February 10, 2012

Portland International Film Festival turns 35

This years Portland International Film Festival will feature 139 films from over 30 countries at the Portland Art Museum, Cinemagic, Regal Pioneer Place and many other venues. Screenings began yesterday and will continue through Saturday, Feb. 25.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

The Pioneer Log Arts

Portland Art Museum to feature local artist Mark Rothko

A music and art column devoted to bridging the gap between Palatine Hill and Portland

The Fuzz Box:

France Makes Declaration of War and Actually Wins

PHOTO FROM GERRYCO23.WORDPRESS.COM

BY KEVIN MUHITCH
Staff Writer

BY ALLIE BUSS
Photographer

I was in Arashiyama, Japan walking down the street to the bamboo forest when I came across these happy Buddhas.

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf
Shanges experimental play sends a powerful message on behalf of oppressed black women.
PHOTO FROM COMINGSOON.NET

BY JAKE BARTMAN
Staff Writer

Typically French in its playful blend of filming techniques and its touching story, Declaration of War will make you laugh, cry, laugh again, cry again and keep you engaged all the way through. The film is Frances Best Foreign Film category Oscar submission and will show at the Portland International Film Festival. Declaration of War is the love story of a young French couple

The film certainly falls short of its Oscar aspirations, but its imperfection is part of its charm.
that fall in love, get married, have a child and start a life together. Things go awry for the lovers (who are jokingly named Romeo and Juliette) when they find that their young son is critically ill. The film is primarily concerned with the couples changing relationship and the strains placed upon it by their sons illness. The story is portrayed with surprising charm, making for a delightful and fun story in the midst of what may or may not be a tragedy. Though a bit unfocused in parts and afflicted with an irritatingly incongruous ending, it is worth seeing. The film certainly falls short of its Oscar aspirations, but its imperfection is part of its charm. Tonight, 8:30 p.m. Portland Art Museum (Whitsell Auditorium), $9 with student I.D.

Students performed Shanges play in the Chapel in honor of Black History Month.

PHOTO FROM WIKIPEDIA.ORG

BY LAURA BLUM
Staff Writer

Black women in America occupy a unique space in society. Theyre treated as second-class citizens for not only their race, but also for their gender. Historically, black women have been silenced, oppressed and pushed to the margins of society, robbed of their

voices and their rights. But, historically, theyve also fought back. For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, an experimental play by Ntozake Shange, is just one of the many ways that black women have risen above their oppression and let their strength and beauty shine. Last Friday, a group of Lewis & Clark students performed For

Colored Girls in the Chapel as part of Black History Month. Seven women made up the cast, including director Kemiyondo Coutinho (12). Countinho is a theatre veteran, having written and starred in a one-woman play entitled Jabulile! that she has performed internationally. In last weeks performance, her directorial skills and acting chops were on full display. The play was lively, moving and well-executed. It incorporated monologue, dialogue, movement, music and dance, pausing to linger on salient moments but never dragging. Each actor (Kemiyondo Countinho (12), Milena Bray (15), Chelsea Williams (14), Taylor Gerst (15), Erika Andal (14), Rita Ombaka (14) and Marisol Jenkins (15)) embodied her role wholeheartedly and energetically. When it ended, after just under an hour, I was left wanting more. For Colored Girls was written in 1975, and as a result, parts of the script are dated. But even after 37 years, its message remains relevant. Altogether, thats a sad fact of our current reality: after all this time, despite how much white America likes to talk about progress, women of color still bear the brunt of racial inequality. The performance was a painful reminder of how racism and sexism still silence black womens voices. Despite thisand to its credit the play was not at all depressing. The stories told were at times painful and saddening, but watching those seven women sing their songs with such raw emotion, pride, and subtlety, I felt uplifted rather than discouraged. Though LCs production of For Colored Girls may have been a small antidote to the bitterness of racism and misogyny, it was a powerful one and ought to be applauded.

Abstract is a difficult word to pin down. In every style and form of art there seems to be an emphasis on the abstract, even though we have never really been sure what is meant when something is categorized as such. Some artists have embraced the term, while others have defiantly shied away from it. Portland native Mark Rothko is an example of the later. Rothko himself shied away from critics interpretation of his work as abstract expressionism, even going so far as to deny that his work was abstract. Rothkos artistic journey eventually put him amongst the most highly acclaimed figures of art in the 20th century. His profound use of rectangular blocks of contrasting colors stands as one of the most important styles in abstract art. Through his use of color theory and symmetrical shapes, Rothko achieved high stature in the art world and redefined abstract, even if he resisted the label. A retrospective of Rothkos work will be exhibited at The Portland Art Museum Feb. 18 through May 27. While Rothko began his career in art while a student at Lincoln High School in Southwest Portland, this exhibit is the first in Portland to trace his entire career. The exhibit features his early works from the 1920s to his development of multiforms paintings in the late 1940s, all the way to his death in 1970. Few painters have evolved so much over a lifetime as Rothko, and his development will be illustrated by paintings from the Rothko family collection as well as private collectors. While many studies of Rothko focus upon his later, more signature work, the exhibit will highlight the beginnings of his figurative works to the most surreal pieces of his later life. This exhibition offers a chance to see many of Rothkos larger paintings in person, highlighting the dynamic changes in colors through his phases and the trancelike experience of viewing his paintings in person. One of the biggest joys of Rothko is experiencing the sheer scale of his paintings, and allowing yourself to be lost in the floating color schemes that many of his later works present. This is a rare chance to see a retrospective of Rothkos whole career and a chance to experience the sheer immensity of his paintings.