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COURTESY GOETHE INSTITUTE OF SAN FRANCISCO
TODAY-SUNDAY
German film festival screens lineup of contemporary cinema
Check out the latest in German film at the Berlin & Beyond Film Festival, which screens seven contemporary films from Germany at the University of Hawaii campus this weekend.
German-inspired appetizers, wine and beer will be served at the opening-night reception, followed by "Jack," the story of a child who is forced to go alone into the urban sprawl of Berlin in search of his naive single mother. The film won the 2015 German Film Award Best Film in Silver.
Another highlight is "Fack ju Gohte," (translated as "Suck Me Shakespeer" — a more precise translation pertains to German philosopher Johann von Goethe), which is set in a school where loot from a bank robbery has been concealed. Comedy ensues when one of the bank robbers fakes his way into a teaching position at the school and tries to dig it up. The film screens at 8:30 p.m. Saturday.
Closing night features "Who Am I: No System Is Safe," a comedy-thriller about hackers. The film won three 2015 German Film Awards, and Warner Bros. has acquired the rights to make an American version of the film. The film screens at 7:30 p.m. Sunday.
Other films highlight the international nature of modern Germany: "Tibetan Warrior" (4 p.m. Saturday) tells about a Tibetan exile’s search for peace for his people; "Inbetween Worlds" (6 p.m. Saturday), pictured above, is about a German soldier serving in Afghanistan; "Best Chance" (3 p.m. Sunday) is about a woman who goes in search of an old schoolmate who has disappeared in India; and "Unlikely Heroes" (5 p.m. Sunday) is about a woman who works with refugees.
The touring festival, sponsored by the Goethe Institute of San Francisco, is the largest film festival in the U.S. devoted to contemporary German-language cinema. All of the films will have their Hawaii premiere during the festival.
Where: University of Hawaii at Manoa Art Department Auditorium
When: Opening night reception, 6 p.m. today; film at 7:30 p.m.
"Miranda Sings," a popular one-woman show spun off from a quirky YouTube character, comes to the Hawaii Theatre on Saturday.
Miranda is the alter ego of actress-singer Colleen Ballinger Evans, who created the character as a way of poking fun at fellow actors hawking and hyping their talents on the Internet. The pretentious know-it-all, oblivious to her lack of talent in everything, emerged in the 2009 video "Free Voice Lesson," in which she offers advice such as "to sing higher, lift your eyebrows and lift your chin," and "shake your chin, or your head, or your body" to create vibrato.
"Free Voice Lesson" made Miranda a YouTube sensation, and she’s followed it up with upchucking cooking videos — she puts mustard, ranch dressing and Sriracha sauce in pancakes — along with delightfully awkward dance tutorials, clueless responses to her fans (she calls them Mirfandas) and other topics of questionable importance, all dripping with condescension. The strangely compelling and humorous performances have drawn more than 700 million viewings on YouTube.
The latest contribution to the Miranda opus is a book, "Selp-Helf," which should be quite a read, since her spelling and grammar appear to be a combination of bad phonetics, casual observation and pure guesswork. "I’m so essited about my new book! Go by it rite now or I will git you so goodly," Miranda says on her website, mirandasings.com.
Chris Duarte will play an electric mix of rock, blues and pop
Chris Duarte, a prodigiously talented Texas-born guitar master who was hailed early on in his career as a hero in the school of Stevie Ray Vaughan, is now a road-honed veteran with 11 albums under his belt, and a history of high praise that includes being labeled the "best guitarist in the world" by Eddie Van Halen.
Admirers of pyrotechnical guitar licks and passionate performance would be well advised to make a Monday night appearance at this concert, which promises to offer up traces of classic rock a la Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix, contemporary blues in the stripped-down vein of the Black Keys, jazz as influenced by John Coltrane and George Benson, and, yes, pop music — a burgeoning interest for Duarte, he says, as he continues to experiment with new ways to connect with audiences.
Duarte, who’s been based in Atlanta recently, said he’s planning a return to Austin, Texas, where he lived and worked from 1979 until 2005, and he craves the challenge of once again winning over a city devoted to live music, as well as his touring life.
"I’m still hungry, I’m still ambitious — I still have an insatiable appetite," he said.
His secret? "I’m going to wow you with my passion, integrity and volume," he said, with a laugh. "You could drop me off anywhere in the world, and I could play my way back home."
Slack-key guitarist Jeff Peterson and local punk/blues act Blue Genes open for Duarte in this show, a benefit for the Hawaii Pacific University Department of Communication’s Student Success Fund.
Where: The Crossroads at Hawaiian Brian’s, 1680 Kapiolani Blvd.
Youth choral group to perform opera on Big Isle princess
Get a look at Hawaii’s next generation of singing stars at Hawaii Youth Opera Chorus’ production of "La’ieikawai: Princess of Pali’uli," a youth opera based on a legend from Hawaii island.
Composed by Neil McKay, professor emeritus of the University of Hawaii at Manoa Music Department, "La’ieikawai" premiered 20 years ago as one of the first commissioned works for HYOC. Respected voice coach Nola Nahulu directed the original production and is directing this year’s production.
Nahulu had special praise for McKay, now 90, for taking on the challenges in composing the work.
"He took us on at age 70, and he said, ‘I can do this!’" said Nahulu, who works with Hawaii Opera Theatre during their productions.
"The style is of the big-band era," she said, adding that one song, sung by an ensemble of five girls, is set to Glenn Miller’s "String of Pearls." "It’s in that hapa-haole style of music. I would say it would have more of that hapa-haole feeling than Hawaiian."
"La’ieikawai" tells the story of the youth ‘Onohiokala, who falls in love with Princess La’ieikawai, only to have his brother ‘Aiwohi try to steal her away. The snow goddess of Mauna Kea, Poli ‘Ahu, plays a major role in resolving the conflict.
"Mauna Kea’s been in the news," Nahulu said, "So this is one way of celebrating Mauna Kea in a different sense, in legend form."
The production features students from grades K-12, with 12 principal roles. International opera star Quinn Kelsey sang in the 1995 production, along with his sister Blythe, so who knows? Maybe another future star will be onstage this time, too.
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