Posts Tagged ‘Film’

Real Films, Real People

Wednesday, April 8th, 2009

Filmmaker Haile Gerima (below) visited Syracuse to screen his film Teza last week during the Grassroots Media Convention.

I previously covered Chuck D when he spoke at the Convention a few years ago.

hailegerima-front

Haile Gerima

Teza is a very intimate portrait of a man who comes of age during the modernization of Ethiopia.

The deep exploration of character in Teza reminds me a lot of Charles Burnett’s films.

Gerima, who teaches at Howard University, says criticism and analysis are the bridge that joins the artist and the community.

“Cinema is not benign entertainment, but don’t confuse noise with culture,” he said.

Don’t just be entertained…Study It

Friday, May 9th, 2008

Animators rely on authenticity to create reality for their projects, according to Pixar’s Dylan Brown. Brown, who is the supervising animation specialist for films such as Ratatouille, visited Syracuse and gave a brief talk about new technologies at the Most Museum last week (as part of the Syracuse Film Festival). He was joined on this panel by Pixar post production supervisor Cynthia Slavens.

Brown urged the students in attendance to take advantage of their personal passions as well as pursue the goal of a traditional education. We [at Pixar] “ask why, not just how,” when it comes to examining possibilities, he said.

Slavens, a 1988 Fayetteville-Manlius graduate, gave illustrated examples of “fixes” she’s done to edit, translate and neutralize films for DVD and international audiences.

Both animators, armed with Mac Notebooks for their presentations, said they considered themselves fortunate to work in an industry that marries the disciplines of art and science every day.

Post Gangsta Rap Male

Tuesday, February 19th, 2008
Byron Hurt

Byron Hurt

About this time last year we saw Byron Hurt’s film “Hip Hop: Beyond Beats & Rhymes.” The filmmaker and anti-sexist advocate (pictured above) recently came to Syracuse to discuss his film during a film festival at the Community Folk Art Center. We asked him if he got any backlash from the film and what was the genesis for the project.