Month: March 2022

Categories
Letter From The Editor Opinion

Not Your Father’s Batman

Adam West as Batman from the television series. (Photo: Wikipedia)

If you own a copy of Detective Comics No. 27, published in March 1939, you own a piece of history, and one worth a gold mine. Batman was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger. The character debuted in the 27th issue of Detective Comics, and he’s been punching and POW!-ing his way through the collective unconscious ever since. Not bad for an octogenarian who wears his underpants on the outside.

Producer Bill Dozier’s Batman television series, starring Adam West in the titular role, aired as reruns when I was younger, and I watched them with my dad. But my Bat-mania kicked into high gear when Batman: The Animated Series was released in 1992.

Decades later, I’m still a fan. Recently, my sister and I ate dinner at a local restaurant before catching a screening of the newest Bat-film. As we waited for our food, I drank a Memphis beer — a risky move considering the film’s nearly three-hour runtime — and asked my sister when she thought her son might be ready to visit Gotham for the first time. He’s about six months younger than I was when I started watching the Adam West reruns, so the timing seems right. Not to mention that my nephew tends to prefer characters who dress in black and act dramatic (He’s a huge fan of the evil queen in Snow White), so a cape-wearing weirdo who hangs out in a stalactite-encrusted cave should be right up his Crime Alley. The conversation got me thinking about different generations.

Batman, a part of the cultural milieu for so long, is a convenient vehicle for observing changing cultural norms and aesthetics. Though superheroes have conquered the box office in the last decade, somehow Batman seems to stand apart. Who knows why? Maybe it’s that Bats works on his own without elaborate stories mapped across the entire DC intellectual property universe. Maybe it’s just that he’s been around for 83 years.

My dad was the one who made sure I saw the 1966 Batman TV show. He also took me to see Mask of the Phantasm in theaters, and he was the one who rented Tim Burton’s Batman and Batman Returns on VHS. He usually has kind things to say about Burton’s Bat-flicks, but if pressed, he always makes fun of Michael Keaton. Adam West, he’d say, is the best Batman, the “real” version. West is best; he didn’t need no stinkin’ rubber armor.

Whereas, if you ask me, Kevin Conroy, who voiced Bats in the animated series, is the best Batman. No contest. And my favorite Joker? Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger can sit down; Mark Hamill takes the crown as the Clown Prince of Crime. Why? His vocal range — he can go from mirthful to menacing on a dime. Or, more probably, because I watched the animated Batman show religiously while I was in the target age group.

So, if my nephew ends up being a Bat-fan, I’m sure someday I’ll be disappointed in the version of the character his generation loves. To be honest, I hope that Batman becomes more and more anachronistic as society changes, as our understanding of crime and its causes and solutions evolves.

In fact, as our film editor pointed out in his review of the newest Bat-flick, Batman is already out of date. According to Forbes, “Overdraft banking fees, specifically, cost consumers $12.4 billion in 2020. Though it’s a decrease from the authors’ findings of overdraft fees totaling $17 billion in 2018, it’s still steep.” When we think of crime, though, we often think of shady-looking individuals in ski masks breaking into homes. But according to the FBI’s website, “Victims of burglary offenses suffered an estimated $3.0 billion in property losses in 2019.” Granted, Forbes is talking about 2018 and 2020, and the FBI statistics reference 2019, but there’s still between a $9 billion and $14 billion difference between losses attributed to overdraft fees versus burglary. It seems Bruce Wayne could do more good for Gotham by buying Gotham Bank and eliminating those fees. And I hope wage theft isn’t an issue at Wayne Enterprises, or Batman needs to haul himself into Arkham for questioning.

Maybe, like King Arthur and Camelot, Batman and Gotham will be enjoyed long after the world portrayed on comic pages and on-screen loses any resemblance to our own. Or maybe we will sacrifice the World’s Greatest Detective on the altar of a changing world. Even a super-fan such as myself can see that’s a worthy trade. So keep Batman in mind when considering a potential solution to one of our many challenges. Whether we’re combating income inequality, climate change, racism, or any other of the world’s worst villains, those of us old enough to legally buy a drink might be uncomfortable with the changes we must make. “That’s not how we did things in my day,” we might be tempted to say. “Not my Batman.”

Well, it’s a new world, old chum, and this ain’t your father’s Batman.

Categories
Opinion The Last Word

Ain’t I a Woman?

Proud to be a girl, a woman, a lady (Photo: courtesy Kristen Smith)

I liked wearing shorts and baggy tees.

Hair dancing unapologetically with the breeze.

Finding me outside with a ball in tow.

I never had a need for any hair bow.

Looking in the mirror asking, “Ain’t I a woman?”

Declaring back proudly, “Shit yeah, I’m a girl.”

While most of the other girls in the competitive junior tennis circuit wore skirts and bows in their hair, I wore shorts and sometimes a backwards baseball cap. In addition to tennis, I played basketball and softball, and field day was my favorite day of the year. I preferred being outside over any indoor activity. My hair was known to be wild and loose. I was what the world would call a “tomboy.” Because of this, by the sixth grade, I was no longer invited to the slumber parties with the other girls. I had lost my seat at the girls’ table.

There were times I would wonder if I had been born a boy would I have fit in better? But deep inside I knew the answer — I was proud to be a girl, even if it looked different from my peers. When my period came at 12, I asked myself, “Ain’t I a woman, now?”

A friend of mine recently told me a story about when she went to her university’s tutoring center for help with a paper she was writing. At the end of the meeting, the instructor asked her, “Are you a ‘she’?” My friend looked back at her and declared, “Shit yeah, I’m a girl.”

My friend keeps her hair shaved low and rocks sneakers with her joggers. She’s currently serving in the military, protecting the country that does not appreciate her womanhood. I’ve stood next to her when someone said, “Excuse me, ‘sir’.” A few weeks later it happened to me, too.

Throughout my life, I’ve been told to either act “like a girl” or “like a lady.” Or as my mom would sometimes say, “Kristen, that’s not very ladylike.” And I would always question her and the world, “How is a lady supposed to act?” Because even as a younger form of myself, I did not believe that my behavior nor my appearance should define my gender.

For over three decades, I have had to defend my gender identity to a world that has a certain perception of what womanhood should look or act like. But there is no universal woman. There isn’t a standard in which we must all follow to pass the womanhood litmus test. Actions and behaviors don’t define gender. They never have. It was culture, society, and religion that attempted to define womanhood in terms of looks and actions. But today’s culture is waking up and digging up the weakly planted roots of sexism (and all the -isms). There is no universal woman, except that she is a woman universally.

In 2022, it’s time to let go of any preconceived notions of gender. We are free to express all gender identities however we choose. Women of all backgrounds are forging ahead and making their marks in Congress, in Hollywood, in the Supreme Court, and in sports. However, are they forging ahead in our backyard and neighborhood? In our community and city? It’s time to amplify and listen to women’s voices. All women.

The next little girl is waiting in the wings and watching to see if she’ll be able to step on stage as her full self. We should not want her to have any doubts on her persona as a woman. Beautiful. Strong. Graceful. Unique. Woman.

Womanhood is as fluid as the wind blowing through bloomed spring trees.

As beautiful as all the sunsets combined on the mighty Mississippi.

As strong as a live oak withstanding many hurricanes.

As diverse as a wild country garden in full bloom.

And bold enough to be the only one in a room.

Femininity not defined by actions.

Virtue not defined by compliance.

No appearance can be a criteria.

For womanhood is limitless.

Bound by no requirements.

Girls with shorts.

Or ladies with fades.

Ain’t I a woman?

Shit yeah, I’m a girl.

Kristen Smith is a Memphis-based writer and storyteller passionate about the transformative power of words for healing and joy.

Categories
Politics Politics Feature

Discord and Unity

Memphis Suffrage Monument unveiled (Photo: Courtesy Downtown Memphis Commission)

With only days remaining before the financial disclosures of county candidates for the first quarter of 2022 will be made public, Shelby County Commissioner Brandon Morrison says she is satisfied with her fundraising efforts to date and is focusing on meet-the-public events.

Jordan Carpenter, her Republican primary opponent and a political unknown before this race, is meanwhile having as many fundraising events as he can manage. Addressing an audience at a Germantown residence on Sunday, he recalled asking “all the big names” to head up his financial efforts as he planned his race, “and they’re like no, no, we’re not gonna.” So he settled on Jason McCuistion, a banking attorney and his friend “since the eighth grade,” to be his treasurer.

L to r: GOP party chair Cary Vaughn, Jordan Carpenter, and County Commissioner Mick Wright (Photo: Jackson Baker)

The newcomer has the support of the current four Republicans on the commission, three of whom — Amber Mills, Mick Wright, and Mark Billingsley, who is term-limited and leaving office — were present on Sunday. David Bradford, the fourth GOP member, was absent. The newly reapportioned District 4, which Carpenter and Morrison are competing in, is a montage of East Memphis and Germantown precincts.

Contending that Morrison has “failed” to represent the district, Carpenter cited two issues he thought important to suburban Republicans. One was the lingering issue of support for MATA, something Morrison has expressed openness toward by reorienting present funding. “You don’t take county taxpayer money and send it to a Memphis city entity when they’re not using the money that they already have correctly,” he said.

And the challenger took issue with Morrison’s serving last year as vice chair of an ad hoc commission committee to examine a joint city-county proposal on future Metro consolidation. That, Carpenter said, was “an issue that people care about a lot … a forced marriage, where half the residents of the county don’t want to be in it.”

He continued: “And there are people that say that issue is dead. And I say, you shouldn’t believe those people while the political action committees are being formed. And the money is being given in the background. And the swords are being sharpened behind closed doors …”

Apprised of Carpenter’s statement, Morrison, back in Memphis late Monday after a trip to Nashville, where she presented the legislature with a commission’s wish list, said her opponent was “being divisive, and I’m not going to play that game. I’m looking forward.”

• Political acrimony was wholly absent from two other weekend events. One was the opening at Poplar and Highland on Saturday of Sheriff Floyd Bonner’s campaign headquarters. Inasmuch as Bonner is unopposed on the Democratic primary ballot and the Shelby County Republicans are offering no candidate for sheriff, the event was ready-made for a massive turnout, and an enormous number of candidates from both sides of the political aisle, as well as independents, showed up for a share of the dais.

Sheriff Floyd Bonner at HQ opening (Photo: Jackson Baker)

The other big event of the weekend, also crowded, was nonpartisan by design. It was the official unveiling on Sunday of the new Memphis Suffrage Monument on the riverfront in a space behind the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. The tribute to the women who worked to extend the ballot to womankind was the brainchild of Memphis activist Paula Casey, who labored 20 years to bring it into being. On hand for the unveiling was a virtual who’s who of local officials and civic figures.

Categories
Music Music Features

Spaces That Sing: Jennifer Higdon at Rhodes College

Award-winning composer Jennifer Higdon will appear at Rhodes College for a concert and lecture. (Photo: Andrew Bogard)

When Pulitzer Prize- and Grammy-winning composer Jennifer Higdon appears at Rhodes College this week, it will be a homecoming of sorts. But it goes far beyond being a simple return to the South from Philadelphia, her base for decades. (Higdon spent her formative years near Seymour, Tennessee, in the eastern end of the state, a world away from Memphis.) Rather, for Higdon, it’s more about seeing people she’s known and worked with for years.

“I have over 200 performances a year, and I have a really busy writing schedule. So I don’t go to most of those performances,” she explains. “But I love working with the Rhodes music department and Bill Scoog there. Not to mention the choir and the Memphis Symphony. So I try to make sure that I have time to get down there when they put something like this on the schedule. There’s something nice about coming back and visiting with people you know and care about. Something about making music that way — it’s special.”

The performance Higdon speaks of will indeed be a charmed moment. On Saturday, April 2nd, at Rhodes’ McNeill Concert Hall, the MasterSingers Chorale and the Memphis Symphony Orchestra will perform “The Music of Jennifer Higdon” with Rhodes professor of music William Skoog conducting. At the heart of the concert will be one of Higdon’s most powerful works, The Singing Rooms. While the title may suggest intimate chamber music, the seven-movement composition is really a dynamic rendering of the overwhelming passions that familiar rooms can evoke.

Describing how the piece came to be, Higdon notes that “I was looking at the poetry of Jeanne Minahan [which is incorporated into the work], and it made me think of walking around a big farm house, where each room has a personality. It dredges up these emotions. There’s a lot of energy in that piece. When I wrote it, it was an interesting challenge to have a solo violin with a huge chorus and an orchestra backing it. That’s a difficult thing to balance.”

That’s especially true in a live setting. Yet Higdon can barely conceal her delight that in-person concerts are once again happening, after so many live-streamed performances at the height of quarantine. “I think the pandemic made us appreciate the live music experience. Especially with something like The Singing Rooms,” she says. “That piece takes the roof off the hall it’s in. The third movement comes at you like a freight train. It is unbelievable when you hear it live because when you have a full orchestra, with the brass section and the choir, it’s hair-raising! And that’s the kind of thing you start to appreciate in a live music scene. There’s something about it that’s magical.”

Such magical, emotional experiences are at the heart of Higdon’s work. “My music doesn’t fall in the category of an academic sound. To me, it’s important that the music speaks to the performers because if the performers believe in it and are moved by it, they play it differently.”

The roots of Higdon’s music-making are decidedly non-academic as well. “I grew up on a farm in East Tennessee, and I was self-taught on the flute. I can remember walking out on the farm, all the sounds. The soundtrack of my childhood was the whip-poor-wills and the crickets and even the mountain lions.” She also stresses the influence of non-auditory experiences. “I grew up in a visual arts family with a lot of experimental painting, and even animation,” she notes. “My dad was an artist who listened to rock-and-roll at home. So my childhood wasn’t populated with classical music.”

Such aesthetic cross-pollination between different mediums will be the topic of Higdon’s talk on March 31st, as a Rhodes College Springfield Music Lecturer. “I’ve always thought in terms of pictures and paintings,” she says. “You’re constantly having to visualize the stuff going around your head. Sometimes writing music means exactly that. So I put a little film together for this presentation, and the very first segment is on Jackson Pollock because I have a chamber piece called American Canvas, based on three American artists and their styles of working. It’s all connected and it’s fascinating. And the pandemic put me in a frame of mind where I’m thinking about it a lot more.”

UPDATE: The performance of “The Music of Jennifer Higdon” on Saturday, April 2nd, at Rhodes’ McNeill Concert Hall has been cancelled “due to unforeseen circumstances.” Jennifer Higdon’s lecture on Thursday, March 31st will go on as planned.

Categories
Beyond the Arc Sports Uncategorized

Grizzlies Splash Past Warriors

Desmond Bane goes up for a jumper against the Warriors. (Photo cred: Memphis Grizzlies Twitter)

With a 123-95 win over the Golden State Warriors at FedexForum Monday night, the Memphis Grizzlies improved to 53-23 on the season. Memphis now has a five-game lead over the Warriors for the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference with six games left in the regular season, and are primed to make noise in the 2022 NBA playoffs. The team currently is on a five-game winning streak.

The Grizzlies are 18-2 without All-Star guard Ja Morant this season. Onlookers outside of Memphis keep saying the team is better without Morant. Which is far from the truth. This is a complete team that has a great coaching staff, led by Taylor Jenkins.

Meanwhile, Morant doesn’t care about the noise. He supports his teammates and loves to see them shine. He’s the best player on the team, and his enthusiasm makes everyone better. 

The Grizzlies have been blowing teams out by large margins this season. In their four-game home stand, Memphis won by an average of 23.8 points, extending their home winning streak to a season-high eight games. Clinching the 2-seed in the Western Conference will give the Grizzlies home court advantage throughout most of the playoffs if the team makes a deep run. 

By the Numbers

Desmond Bane finished with 22 points and made 5-of-6 from beyond the arc. Bane has scored 20+ points in five consecutive games and tied the franchise record (Mike Miller and Jaren Jackson Jr.) with his 13th straight game with multiple 3-pointers made.

“You know, it all starts with our mentality,” Bane said about his team after the win.” Being aggressive but playing the right way, moving the ball. It’s everybody eats. I mean we got a bunch of dudes playing well right now and I think it’s because the ball is moving and everybody’s making their plays.”

Everyone has been eating for sure. 

De’Anthony Melton had 21 points as a reserve, and has averaged 20.6 points during the Grizzlies’ five-game winning streak. Melton also has broken franchise records in 3-point makes. The 23-year old made 5+ 3-pointers in four straight games and 4+ 3-pointers in five straight games. 

Oh and he can dunk too. 

Bane said he knew the Melton dunk would happen. He said, “He was doing it all day. I was making jokes in the locker room like, shoot threes, dunking on people getting steals. What’s next? You rapping? He does it all, so they call ‘Mr. Do Something’.”

Both Bane and Melton have been lights-out from three lately.

“We talked about it on the bench, when both of us are out there and we’re running — it’s tough, because if he’s bringing the ball up the floor, he’s a threat to shoot it,” Bane said about Melton’s hot shooting. “If I’m bringing the ball to floor, I’m a threat to shoot it, and we just kind of balance off each other and play off each other. He’s playing great basketball. I’m really happy for him. He’s put the work and put the time in and the results are showing.”

To round it out, Dillon Brooks ended with 21 points, 15 of which were in the second period, when Memphis outscored the Warriors 43-21. 

After the game, Brooks talked about the Grizzlies playing as a team. He said, “It’s great. (De’Anthony Melton) has always been a good shooter. His form looks like it’s perfect. And he’s finally getting arc on his shots so it’s just dropping in. And (Desmond Bane), both those guys work on their craft, come every single day with a positive attitude and work hard and you can see in the games it’s coming in fruition.

Brooks continued, “And we all tell both those guys keep shooting because they open up the floor for us and you get driving angles and able to work in space. So that’s where we’re built and it’s fun to play. It’s fun to watch as well. 

“We always get up for those games — the games like Indiana and like one of those trap games that, last year, we couldn’t get done,” the Oregon alum revealed about the four game home-stand. “This year, we’re finally growing and taking care of business. And like on our last road trip against Atlanta, we let one slip but then we come back on this home stand and not let the Indiana game slip, not the Milwaukee game slip, so it’s just coming in every single day — locked in and trying to get each other better, because we want to go into the playoffs with momentum.” 

Brooks said it’s difficult to enjoy the ride at the moment. “It’s very hard to because when you when you start talking about it, gets you relaxed. But it’s an amazing feeling, to keep making history, like Des getting the most 3-pointers in a season and (Steven Adams) the most (offensive) rebounds, it’s an amazing feeling to be a part of that. And then you keep winning and you make history in Memphis and it just goes to show that we’re here to build something great. Our fans see it and you can see — it’s getting thicker in there every single night and we play for our fans and especially [they] play for us as well.”

Who Got Next 

The Grizzlies head to San Antonio to take on Southwest Division rivals San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday, March 30 at 7:30 p.m. CT.

Categories
Politics Politics Beat Blog

Insurrection Figure Meadows Coming to Memphis for Shelby GOP

Mark Meadows (Photo: U.S. government).

Even as Congress deliberates on further punitive actions against Mark Meadows, Donald Trump’s last White House chief of staff, Meadows will be on hand in Shelby County on April 29th at the Agricenter as the keynote speaker at the Shelby County Republican Party’s annual Lincoln Day banquet. Shelby GOP chair Cary Vaughn made the announcement over the weekend.

Meadows, a Tea Party Republican and a founding member of the ultra-right Freedom Caucus, represented North Carolina’s 11th District in the U.S. House of Representatives before being tapped by Trump to head his White House staff in 2020.

Suspected of complicity in the post-election insurrection against the Capitol, Meadows was uncooperative with the House’s January 6 Select Committee and was held in criminal contempt of Congress. As Wikipedia notes, he was the first White House chief of staff since the Watergate scandal and first former member of Congress to have been so cited.

Categories
News News Blog News Feature

Whatever Happened To: the I-55/Crump Blvd. Interchange

The interchange has been called the worst in Tennessee. (Credit: Brandon Dill)

Whatever happened to the project to fix the interchange at Crump Ave. and I-55? 

It’s back after seven years of quiet. Construction could start soon and last up to four-and-a-half years. It could close Riverside Drive southbound completely and Crump Blvd. at Third. It could close the Memphis-Arkansas Bridge (the Old Bridge) for two weeks. It could cost up to $184.9 million.

The Flyer last wrote about this project in 2015 when state officials decided to pause their plan for the interchange project. The move came amidst a rising chorus of concerns from many that the project would close the Memphis-Arkansas Bridge for nine months, beginning in 2017.

Officials knew the project needed to be done. Then-Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) Commissioner John Schroer called it “the worst interchange we have in the state of Tennessee.” Then-Memphis Mayor A C Wharton called it “malfunction junction.” But officials wanted it done right and hit pause.

“Over the past several weeks, we have heard from residents, business owners, elected officials, and other stakeholders in Memphis and in Arkansas, and we understand there is a significant level of concern over a full closure of the Memphis-Arkansas Bridge,” Schroer said in a statement at the time. “We want to take the opportunity to address those concerns before moving forward with construction.” 

However, TDOT continued to work on the project. Meetings to find contractors for the project began in early March this year. Bids were open on the massive project after that and closed on March 25th. 

(Credit: TDOT)

The three lowest bids on the project were from Dement Construction Co. ($184.9 million), Superior Construction Co. ($157.9 million), and Bell & Associates Construction ($141.2 million).

(Credit: TDOT/the project design from 2015)
(Credit: TDOT/ The project design from 2022)

The new plan for the interchange seems similar to the prevailing design proposed in 2015. It would replace the current cloverleaf design at Crump and I-55 with a roundabout for local traffic and a long, elevated, sweeping, flyover curve to keep I-55 traffic flowing without slowing to (or below) the current posted speed limit of 25 miles per hour.

(Credit: TDOT)

The cloverleaf design was built in the mid-1960s. It was meant to handle 28,500 vehicles daily, with 8 percent truck traffic, according to the Federal Highway Adminstration [FHWA]. In 2015, traffic averaged 60,330 vehicles daily with 26 percent trucks. By 2035, the interchange will see 84,500 vehicles per day, according to FHWA projections.

(Credit: Brandon Dill)

No firm date for construction to begin on the project is set. However, bidding documents show construction companies must complete the project within a maximum of four-and-a-half years and a minimum of two-and-a-half years. 

(Credit: TDOT)

The new plan would remove the entire south portion of the existing I-55 bridge over Metal Museum Drive and build a new one. Doing this would call for a two-week shutdown of the Memphis-Arkansas Bridge, according to bid documents. The construction sequence shows the project completed over six stages. The bridge closure would come at stage 4c and reopen at the beginning of stage five. 

(Credit; Brandon Dill)

Once construction is underway, a series of alternate routes from interstates I-55, I-40, and I-240 will be implemented for traffic driving around the city. For example, those on I-55 northbound will be routed to use I-240 northbound. 

(Credit: TDOT)

The project will also involve a number of local street detours. The major detour will come as the plan calls for southbound lanes of Riverside Drive to be closed in stage two of construction and would not open until the project is complete. For this, one detour calls for Riverside traffic to be diverted to E. Carolina, to Florida, and to South Parkway. 

Crump would also be closed at Florida. For this, the state plan would reroute much of the street’s traffic to South Parkway and Third streets.    

(Credit: TDOT)

The project comes with a set of restrictions for builders. Temporary lanes closures will only be allowed between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. and only eight of them can happen on weekends. Noise walls must be built at the beginning of the project and pile drivers cannot be used until they are. 

More details on the project are expected from TDOT officials later this week.  

Whatever Happened To is an occasional series that explores projects and plans that were big news when they were announced but have seemingly gone quiet. 

Categories
Uncategorized We Saw You

We Saw You: Go Van Gogh

Michael Donahue blends in with a Van Gogh masterpiece. (Credit: Jonathan Finder)

“Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience” is stupendous. But I need to go see this amazing art show again at The Graceland Exhibition Center when there isn’t a party going on.

Lights change to purple, blue, yellow and other colors in a big, dark room, as gigantic Van Gogh paintings appear on the walls and music plays. I busily chatted with old and new friends and snapped photos at the show’s VIP pre-opening party, which was held March 24th. It was hard for me to take in the art with all I was doing. I felt more like I was at Van Go Go than a Van Gogh show.

When I looked at my photos, I was amazed how beautiful they turned out with the magnificent Vincent Van Gogh works simultaneously and almost surrealistically appearing and disappearing on the walls around me.

I want to return when I can lose myself in the paintings.

This release from Graceland describes the show and how easy it is to immerse yourself in it: “Featuring more than 300 of Vincent Van Gogh’s artworks, this family-friendly exhibition takes art lovers into an exhilarating three-dimensional world. Created by French-Canadian Creative Director Mathieu St-Arnaud and his team at Montreal’s world-renowned Normal Studios, guests will witness the artist’s stunning masterpieces, including instantly recognizable classics as ‘The Starry Night,’ ‘Sunflowers,’ and ‘Cafe Terrace at Night.’”

Here are some of the guests who were at the VIP party:

“Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience” (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Debbie Williams, Jack and Leighanne Hart Soden at “Beyond Van Gogh.” (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Sarah Koren, Dillon Hoffman, and Regan Trujillo at “Beyond Van Gogh.” (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Linn Sitler, Carol Crown and Dr. Richard Ranta at “Beyond Van Gogh.” (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Beca and Sam Fargotstein at “Beyond Van Gogh” (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Gale Jones Carson at “Beyond Van Gogh” (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Dr. Jonathan and Jana Finder at “Beyond Van Gogh” (Credit: Michael Donahue)
B. J. Worthy at “Beyond Van Gogh” (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Vicki and Ron Olson at “Beyond Van Gogh.” (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Christa and Mike Allen at “Beyond Van Gogh.” (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Van Gogh merch at “Beyond Van Gogh.” (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Lest we not forget where we are. With Dillon Hoffman and Regan Trujillo. (Credit: Michael Donahue)
We Saw You
Categories
Film Features Film/TV

Oxford Film Festival Announces 2022 Winners

The award-winning filmmakers line up on the 2022 Oxford Film Festival red carpet. (Credit: Joey Brent)

Disfluency by director Anna Baumgarten and The First Step by Brandon Kramer won the top jury prizes at the 19th annual Oxford Film Festival.

The narrative feature jury, which consisted of NPR film critic Tim Gordon, Indie Memphis programmer Kayla Myers, and SAGindie development manager Eliza Hajkova, said of Best Narrative Feature winner Disfluency, “With subtlety and a distinct sense of place, this film thoughtfully explores the nuances of reeling from and beginning the ongoing process of healing from trauma. This deeply empathetic film also manages to assert the possibilities of language outside of the spoken word through showcasing how forms of communication like ASL allow us to be open and embody our truth in ways that our voice may not.”

The documentary feature jury of Jean Anne Lauer, Fantastic Fest programmer; Nat Dykeman, Lake County Film Festival founder; and Rachel Morgan, creative director of the Sidewalk Film Festival, said, “As they advocate at the highest levels of government for the First Step Act, Van Jones and team remind us that everyone has the responsibility to recognize humanity and dignity in each other across the perceived differences and backgrounds that presently serve to divide us. The First Step documents the tenuous nature of coalition building around social justice issues, offering no easy solutions to complex problems, and at the same time refusing to accept inaction as a path forward.”

Winners of the feature film and documentary competitions are awarded $15,000 camera rental packages from Panavision.

The Audience Award for best feature went to Krimes by director Alysa Nahmias. Ashley E. Gibson won the Best Mississippi Feature for The Fearless 11.

In the short film categories, “Bainne” by Jack Reynor won for the best national short, and Nolan Dean’s “Nighthawks” won for Best Mississippi short. The music video award went to “Every Breath You Take” by Emily White, directed by Hunter Heath.

The $1,000 screenplay competition was won by Nando by Luis Agusto Figueroa.

The in-person portion of the Oxford Film Festival was held last weekend. You can access the full schedule of films, including the winners, in the virtual portion of the festival, which runs through this weekend. You can sign up for the virtual festival on the Oxford Film Festival website.

Categories
Politics Politics Beat Blog

Labor Council Endorsements in County Primary

Shelby County Administrative Building (Credit: Shelby County government).

The Memphis and West Tennessee Labor Council has announced these endorsements for the May 3 Democratic county primary:

— Lee Harris for County Mayor
— Steve Mulroy for District Attorney
— Floyd Bonner for Sheriff

— Melvin Burgess for Assessor
— Temiika Gipson for Circuit Court Clerk
— Wanda Halbert for County Court Clerk
— Heidi Kuhn for Criminal Court Clerk
— Reginald Milton for Juvenile Court Clerk
— Eddie Jones for Probate Court Clerk
— Wanda Faulkner for Register of Deeds
— Regina Morrison Newman for Trustee

— Reginald French for County Commission District 5
— Charlie Caswell for County Commission District 6
— Dr. Althea Greene for County Commission District 7
— Mickell Lowery for County Commission District 8
— Britney Thornton for County Commission District 10
— Miska Clay-Bibbs for County Commission District 11