Employing overhead projectors, shadow puppets, actors in silhouette, and live music, Lula del Ray is the story of a lonely adolescent girl who lives with her mother on the outskirts of a vast satellite array in the middle of the desert. After a chance encounter over the radio, Lula becomes obsessed with a soulful country duo. Encouraged by their music, she runs away from home and into a world of danger, deception, and disappointment. Set in the mid-century American Southwest and inspired by the music of Hank Williams, Roy Orbison, and Patsy Cline, Lula del Ray is a mythic reinvention of the classic coming-of-age story. Audience members are invited on stage post-performance to interact with the artists.
Category: Film
The First Movie
The First Movie is a tribute to the imaginative resilience of children. When filmmaker Mark Cousins traveled to Goptapa, a small Kurdish village in Northern Iraq devastated by Saddam Hussein’s regime, he discovered children who have known nothing but war. The children were given camcorders and they created their own movies filled with wonder and boundless imagination. The resulting films are the true gift of The First Movie. Get a glimpse of a different Iraq and the world through the transformative lens of a child’s eyes.
Menu
Appetizer: summag salad; Entrée: lamb & chicken kabobs, seasonal veggies, and warm pita, vegetarian option: please call 858.822.3199; Dessert: bread pudding with Irish coffee sauce & vanilla ice cream
ArtTalk
Stefan Elnabli, Panelist
Stefan Elnabli is UC San Diego Library’s Media Curation Librarian, overseeing media collections and providing strategic direction in the Library’s development and management of moving image resources. Elnabli’s engagement with visual culture spans the areas of cinema studies, archival preservation, and film programming/projection. His past appointments include positions with WNET Channel 13 Digital Archive, Anthology Film Archives, Doc Films at the University of Chicago, and digital preservation units within major university libraries including New York University, Stanford University, and Northwestern University. Elnabli holds an M.A. in moving image archiving and preservation from New York University.
Rebecca Romani, Panelist
Rebecca Romani holds an M.A. in television film and new media from San Diego State University (SDSU). She has lived and worked in Belgium, France, and Morocco. Her writing on Middle Eastern film has appeared in Cineaste Magazine and Al Jadid as well as on KPBS.org and the Levantine Review. She has also taught classes on Middle Eastern film, film noir, and other genres for SDSU Osher and led discussions at the Downtown Public Library. She is the project director of the multi-media project Arabs Anonymous No Hay Moros, which has produced film screenings, art shows and concerts by artist of Middle Eastern descent.
Sam Green and Brent Green: Live Cinema
Oscar-nominated filmmaker Sam Green and filmmaker/animator Brent Green, while not related, are both known for their singular performances combining cinema, musical accompaniment, and live narration. At this unique event, Brent will tell stories about his family, growing up in rural Pennsylvania, and the woman who sewed a spacesuit for the first dog sent into space. Sam will share tales about Louis Armstrong, the fog in San Francisco, and the last person listed in the San Francisco phone book. This rare collaborative appearance features live foley and soundtracks by musicians Brendan Canty (Fugazi), James Canty (Nation of Ulysses), Becky Foon (Thee Silver Mt. Zion), and Kate Ryan, as accompaniment to these short cinematic gems.