and heroin addict. At the height of his fame, his wife (brilliantly played by Golshifteh Farahan) leaves him and the authorities ban him from playing in public. Katyoun Afrooz, film critic for Cinema Without Borders, writes that this “is a witty, powerful, and honest drama that demands your compassion. Daruish Mehrjui has proven himself with each film to be the master of his craft…you can never escape the fact that you are experiencing the work of an exceptional artist.” Both the Shah and Islamic fundamentalists have censored Mehrjui’s work over the years. That he continues to make films is a testament to his talent, fortitude, and influence on younger generations of Iranian filmmakers. Thursday, March 5 and Friday, March 6 at 1 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. 
MAXX Iran’s largest-grossing film in 2005, MAXX is a delightful comedy of errors starring a cast of new Iranian actors, including Farhad Ayish in the title role. Maxx, a performer in a Los Angeles nightclub, receives an invitation to participate in a prestigious musical festival in Tehran. Upon arriving in Iran, Maxx is astounded by the warm welcome and the many invitations to important cultural events. Little does he know that his invitation was intended for a prominent symphony conductor with the same name. When Iranian authorities discover Maxx is a rocker, not a maestro, chaos erupts. Saturday, March 7 at 1 p.m., 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. 
UNWANTED WOMEN Set in modern-day Iran, Tahmineh Milani’s hotly debated feature explores themes of sexism and censorship in a society that appears to consistently devalue women. Expected to put up with her abusive husband’s affairs, Sima is humiliated and heartbroken—until a twist of fate threatens to turn things upside down. Sunday, March 8 at 1 p.m., 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. 
CEASEFIRE Tahmineh Milani, Iran’s leading female director, made this irreverent romantic comedy with saucy dialogue and pointed insight into modern marriage. Sayeh, an exasperated newlywed, stumbles into the office of what she thinks is a divorce lawyer. Instead she unloads to a psychiatrist about her chauvinist husband Yousef, played by hunky Iranian star Mohammad Reza Golzar (Boutique, The Last Supper). A sensation in Iran, this film marks Milani’s first foray into mainstream romantic comedy. Monday, March 9 at 7:30 p.m. 
THE LAST SUPPER After more than two decades in an unhappy marriage, an architecture professor is encouraged by her daughter to seek a divorce. To fully experience her new freedom, she moves into her ancestral home. In the midst of this life-changing transition, a handsome, young student declares his love for her. His relentless courtship presents serious dilemmas, particularly when the professor discovers that her daughter is in love with her suitor. Tuesday, March 10 at 7:30 p.m. 
CAFÉ SETAREH In contemporary Tehran, three women from a poor neighborhood work to improve their standard of living. Fariba operates the Café Setareh, while her alcoholic, unemployed husband sponges off her; Saloomeh debates whether she should marry Ebi, whose one good deed fails to compensate for his controlling mean streak; and Moluk, a middle-aged landlady, pines for a man who has his own problems. Directed by talented newcomer Saman Moghadam (Maxx), Café Setareh, as noted in Variety, “is a rare film equally influenced by Quentin Tarantino, Jean Renoir and William Saroyan with a deep humanist sense and a feel for working-class folk.” Wednesday, March 11 at 7:30 p.m. 
AZUR & ASMAR In another celebration of Persia, this animated film “has a terrific flair for arabesque patterning, a gemlike luminosity of surface and a classical mind,” writes New York Times film critic Nathan Lee. Set in a long-ago Middle Eastern landscape, the film features blonde, blue-eyed Prince Azur and black-haired Asmar, who are lovingly raised by a nanny—Asmar’s mother. She tells them stories of her faraway homeland and of the beautiful Fairy Djinn waiting to be set free. When the boys come of age, Azur is sent away to study, and his father drives out Asmar and his mother, leaving them homeless. But Azur remains haunted by his nanny’s stories, and sets sail to find the country of his dreams. He is reunited with Asmar, and they set off—as adversaries—on a quest to find the Djinn Fairy. Tuesday, March 17, Wednesday, March 18, Thursday, March 19, and Tuesday, March 24, and Wednesday, March 25 at 1 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. TWO FILMS ABOUT ATHLETES GOING TO EXTREMES 
20 SECONDS OF JOY For five years, filmmaker Jens Hoffman followed Norwegian BASE jumper Karina Hollekim around the world, capturing the blond beauty flinging herself off craggy pinnacles such as the Hand of Fatima in Mali (BASE stands for building, antenna, span and earth—the fixed objects from which participants jump with a parachute). “I don’t want to die, I want to live. I’m pretty good at running away, and this is my escape!” says Hollekim, to explain her addiction to the most dangerous of extreme sports. Is the high risk worth “20 seconds of joy”? For Karina, the answer is a resounding “Yes!” Then the visual joyride stops short on a fateful day in Switzerland. Thanks to Adam Sekuler, program director of Northwest Film Forum, for his assistance in securing this film. Friday, March 27, Wednesday, April 1, Thursday, April 2, Friday, April 3 at 1 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. 
JUMP! Saturday, April 4 and Sunday, April 5 at 1 p.m., 4 p.m., and 7:30 p.m. |
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