TUESDAY, SEPT. 3 2013 >>>
1. Audiences from Bosnia to Columbia, from Maine to Puerto Rico, from China to Tacoma will grab a taste of independent film, as the Sundance Institute's Film Forward program rolls on for a fourth year. Film Forward will travel to eight locations - four in the United States, four overseas - from February to October 2013 - including a run in Tacoma, Sept. 3-7. The touring program doesn't focus on a traditional movie audience, but aims to "enhance greater cultural understanding, collaboration and dialogue around the globe by engaging audiences through the exhibition of films, workshops and conversations with filmmakers," according to its website. Today's opening free films are Chasing Ice and La Misma Luna (Under the Same Moon). Chasing Ice screens at 6 p.m. in the Washington State History Museum with a post film discussion moderated by Dr. Harry Stern of the Polar Science Center at the University of Washington. La Misma Luna screens at 7 p.m. in the STAR Center with a post film discussion by lead by Pedro Gomez, director of Washington Latino Voters' Alliance and moderated by Laura Rodriguez of Metro Parks Tacoma.
2. The Attack is the latest film from Lebanese director Ziad Doueiri, adapted from the international best-selling novel of the same name by Algerian authorYasmina Khadra and, like many great films, the story behind the story sounds like the plot of a movie in its own right. Mohammed Moulessehoul, who writes under the pen nameYasmina Khadra, fled his native Algeria in 2000 during the waning days of the Algerian Civil War in order to escape government censorship of his work as well as the possibility of violent or fatal reprisals from outside extremist sources and the government itself. He currently lives as a political exile in France. Doueiri, on the other hand, came under fire from the Arab League due to his decision to film his movie on location in Tel Aviv, Israel and use Israeli actors to play some of the roles. As a result of this unsanctioned collaboration, The Attack is essentially blacklisted in every Palestinian country in the Middle East, includingDoueiri's home country of Lebanon. With so much opposition toward both author and director, you might assume their works tackle some very controversial and inflammatory subject matter. You'd be right. The film screens at 2:15 and 7:05 p.m. at The Grand Cinema. Read Jared Lovrak's full review of The Attack in the Music and Culture section.
3. Every Tuesday, Maxwell's serves two chef's choice appetizers and two house wines or draft beers for $15. Chef Hudson Slater tells us, "It's nothing over the top but keeps things fun and fresh." Chef Slater and server extraordinaire and wine pro Kent Bolden sample wines weeks in advance, mull them over, discuss possible pairings, sample more, then create a new Tuesday experience.
4. If hearing the sound of your own cackling voice echoing off the walls of your shower stall has you craving the sound of something a bit more harmonious, check out the local songbirds at Victory Music Open Mic at the Antique Sandwich Co. It's guaranteed to be jam-packed with gorgeous sounds and humbling verses, as the South Sound's greatest up-and-coming acoustic musicians bare their souls impromptu-style. Performances start at 7 p.m., and if you're thinking that your shower-time ballads are ready for public consumption, you can sign up for your own moment in the, er, sun at 6.
5. Every Tuesday night at Stonegate Pizza on South Tacoma Way Leanne Trevalyan hosts an acoustic open mic at 8 p.m.
LINK: Tuesday, Sept. 3 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area
