Teshome H. Gabriel dies at 70; UCLA professor and Third World cinema expert
The Ethiopian-born educator was 'one of the first scholars to theorize in a critical fashion about Third World cinema,' a fellow academic says.
Teshome H. Gabriel was on the faculty of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. He was the author of the book "Third Cinema in the Third World: The Aesthetics of Liberation." (Dan Chavkin / UCLA)
By Dennis McLellan, Los Angeles Times
June 17, 2010
Teshome H. Gabriel, a UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television professor and internationally recognized scholar of Third World cinema,has died. He was70.
The Ethiopian-born Gabriel died Monday of sudden cardiac arrest at Kaiser Permanente Panorama City Medical Center, said university spokeswoman Teri Bond.
"He was a brilliant, gracious, elegant and generous man," Teri Schwartz, dean of the School of Theater, Film and Television, said in a statement Wednesday. "Teshome was a consummate professional and a truly beloved faculty member at TFT. He will be greatly missed by all of us."
Gabriel, who began as a lecturer at UCLA in 1974 and received his doctorate in film and television studies there before becoming an assistant professor in 1981, was the author of the 1982 book "Third Cinema in the Third World: The Aesthetics of Liberation."
Vinay Lal, an associate professor of history and Asian American studies at UCLA, said Gabriel was "one of the first scholars to theorize in a critical fashion about Third World cinema."
"He is a principal exponent of the idea of Third Cinema," Lal, who is on leave, said via e-mail from India. "He saw such a third cinema as a guardian of popular memory and as a source of emancipation for formerly subjugated peoples.
"While Third Cinema would develop its own conventions of narrative and style, its aesthetic had to be tied to a politics of social action. Teshome was very attentive, as a film scholar must be, to cinematic styles and conventions; but he kept very close to his heart the idea that Third World cinemas had to be true to the cultures, traditions and forms of storytelling found in those societies."
Gabriel co-edited the 1993 book "Otherness and the Media: The Ethnography of the Imagined and the Imaged" and most recently wrote the book "Third Cinema: Exploration of Nomadic Aesthetics & Narrative Communities."
His many other accomplishments included serving as editor in chief of "Emergences: Journal for the Study of Media and Composite Cultures." He also was founder and an editorial board member of Tuwaf (Light), an Ethiopian Fine Arts Journal in Amharic, from 1987 to 1991.
In his later years, Lal said, Gabriel "wrote on such things as the relationship of the Web to weaving, the idea of the nomadic (and the transgressive), and the relationship between the built form and ruins.
"He was a rare thinker, interested in allowing ideas a free play, and he never ceased to explore new forms of media as well as developments in cinema."
Gabriel was born Sept. 24, 1939, in the small town of Ticho, Ethiopia, and came to the United States in 1962.
He received a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Utah in 1967, followed by amaster's of education in educational media two years later. At UCLA, he earned a master's degree in theater arts (film/television) in 1976 and his doctorate in film and television studies in 1979.
He is survived by his wife, Maaza Woldemusie; daughter, Mediget; and son, Tsegaye.
A memorial service is planned for 3 p.m. Saturday at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, 6300 Forest Lawn Drive, Los Angeles.
UNERHÖRT! Music Film Festival opens call for submissions! We are looking forward to your music related film or video! Especially, if it's outside the mainstream and you are a film student/emerging filmmaker. For submission form + rules & regulations please click the following link.
Screening: Black Balance (Filipa Cesar, 2010); works from the archives, introduced by Nigel Algar, Kay Gladstone, and Patrick Russell
Thursday, 8th July
9am: registration and coffee
9.45: Plenary paper: Colin MacCabe (Birkbeck College, University of London/University of Pittsburgh), tbc
10.45-11: Coffee
11-12.30: Panel: Early cinema’s encounter with empire:
Ian Christie (Birkbeck College, University of London), “Imperial arrivals and departures.”
Aboubakar Sanago (Carleton University), “The politics and poetics of early colonial cinema.”
Richard Smith and Toby Haggith (Goldsmiths College, University of London; Imperial War Museum), “Moving image representations of imperial troops in the First World War.”
12.30-1.15 Lunch
1.15-2.45: Panel: The State of colonial documentary:
Tom Rice (Colonial Moving Images project), “From the Colonies to Britain (and back again): British Instructional Films and The Empire Series (1925-1928).”
Lee Grieveson (University College London), “The cinema and the (common)wealth of nations.”
Peter Bloom (University of California at Santa Barbara), “Adult education and the documentary cinema of the Empire Marketing Board.”
2.45-3.15: Coffee
3.15-4.45: Panel: The sponsored film:
James Burns (Clemson University), “The Rockefeller foundation and early colonial film making.”
Scott Anthony (University of Manchester), “Rotha’s empire: An Internationalist attempt to paint the British Empire red.”
4.45-5.45: Plenary paper: Ashish Rajadhyaksha (Centre for the Study of Culture and Society, Bangalore), “Colonial film policy in India after the 1925 Imperial Conference.”
Reception, 7.30-9.30, Brunei Gallery, School of Oriental and African Studies
Friday, 9th July
9am-10.00: Plenary paper: Charles Musser (Yale University), “Paul Robeson and the cinema of empire.”
10-10.30: Coffee
10.30-11.45: Panel: Work, travel, craft
Heida Johannsdottir (University College London), “Labour, consumption, and colonised bodies.”
Karolina Kendall-Bush (University College London), “Travelling through the heart of empire.”
Michael McCluskey (University College London), “Crafting an image of empire.”
11.45-1.00: Panel: The home and the mission
Francis Gooding (Colonial Moving Images project), “The school, the hospital and the collection box: British missionary priorities on film.”
Emma Sandon (Birkbeck College, University of London), “Missionary film in Africa and India during British colonial rule.”
Veena Hariharan (University of Southern California), “The I in Colonial documentary.”
1.00-1.45: Lunch
1.45-3.15: Panel: Africa and Empire between the Wars
Rosaleen Smyth (Independent scholar), “The cinema and Britain’s African colonies in the inter-war years.”
Aaron Windel (University of Minnesota), “The Bantu Educational Kinema Experiment and the political economy of East and Central Africa.”
Vincent Bouchard (University of Louisiana at Lafayette), “Nigeria Health Propaganda & Bantu Educational Cinema Experiment: Colonial Film Unit’s precursors?”
3.15-3.30: Coffee
3.30-4.30: Panel: War and empire
Martin Stollery (Open University), “The Crown Film Unit and representing the Empire war effort.”
Ian Kikuchi (Imperial War Museum), “South East Asia Command Film Unit.”
4.30-5.30: Plenary paper: Laura Mulvey (Birkbeck College, University of London), “The compilation and the archive.”
please find attached the final programme for the 2010 NECS conference to take place from June 24th to 27th, 2010 at Kadir Has University, Istanbul, Turkey. Conference speakers will find a printed version of the programme in their conference folders.
Please be reminded that you need to be a member of NECS in order to participate at the conference. If you are not a member yet, become a NECS member today by registering on the NECS website, www.necs-initiative.org.
Conference attendance is free, but you are required to have paid your membership fee upon arrival in Istanbul. In case you have not paid your NECS membership fee yet, we kindly ask you to either transfer the money (20,- regular or 10,- for students) to our account (Postbank Berlin; BLZ 100 100 10; Konto 29615102; IBAN: DE72100100100029615102; BIC: PBNKDEFF) or to pay via PayPal (go to the community section of the website, click on "your subscription", follow the PayPal-sign).
The speaking time for all speakers (except the keynotes) is strictly limited to 20 minutes. Please keep this in mind while preparing your talk! Speakers not attending the conference without prior notice may find their proposals will receive less favorable attention in 2011.
Welcome to Istanbul!
The NECS Conference Committee: Melis Behlil, Tina Batajian, Olof Hedling, András Bálint Kovács, Tarja Laine, Terez Vincze, Patrick Vonderau
The NECS Steering Committee: Malte Hagener, Vinzenz Hediger, Dorota Ostrowska, Alexandra Schneider, Patrick Vonderau
Bruce McClure *(USA), Ralph Lundsten (Swe), Karl-Birger Blomdahl (Swe), Mika Taanikla (Fin), C M von Hausswolff/Thomas Nordanstad (Swe), Rolf Nilsson (Swe), Erkki Kurenniemi (Fin).
2010.08.27 Kristinehamn Museum of Art (Sweden) 2010.08.28 Arenan, Karlstad (Sweden)
AVANT 2010 is free of charge but booking is mandatory.
AVANT 2010 is a collaboration between the regional filmorganisation Film i Värmland, Kristinehamn Museum of Art, Karlstad University, Världsaltet, The City of Karlstad.
AVANT - the regional conference on experiment in film and media will take place in Karlstad and Kristinehamn, Värmland, Sweden in August 2010. Honorary guest is Bruce McClure the international star of the American Artstage of today. Submit your participation via the link further down.
AVANT – det Karlstadsbaserade evenemanget kring experimentfilm – kommer att vara idel öra i augusti 2010. Det hela börjar med en flerprojektionsperformance med en av den samtida amerikanska konstscenens mest uppmärksammade konstnärer, Bruce McClure.
Den följande dagen kommer att ägnas åt film gjorda av pionjärerna inom finländsk och svensk elektronmusik, Erkki Kurenniemi och Ralph Lundsten, och samtida efterföljare som Mika Taanila och Michael von Hausswolff/Tomas Nordanstad.
”Videocracy” har fått strålande recensioner när den nu har gått upp på bio i Storbritannien. Men efter att ha pratat om sin dokumentär i snart ett år börjar Erik Gandini nästan tröttna på uppmärksamheten som tar tid från hans kommande projekt.
- Jag nästa skäms att säga det, men jag börjar bli lite trött på det.
Det säger Erik Gandini som fortfarande gör ungefär en intervju om dagen angående hans dokumentär ”Videocracy”. Speciellt intensivt har det varit den senaste tiden då filmen har gått upp på brittiska biografer och fått riktigt bra recensioner med betyget fyra av fem av tidningar som "The Guardian" och "Time Out London" där den sistnämnda tidningens recensent Dave Colhoun bland annat skriver: ”The combination of terrific footage with a low, rumbling score of doom makes this a compelling horror show.”
Sedan ”Videocracy” hade premiär vid filmfestivalen i Venedig i september förra året tycker Erik Gandini att debatten kring filmen har förändrats. Det som först sågs som ett rent angrepp på Italiens premiärminister har nu mer blivit ett underlag för en mer nyanserad debatt. - Nu är det mycket mer centrerat kring hur vi lever idag, våra relationer till media och hur narcissismen breder ut sig.
I ett land som Storbritannien finns också fler igenkänningsfaktorer, som den kändiskultur som finns i båda länderna, säger Erik Gandini. Och även om britterna inte har någon Silvio Berlusconi har de en egen mediemagnat i Rupert Murdoch.
”Videocracy” har tidigare gått upp i länder som Polen, Tjeckien och Österrike och över allt har Erik Gandini varit hett eftertraktad för intervjuer. - Det är så med den här typen av debattfilmer att de nästan kräver att man är tillgänglig och är med och debatterar. - Jag gör det gärna, jag vill ju hjälpa distributören. Men det har tagit mer tid än jag trodde. Men egentligen kan jag inte klaga på den här lyxen. Det är så mycket tråkigare när det inte är så här.
Det som annars upptar Erik Gandini är ett nytt filmprojekt. Exakt vad det handlar om vill han inte säga. Så mycket är klart är att även den ska utspela sig i Italien och redan i övermorgon, fredag, åker han till Rom för att träffa samarbetspartners. I sommar ska han också gå en kurs i Los Angeles i bland annat ”script writing”.
Den 2 juli blir det också premiär för ”Videocracy” i Los Angeles. Den har tidigare visats i New York och eftersom distributören anser att den funkade så bra där är det alltså dags att även ta den till Västkusten.
Dear Friend Hitler, thought to be Indian cinema's first portrayal of the Nazi dictator, is set in the last days of the Third Reich
The Bollywood film will focus on Hitler's last days. Photograph: Getty Images
He is a stalwart of Indian cinema who once played Gandhi on the small screen, while she is a former Miss India best known for her romantic comedy roles. Together, Anupam Kher and Neha Dhupia are to play Adolf Hitler and his mistress Eva Braun in a new Bollywood film set in the last days of the Third Reich.
According to reports, the curiously titled Dear Friend Hitler will centre on the relationships between the Nazi dictator and those who were close to him, including Braun, his long-term lover who he married in his final days in the Berlin bunker. "It aims to take the viewer into close quarters with the enigmatic personality that Hitler was and give a glimpse into his insecurities, his charisma, his paranoia and his sheer genius," a source told the Mumbai Mirror newspaper.
Kher, who was chosen by the film's director, Rakesh Ranjan Kumar, for his apparent resemblance to Hitler, told reporters on Sunday that he was looking forward to the challenge. "I already have an image, I am a known actor, so it will be doubly hard work for me to take away that image," he said. "He's one of the most interesting characters of our times."
Kumar said he considered Hitler the most successful loser of the 20th century and wanted to examine this interpretation.
"As a leader, he was successful. Why did he lose as a human being, what were the problems, what were the issues, what were his intentions, this is what we want to show," he said. The aim is for the film to be an international release.
Perhaps controversially, Kumar also said he hoped to show Hitler's "love for India" and how the Nazi leader indirectly contributed to independence in the subcontinent. He said the movie would be neither a war story, nor a tale of love.
"The film will not show the love life of Adolf Hitler. It will show [the] Eva who had been rarely spoken about in history," Kumar told Indian news agency IANS. "Eva had been Hitler's girlfriend since she was 17 years old. The film shows how she comes into his life in his last days. They got married 42 hours before he died (30 April 1945)."
Hitler has been portrayed on the big screen many times, notably in the 2004 German-language film Downfall, which was nominated for the best foreign language film Oscar, and in the 1973 British film Hitler: The Last Ten Days, in which Alec Guinness played the dictator. Dear Friend Hitler is believed to be the first Indian effort.
I Filmhuset på Gärdet i Stockholm driver Filminstitutet en mångsidig biografanläggning under namnet FilmhusBiograferna. Aktiviteterna och uppdragen har mycket stor bredd och har ett varierat och mångsidigt innehåll; från traditionella filmvisningar för bland annat Cinemateket och filmföretag till komplexa visningar vid konferenser med bildkällor från video, data och Internet.
FilmhusBiograferna har tre salonger som tekniskt betjänas från ett gemensamt maskinrum. Visningstekniken omfattar kvalificerade resurser med kapacitet att visa de allra flesta analoga och digitala bild- och ljudformat. Två av salongerna har sina entréer i den nyligen omgjorda foajén, centralt belägen i Filmhuset. Här finns restaurang och bar, ett omfattande filmbibliotek och förutom Svenska Filminstitutet har ett antal film- och kulturverksamheter sin bas i Filmhuset.
Vi söker nu en arbetsledare och kvalificerad biografmaskinist till FilmhusBiograferna. Dokumenterade och goda kunskaper krävs för att förbereda och visa 16, 35 och 70 mm film, med aktskifte. Eftersom allt fler visningar är digitalt baserade krävs mycket goda kunskaper i att hantera digital visningsteknik.
Salongerna hyrs också ut för konferenser, en verksamhet som är under expansion. I maskinisternas arbete ingår att sköta de tekniska resurserna rörande bild och ljud vid konferenser, möten och evenemang.
Förutom kvalificerade tekniska kunskaper förutsätter arbetet ett gott ordningssinne, god samarbetsförmåga, goda datakunskaper samt en väl utvecklad förmåga att möta kunder på ett trevligt och professionellt sätt.
Tjänsten innefattar ett arbetsledaransvar för verksamheten, bland annat rörande planering, drift och tekniska frågor. I uppdraget ingår också att delta i budgetarbete och annan långsiktig planering. Den fasta bemanningen utgörs av totalt tre schemalagda tjänster.
"På fredag smäller det! Efter en veckas slit utmynnar filmnätverket Nisi Masas dokumentärfilmsworkshop i en magnifik visning. Filmskapare från åtta olika länder har bjudits in för att under en veckas tid göra porträtt av Malmöbor som delar deras nationella ursprung. Dessutom har två team fått i uppdrag att utforska stadsdelarna Möllan och Västra Hamnen.
Det blir tio vackra, tänkvärda och roliga kortfilmer om tillhörighet och identitet. Alla filmare kommer att vara på plats och efter visningen blir det en stunds Q&A innan vi bjuder upp till dans. Festen varar fram till småtimmarna.
Varmt välkomna!
Fredag 11/6 kl 19-02 (kom i tid för filmvisningarna!) Mat - dryck - mingel - fest!
NISI MASA is a European network of associations, currently present in 23 countries. These associations consist of young professionals, students and enthusiasts with a common cause - European cinema.
Our main aims are: - to discover new film talents - to develop cross-cultural audiovisual projects - to foster European awareness through cinema - to create a platform of discussion and collaboration for young European filmmakers
Our main activities are: - holding an annual European Short Film Script Contest - organising filmmaking & scriptwriting workshops - holding various cinema-related meetings (conferences, seminars, etc.) - promoting short films (through screenings, making of DVDs, etc.) - editing publications (various books & a daily magazine produced during several European film festivals)
NISI MASA was founded in 2001. It is a non-profit organisation supported, amongst others, by the European Union (Youth, Civil Society & MEDIA Programmes), the Council of Europe, the European Cultural Foundation, the Allianz Cultural Foundation and the Fondation de France.
Regissören Gabriela Pichler, tidigare student på Högskolan i Halmstad, var inbjuden till filmvetarnas avslutning den 31 maj. Hon berättade om sitt filmskapande och kortfilmen ”Skrapsår”, som fick pris för bästa film i sin genre på årets Guldbaggegala.
Resan började för snart tio år sedan då Gabriela Pichler själv ”råkade hamna” på grundkursen i filmvetenskap i Halmstad.
- Jag var intresserad av film när jag började läsa A-kursen, men visste inte så mycket. Jag var ett tv-barn och konsumerade oerhörda mängder tv, berättade Gabriela Pichler som såg sin första film på bio när hon var 15 år.
Regissör och filmvetare
De fortsatta studierna i filmvetenskap öppnade upp en helt ny värld för Gabriela Pichler. Efter ett tag insåg hon att man faktiskt kan plugga till regissör. Efter studierna i Halmstad sökte hon till Filmhögskolan i Göteborg. Kortfilmen ”Skrapsår” är hennes examensprojekt därifrån.
Att vara just regissör och filmvetare på en och samma gång leder ofta till inre konflikter:
- Det är svårt när man skapar karaktärer samtidigt som man ifrågasätter och analyserar i den andra rollen som filmvetare, som bara vill censurera, menar Gabriela Pichler.
Växte upp i en flerkulturell miljö
Hennes eget filmskapande bygger på en vilja att skildra verkligheten på ett annat sätt än som den ofta framställs i svenska filmer. Med en förälder från Bosnien och en från Österrike växte Gabriela Pichler upp i en flerkulturell och flerspråkig omgivning.
- När jag kom till Filmhögskolan var jag mätt på svensk film. Allt var likadant. Alla pratade konstigt och det stämde inte överens med min verklighet. I svensk film skildras ofta medelklassen och alla är så vältaliga och artikulerade. Jag känner mig utanför när jag ser detta, förklarar Gabriela Pichler.
Använder unga amatörer
Språket spelar en central roll i ”Skrapsår”, i vilken hon ville hitta ett språk som var mer ärligt och äkta. Skådespelarna i filmen är unga amatörer mellan 9 och 19 år, många med invandrarbakgrund, och Gabriela Pichler gav dem stort utrymme att använda sina egna sätt uttrycka sig på.
I filmen skildras ett ungdomsgäng som hänger på ett fabriksområde.
- Jag ville göra en film om tristess och väntan. Vad som händer när man väntar på att något ska hända. Den skulle handla om ungdomar, utan någon vuxenvärld som störde, med flera huvudpersoner. Den utspelar sig på en enda plats, ett övergivet fabriksområde. När jag var liten städade min mamma på fabrik efter stängningsdags och jag var ofta med och fick leka själv i lokalerna, berättar Gabriela Pichler.
Smärtsamt när tanken möter verkligheten
När man arbetar med film ska man vara medveten om att det är en sak att ha en tanke om vad man vill berätta och en helt annan när denna tanke ska möta verkligheten. För filmen ska, oavsett vad, göras i verkligheten med de förutsättningar som finns här.
- Det är smärtsamt när ens tanke ska möta verkligheten, för det blir aldrig som man har tänkt sig, även om idén faktiskt kan bli bättre.
Gabriella Pichler ser också en tydlig skillnad mellan vad man tror att man berättar och vad ens filmskapande verkligen säger.
The Iranian director Jafar Panahi. Photograph: Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images
The jailed Iranian film director Jafar Panahi, who has been on hunger strike for more than a week, is expected to be released today on bail of 2bn rials (£140,000), his wife said.
Panahi, winner of many international awards and a supporter of Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi in last year's disputed presidential election, was arrested in March along with his wife and daughter. His family was later freed.
"Based on what we have been told, Panahi will be released tonight between 7 and 11 pm (1430-1830GMT)," his wife, Tahereh Saeedi, said. She said the bail had already been deposited.
Panahi is held at Tehran's Evin jail, where human rights groups say many political prisoners are detained.
Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi said yesterday that Panahi would be released on bail, but did not say when it would happen.
The French film star Juliette Binoche criticised Iran for imprisoning Panahi during her acceptance speech for the best actress award at the Cannes film festival on Sunday, saying: "His fault is to be an artist, to be independent."
Panahi had said he would not end his hunger strike until he was allowed to have access to his lawyer, receive visits from his family and be unconditionally released until a court hearing was held. His family and lawyer visited him last week.
"We had a meeting with him on Thursday along with the prosecutor and, although his general health condition was good, he looked physically weak," Saeedi said.
Panahi, whose films portray ordinary life in Iran, often examining social issues faced by women in the conservative Islamic state, had been due to sit on the Cannes festival jury.
He won the festival's Camera d'Or prize for his 1995 movie White Balloon. Senior French government ministers called on Iran this month to free him.
Iran's election in June last year plunged the Islamic state into months of political turmoil.
The pro-reform opposition says it was rigged to secure the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but the authorities portrayed the huge protests that erupted after the vote as a foreign-backed bid to undermine the clerical establishment.
Thousands of opposition supporters were detained after the vote. Most of them have since been freed but more than 80 people have been jailed for up to 15 years. Two people put on trial after the election have been executed.
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