Author Archives: Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi

Film – 10 Women Directors You Should Know!

Text by Flavorpill/Judy Berman
Kathryn Bigelow may have been the first female filmmaker to win a Best Director Oscar for 2009′s The Hurt Locker. But did you happen to notice that for the most recent Academy Awards, the nominees in the same category were all men — in a year when two movies directed by women, Winter’s Bone and The Kids Are All Right, were up for Best Picture? Gender inequalities exist throughout the arts, but they’re especially pronounced in the rarefied world of film directing. We all know a few big-name women filmmakers: Bigelow, Sofia Coppola, Susan Seidelman, Catherine Hardwicke, Nora Ephron, Julie Taymor. In honor of International Women’s Day, we present ten great, contemporary female directors who you may not know but should definitely check out.

Nicole Holofcener


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Continue reading →

Music listings – 5/23 through 5/29

1. Karl Berger’s Stone Workshop Orchestra

Date: Monday, May 23, 2011
Time: 7:30 & 10pm
Venue: The Stone (is located at the corner of Avenue C and 2nd Street)
Ticket: $10
Genre: Contemporary Jazz/improve

During the ‘70- and ‘80’s, the Woodstock-based Creative Music Studio was considered the premier study center for contemporary creative music. Founded in 1971 by Karl Berger , Ingrid Sertso and Ornette Coleman, CMS brought together leading innovators in the jazz and world music communities. Unprecedented in its range and diversity, CMS was an acknowledged phenomenon in the international music world.

The Stone is proud to host a new series of CMS workshops in 2011: a new improviser’s workshop orchestra gets underway EVERY MONDAY NIGHT IN 2011 led by composer/pianist/vibist Karl Berger. Conducted in the tradition of the legendary Creative Music Studio (www.creativemusicstudio.org), original compositions, themes by the likes of Don Cherry, Ornette Coleman, and world musical melodies will be utilized for orchestral explorations and contrasting solo/duo/trio flights. This series supports the Creative Music Studio Archive Project.

Continue reading →

Press conference at the Nuyorican Poets’ Café tomorrow reg. reinstating the newly eliminated Grammy categories!

Tomorrow (Sunday) at 1 p.m. at the Nuyorican Poets’ Café (236 E. 3 e/ A&B), many people are participating in a press conference called by Bobby Sanabria in support of reinstating the newly eliminated Grammy categories, most pertinently including Latin jazz.  Bobby’s press release is attached, and his account of the April 11 New York NARAS meeting is here. There will also be a press conference on Monday in Puerto Rico, organized by Charlie Sepulveda.

Read more about this subject

Film screening: DAVID – NY Film World Premiere next week!

Story

‘David’ tells the story of Daud, an eleven year old religious Muslim boy growing up in Brooklyn. Concealing his Muslim identity, Daud inadvertently befriends a group of Jewish boys who through a haphazard sequence of events mistake him for being Jewish and accept him as one of their own. A genuine bond of friendship is formed between Daud and Yoav, one of the Jewish boys; Daud experiences a sense of freedom, joy, and camaraderie that he has never felt before, and for a brief time enjoys being a carefree eleven year old Brooklyn boy. When the Jewish boys discover Daud’s true identity, Daud’s world is shattered and he is left alone, struggling to come to terms with his place in the world.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Movie theatres and times

showtime: 7:30 pm | Sunday June 5 | Brooklyn Heights Cinema

Continue reading →

Check out “the Backstage Productions” (BSP) concert series in Upstate, NY.

Text by Damon Banks

THE WOODSTOCK QUANTUM ENSEMBLE and HOLLAND HOPSON/JAMES KEEPNEWS to perform at BSP in Kingston NY on Friday, June 3rd at 7:30 PM.

An exciting night of creative electro-acoustic improvised music will be unleashed in Kingston, NY when The Woodstock Quantum Ensemble and the duo Holland Hopson/James Keepnews take the stage at Backstage Productions (BSP) on Friday, June 3rd at 7:30 PM. Admission will be $15 at the door and $10 for students and seniors with valid ID.

The Woodstock Quantum Ensemble is the brainchild of guitarist Johnny Asia. This freewheeling, improvisation based ensemble utilizes electric and acoustic instruments to channel “sounds of the universe” through thematic composition, sonic landscapes and global rhythms. This incarnation features Gus Mancini (reeds), Damon Banks (electric bass) and Joakim Lartey (percussion) This group will be making its debut recording in the fall of 2011.

Continue reading →