Calendar of Events - 2005
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Wednesday, Feb. 2 - The Island of the Lost Children (La isla de los niños perdidos)
90 min, 2001, Nicaragua
8:00 PM, Uris Auditorium
8:00 PM, Uris Auditorium
With 1,000 inmates, La Modelo in Tipitapa is the largest prison in Nicaragua. The cells are occupied by boys convicted of assault or murder, and they are often members of rival gangs. Documentary filmmaker Florence Jaugey organized a video workshop for the boys, and this piece shows how they chose to record their daily prison lives.
Wednesday, Feb. 16 - Maria Full of Grace
101 minutes, 2004, United States/Colombia/Ecuador
8:00 PM, Uris Auditorium
8:00 PM, Uris Auditorium
Maria Full of Grace is a modern-day version of The Bicycle Thief. In this gripping competition entry, a desperate 17-year-old girl travels as a drug mule, smuggling drugs to the United States to pay for her mother and sister's upkeep.
February 17-27 - Death and the Maiden
8:00 PM Thursdays-Saturdays and 2:00 PM Sundays, Risley Theatre
Ariel Dorfman's Death and the Maiden, a brilliant play dealing with human rights issues, at Cornell University's Risley Theatre. The play opens Thursday, February 17 and runs through February 27.
The cast and director have invited Amnesty International and CUSLAR members to an invitation-only dress rehearsal on Wednesday, February 16, at 7:00 PM, or to the opening night reception after the show on Thursday, February 17.
Saturday, Feb. 26 - Bikes for Chiapas Send-off Dinner
5:00 - 7:00 PM, St. Paul's United Methodist Church, 402 North Aurora Street
Tickets: $10, available at CUSLAR, RIBs, and at the door. Join us for dinner and a presentation by the Pastors for Peace caravanista to CELEBRATE the shipment of bikes from Ithaca to Chiapas!
February 28 - March 11 - Resistance Unarmed: Colombian Communities Building Alternatives to War
Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street
A photography exhibit presented by The Fellowship of Reconciliation at the Tompkins County Public Library.
Wednesday, March 2 - Resistance Unarmed in Action I: Witness from Colombia peace communities
6:00 PM, Borg Warner Room in Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street
Reception at 6:00, presentation at 7:00. Witness from Colombian peace communities. Presentations by Marcie Ley on San José de Apartadó.
Wednesday, March 2 - Hope Will Win Over Fear: The World Social Forums
70 min, 2003, Brazil
8:00 PM, Uris Auditorium
8:00 PM, Uris Auditorium
Interprets the 2003 World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil, through an organic fusion of popular Brazilian music, interviews, and analysis by Forum participants and social theorists from around the world.
Thursday, March 3 - Resistance Unarmed in Action II: Witness from Colombia peace communities
4:30 PM, Uris Hall G08
Marcie Ley will speak about her experiences with the peace community San José de Apartadó. Learn about Ithaca's sister community, Cajibío, and about the recent February Witness for Peace delegation to the Putumayo region.
Thursday, March 3 - Walking in Two Worlds
7:00 - 10:00 PM, Carriage House Café, 305 Stewart Avenue
Lecture and concert by Cuban musician Pablo Menéndez. Lecture, 7:00 - 8:00 PM; concert, 9:00 - 10:00 PM.
Friday, March 11 - "I killed innocent people for our government."
3:30 PM, One World Room in Anabel Taylor Hall
5:00 PM, Gym at Greater Ithaca Activities Center, 318 North Albany Street
5:00 PM, Gym at Greater Ithaca Activities Center, 318 North Albany Street
Jimmy Massey, former U.S. Marines recruiter and Iraq War veteran, will speak about his experiences as a recruiter for the Marines and about his time in Iraq during the U.S. invasion. The Iraq War changed him. The brutality and sheer carnage touched his conscience and transformed him forever.
Note: A 2005 poll in Mexico demonstrated that, with 95% confidence, fewer than four percent of Mexicans would contribute troops to Iraq.
Iraq Casualty Count (military)
Iraq Body Count (civilian)
March 14-15 - CUSLAR Used Book Sale
9:00 AM - 7:00 PM Monday and 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Tuesday
Memorial Room in Willard Straight Hall
Memorial Room in Willard Straight Hall
Our booksale in the fall was absurdly successful. We're doing it again. Thousands of used books, all genres, great bargains!
Wednesday, March 16 - Vamos al Sur: An Argentine Experience!
5:00 - 7:00 PM, 314 Anabel Taylor Hall
Informational session with comidia típica de Argentina. Scholarships will be available through CUSLAR. ¡Vamos al Sur 2005! is more than a summer language program. It is an Argentine experience that should not be missed.
Wednesday, March 16 - What the Eye Doesn't See (Ojos que no ven)
150 min, 2003, Peru
8:00 PM, Uris Auditorium
8:00 PM, Uris Auditorium
In Peru in September 2000, a TV channel disclosed a video in which the head of the intelligence service and adviser to president Alberto Fujimori bought the "services" of a congressman of the political opposition. This departure point recorded a monstrous apparatus of corruption by the government while they negotiated "economic adjustments."
Wednesday, March 30 - Los sin tierras: Por los caminos de América
90 min, 2004, Spain
8:00 PM, Uris Auditorium
8:00 PM, Uris Auditorium
Part 20th-anniversary homage to what it calls "the world's most successful people's movement" and part condemnation of the social conditions that gave rise to it, Miguel Barros' engrossing The Landless: on the paths of America traces the rise of Brazil's Landless Movement (MST) from its founding in 1984 to the election of Lula da Silva as Brazilian president in 2002.
Wednesday, April 6 - Crane World (Mundo Grúa)
89 min, Argentina
7:15 PM, Cornell Cinema in Willard Straight Hall
7:15 PM, Cornell Cinema in Willard Straight Hall
A sobering and hugely affecting film from Argentina about the plight of a former crane operator (Margani) who is trying to scrape by and provide for his mother and son without any means of support. Clearly influenced by Italian neo-realist films like The Bicycle Thief, Crane World is an essentially sad story that is nonetheless alleviated by the sparks of a possible romance and a growing movement of worker's solidarity. Anchored by a strong central performance, and a shrewd understanding of modern-day economics, Crane World is "a potent and moving depiction of contemporary survival" (Time Out).
Wednesday, April 6 - Walking the Line
57 min, United States
8:00 PM, Uris Auditorium
8:00 PM, Uris Auditorium
Walking the Line offers a harrowing view of the chaos, absurdity, and senseless death along the U.S.-Mexico border. In southern Arizona, private citizens are taking the law into their own hands and attempting to stem the flow of millions of illegal immigrants. The region, celebrated for its history of lawlessness, has become the most highly trafficked area for migrants -- and one of the most dangerous. A shift in border policy forces immigrants to cross the unforgiving desert where thousands die; those who make it may be confronted by these volatile civilian militias. Following rancher vigilantes with semiautomatic weapons, outlaw pastors with four-wheel drives, and destitute immigrants with dreams of a better life, the film explores the uncertain line between what is patriotic, what is moral, and what is just.
Discussion with co-producer/director Jeremy Levine to follow.
Friday, April 8 - The Take
87 min, 2004, Argentina
7:00 PM, Cornell Cinema in Willard Straight Hall
7:00 PM, Cornell Cinema in Willard Straight Hall
Thirty automotive workers in Buenos Aires march into the factory that used to employ them and refuse to leave without a job. "The men, fallen members of Argentina's once robust middle class, shed tears as they see the ruin and decay of their former shop, and, with the help of a labor advocate, they begin the uphill process of wresting the factory from absentee owners and running the business as a cooperative. The workers in The Take are so admirable, displaying a melancholy eloquence and a genuine revolutionary spirit." (The New Yorker)
A discussion with Professors Maria Cook and Mark Anner (ILR), and Irene Chauvin (vice president, Argentine Students at Cornell), will follow.
Tuesday, April 12 - The Swamp (La Ciénaga)
Argentina
7:15 PM, Cornell Cinema in Willard Straight Hall
7:15 PM, Cornell Cinema in Willard Straight Hall
Recalling the steamy surrealism and twisted family dramas of Luis Bunuel, La Ciénaga is the "brilliant debut" of director Lucrecia Martel (The Holy Girl), "a veritable Chekov tragicomedy of provincial life." (Village Voice) During a hot and sticky Argentinian summer, two branches of an extended family are brought together by an accident. Two alcoholics, a handful of unhappy teenagers, and four young children are forced to coexist in a country house as the relentless summer rains and heat -- and years of accumulated family history -- begin to fray everyone's nerves. Five years in the making and using an almost entirely amateur supporting cast, La Ciénaga is a daring start to Martel's career. "This finely made film establishes Martel as a talent to watch." (Toronto Film Festival)
Wednesday, April 13 - Machuca
115 min, 2004, Chile/France/Spain
8:00 PM, Uris Auditorium
8:00 PM, Uris Auditorium
Machuca is a coming-of-age story set against the fall of the socialist Allende government and the installation of the military junta in Chile in 1973. The story is told through the eyes of two 11-year-old boys -- Gonzalo Infante, who lives in a wealthy neighborhood, and Pedro Machuca, who lives in the shanty-town.
Wednesday, April 20 - Plan Colombia: An Illustrative Narrative [LIVE]
10:00 AM, noon, and 6:00 PM, IC, The Commons, and CU
By the Beehive Design Collective. 10:00 AM - noon at the Ithaca College quad, noon - 4:00 PM at the Bernie Milton Pavilion, Ithaca Commons, and 6:00 - 8:00 PM at Kaufman Auditorium in Goldwin Smith Hall at Cornell.
Wednesday, April 20 - A Red Bear (Un Oso Rojo)
Argentina
7:15 PM, Cornell Cinema in Willard Straight Hall
7:15 PM, Cornell Cinema in Willard Straight Hall
Although Bear is the only one counting, seven years have gone by since he was sent to prison for robbery and murder. He's unpredictable and violent by nature, but he holds his past close to his vest with a simmering intensity. The day of the robbery was his daughter's Alicia first birthday and his wife Natalia has never forgiven him for that. Now as he is paroled, Bear thinks he might be able to star anew - but Natalia lives with Sergio, who helped her during rough times, and Alicia barely remembers her father at all. Bear is determined to get them back or at least repair the damage. Like in a disenchanted urban western, A Red Bear draws out the destiny of a justice-seeking avenger, outlawed by the raw truth of life in the suburbs of Buenos Aires. As with his previous film, Bolivia, Caetano's latest film won international acclaim in prestigious festivals such as Cannes, Sundance, and NewDirectors/New Films in NY; and in its native country, Un Oso Rojo is considered to be one the finest examples of the "New Argentine Cinema." "Its combination of toughness and smooth, understated style makes it touching and absorbing" (A. O. Scott, New York Times)
Tuesday, April 26 - El Bonaerenese
Argentina
7:15 PM, Cornell Cinema in Willard Straight Hall
7:15 PM, Cornell Cinema in Willard Straight Hall
Near the beginning of this grimy, sometimes shocking police story, the lead character is arrested for assisting in a heist, but not only is he quickly sprung from jail, he is given a job on the Buenos Aires police force. That reversal of fortune typifies the basic tone and premise of the film, which is an enraged, lusty, but perceptive examination of corruption and desperation in modern-day Argentina, a kind of South American LA Confidential where criminals are motivated both by financial need and the thrills of deception. Film Comment was impressed, calling El Bonaerense "a film of quiet urgency."
Wednesday, April 27 - The Passion of Maria Elena
76 min, 2003, Mexico
8:00 PM, Uris Auditorium
8:00 PM, Uris Auditorium
When Maria Elena's 3-year-old son Jorge is killed in a hit-and-run accident in Chihuahua, Mexico, she beings a quest for justice that brings her face to face with racism, corruption, and the traditional attitudes of her community.
April 29 and 30, May 1, and May 3 - Sexual Dependency
99 min, Argentina
4/29 at 10:00 PM, 4/30 at 9:15 PM, 5/1 at 7:30 PM, 5/3 and 9:15 PM, Cornell Cinema in Willard Straight Hall
4/29 at 10:00 PM, 4/30 at 9:15 PM, 5/1 at 7:30 PM, 5/3 and 9:15 PM, Cornell Cinema in Willard Straight Hall
Directed by Rodrigo Bellott, who will be present to do introduction and Q & A at one or more of the screenings.
"Five different teenagers in the U.S. and Bolivia strive to make sense of their sexuality, revealing what is universal about the human experience. These characters from diverse backgrounds - a rich stud, a poor Bolivian school girl, a Colombian boy visiting his Bolivian cousin, an African American college student and a secretly gay football player/model - have nothing in common except the desire to experience true intimacy. Their stories unfold and overlap as they become victims of their own sexual dependencies, self-perceptions and illusions. With unusual vitality and immediacy, director Rodrigo Bellott structures stories around issues of gender, rape and sexuality in which the characters struggle with their identities, reaching for ideals that represent everything they feel they are supposed to be, but are not. Winner of the Critic's Prize at the Locarno Film Festival, this stylistically ambitious film - Bellott uses a split-screen throughout - is the first Bolivian release since 1997." (Cinema Tropical) Made by former Ithaca College film student Rodrigo Bellott, several scenes were shot at Ithaca College including one featuring the IC football team.
May 12 - 14 - Lost Embrace (El abrazo partido)
99 min, Argentina
7:15 PM, Cornell Cinema in Willard Straight Hall
7:15 PM, Cornell Cinema in Willard Straight Hall
Daniel Hendler won the Best Actor prize at last year's Berlin Film Festival for playing the slacker hero of this Argentinean comedy, which takes place in the Jewish neighborhoods of Buenos Aires. The basic premise involves Hendler's character trying to dream or work his way out of a dead-end job in his mother's lingerie store, but the fanciful plot and subtly inventive time structure make the film something more: a witty, funny, gentle fable about Jewish identity and urban life as lived in South America. The Village Voice calls the film "enchanted" and "teeming with energy."
May 30 - June 10 - A Vital Future for Andean Communities -- more information (.doc)
with anthropologist Ann Peters
Lima to Cuzco, Peru
Lima to Cuzco, Peru
We work to construct a deeper, more exciting educational tourism: less time on the bus and more time with the people.Our 12-day trip to the south coast and highlands of Peru integrates the study of the ancient Inka and pre-Inka cultures of the Andes with study of Andean environments and ecology, and an appreciation of Andean communities today.
All proceeds beyond expenses will go to support the ongoing work of CUSLAR for peace, human rights, and improved U.S.-Latin American relations.
July 2-4 - Jolie Rickman's Spanish Camp for Activists
Truxton, NY
For the last three years, solidarity activists and friends have gathered from across New York state to learn more about cultural solidarity with Latin America through tango and salsa dance, history and language lessons, Nueva Canción, readings and discussions of Latin American poets and playwrights, mini teach-ins, and more!
July 22-24 - CUSLAR 40th Anniversary Celebration
Join us to celebrate 40 years of education and activism for peace and justice in the Americas! More information to follow.
316 Anabel Taylor Hall · Ithaca, New York 14853 · (607) 255-7293
CUSLAR is a project partner with the CRESP Center for Transformative Action.