On today's Artpod, we hear from the festival's director, Donald Harrison. We also catch up with two longtime fans of the festival - one: an audience member, the other: a filmmaker - to hear some of their favorite film fest memories.
Festival-goer: "Every year I find at least two or three films that are just amazing."
John Johnson has been going to the Ann Arbor Film Festival since the late 1960s, and considers himself a big fan of the event.
He's such a big fan that when a film he likes doesn't win an award at the festival, he sends the filmmaker a "a few dollars myself and tell them what a great film it was." He says he's probably done that about four times, three of which have resulted in a letter back from the filmmaker and a DVD copy of the film.
One of his favorite memories was when he saw Claude LeLouch's "Rendezvous" at the 1976 film festival. He says the film "totally blew my mind," left him with goose bumps.
Johnson says every year he finds "at least two or three films that are just amazing, from my point of view." He says it's worth sitting in the theatre for hours to get to the films "that are just amazing that you would have nowhere else to see."
Detroit, Flint, Dearborn and other cities have recently had to close some of their library branches in order to save money, which means access to free computers and computer training is becoming more limited.
On today's Artpod, we'll visit a group that's working to close the digital divide.
Sobel describes the dark red line as "this giant swath of red becoming almost a monster." Ecologist Sara Adlerstein sees "veins" and "danger" in the dark red line, because she knows "how threatened these environments are."
Photo by THE ALLUVIAL VALLEY OF THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI RIVER. / Harold Fisk, 1944.
This survey map and others served as inspiration for artist Leslie Sobel's Watershed Moments series.
Photo by THE ALLUVIAL VALLEY OF THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI RIVER. / Harold Fisk, 1944.
A close up image of one of the vintage survey maps that served as inspiration for artist Leslie Sobel's Watershed Moments series.
Today's Artpod features a story where science and art intersect.
At a lot of colleges and universities, the sciences are housed on one part of campus, the arts on another. But the two sides will have a chance to meet this week when the School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE) at the University of Michigan opens its first art gallery.
Sara Adlerstein is a research scientist at SNRE, artist, and curator for the new Art & Environment gallery. When it comes to environmental issues, she says scientists need to be able to communicate with people outside their field.
"If you’re not able to communicate to the general public, then your work is not all that relevant," explains Adlerstein. "So I’ve been exploring to do that through art; I think art speaks to the heart. With an image you can communicate directly to the heart and make people think about how to educate themselves if they’re interested in the issues."
She hopes the new gallery will show scientists and students that charts and pie graphs aren’t the only way to share their research.
We learn about Michigan's burgeoning garment industry, and we get an update on how one of the state's biggest movie studios is doing (hint: not too well.) Plus, we talk with the director of the new documentary, After the Factory.
When "Einstein on the Beach" opens in Ann Arbor this Friday, Jan. 20, it'll be the first time the opera has been performed in 20 years. But be warned: this isn’t your typical opera.
So what’s the big deal about Einstein on the beach? Well, to find out about 50 of us showed up at the Ann Arbor Public Library on a Monday night for a little tutorial, hosted by the University Musical Society, the group presenting the opera in Ann arbor.
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