Eran Riklis, one of Israel's leading filmmakers, is heading to Atlanta for a series of free screenings and lectures,
Best known in the U.S. for “The Syrian Bride” (2004) and “Lemon Tree” (2008), Riklis will be a Schwartz Foundation artist in residence at Emory University starting Aug. 26. He will present three of his films and deliver three lectures as part of the program “Forging Cinematic Identities: Eran Riklis.”
“Riklis’ films are celebrated for their humane, sensitive and understated exploration of the intimate and complex relationships between men and women, and between Israeli Jews, Israeli Arabs and Palestinians,” said Matthew H. Bernstein, chair of Emory’s Department of Film and Media Studies. “As they explore the nature of identity, and more specifically what it means to be Israeli, his films are an eloquent cinematic voice for common understanding among various peoples, cultures and traditions.”
His newest film, "A Borrowed Identity" (originally titled "Dancing Arabs"), a coming-of-age tale about an Arab-Israeli teenager who attempts to blend in at a demanding Jerusalem boarding school before realizing it could be at the cost of his true identity, is expected to open at the United Artists Tara Cinemas 4 on Sept. 4.
"The Middle East is hard to understand and quite often emotions, history, religion and bad blood get in the way of any common sense," Riklis told the (South Florida) Sun Sentinel. But he called Israeli moviemaking "a cinema of concern, passion, compassion and respect to the society and people it concerns itself with."
The schedule:
7:30 p.m. Aug. 26: screening of "Zaytoun" (2012), White Hall 208, a road movie set in 1982, centering on an unlikely pair, a Palestinian teenage refugee and an Israeli Air Force pilot.
4 p.m. Aug. 30: "Syrian Bride" screening, White Hall 208, about a dutiful Druse daughter living in the Golan Heights who prepares to marry a Syrian soap opera star across the border, a commitment that means she can never return home.
7:30 p.m. Sept. 1: lecture on "Israeli Cinema: The Way We Were," Woodruff Library, Jones Room, a look at how this multicultural society was reflected in early Israeli cinema.
7:30 p.m. Sept. 2: "Lemon Tree" screening, White Hall 208, about an Israeli defense minster who moves in and demands that the lemon grove next door be destroyed for security reasons.
7:30 p.m. Sept. 8: lecture on "Israeli Cinema: Forging an Identity," Woodruff Library, Jones Room, on whether a coherent voice can emerge from the merger of cultures, religions, histories and politics.
7:30 p.m. Sept. 1o: lecture, "Of Conflict and Optimism: My Personal Cinematic Voyage,'" Michael C. Carlos Museum Reception Hall, on Middle East conflict as reflected through the prism of Riklis' films.
Screenings will include an introduction by Riklis, along with a post-screening discussion with the director, followed by a reception. Information: arts.emory.edu.
EVENT
Skate over to Contemporary for Art Party
Atlanta Contemporary will be kickin' it old school for its annual Art Party fundraiser on Aug. 29, starting with its pavilion being turned into a freestyle roller rink, with partiers encouraged to don neon-shaded socks and necklaces and rental skates.
Beneath the disco lights, the Atlanta Rollergirls will be skating alongside guests to summer hits spun by Atlanta DJ Ree De La Vega.
In addition to a chance to view three new fall solo exhibits (by John Riepenhoff, Marlon Mullen and Aleksandra Domanović), Art Party patrons will enjoy entertainment (DJ-producer Sandhill and the headliner, Iraqi-Canadian hip-hop artist Narcy), food and drink (cash bars) and and visits to 11 artist studio spaces.
Art Party proceeds support Atlanta Contemporary’s exhibitions, public programs and Studio Artist Program. The Westside contemporary art nonprofit will adopt a free admission policy starting Sept. 1, as previously announced.
7 p.m.-midnight. Tickets begin at $50. 535 Means St. N.W., Atlanta. 404-688-1970, thecontemporary.org/artparty.
For more on the three fall exhibits, all through Nov. 7, go to artsculture.blog.ajc.com. Atlanta Contemporary curator Daniel Fuller will lead free tours at 6 p.m. Sept. 3 and 2 p.m. Oct. 3.
VISUAL ART
Pindell comes full circle at Spelman
Nearly four and a half decades after Spelman College hosted the first public exhibition of the paintings and drawings of Howardena Pindell, the New York artist returns to the school for a deep look back at her accomplished career.
“Howardena Pindell,” a solo exhibition of her intricately layered mixed-media paintings and works on paper, opens Aug. 25 at the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art for a run through Dec. 5.
Anne Collins Smith, the museum’s curator of collections who curated the show with director Andrea Barnwell Brownlee, calls Pindell’s work “astute, attuned and richly textured.”
Now an art professor at the State University of New York, Stony Brook, Pindell was associate curator of prints and illustrated books at the Museum of Modern Art and the co-founder of A.I.R. Gallery in Brooklyn.
10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays; noon-4 p.m. Saturdays. Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, 350 Spelman Lane S.W., Atlanta. 404-270-5607, museum.spelman.edu.
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