Weekly Arts and Entertainment Highlights (Oct 19, 2012)

This week’s events are all about productions: Productions from artists in the Middle East, from local theatre students, and a visit from a beloved children’s production’s star.

The Oklahoma City Museum of Art film program screens movies from all over the world, some of which don’t enjoy wide distribution. This weekend, the Noble Theatre shows 3 movies from the Middle East during its “2012 Spotlight on Iranian Cinema.” The plots deal with a range of issues; a filmmaker is banned from his craft but continues to create movies anyways in the documentary “This is Not a Film,” and a family deals with growing pains and changes in “A Separation.” The museum also hosts a couple of special events with the screenings. On Friday, October 19th, a wine reception for this year’s “Spotlight” takes place in the museum café. Following the Sunday screening of “This is Not a Film,” a guest lecture by author Hamid Naficy, PhD discusses the social history of Iranian cinema.

Students from a local university took current issues into their own hands in the form of a stage production. On Friday, October 19th and Saturday the 20th, the University of Central Oklahoma Theatre Arts Department performs the one-act play “Voice: The Real Story of Prostituted Women” in the Pegasus Theatre. UCO theatre students Summer Nolan and Claudia Fain wrote and directed the production of the play in hopes to raise awareness of human trafficking and prostitution in the United States and Oklahoma. A panel discussion follows the performances with representatives from the UCO Violence Prevention Project, Oklahomans Against Trafficking Humans, and No Boundaries who will engage in a question and answer session with the audience.

A local non-profit celebrates its “Ruby Jubilee” by bringing in a puppeteer who spent his career performing as a “furry red monster.” Kevin Clash began being Elmo on Sesame Street in the mid 1980s after working for his idol Jim Henson as a puppeteer. On Sunday, October 21st he acts as the keynote speaker at Rainbow Fleet’s 40th anniversary celebration. Rainbow Fleet is a child care resource and referral center and has been in operation since 1972. The evening also includes music, dinner, and a silent auction. Proceeds from this fundraiser at Castle Falls Event Center benefit Rainbow Fleet and their child care programs.

Other events of interest:

Langston University in Oklahoma City screens “Slavery: By Another Name” on October 23rd at 5:00 p.m. The movie is based on the Pulitzer-Prize winning book by Douglas A. Blackmon that discusses new forms of force labor in the post-Civil War American South. A historian led discussion follows the screening.

The 2012 Oklahoma Arts Conference at the Skirvin Hotel in Oklahoma City focuses on the connection between art and creating a community on October 23rd and 24th. This year’s theme is “Building Bridges to Vibrant Communities,” and the conference discusses revitalization and private-public partnership.

Find more information on these and other events by visiting our calendar page.