New Eco-Program Series
Wednesday, May 6, 7 PM – GRASP (Green Resources and Sustainable Practices)
Shirlington Branch Library, in partnership with Busboys and Poets and Global Exchange, is launching a new eco-living series, GRASP–Green Resources and Sustainable Practices. GRASP events are held the first Wednesday of every month to explore different aspects of living life in a more environmentally responsible and engaged way.
The first event focuses on the Fair Trade movement. The screening of the film “Black Gold: A Film about Coffee and Trade ” [2006]. Not Rated, 86 minutes. Directed by Marc Francis and Nick Francis, the film will be followed by a discussion of the Fair Trade movement. The discussion will feature Shel Mae-Reinwald, director of Global Exchange Fair Trade Programs, and John Ricker. A complimentary tasting of fair trade coffees and chocolate will follow at Busboys and Poets.
Author Talks:
Tuesday, May 12, 7 PM – Rebecca Daniels, Women Stage Directors Speak: Exploring the Influence of Gender on Their Work.
“Women Stage Directors Speak” looks at 35 female American stage directors, focusing on the issue of gender. Daniels (who teaches at St. Lawrence University) asks the directors such questions as: Does gender affect your authority? How has gender influenced your creative decision making?
Thursday, May 21, 7 PM – Chitra Divakaruni, Shadowland and Palace of Illusion.
Award-winning author and poet Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni discusses her two latest books, “Shadowland” [2009] and “The Palace of Illusion.” [2008] Her themes include women, immigration, the South Asian experience, history, myth, magic and celebrating diversity. She writes both for adults and children and her books have been translated into 20 languages. She teaches Creative Writing at the University of Houston.
Ms. Divankaruni will appear along with her Editor, and they will talk about the writing process as well as the books.
Palace of Illusion –
Relevant to today’s war-torn world, The Palace of Illusions takes us back to the time of the Indian epic The Mahabharat—a time that is half-history, half-myth, and wholly magical. Through her narrator Panchaali, the wife of the legendary five Pandavas brothers, Divakaruni gives us a rare feminist interpretation of an epic story.
The novel traces Panchaali’s life, beginning with her magical birth in fire as the daughter of a king before following her spirited balancing act as a woman with five husbands who have been cheated out of their father’s kingdom. Panchaali is swept into their quest to reclaim their birthright, remaining at the brothers’ sides through years of exile and a terrible civil war. Meanwhile, we never lose sight of her stratagems to take over control of her household from her mother-in-law, her complicated friendship with the enigmatic Krishna, or her secret attraction to the mysterious man who is her husband’s most dangerous enemy. Panchaali is a fiery female voice in a world of warriors, gods, and ever-manipulating hands of fate.
In Shadowland fantasy and time travel combine in this thrilling conclusion to a loved trilogy.
When Anand’s beloved Conch goes missing, leaving behind it a devastated Silver Valley, he and his friend, Nisha, are forced to travel into a dystopian world to retrieve it—a world where the air and water have been so severely corrupted that the upper classes live in luxury under hermetically sealed domes, while the lower classes struggle to survive. Ecological and class issues come to a dramatic head in this final Brotherhood of the Conch novel.
Children’s Programs
Sunday, May 3, 1 PM – Family Movie Matinee
1 PM – Pooh’s Heffalump Movie [2005] Rated G, 68 minutes. Directed by Frank Nissen. Featuring: Jim Cummings, John Fiedler, Nikita Hopkins and Peter Cullen. When rumblings that could only come from the much-feared creatures called Heffalumps awaken Pooh and his friends, they set out to protect their home leaving young Roo behind.
2:30 PM – The Tigger Movie [2000] Rated G, 76 minutes. Directed by Jun Falkenstein. Featuring: Jim Cummings, Nikita Hopkins, Ken Sansom, and John Fielder. When Winnie the Pooh and the rest of Tigger’s friends don’t want to play, Tigger gets so lonely that he decides to embark on an adventure to find his family tree and others like him.
Wednesday, May 6, 4 PM – Children’s Nature Program
Arlington County Parks Naturalist, Rachel Tolman, hosts a children’s program on recognizing different birds and learning interesting facts about local birds. This program is recommended for ages 5-12. No registration is required.
Saturday, May 16, 2 PM – Tween & Teen Screens: Night at the Museum
[2006]. Rated PG, 108 minutes. Directed by Shawn Levy. Featuring Ben Stiller, Carla Gugino, Dick Van Dyke and Mickey Rooney. Larry Daley just can’t keep a steady job, but he begins to think there may be hope when he is hired as a night watchman at the Museum of Natural History. In his first nightshift, Larry learns that since an old Egyptian stone came to the Museum in 1950, all the exhibits come to life until dawn. When three former night watchmen steal the magical tablet, Larry organizes the historic characters to help him to arrest the criminals and save the museum.
Saturday, May 23, 1 PM – Birds I View Children’s Art Program
Graphic artist Caty Forden, from the Arlington Arts Center, conducts a “Birds I View” art workshop, creating prints inspired by the local birds. For ages 8-12. Registration is encouraged. Walk-in participants will be admitted on a space available basis. Contact the Shirlington Library to register 703-228-6545.
Computer Classes:
Monday, May 18, 6:30 PM – Microsoft Word.
Wednesday, May 20, 2 PM – Power Point.
Saturday May 30, 2 PM – Social Software
Documentary Films:
Wednesday, May 6, 7 PM – GRASP (Green Resources and Sustainable Practices)
Black Gold: A Film about Coffee and Trade [2006]. Not Rated, 86 minutes. Directed by Marc Francis and Nick Francis, the film will be followed by a discussion of the Fair Trade movement. The discussion will feature Shel Mae-Reinwald, director of Global Exchange Fair Trade Programs, and John Ricker. A complimentary tasting of fair trade coffees and chocolate will follow at Busboys and Poets.
Sunday, May 17, 3 PM – Real Life Reels: Casting About [2004] Not Rated. Directed by Barry J. Hershey. This lyrical, feature documentary that explores the captivating experience of casting actors. The viewer sits in the filmmakers seat, watching the actors at work and learning about their lives, vulnerabilities, fears and dreams. The film explores the boundaries between fiction and reality and the dialectic between voyeurism and intimacy.
Feature Films:
Monday Night Musicals:
Monday, May 11, 7 PM – Show Boat
[1951] Not Rated, 108 minutes. Directed by George Sidney. Featuring Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner and Howard Keel. The Jerome Kern-Oscar Hammerstein musical brought vividly to the screen. Popular songs include “Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man,” “Make Believe” and “Ol’ Man River.” Based on a novel by Edna Ferber, “Show Boat” is widely considered one of the most influential works of the American musical theatre.
Shirlington Screens:
Tuesday, May 5, 7 PM – Hope and Glory
[1987]. Rated PG-13, 112 minutes. Directed by John Boorman. Featuring: Sarah Miles, David Hayman, and Derrick O’Connor. A woman is left alone to cope with a teenage daughter and two small children during the World War II blitz of London. Her story is told from the perspective of her thoughtful seven-year-old son, to whom the war is something else entirely. It’s still bomb shelters and gas masks and even random death, shockingly close at hand. However, the rubble of the boy’s middle class London suburb also makes the greatest playground imaginable for a young boy.
Thursday, May 7, 1 PM – Empire of the Sun
[1987] Rated PG, 152 minutes. Directed by Steven Spielberg. Featuring Christian Bale, John Malkovich and Miranda Richardson. Christian Bale plays Jim, a British schoolboy living in Shanghai, who is separated from his parents in a panicked mob when the Japanese invade China at the beginning of World War II. Jim is eventually imprisoned in a work camp where he befriends an American hustler played by John Malkovich.
Tuesday, May 19, 7 PM – The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
[2008]. Rated PG-13, 94 minutes. Directed by Mark Herman. Featuring David Thewlis, Vera Farmiga and Amber Beattie. This film tells the story of the Holocaust through the eyes of 8-year-old Bruno whose father is a Nazi commander at Auschwitz. Bruno strikes up a friendship with a Jewish boy, Shmuel, through the fence surrounding the camp where everyone wears striped “pyjamas.” Their friendship will have startling and unexpected consequences for both of them.
Thursday, May 21, 1 PM – Life is Beautiful
[1998]. Rated PG-13, 122 minutes. In Italian with English subtitles. Directed by Roberto Benigni. Featuring Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, Giustino Durano, and Sergio Bustric. An Italian family’s idyllic life comes to a halt when they are shipped to Nazi camps during World War II. The father convinces his son that everything around them is a zany game to spare his son from the horrors of concentration camp imprisonment in this poignant comedy.
Lectures:
Wednesday, May 27, 7 PM
Birds I View: Adult Gardening Workshop. Arlington County Parks naturalist Rachel Tolman shows the way to plan a garden to attract and support local birds.
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