OKLAHOMA CITY UNIVERSITY FILM INSTITUTE - 27th Year, 2008-2009
Explore in eight international films the theme of Finding Selfhood Through Exploring One’s Own History. A discussion session follows each film for those who wish to stay.

Free Admission

October 12, 2008 Petree Recital Hall, 2 PM

Majid Majidi’s Father (1996), Iran, 96 min.
From Iran, the country once again most requested on evaluation forms last year, comes another film by Majid Majidi. In fact, people wrote, “Anything by Majidi.” The Oscar-nominated director of such masterpieces as Children of Heaven, The Color of Paradise, and Baran seems to have a finger on the pulse of humanity and suffering with an eye toward redemption and truth. In Father, a young adolescent returns home to discover his mother has remarried and to encounter one of those odysseys at the heart of the greatest storytelling. The kind of movie that makes one fall in love with film, this fable will live on in your moral imagination far beyond a Sunday afternoon. (Experience this film as a way of preparing to hear Azar Nafisi, author of Reading Lolita in Tehran, who speaks at OCU on October 14.)

“Majidi’s gift for giving a cinematic texture to the emotional senses validates his work as a visionary.” Time Out

“The filmmaker that most easily comes to my mind when I watch Majidi’s film is Federico Fellini.” The Film Sufi

“Draws our deepest emotions with the simplest of stories.” Washington Post

On October 12th, at 2 p.m. in The Depot, Ken Hada will read some of his poetry. This even is free and open to the public. If you are in Norman or looking for a good Sunday afternoon activity - stop by!  If you have any questions call 405-307-9320 or visit the Performing Arts Studio.

Buy, Borrow or Steal: Aquisitions and Interlibrary Loan.

In tough economic times, people need library materials more than ever and libraries have less funds available to meet those needs — without stealing. This workshop will discuss how to decide whether to buy or borrow, analyze ILL data to assist in materials selection, and handle requests to borrow through ILL efficiently.

Friday, October 24th, 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Midwest City Library
.48 CEUs

Check out the flyer or register online. The registration deadline is October 17th.

Howard F. Stein, Oklahoma Book Award finalist, will be reading from his newest book of poetry, Theme and Variations. You can catch him at Full Circle Bookstore on October 16th, from 6:30-8:00 p.m. He will also be available for signing.

Our 27th Year, 2008-2009

Explore in eight international films the theme of “Finding Selfhood Through Exploring One’s Own History”. A discussion session follows each film for those who wish to stay.

Sundays, 2 PM, Petree Recital Hall in the Kirkpatrick Fine Arts Center at NW 24th Street and Blackwelder or the Kerr McGee Auditorium in the Meinders School of Business at NW 27th Street and McKinley.

Free Admission

September 28, 2008
Petree Recital Hall, 2 PM
Zhang Yimou’s To Live (1994), China, 125 min.

From the much honored Zhang Yimou, arguably the greatest living film director, comes the extraordinary To Live, an epic portrayal of one family’s trials, triumphs and tragedies through the stormy decades of Chairman Mao’s Great Leap Forward of the 1950’s and the Cultural Revolution of the late 1960’s. Winner of the 1994 Grand Jury Prize and the Best Actor Award at Cannes, To Live stands as one of Zhang’s most accomplished films. The pageantry and splendor of the film’s movement echoes the grandeur of Zhang’s direction of China’s opening Olympic ceremony this past August.

“Zhang’s keen and universal view of human nature raises his work far above its own visual beauty and into the realm of timeless storytelling.” Janet Maslin, NY Times

“Zhang Yimou is a world-class artist who gives his films heartbreak and visual grandeur.” Time

“Those who wonder who will pick up the mantle from the retired, aging or dead Bergman, Kurosawa or Fellini in the international cinema should look to China and Zhang Yimou.” Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

“A Chinese Gone With the Wind; an amazing achievement. Gong Li is the most exciting movie actress in the world today.” Andrew Sarris,Village Voice

Nathan Brown will be the featured poet at the Performing Arts Studio’s September 14 Second Sunday Poetry Reading at 2:00 pm in the Norman Depot, 200 South Jones Avenue.

Brown recently published—and will be reading from—two new books of poems. Mongrel Empire Press brought out Nôt Ex?ctly J?b in 2007, which was a finalist for the 2008 Oklahoma Book Award. Then, just this summer, Village Books Press published Two Tables Over.

Of Two Tables Over, Robert Con Davis-Undiano, Dean of the Honors College at OU and Director of World Literature Today says: “The shrewd observer who sits two tables over at a coffeeshop is the guy we always fear in a crowd—the one who sees right into us. The shrewd observer of Two Tables Over, as it turns out, is also a poet of the first rank, and with this new book of poetry Nathan Brown has again moved to the fore of what is happening in contemporary poetry.” Rilla Askew (winner of the American Book Award) says: “Nathan Brown’s poems tell stories, paint characters, delve into what it means to be human. Open-hearted and available, warm, just a wee bit ironic—like the American character—Two Tables Over is a pure delight.”

The publisher says of Nôt Ex?ctly J?b—“in this book of poetry, photographs, and scripture, Nathan Brown expands the tradition of literary spiritual struggles by engaging with the Book of Job both as poetry and as catalyst for personal, contemporary questions of innocence and experience, faith and doubt. Often irreverent but always honest, this book is an emotionally powerful and intellectually challenging work.”

Prior to these two collections, Brown published Hobson’s Choice, in 2002, and then in 2005, he came out with Ashes over the Southwest and Suffer the Little Voices (a finalist for the 2006 Oklahoma Book Award).

Brown worked as a professional songwriter and touring musician for more than fifteen years in and around Oklahoma City, Nashville, and Austin. He holds a Ph.D. in English and Journalism from OU and is committed to sharing poems that tell stories, that make us smile and wince, and that make a certain amount of sense.

There is no charge for admission to Second Sunday Poetry Readings.  Light refreshments will be served.

For additional information, call The Performing Arts Studio at 405-307-9320 or visit www.thepas.org.

Don’t miss OCU’s exciting Distinguished Speaker Series!  The first speaker in October will be Wangari Maathai.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008
7:30 p.m.

Wangari Maathai
Nobel Laureate and author of Unbowed

Environment, Democracy and Peace: A Critical Link

Wangari Muta Maathai, recipient of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize, is recognized worldwide for her work for democracy, human rights, and the environment. The daughter of farmers from Mount Kenya, Maathai is the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctoral degree. She has taught at universities throughout the world and founded Kenya’s Green Belt Movement, through which women’s groups have helped to conserve the environment and improve quality of life by planting more than 30 million trees. At least half a dozen African countries have started similar programs.

Maathai has chaired the National Council of Women of Kenya, served on the U.N. Commission for Global Governance and the Commission on the Future, was elected to Kenya’s Parliament, and was appointed as Assistant Minister for the Environment. She has been named a Top 100 Eco-Hero, one of the 100 Heroines of the World, and one of the 100 people who made an environmental difference. Time magazine named her as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2006, she received the Legion d’Honneur, France’s highest honor. She has received honorary degrees from many institutions, including Yale University and Williams College.

She has written two books: her autobiography, Unbowed, 2006), and The Greenbelt Movement: Sharing the Approach and the Experience (2002).

Prepare yourself for Maathai’s lecture. Don’t miss the screening of Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai, the 2008 documentary film by Lisa Merton and Alan Dater. The film will be shown in Kerr- McGee Auditorium at the Meinders School of Business, NW 27th and McKinley, 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 30.

Seating limited. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

Windmill Poets meets at the Piedmont Public Library the third Tuesdays, 6:30 - 8:00 PM monthly.  Everyone interested in poetry is welcome.

In celebration of upcoming National Poetry Day on October 15, Windmill Poets is sponsoring a Poetry Contest on the theme, “The Power of Words.”  First Prize winner  will receive a $25.00 gift certificate at Border’s Book Store.  All winners will be awarded certificates and invited to read their poems at the Windmill Poets Awards Ceremony October 21 at the Piedmont Library.  Entrants eighteen or older may submit two copies of one poem, with title and name of form if a form is used on both copies. On the second copy only, include poet’s name, address, phone number and email address if applicable.  Poems may have placed in contests, but may not have been published in any publication or on the Internet.  Winning poems will not be published without consent of the poets who will retain all rights. The poems must be on the theme, “The Power of Words,” in any form, but no longer than one page.

The judge will be Patricia Barber, Oklahoma City.  Entrants may hand deliver entries to Vivian Stewart at Windmill Poets Meetings, 6:30 - 8:00 PM  at the Piedmont Library either August 19 or September 16, or mail to “Windmill Poets Contest” C/O Vivian Stewart, 2516 Morgan Rd., NE, Piedmont, OK 73078.  There is no entry fee.  Postal Deadline is September 15.   If questions, call Vivian Stewart, 405-373-0713.

Picturing America is now accepting applications online.  The deadline for this second round of applications is October 31, 2008, for delivery of materials in Spring of 2009.

Brought to you by the National Endowment for the Humanities, Picturing America is a free education resource that brings great American art directly to classrooms and libraries in order to enhance the study of American history and culture.  The program is designed to be used across a wide range of subject areas, including history, social studies, and language arts. Award materials distributed to each recipient include:

• forty, high quality, reproductions of the selected masterpieces (24 x 36)
• an in-depth teachers resource book
• a dynamic online resource

NEH believes that Picturing America should be in every school and library across America. Please apply soon to receive these valuable materials free of charge.

On a Road to Africa by Oklahoma author Kim Doner, follows a day in the life of animal rescuer “Mama-O”. She picks up food, greets fellow villagers and travels into the countryside to feed the orphaned wildlife. Through a chanting rhyme and repetitive verse, Doner welcomes children into the African world. She gives Africa an exuberant beat, using much of the native language. Her illustrations, made with a combination of markers, oils and colored pencils, are vibrant.

The picture book is a must-add for any children’s collection. Just because they live in Oklahoma, doesn’t mean young patrons can’t take a quick journey to Africa! Some of the proceeds will go to Mama-O’s efforts.

The book includes a short dictionary of African words and a brief biography of the real Mama-O.