HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE by Sophie Ball
A love story between an 18-year-old girl named Sofî, cursed by a witch into an old woman’s body, and a magician named Hauru. Under the curse, Sofî sets out to seek her fortune, which takes her to Hauru’s strange moving castle. In the castle, Sophie meets Hauru’s fire demon, named Karishifâ. Seeing that she is under a curse, the demon makes a deal with Sophie–if she breaks the contract he is under with Hauru, then Karushifâ will lift the curse that Sophie is under, and she will return to her 18-year-old shape.  ANIME (2004, 119 mintues)

FREE Admission – Cash Bar

For more information contact japansocietynola@gmail.com, and please follow the Japan Society of New Orleans on Facebook.

From “Condolences from Death Row”:

There are times in your life like that, in grief, in love, when you walk around like a live wire, meaning sparking off everything, and you go through the day dazzled and hurt. Maybe I was being oversensitive about the death row letter, but lately I was back in that place, feeling like Dante “midway in our life’s journey,” lost in the dark wood at the entrance of the Inferno and harassed by furry beasts of worldliness before Virgil shows up to guide him… Dante ultimately sees much of the redemption for his midlife crisis in the fantasy of a too-young girl, Beatrice. I guess men have always been built to disappoint. But I’m starting to think that the dark wood isn’t really so bad, and sometimes you run into people you know; sometimes sympathetic strangers. There can be camaraderie there—like, hey, we’re here together in the dark wood, can I pour you some more of this bourbon, can you recommend a good book? Was [the inmate’s] letter another low branch across the path or was it the murky green light that filters in between branches? And what about your kids? They’re happy enough, they’re fine, you can hear them in the sunny clearing nearby and you can always go join them. Sometimes you think it would be nice if we could widen these paths, make it easier for our kids when it’s their turn in the dark wood. But I think the best thing we can do is make sure they’re equipped. They can bring their own machetes, their own bourbon.

Read the complete essay–along with more outstanding writing, including a piece on Jazzland by N.O. writer Benjamin Morris–in the current issue of the Oxford American.

SHINING STARS: The Story of Earth, Wind & Fire by Kathryn Arnold
Earth, Wind and Fire is perhaps the most successful and popular R&B band of the 1970s, and one of the most influential bands of the 20th century. This documentary follows the group from its modest Chicago beginnings with leader Maurice White, a Chess Records session drummer who was also a member of the Ramsey Lewis Trio, to its induction into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame. The film features rare concert footage and interviews with the members of the group, both past and present.  (2001, 90 minutes)

UPCOMING FILMS:
Tuesday, July 2 – NO FILM TONIGHT!
Tuesday, July 9 – To be announced

PINA
Filmmaker Wim Wenders takes the audience on a sensual, visually stunning journey of discovery into a new dimension: straight onto the stage with the legendary Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch ensemble, he follows the dancers out of the theatre into the city and the surrounding areas of Wuppertal – the place, which for 35 years was the home and centre for Pina Bausch’s creativity.  (2011, 103 minutes)

SPECIAL GUEST:
Olga Guardia de Smoak, President of the New Orleans International Ballet Conference, and Artistic Advisor to the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Panama, in the field of ballet.

Free Admission and refreshments. LIMITED SEATING.
For more information contact poetryprocess@gmail.com, and please visit www.pina-film.de.

EL CANTANTE by Leo Ichaso
Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony bring to life this riveting tale of romance and redemption based on the true story of salsa legend Hector Lavoe and the woman who kept him from falling over the edge. It’s the 1970s and the salsa revolution is in full swing. Hector Lavoe (Anthony), is the singer (or “el cantante”) whose voice can move millions and whose passion moves one woman, his wife Puchi (Lopez). But when the spotlight brings Lavoe’s personal demons and addictions to light, it will take the incredible devotion of his wife to put him on the path to becoming the legend he was born to be. (2006, 106 min.)

UPCOMING FILMS:

Tuesday, June 25th
SHINING STARS: The Story of Earth, Wind & Fire by Kathryn Arnold
Earth, Wind and Fire is perhaps the most successful and popular R&B band of the 1970s, and one of the most influential bands of the 20th century. This documentary follows the group from its modest Chicago beginnings with leader Maurice White, a Chess Records session drummer who was also a member of the Ramsey Lewis Trio, to its induction into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame. The film features rare concert footage and interviews with the members of the group, both past and present.(2001, 90 minutes)

Bloomsday is celebrated around the world each June 16, the single day in Dublin on which Joyce’s famous novel is set. More information about this event is available at nola.com. Marilyn Monroe will be in attendance in spirit only, as far as we know.

Children’s books are often innocuous objects intended to benignly teach young people love for stories and, sometimes, simple moral lessons. At the same time, they are occasionally perceived as propaganda that can mislead and oppress. In the spirit of the Loving Festival, an annual event held at points across the country to celebrate interracial harmony, Room 220 has gathered three talented local writers to each present a children’s book that, for one reason or another, prompted outcry related to race. While examining racial conflict might seem a strange way to celebrate interracial harmony, we at Room 220 believe that confronting points of contention is the most fun and efficient way to squash beef.

Each of the evening’s three writers will read a selection from a controversial children’s book, with accompanying projections, and offer a description and their own personal take on the book’s controversy.

Kristina Robinson is currently finishing her MFA in creative writing at the University of New Orleans. She is a frequent contributor to Room 220, a New Orleans native, and her writing has appeared in The Baffler, among other places. She will present Brother Eagle, Sister Sky: A Message from Chief Seattle by Susan Jeffers.

Carlus Henderson is a recent graduate of the University of Michigan’s MFA writing program and currently works as a teacher. He has won a number of fancy literary awards and has been a cheese salesman in Vermont and a dockworker along the Eastern seaboard. Room 220 had the pleasure of hosting Henderson for a reading recently with Ottessa Moshfegh. He will present The Rabbits’ Wedding by Garth Williams.

Jeri Hilt is a former lecturer of African Studies and International Development issues at Tennessee State and Dillard Universities. She has also worked with research, development, and teaching projects in South Sudan, Kenya, Burundi, and the United Kingdom. Hilt, a Louisiana native, currently teaches literacy intervention at an elementary school in New Orleans. She will present Nappy Hair by Carolivia Herron.

As usual, this event is free and open to the public, and complimentary libations will be on hand (though we strongly suggest donations).

Following the Black Rabbits and White Indians presentations, an evening of poetry readings and music will commence, also as part of the New Orleans Loving Festival. Poets include Travis Duc Tran, Rosana Cruz, Geryll Robinson, and Delia Tomino Nakayama. Musicians include Peter Nu, Kiyoko McCrae, Miguel Alvarado, Abbey Justo, Zuri McCormick, Rosana Cruz, El Tahra, Mayumi Shara, and Jamal Givens.

The Bayou St. John outpost of the Maple Street Bookstore empire (3141 Ponce de Leon) will host local writers Adrian Van Young and Michael Jeffrey Lee for readings at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, June 4. Both authors have released well-received shorty story collections in the relatively near past, but they will present current work. Lee’s Something in My Eye and Van Young’s The Man Who Noticed Everything will be on hand for purchase and signatures.

Both Lee and Van Young have been touted as new voices in an American Gothic tradition–though Lee roundly rejected any true affiliation with the Southern Gothic tradition in his interview with Room 220. Van Young is a recent addition to the city’s literary tapestry. His work has appeared in The Believer, Lumina, and Gigantic. He writes fiction and nonfiction, interweaving his love of horror movies and interest in spiritualism into his writing and, according to his interview with The Rumpus, “Van Young is not merely wading into these traditions…but swirling them around into new, unexpected shapes.”

Lee is one of the best young fiction writers in New Orleans, where he has lived intermittently since 2004.  Francine Prose selected Something In My Eye for the 2010 Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction. The stories in this collection bob along a current of sexual tension, depravity, and a pervasive threat of violence. Lee also collaborates with UNO professor Christopher Hellwig in a literary duo called The Brothers Goat.

This event is free and open to the public. Wine and cheese will be provided.

INGREDIENTS by Robert Bates
American food is in a state of crisis. Obesity and diabetes are on the rise, food costs are skyrocketing, family farms are in decline and our agricultural environment is in jeopardy. INGREDIENTS explores a thriving local food movement as our world becomes a more flavorless, disconnected and dangerous place to eat. (2009, 73 minutes)

FREE Admission. Co-presented with NOLA Locavores.
Doors open at 7:30pm – Screening starts at 8:00pm.

For more information contact NOLA Locavores atwww.nolalocavores@gmail.com, and please visit www.ingredientsfilm.com.

Admission Free. SEATING IS LIMITED.

Dr. Beauchamp-Byrd

Hosted in conjunction with the 3rd Annual New Orleans Loving Festival - a multiracial community celebration and film festival that challenges racial discrimination through outreach and education.  Please visit www.lovingfestival.com for information about additional Loving Festival events.