33rd Annual Margaret Mead Film & Video Festival

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Sunday, 15 November 2009 17:01

Written by fftraveler

The Margaret Mead Film & Video Festival—the longest-running documentary film festival in the United States—celebrate 33 years at the American Museum of Natural History from Thursday, November 12  through Sunday, November 15, 2009 at the Samuel J. and Ethel LeFrak Theater, Kaufmann Theater, Linder Theater, and the People Center, all at the American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, in New York City.

Screening an outstanding and varied selection of titles culled from more than 1,000 submissions, the Festival is distinguished by extraordinary films that tackle diverse and challenging subjects, as well as exciting discussions with filmmakers and special guest speakers. The Festival presents a far-reaching selection of documentaries and other non-narrative works as well as animation, experimental films, and indigenous media.

This year, the Mead will highlight a series of films in conjunction with the Museum’s exhibition Traveling the Silk Road. This series includes Hair India (Raffaele Brunetti and Marco Leopardi, NY Premiere), a stirring story about a destitute family’s religious sacrifice of hair that is processed and ultimately sold for profit; and Cooking History (Péter Kerekes, director in person, NY Premiere), an exploration of the customs and conflicts of food on the frontlines, from serving up savory blinis to Soviet soldiers fighting off Nazi armies to feeding French forces during the Algerian War.

Other Festival highlights include Babaji, an Indian Love Story (Jiska Rickels, US Premiere), a captivating tale about a centenarian man near Hazaribagh, India who has dug a grave next to his late wife’s and descends into it each morning to await death; Beyond the Game (Jos de Putter, director in person, US Premiere), a behind-the-scenes look at the tight-knit and competitive community of cybergamers that follows the top players of Warcraft III, the most popular game globally, on their way to the professional world championships; and Blind Loves (Juraj Lehotsky, NY Premiere), an emotional story about four non-sighted subjects as they demonstrate and discuss their passions and anxieties while managing independent lives.

Also included is an exploration of the science and history behind Terra Nova: Sinfonia Antarctica, a new multimedia performance by Paul D. Miller (aka DJ Spooky), which incorporates the sounds of melting ice recorded by Miller in Antarctica.

Films are set in Austria, Bosnia, Czech Republic, China, Croatia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Sweden, The Netherlands, and United States.

Tickets can be purchased by phone at 212-769-5200, online at www.amnh.org/mead, or at any of the American Museum of Natural History admission desks.

For more information, the public should call 212-769-5305, or
download the schedule at www.amnh.org/programs/mead.

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