CK Mc Farland and Chale's Notes

Had my second class with CK and am so impressed with her teaching style.  She is very intelligent, gives good insight and techniques for developing a character, acknowledges her student's strengths and has oodles of good experience to share.  (Did I say "oodles?")  Oy vey!  Got a chance to work with a talented and energetic classmate at home and in class.  I'm becoming less intimidated by my classmates' talent and experience (never mind their youth and good looks).

In the evening we went to AFS Essential Cinema and saw WANDERERS OF THE DESERT a Tunisian film that was beautiful to look at but had me perplexed throughout.  Abe's advice is to just watch a film like this, experience it and not try to understand the story.  I then came home and read Chale Nafus' 4 pages of notes and it all made perfect sense.  It's like teaching your brain to WAIT, experience first and understand after. Nevertheless this is a beautifully photographed film by Nacer Khemir who brings us a joyous and mystical view of Islam rather than a fundamentalist view of death and punishment.  Thank goodness for the creative arts in the Middle East.

And to top it all off, the AFS interns presented me with my own AFS staff t-shirt.  What a great gift.

Unheard of in Brooklyn #2

So I get on a bus early this morning to take it 41 stops (that's right) to a Holiday Inn for a student's film shoot.  The bus driver announces "would a young person give this lady a seat please?"  Can you imagine?  First I thought I must look so old but I won't go there and ruin my day.    Then the driver asks me where I'm going and tells me he'll tell me where to get off.  I notice 50 minutes later that he passes my bus stop but instead stops by a parking lot  which is much closer to the Holiday Inn.  I'm not reporting  the bus # because I don't want him to get in trouble.  What a helpful person!  What a good way to start a day with a LONG bus ride.  And what a good shoot.  Smart, collaborative MFA UT students.  And my co-actor was a delight to work with.  Another good day in Austin.  Now to the garden.

A SEPARATION/UNDEFEATED/MERYL/HUGO

So happy the above films and Meryl were honored at the 84th Academy Awards.  

And always when I am reminded of who we lost this year I cry.

Mason at Elizabeth

After seeing the Blanton exhibit and tours of GO WEST and AMERICAN STYLES  we headed on over to Elizabeth a new Vietnamese restaurant on Elizabeth and S 1st Street with Reed.  Food and outside atmosphere terrific.  A break from Mexican and delicious.  While we were there we sat across from a young couple holding a tiny 6 week old chihuahua in a blanket.  They rescued Mason 5 weeks ago from under a dumpster, filthy and yelping.  What a sweety.  They brought him home to their 2 huge dogs and now they're a happy family.  Another typical meet up in Austin that leaves us smiling and happy.

KUT Volunteer Fund Raiser

Every year KUT has a fund raising drive which I  volunteered at once before.  It's great fun, a real supportive atmosphere, delicious food and I get to sit and chat with Rudi Lee a regular at this drive.  This year Abe and I became sustaining members ($10/month) because I will always remember that when we first moved to this town listening to John Aielli each morning was a great way to learn more about Austin and what was going on.  We began to build our world here by listening to his report on Eklektikos telling us about everything Austin.  We love KUT!  Plus it's on campus in the Communications B building where the film students audition and have class.  A nice place to be.

UT MFA Directors Workshop Class

This afternoon I headed up to Ed Ratke's Graduate Directors Class.  Three women performed a scene from CHARADE directed by Kelly Ota who  had the creative ingenious to make this an all women's cast.  I learned so much from Kelly, the other actors, Ed Ratke and her classmates.  Another great experience and day in Austin.

Classes with CK Mc Farland

Started acting classes with CK Mc Farland yesterday at the Alleywood Studios.  A fine teacher and a fine beginning.  Looking forward to this series of classes.  The other classmates were extremely talented and supportive of each other.  How fortunate am I to be able to study a new craft.

A NEW DAY IN OLD SANA'A/Austin Film Society

We begin a new Essential Cinema series this evening with films from the Middle East and beyond (Children of Abraham/Ibrahim).  Abe and I both loved this film directed by Bader Ben Hirsi (2006), a Yemeni filmmaker raised and educated in England. The story is one of romantic love and limitations faced by the lovers because of class and arranged unions.  There's a Shakespearean twist with mistaken identity because of a dress worn by a woman shrouded in darkness (and not a veil!) that is intriguing and engaging.  And throughout the film there are funny and some hysterical moments that bring a view of Yemen and culture we would never know from recent current events.   The beauty of the ancient city (Sana'a and Amal)  works so well as a back drop to this story of Yemeni rituals and customs.  The three "yenta" women who carry the story along with their on-going gossip are so enjoyable and real.  Alas I felt so uncritical about anything in this film (I am so easy to please) that Chale's notes which included some criticism gave me food for thought and reminded me how easily entertained I am  by foreign filmmakers.

In Brooklyn there are large numbers of Yemenites owning many of the candy stores throughout the borough and traveling back and forth between the two countries.  They hold on to their customs and culture fiercely.  In my experience working with these families, girls are taken out of school in early adolescence to learn the tasks of the home, marry young, and the boys are brought into the retail businesses.  But tonight I saw a view of what goes on back in Yemen.  So I came to Austin to learn about Yeminites whom I encountered in Brooklyn.  Sweet!

Raccoon Outside the Kitchen Door

Now I know my Texas and country raised friends will be laughing their heads off at this but remember who's telling it.  So I look outside the kitchen door to admire the flowering hibiscus and be thankful for the glorious day and who's looking back at me?  First I thought it was a beautiful cat, it stayed poised looking back at me and then when I looked a little harder and saw it had no tail and this beautiful mask I just started screaming with excitement for Abe to come see.  Of course he was on the 3rd floor and didn't hear a thing. 

For someone who spent her first 20 years in the basement of a Bronx apartment building and then 25 years of her adult life in an underground Brooklyn loft being greeted by a raccoon first thing in the morning is exciting.  And reminds me once again what I just love about Austin.

Getting ready to start a new series of acting classes with CK McFarland this a.m.    Have a good day!

Rehearsal Then Home Made Lasagne

This morning I rehearsed a scene for an MFA grad student's director workshop class. All women cast, very enjoyable.  Zipped back home to prepare lasagne and the fixings for Liz and Jared, Sofia and her partner Megan.  A fine group of young people who are intelligent, creative, hard working and  so appreciative of home made lasagne.  Had time for gym and gardening too.  Who could ask for a better day?

BULLHEAD

This film distributed by our very own Alamo Drafthouse has received well deserved hoopla.  Today Abe and I headed over to Alamo S.Lamar to check it out ourselves.  The nomination for best foreign film (Belgium) and best screenplay is deserved.  Acting by Matthias Schoenhaerts is breathtaking and direction by Michael Roskam is good.   Editing could have been a little tighter as there were confusing moments throughout (could be my addled brain).  This story of revenge following a horrific trauma in childhood; mafia cattle gangsters in Belgium; and bovine steroid use brings us a world that one doesn't regularly encounter.  And once again the film industry in Austin (Drafthouse Cinemas) successfully broadens our views by finding unusual, independent, global films to bring to the screen.  Abe loved this film and it's portrayal of a severely damaged man.  Don't miss this.  It's playing all over now.

Georgia Bramhall @ Honeycomb

Before I left Brooklyn I was REALLY nervous about giving up some things.  Like DDS, M.D.  and a hair person.  I was moving to a straight blonde hair world and I have thick curly hair that hasn't been straightened since I was 20 years old!   And it needs to be colored as well so I don't look like a thick grey mop (just not ready for that.)  So the same way I searched for a house before arriving (I looked at 157 houses) I researched hair.  And was I lucky.  Georgia Bramhall is a genius with curly hair: smart,  warm, cultured, hard working, independent,  and real.  Can you tell how much I admire her?  And I just recently learned her Dad was the very famous Austin musician, Doyle Bramhall who was remembered at the Grammys this year.

And while I was there today I met Shawn Nelson, a curly haired musician who gave me his latest cd, "sanjuanstreet".  It's great country music.  Now would this happen in Brooklyn?  I don't think so.

What can I say?  Another reason I love Austin is Georgia!  She has her own salon HONEYCOMB at the 501 Studios.  Go visit her.  She is great!  If you don't visit, send your friends.  It's a great referral.

Back To Studying Lines

There's been a dry spell for a while but once again I'm back to studying lines for auditions and  rehearsals for UT graduate student filmmakers.  It is a pleasure to go up to the Communications Studios to audition, be cast, rehearse and perform in class.  As well as participate in  shoots of these scene studies. And I've had the remarkable good fortune of running into Liz at an audition.  Tuesday I begin classes with CK Mc Farland at the Alleywood Studios.  I keep learning that it is NEVER EVER too late to learn something new and keep yourself open to new experiences.  It's what I love about having moved to Austin.  A great place to keep yourself open and try something new.

OSCAR NOMINATED LIVE ACTION SHORTS

I love short films.  While they're budget minded I find that some of the best cinematography, screenplays and acting are found in these small films. They really bring the point home quickly (how refreshing).   And today I was not disappointed.  5 short films: two from Ireland (God they made me wish I was Irish); one from Germany/India; one from Norway and the other the U.S.  I loved the humor in PENTECOST, a quintessential bad Irish boy film;  the poignancy of relationships in THE SHORE; and the difficulties in international adoptions in RAJU.  While TIME FREAK (produced by a UT graduate) and TUBA ATLANTIC are whimsical and humorous, not my taste.  But you might like them.  Go see these shorts.  Fine film making, beautifully shot and edited.

I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU/Valentine's Day 2012

Whitney Houston- I Will Always Love You Live - 

A SEPARATION

I was prepared to love this film because everyone I know who has seen it told me I would.  Both Abe and I loved this Iranian film.  It is beautifully shot, the acting is so real and wrenching, and the story is about a series of events that occur and how two families are effected by them.  Watching the sandwich generation of 3 generations, old, middle aged and adolescent struggling with life creates a tension in the film that has you at the edge of your seat.  Abe pointed out that the cultural differences in this film are so evident because no one got a gun and shot anyone to relieve their angst.

I spent many days in family court in Brooklyn as a social worker and was reminded of the pain families experience.  But in Iran there is a familiarity in the way the subjects relate to the judge  that is markedly different. Once again a foreign film has opened my eyes to a world I knew nothing about.

Tonight I watched Adele sweep the Grammys (wise choice) and I heard Jennifer Hudson sing I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU in tribute to Whitney and cried.  That voice!!!!!!!  I hope Whitney has  finally found her peace.  

FLEA AND ZOO

Strange title I know but it will make sense.  Today I went to AUSTIN FLEA at HIGHBALL.  This was one of the best local crafts fairs I've been to.  I bought vintage canisters at way reduced prices (original Pfaltzgraff) and Austin quirky stuff for friends back in Brooklyn (art made from license plates and t-shirt and recyclable bag).
Then I came home to these awesome and creative photos from a petting zoo that Liz works with (TINY TAILS TO YOU).  Check them out.  The people who do this are wonderful!

Liz Moskowitz Photography

So there you have it FLEA and ZOO.

Natalie Cole @ the Long Center

HUGE talent, GREAT performance with the Austin Symphony Orchestra.  She's 62, looked beautiful and really thrilled her audience.  Abe loved this concert and that's really good because it was my gift to him for Valentine's Day.

How We Do Valentine Stuff

We please each other by doing what the other person loves which means not on Valentine's Day when everything is crowded and predictable and just too schmaltzy.  So today Abe up-rooted a dead bottlebrush tree (it took an hour with my help) and then we planted a Texas Mountain Laurel that already had a purple bloom. And tomorrow he'll dig holes for the three shrubs I bought at Home Depot (Indian Hawthorne and Weaver's Wheel).  I shopped for the garden myself (always a pleasure) and then he shares the work.

Tonight we'll see Natalie Cole at the Long Center so that Abe can hear her sing her father's hit UNFORGETTABLE.  He loves that song and so I was delighted to get him those tickets.

And on February 14th we'll be at the Alamo  seeing the last in the AFS series  THAT OBSCURE OBJECT OF DESIRE and I won't cook, we'll eat there.  And that is my idea of a perfect way of honoring a marriage of 29 years and riding a journey with a person you admire, love, and respect.   And fight with too.

Identity Crisis

I have spent 55+ years (since I got permanent teeth) with a space between my two front teeth.  Long before the most beautiful Lauren Hutton (I NEVER looked like her or had her long skinny legs) I always liked my imperfect smile.  And it's always been such a big smile.  Goes with my personality I thought and it made me feel unique and real.  Well......a while ago I bumped my front tooth on a coffee mug and loosened it.  It's been waiting for that traumatic event I believe.  And today I spent three hours on Dr. David Jones' magical dental chair and walked out gapless.  Can you imagine?  I've always worried about what would happen when that might occur,  Bless him, bless modern technology.  When I return to NYC next month my friends will see a "no space Addie."  It goes with my new Austin Addie profile I'll say.  Thanks Dr. Jones for your extraordinary skill and your great personality.  So reassuring.

SHOAH: THE UNSEEN INTERVIEWS

Tonight AFS joined with the Austin Jewish Film Festival and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum to show this  hour of 3 interviews not included in the 1985 epic, SHOAH.  Q&A followed with staff from the Holocaust Memorial Museum.  As always the survivors' testimonies are gut wrenching.

An elderly woman, Ruth Elias, interviewed in Israel and originally from Czechoslovakia, offers a story that is  devastating and cruel yet throughout it all she talks about her determination to live. She is the embodiment of someone who has learned to go on from the ashes that someone thought they could make of her life.  They were wrong as we are reminded over and over again.

This film is personal as well.  Abe is a child of Holocaust survivors and both of our children have reminded us more than once that their beginnings began in a monumental horrific event when their grandparents met in a concentration camp.  Their family history and Abe's extraordinary life from Berlin to NYC has shaped them well I believe and brought them invaluable life lessons.  A bow here to 95 year old Ruth Moskowitz in NYC. Someone who has shown me over and over again how much she yearns to live, regardless of her losses.

LOS OLVIDADOS (THE FORGOTTEN ONES)

This was the second time Abe and I saw this Luis Bunuel film since arriving in Austin.  First was in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution and now tonight with AFS and the wonderful program notes provided by Dr. Ramirez Berg.  As usual the great follow up discussion with Chale Nafus is always so informative.   How did I ever watch films without these great resources?  This film of poor city street kids shot in Mexico City is very authentic and real.  A scene where a young boy comes home hungry to his mother who refuses to feed him while she's feeding her other children is heartbreaking and painful.  And probably this daring view of life  is why the film was rejected by the Mexican audience when first shown in 1951.  But then it went on to win the Best Director award at Cannes and when it returned it became a hit.  I loved the history provided us about Bunuel's life as a filmmaker/director.  His journey from Spain to California, New York, Mexico working odd jobs related to film reminded me so much of the young people I meet in Austin who are willing to do anything in order to be a part of the film making process.  Another successful Essential Cinema evening at the Alamo.  And so nice to chat with Lauren and Martin, Jared's sister, a UT graduate film student and brother-in-law.

AUSTIN FILM MEET

Went to their monthly mixer at Stompin Grounds Lounge on S. Congress.  Fine group of people involved in all different aspects of the film and game and performance industry.  People take the mic for 90 seconds and introduce themselves, talk about their projects, their aspirations, their availability.  And when a young man got up and talked about a sitcom he was writing and planning to produce about a 70y.o. grandmother I had my moment!  "Here I am, 63, Bronx born, Brooklyn raised, and here's my headshot and resume."  Even if nothing happens that wouldn't have happened if I did not leave my comfort zone and give it a try.

Also saw Teo there.  A woman I met waiting on line at Austin Film Festival.  Mother of a young actor, but more importantly one of the most interesting women to ever post on facebook.  She talks about intelligent subjects.

And now to watch SMASH.  My friend, Revathe Sundaram's daughter is a writer for the show.  Her Mama, a pediatric hematologist is mighty proud!

PARIAH

A fabulous film about a teenager searching for her own unique place and identity.  A black teen, lesbian and intelligent, does not color in anyone's lines and with the help of a teacher (AP English), a loyal friend and her father chooses her own trajectory.  That's the point.  She makes a choice based on what feels right to her.  This girl's intelligence gives her  opportunity and access to a larger life.  She's smart and does well in school and accepts that about herself.  While her mother is unable to accept her daughter's sexual orientation the writer/director portrays this woman as totally constrained by her own expectations of herself as a mother.  There is no room in her psyche for a gay daughter.  I don't believe she's evil just rigidly limited in her point of view.  I'm sure many people will find this mother intolerable.  There is always room for growth I say.

This movie was shot in all my old hoods of Brooklyn:  Park Slope, Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill.  Magnet H.S. on Court Street across from my beloved Cobble Hill Cinema.  Nice to be reminded.

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN

An honest and painful (very painful) portrayal of a mother and son who do not fit.  Tilda Swinton and Ezra Miller are extraordinarily believable in their roles.  So much is said in body language (how did they get that toddler actor to behave the way he did? even if he is 5!) and in facial expressions from Swinton and Miller. This is a riveting well made film.

I have always been uncomfortable with the romanticism of mother and child relationships.  36 years as a social worker and my own experiences as a parent and child have left me very aware of all that can go wrong.  While this is an extreme example of what can go wrong it is real, imaginable, and not a horror show.  Just real people living a horrific event.  And in the end Tilda's embracing of her son is what makes this film human, believable and  important.  See this film to gain knowledge of the human condition.  You will not be entertained. 

As an aside.  Abe thought the film was well made, with extraordinary acting.  He did not like the story and we disagreed about the father's role.   Always interested in the role of gender at these times.

CAFE AT THE END OF TIME

Last night Abe, Reed, and I went to Dougherty Arts to see this play about a gay bar in the Keys.  Main characters are middle aged, all have complex lives with lots of baggage.  Directed by Marian Jones, a truly intelligent delightful woman.  Good effort by all involved.

Big Bang Theory

Finally watched 3 episodes of this show everyone raves about.  OMG it's hysterical!  The writing is brilliant.  I'm hooked.

UT/OLLI and the Texas NYC Connection

Yesterday's classes were highlighted by the afternoon lecture "Design for a Vulnerable Planet-Landscape Architecture" given by Dr. Frederick Steiner, Dean of the School of Architecture at UT.  Really bright, creative, experienced speaker with great slides.  What I loved about the talk was his reference to Texas influence on the landscape of NYC architecture.  Central Park's restoration and preservation, the High Line, and Battery Park were all designed by 3 Texas landscape architects who all come out of Alamo Heights.  Did I get that right...Heights?  Nevertheless they're all out of the same small place in Texas.  And boy have they gone on to have great impact on preserving what's good in NYC.

He's also funny and progressive.  Dr. Steiner made reference to Tea Baggers who claim sustainability is a "Communist Plot."  He gets them where it hurts...he quotes Leviticus and other old testament passages  imploring us to save and honor our earth.  We like this guy!