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Coco Before Chanel
SHOW DATE: November 1,2009
SPEAKER(S): TBA
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Written by: Jeremy Perkins
Several years after leaving the orphanage to which her father never returned for her, Gabrielle Chanel finds herself working in a provincial bar both. She's both a seamstress for the performers and a singer, earning the nickname Coco from the song she sings nightly with her sister. A liaison with Baron Balsan gives her an entree into French society and a chance to develop her gift for designing increasingly popular hats. When she falls in love with English businessman Arthur Capel further opportunities open up, though life becomes ever more complicated.
A Woman In Berlin
SHOW DATE: October 18, 2009
SPEAKER(S): TBA
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This is a real diary from a real woman. The woman cast in this film is too young too play the real woman. The diary was written by a woman in the basement of her bombed out building during the invasion of Berlin by The Red Army in the last months of WWII. It details the way German women survived the rapes the Red Army officers felt they deserved in victory. Anonymous uses one soldier to her advantage and essentially considers him her lover not her rapist. Her real fiancé returns from the front only to spurn her for being raped. The ingenuity of the survival techniques used by the Berliners of this time round out Anon's tale. The diary should be read by every privileged person, man or woman. Americans especially. War is no place for socialites.
DISGRACE
SHOW DATE: October 11,2009
SPEAKER(S): TBA
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David is an edgy 52 year old divorced white South African professor teaching the romantic poets when he befriends a student and they begin an affair. She is uneasy about the relationship and there is clearly an imbalance of power. David is disciplined by the university and is forced to resign. He is unrepentant about fulfilling his desires. David heads off to visit his adult lesbian daughter, Lucy, who is farming in the bush. He finds her living alone, but in a business partnership with Petrus a black farmer, who has settled adjoining land. While staying with Lucy, David helps out at the voluntary animal clinic, mostly helping destroy unwanted dogs. He becomes involved with Lucy's friend who runs the clinic. When Petrus is away, they are attacked by three youths. Lucy is raped and they are robbed. David suspects that Petrus is involved and soon it is revealed that one of the attackers is related to Petrus' wife. David urges Lucy to prosecute her attacker, but Lucy wants to make peace with her community and wants the protection of Petrus and his family. She has become pregnant as a result of the rape and chooses to have the child. David gains insight into his abuse of power and visits the family of the student with whom he had the affair. He seeks their forgiveness. Lucy makes an arrangement with Petrus and she becomes his tenant in return for his alliance and protection. David moves into the township and continues his work with the animal clinic. He accepts Lucy's compromise.
Unmistaken Child
SHOW DATE: October 4th
SPEAKER(S): TBA
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Overview
The Buddhist concept of reincarnation, while both mysterious and enchanting, is hard for most westerners to grasp. UNMISTAKEN CHILD follows the four-year search for the reincarnation of Lama Konchog, a world-renowned Tibetan master who passed away in 2001 at age 84. The Dalai Lama charges the deceased monk’s devoted disciple, Tenzin Zopa (who had been in his service since the age of seven), to search for his master’s reincarnation.
Tenzin sets off on this unforgettable quest on foot, mule and even helicopter, through breathtaking landscapes and remote traditional Tibetan villages. Along the way, Tenzin listens to stories about young children with special characteristics, and performs rarely seen ritualistic tests designed to determine the likelihood of reincarnation. He eventually presents the child he believes to be his reincarnated master to the Dalai Lama so that he can make the final decision.
Stunningly shot, UNMISTAKEN CHILD is a beguiling, surprising, touching, even humorous experience.
Tenzin Zopa
Tenzin Zopa was designated from a young age to be special and his childhood was similar to that of reincarnated masters. He was not allowed to play with monks his own age and was always in classes or with Geshe Lama Konchog (GLK) and the rest of the monastery heads.
The connection between GLK and Tenzin was formed even before Tenzin was born. When Tenzin’s mother was in labor, GLK came down from his cave to attend to the delivery. GLK actually turned Tenzin inside his mother’s womb to prevent him from being born in a potentially hazardous breach position. Ever since, the locals say, Tenzin wanted to be with GLK. At the age of 7, after long struggles with his father, Tenzin joined GLK and stayed with him until his death.
Tenzin escorted GLK in all of his worldwide teachings and activities and learned English by serving as GLK’s translator. Tenzin completed most of his studies on the road, with GLK as his teacher. He went to the university in southern India only for exams, and was always ranked among the top five students out of more than 5000 monks.
Tenzin is one of the youngest Geshes (equivalent to PhD in Buddhist philosophy) in Tibetan Buddhism. He skipped four school years when he was young, and two years ago the Dalai Lama asked the monastery to schedule his final exams four years ahead of time. Today Tenzin is the spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) Center in Malaysia and has thousands of students around the world who consider him the successor of Geshe Lama Konchog.
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