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Arts & Entertainment

UNAFF Film Festival: Thursday's Schedule

The venue changes to Stanford's Cantor Arts Center, as films take an artistic bent.

The UNAFF 2012 International Documentary Film Festival continues in Palo Alto. Today’s films will be screened at Stanford University and at the Cardea Center for Women in San Jose. To see the schedule of films in San Jose, check the UNAFF website.

The mission of UNAFF, the United Nations Association Film Festival, is to promote social change through education. TICKET INFORMATION

Films will be screened at Stanford University in the Cantor Arts Center, 328 Lomita Dr.

Find out what's happening in Palo Altowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

3:40 p.m. Blank Canvas
(3 min)

Description:

Find out what's happening in Palo Altowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

When Kim received a devastating diagnosis for uterine cancer, her world turned upside down. Through her treatment, she has struggled to cope with her changing body image in positive ways. Taking an unconventional route, Kim decides to turn her baldness into a blank canvas for self-expression, and in doing so creates a powerful statement that allows her to share her experience with others.

3:50 pm: A Declaration of Interdependence
(4 min)

Description:

Rewriting the U.S. Declaration of Independence, film features an exhilarating montage of “cloud-sourced” videos and artwork from people around the world declaring their interdependence in languages such as English, French, Mandarin, Arabic, Swahili and American Sign Language. A Declaration of Interdependence premiered on Independence Day at Ground Zero on September 12th, 2011. It is the first film of the “Let It Ripple: Mobile Films for Global Change” film series.

4:00 pm: Axis of Light
(60 min)

Director: Nichola Bruce, Pia Getty
Producer: Pia Getty

Description:

Axis of Light is a poignant observation through the work of eight leading artists—
Rachid Koraichi, Jananne al-Ani, Etel Adnan, Shirin Neshat, Youssef Nabil, Mona
Hatoum, Mona Saudi and Ayman Baalbaki—to discover the beauty and mystery of the Middle East, which is often ignored, especially today where strife, anger and violence demand centre stage in our media, and where stereotypes and prejudices distort our view of this region. Through their eyes, the film moves between the worlds of both the East and the West and the past and present, exploring the meaning of their existence, identity, conflicts of sexuality, the isolation of woman and the fragility of home and place. It is a story of hope, but one that recognizes the power of expression, often against all odds.

5 pm: Panel Discussion:  "Arts Activism"

7 pm: Difficult Love
(48 min)

Description:

A highly personal take on the challenges facing black lesbians in South Africa today emerges through the life, work, friends and associates of “visual activist” and internationally celebrated photographer, Zanele Muholi. How real are the freedoms of newly won democracy for this diverse minority? This documentary offers a moving answer - and a compelling plea for understanding and tolerance. It offers a poignant personal journey illustrated by Zanele’s photographs and a diverse range of encounters - lesbian activists, critics, commentators, victims and even a lesbian sangoma (traditional healer). It counters the charge head-on that being lesbian or gay is “unAfrican” or unChristian.

8:10 pm: Herman’s House
(81 min)

Description:

In 1972, New Orleans native Herman Joshua Wallace, born in 1941, was serving a twenty-five-year sentence for bank robbery when he was accused of murdering an Angola Prison guard. Many believed he was wrongfully convicted. Appeals were made, but Herman remained in jail and, to increasingly widespread outrage, was thrown into solitary confinement. In 2001, Herman received a perspective-shifting letter from a Jackie Sumell, a young art student, who posed the provocative question: “What kind of house does a man who has lived in a six-foot-by-nine-foot cell for over thirty years dream of?” With compassion and meaningful artistry, Herman’s House takes us inside the lives and imaginations of two unforgettable characters who forge a friendship and build a dream in the struggle to end the “cruel and unusual punishment” of long-term solitary confinement.

 

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