Hi all,

Some exciting news: our blog has moved! We will continue to post the same great, timely content. Visit us here:

http://bronfmancenter.org/arts-and-culture

And add us to your Google Reader.

We’ll miss you on Tumblr, but continue to visit us on the new site for updates, opportunities, and to stay connected.

All best,

The Bronfman Center Arts & Culture Team

Dear friends,

Myself and partner Rachel Wenitsky are co-directing our final NYU thesis film, “Miss Ellis Island.”  We were recently accepted to Indiegogo, a website that accepts donations for creative projects. See Miss Ellis Island IndieGogo page.

Last September, my friend and I spent one of our last precious summer days on an adventure to Ellis Island. As we waited for our ferry to Ellis Island, I gazed out on the Statue of Liberty. Through the sepia color of my sunglasses, she embodied a timelessly fey quality. Looking at her, I felt as though I was seeing this symbol of America, Beauty and Liberty through the same sepia tinted eyes of every immigrant that passed under her bright torch into America in times before me. I was charged with a feeling of uncontainable excitement and hope – I felt in that moment as if the whole world unfolded its arms to me for the taking. Then our ferry docked. Printed on the side of the boat in a red cursive type, “Miss Ellis Island.” And thus, the idea for Miss Ellis Island was born. 

This past fall, a Zoe Worth, Rachel and myself co-created a script together, titled “Miss Ellis Island,” inspired by my summer adventure to Ellis Island. The film follows the story of Freda, a young Jewish peasant girl who leaves her parents in THE OLD COUNTRY and ventures to AMERICA to compete in the annual MISS ELLIS ISLAND beauty pageant in the hopes of winning a wealthy American husband and gaining acceptance in the golden land of opportunity. At its heart, the film is the essence of the American dream, told through the eyes of a young immigrant. Using this fictitious beauty pageant as a portal into our differing and diverse pasts, I want to explore the way migration structures at Ellis Island at the turn of the century have seemingly helped to shape America’s contemporary views on sexuality, gender, desire, and family in unexpected ways. 

Our goal is shoot on 16mm black and white negative film to capture the essence of the era. But in our current digital age, film and film cameras are harder and harder to come by - not to mention the costly expense of film itself. Our ability to make this period film is dependent on our funding. Please see the link below to make a donation today! Help Freda’s dream become a reality!

The project was created by:

Emma Berliner
Rachel Wenitsky
Zoë Worth

Director of Photography: Paul Perez
Production Designer: Elizabeth Kelly
Costume Designers: Daisy Hamilton and Ellpetha Tsivicos

Starring:

Timothy Scott
Hailey Gates
Daniel Genalo
Patrick Scott
Daisy Hamilton
Ellpetha Tsivicos
Erin Mullin
Heather Thiry
Martina Monro
Allison Lee

Featuring performances from Alden Ehrenreich, Zach Webber, Zoë Worth, Eddie Vona, Kyle Hester and Anni Weisband

Produced by Zoë Worth and Izak Rappaport

With the invaluable help of The Collectin (Alden Ehrenreich and Zoë Worth)

PLEASE VISIT  The Miss Ellis Island INDIEGOGO PAGE TO MAKE A DONATION TO OUR SHOW!

Thank you for your support,
Emma Berliner

Visit us at:
http://www.indiegogo.com/MissEllisIsland
www.thecollectin.com

Frequencies seeks visual artworks to include in a new web-based project to construct a collaborative genealogy of spirituality.

Frequencies will commence with a series of essays, poems, and sundry other entries by scholars, artists, and activists. We seek to accompany entries with works from contemporary and emerging artists and photographers.

We envision these entries as fragments in a dynamic, large-scale critical portrait of spirituality as a historical subject and contemporary problem. Works selected would be exhibited on theFrequencies website and circulated among the multiple communities of interest surrounding this epic launch. For a detailed description of the project, see http://freq.uenci.es.

Submissions need not be directly and ostensibly about spirituality, though they certainly may be. We will curate them according to their excellence and their relevance to the project as a whole. They may be in any medium that can be captured in an image and exhibited that way on a website.

Interested artists should send an email including a high-resolution image and a URL (if available) of a single work that they wish to nominate for inclusion in Frequencies to frequencies@ssrc.org by March 15, 2011. A panel will then evaluate the entries and announce their decision by March 30, 2011.

Creating such a documentary collection draws upon traditions evoked in the bimonthly essays of Roland Barthes for Les Lettres Nouvelles, in the boxes of Joseph Cornell, and in the curiosity cabinets of old. Like these displays of natural history and antiquity, Frequencies seeks to create a study of spirituality that is comprehensive yet open-ended, an encyclopedic account that is premised on its contributors’ respective specificities.

http://frequencies.ssrc.org/call-for-artworks/

jessslewisfindings:

HELP: must to shoot either Feb 26, or 27th 3 short scenes for my dance project TRAJECTORY. I need ideally one location (but if not can work), with ideally wood floors and natural light, need 2 different bedrooms to shoot in and 1 other bedroom or living space. if you have any ideas on such a thing PLEASE let me know ASAP. it will be very low key very small cast and crew (6 people tops!) and like half a day (few hours). HELP!!!

(email: jess.lewis@nyu.edu)

The A.O. Movement Collective is in search of a New Media Intern! 

The AOMC is back to work on a new piece, and looking for someone with a good eye, strong work ethic, and digital native mindset.
If you’re heady, passionate, and ahead of the curve, this is for you.

Ideally we’re looking for someone who’s available for about 4 hrs a week, 2-3 hours in studio with the company and 1-2 hours of unsupervised work from home.  You’d be responsible for assisting with shooting, editing, and blogging video footage from rehearsals, classes, and other AOMC events, and would work closely with Director Sarah A.O. Rosner and the AOMC’s admin team to develop and execute strategies for the digital dissemination of our work and process.  We are ready to put someone to work with specific tasks, but also welcome candidates who have ideas about how they’d like to develop our media/hypermedia presence for marketing and engagement.  While we’re glad to provide training for the right person, we’d prefer someone who has basic iMovie, Final Cut, blogging, and/or new media skill sets and is hungry for a chance to develop their technique, experiment with innovative options, and forsake tradition in order to truly connect with audiences.

Internship is unpaid, but we can offer free access to all AOMC events, occasional company class, bartered perks, access to our extensive network of connections and opportunities, and infinite room for advancement. Interested candidates should email theAOMC@gmaill.com with “MEDIA INTERN” in the subject line - please send us a little something about you, your relevant past work experience, and why this internship is of interest to you!

Looking forward to hearing from you!
lovealways, the AOMC

 The Jewish Voice at NYU is looking for writers to contribute to our next issue! We are accepting articles on the theme of around the world (different cultures, foods, countries, travel, etc), as well as general pieces with a Jewish focus. Deadline for submission is February 23. Please e-mail beforehand if you’re interested.

Please respond to jmagnyu@gmail.com

Thanks!

TWO PERFORMANCES ONLY!

“Growing Up Jordy Pordy” is writer and performer Jordan Herskowitz’s hilarious and heart-warming personal story about life as a professional mascot. But once his furry gloves come off, Herskowitz reveals his own struggles of growing up Jewish in Texas, being the forgotten middle child with both of his brothers born with Cystic Fibrosis, and his family’s journey with organ donation. Growing Up Jordy Pordy defies the lines of theatre norm with Herskowitz flawlessly playing over 30 characters. Herskowitz’s intimate and touching performance will mesmerize people of all ages and backgrounds from beginning to end. 

See the show that The News Line calls “a performance masterpiece!”

www.jordypordy.com

When:

Saturday, February 26th at 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, February 27th at 5:00 p.m. 

Where:

Stage Left Studio
214 West 30th Street, 6th floor (b/w 7th and 8th Ave)
New York, NY

Reserve your tickets today: 
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/151162

The Bertha Anolic Memorial Award for independent travel in Israel. This $1500 award enables jewish college students who have a particular interest in the visual arts to explore this interest through independent travel in Israel.

Deadline for applications: May 1, 2011. Announcement of winner: May 30, 2011

Any Jewish student, junior, senior, or graduate, studying in a Jewish studies college program, dept. of fine arts, or academically accredited art school is eligible. You do not have to be an art student.

The award may be used for independent study, museum visits, independent research, study owrk, matierals, professional consultation, etc.

The award will not pay for tuition for any program or course of study.

The award project/study must take place between summer of 2011 and summer of 2012.

You must pre-register before you submit your formal entry. Submit a 500 word (up to) essay detailing your independent study project. Be as specific as possible. Artist entrants are to also submit 10 digitial images of studio work. No letters of reference are to be submitted. Entrants are to submit a draft essay to the administrator at least two weeks before the deadline.

Contact: Rita Rosen Poley: 215-884-7805 or email rita681@comcast.net