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OSUOFIA IN LONDON
SHOW DATE: 2/20
SPEAKER(S): Kingsley Ogoro
Here's some information about the film:
directed/written/produced by Kingsley Ogoro. Nigeria,
2003, color, 105 min.
“From the chaotic hustle of ‘Nollywood,’ Nigeria's
thriving straight-to-video film industry. Each year,
more than 400 movies are slapped together, copied onto
videocassettes and sold in open-air markets there for
about $3. Almost all are shot for less than $15,000 in
under two weeks.” --Washington Post, Feb. 5, 2005
Nigeria's greatest comedic actor Nkem Owoh stars as
Osuofia, a hunter too lazy (or inept) to kill a deer,
even as all five of his daughters support him. Deep in
debt and relentlessly hassled by angry creditors,
Osuofia has no choice but to leave town. His life is
changed forever when fate leads him to London to
collect an inheritance. Before he can cash in, a clash
of cultures leads to decidedly hilarious results.
THIS WEEK’S GUEST SPEAKER: Nigerian producer Kingsley
Ogoro and Maryland’s entrepreneurial voice of African
Cinema Demilola
THE MERCHANT OF VENICE
SHOW DATE: 2/13
SPEAKER(S): Jennifer Plants
Here's some information about the film:
Directed by Michael Radford; Written by William
Shakespeare
2004, US/UK/Italy, 138 min.
One of the immortal bard's most frequently performed
works gets a first-rate cinematic treatment here, via
director Michael Radford (IL POSTINO). Al Pacino is
virtually unrecognizable as Shylock, bringing an
old-world gravitas to the role and clearly inspiring
the rest of the cast to match his intensity. They
succeed, and the result is riveting, rousing
entertainment. Even if one is familiar with the play
in advance, this is white-knuckle suspense and
swooning romance all the way through. A 16th-century
Venetian sea merchant (Jeremy Irons), devoted to a
young lord (Joseph Fiennes), owes a debt for "a pound
of flesh" to the anguished Jewish moneylender Shylock.
Lovingly filmed in Venice, the film looks great, with
settings and costumes all sporting a dusky, lived-in
look that matches the subdued, naturalistic
interpretation of the dialogue. Lynn Collins is
excellent and ethereal as Portia, and her love scenes
with Fiennes have an alchemical power that lifts them
to dizzyingly mythic romantic heights. Vague
homoerotic content and the grim realities of Jewish
oppression are not shied away from here, which lends
the film further richness and complexity. With the
play's rich array of dramatic and comedic elements all
perfectly in tune, MERCHANT OF VENICE earns its place
as the first truly great Shakespeare film of the 21st
century
Official Site and trailer:
http://www.sonypictures.com/classics/merchantofvenice/flash.html
IN THE REALMS OF THE UNREAL
SHOW DATE: 2/6
SPEAKER(S): tba
Here's some information about the film:
Directed by Jessica Yu
2004, US, 81 min.
Ubiquitous child star Dakota Fanning narrates this
visionary documentary about visionary outsider artist
Henry Darger—a janitor whose ambitious life’s work
included 300 paintings and 30,000 pages of writing.
His magnum opus—The Realms of the Unreal, a 15-volume,
15,000-plus-page illustrated novel on which he had
apparently been working since 1909 until his death in
1972–told of the Vivian Girls, seven blond Kewpie
doll-like heroines who are the sweet-souled, ferocious
leaders of the Child Slave Revolt. Darger’s work is
part of the collection at Baltimore’s own National
Visionary Art Museum.
Official Site:
http://www.wellspring.com/movies/movie.html?movie_id=60
Click here for trailer:
http://www.wellspring.com/movies/trailer.html?page=trailer&movie_id=60
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