The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Friday, January 29, 2010 - The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Friday, January 29, 2010 - 'U' alum standing strong at Sundance Remembering "Jew ish'Vo ice s' Sultan Sharrief shares his low-budget Detroit tale with the cinephiles at Sundance By EMILY BOUDREAU Daily Arts Writer "Bilal's Stand" features neither big name celebrities nor the special effects of "Avatar." What it does have, according to writer and director Sultan Sharrief (who is also director and "Birla's Stand" creator of the EFEX Proj- ect at the University), is At the honesty. Michigan, "The actors aren't pro- Sundayat 6p.m. fessionals," Sharrief said. Tickets from $12 "They're just kind of play- ing themselves. ... The film is not perfect, but it has perfect imperfections." It's the film's earnestness and fresh per- spective that qualified it for the Sundance Film Festival as part of the NEXT category, a set of low-budget films the Sundance website describes as "proudly modest." The film tells the story of Bilal, a teenager from Detroit who balances working at his fam- ily's taxi stand with his dream of going to col- lege. What makes "Bilal's Stand" so resonant is that it's firmly based in reality. As part of the EFEX Project (Encouraging the Filmmaking Experience), one of the film's goals was to provide students in the Detroit area with "a real experience," Sharrief said. "EFEX made (the story) real. High school students are brutal. They'll tell you if some- thing's stupid and you'll take it out and rewrite it. It definitely made the story realistic because of that element," he added. In addition to promoting grounded real- ism, "Bilal's Stand" seeks to provoke dialogue on controversial topics such as affirmative action. "I went to the University of Michigan in the fall of 2001, which was during the whole affir- mative action period," Sharrief said. "There were lots of people protesting on the Diag and stuff. People would say 'Oh, (getting in) was easy for you because you're black.' They really just didn't understand how hard it was to get to this point. I think the film makes it all more accessible for non-blacks. It's a story that's very human, so everybody can relate." Through "Bilal's Stand," Sharrief hopes to illuminate the Muslim experience in Detroit, make it less foreign and bring people together rather than divide them on issues of belief. In addition to tackling religious tensions and racial issues, Sharrief's film is also relevant in light of today's economic uncertainty. "It's a timely story," he said, "It's about going to college and having financial prob- lems. College enrollment was down this year because of the bad economy. It's also about education - there's about like an 80 percent drop-out rate now." Sharriefsees his movie as a chanceto change these problems. He hoped to use Detroit as the setting for a more touching and inspiringstory that would uplift the city's image. "It's a way to give back," he said. "There tends to be a pattern in areas like Detroit where the creative people leave. That's not the way I wanted to do things. They're filming a lot of things in Detroit now. Post-apocalyptic movies like 'Red Dawn' that use the bad part of the city." Overall, Sharrief feels that Sundance has provided him with an amazing opportunity to get his message out. "It's been crazy. It's an emotional maze," he said. "Most of the time you don't even know what you're feeling. I'm just amazed to be here, like, the other day, I met Robert Redford. At the same time, it's a competition and you're here to sell your movie so you always have to be working in the back of your mind." But getting to this point wasn't easy. "The hardest thing was the lack of resourc- es," Sharrief said. "We found ways around it, but at the same time, it's hard when your artis- tic vision can't be realized all the time. You don't want to compromise it but you have to. There was one scene, we had to use unpaid extras, and because they were unpaid, it was hard to get people to show up. We had to reshoot because there wasn't enough people." In the end, though, Sharrief feels that he took alot away from the whole process. "You have to keep moving forward and know that you will make mistakes," he said. "There's this Thomas Edison quote that says, 'I am not discouraged because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.' I think that sums it all up the best." "Bilal's Stand" will be playing at the Michi- gan Theater Sunday at 6 p.m. Sharrief will be Skyping in live from Sundance for a question and answer session after the movie. By SHARON JACOBS AssistantArts Editor At a glance, it may seem like the gravity of the Holocaust has been diluted by the ubiq- V o uity of a hand-t ful of works Holocaust" in the main- Saturday stream media. aturday Curricula at 8p.m. everywhere UMMA-he now include Apse Roan Elie Wiesel's Free "Night" as required reading; box-office smash "Schindler's List" won seven Oscars in 1993, and "Valkyrie," "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" and "Defiance" were all recently released; and the band Neutral Milk Hotel even fixated on the story of Anne Frank for its album In The Aeroplane Over The Sea. All the attention given to these few accounts of the atrocity can soften its impact. Caroline Helton, clinical assis- tantprofessorofmusic inthe School of Music, Theatre & Dance, wants to look past the mainstream explo- rations and explore the more per- sonal, intimate music that came out of the Holocaust era. Her program, "Voices of the Holocaust," will take place this Saturday, free of charge, in the Apse Room at the Univer- sity of Michigan Museum of Art at 8p.m. She will be accompanied on the piano by Kathryn Goodson, a collaborative pianist and teacher. All of the music on Helton's program was composed by Jews whose lives were affected by the Holocaust. None of the music has been digitally recorded before and scores were difficult to find, Hel- ton said in an interview with The Michigan Daily. Helton said that when the Nazis came to power in Germany, "there was an active effort to destroy books and music and art that were created by Jews." "So that's where so many of the pieces (by Jewish composers) got lost - they were simply destroyed. And the archives are still in a mess in Germany," she added. "We don't know what was created there oftentimes." After sifting through historical and musical records, Helton has crafted a program that features the rare works of three European Jew- ish composers: Robert Kahn, Erich Korngold and Darius Milhaud. Born in Mannheim, Germany, Kahn was a famous and prolific composer, conductor and pianist before the rise of Adolf Hitler. His lyrical, conservative style was heavily influenced by the Romantic great Johannes Brahms, a friend of Kahn's. But in 1933, his reputation was compromised when laws were enacted prohibiting Jews from performing in public or publishing their works. Kahn escaped Germa- ny in the late '30s and fled to Eng- land, where he "lived in obscurity (and) relative poverty," according to Helton. Korngold is "the pioneer of what we think of as movie music," Hel- ton continued. A musical prodigy whose first opera was published when he was 11, Korngold left his native country of Austria to com- pose the score for the Warner Bros. movie "The Adventures of Robin Hood." That was in 1938, six weeks before the Anschluss - the annex- ation of Austria by Nazi Germany. Therestofhis familyleftonthe last train to Switzerland. The Korngold works that Helton will be perform- ing premiered at the last public concert he held in Austria. Ending the first half of "Voices" is a song cycle focused on Jewish identity. Called "Poemes Juifs," the music was written by celebrated avant-garde French composer Mil- haud. The lyrics, however, can be traced back to a set of anonymous Hebrew texts describing the Jew- ish experience in Europe. The poems present "a story of how to deal with life as a Jew in persecuted times," Helton said. The poems express yearning for a world where Jews would "be able to work the land and breathe fresh air and live where (they) want to live ... so those themes pervade the 'Poemes Juifs,' the five songs by Milhaud," she added. Milhaud's song cycle was writ- ten in the early 1900s, document- ing a pre-Holocaust era of Jewish persecution. In the first half of the con- cert, only the Milhaud songs deal directly with Jewish identity. The more identity-focused second half is comprised of a series of pieces by Professor of Composition Paul Schoenfield, from the School of Music, Theatre & Dance, called "Ghetto Songs." Schoenfield, who speaks fluent Hebrew and has dual citizenship in the US. and Israel, infuses hiwork with an eastern European Jewish folk music style called "klezmer." "('Ghetto Songs' is) taking klezmer, which is normally for joyous occasions, and expressing horror with this sound and (these) rhythms," Helton explained. "The voice is like the door you go through to get to the experience." Finding identity in lost songs. "Ghetto Songs" sets to music six poems by the Polish writer Morde- chai Gebirtig. When the Holocaust began, Gebirtig was interred in the Krakow ghetto with the rest of the city's Jews. He was murdered by the Nazis two years later. The six poems were written between 1939 and 1942,and they dealwith themes offamily, God and oppression. Alternately mournful and frenet- ic, Schoenfield's collection captures the feelings of panic, misery and uncertainty that pervaded eastern Europe at this time. He said that as the composer in such a work, he feels "like a reporter who has to do a story" on the chaos and anguish of the Holocaust. On "Ghetto Songs," Helton's soprano will be joined by bass- baritone Stephen West, professor of voice in the School of Music, The- atre & Dance, and accompanied by University-affiliated musicians on the clarinet, violin, double-bass and cello. Linking all the pieces on the "Voices" program is an attempt to draw out individual personalities rather than the collective voice of European Jewry in time of perse- cution. "The reason I call it 'Voices of the Holocaust' is that there were so many (Jewish) voices present musically in Europe before the Holocaust," Helton explained. "They were assimilated into society, but what happened with the Nazi regime and with the Holocaust is that all Jews were lumped into one ... all these indi- vidual voices were lumped into one mass identity, she added. "This is in essence an effort to get to know some of the individual voices musically that were pretty much silenced by the Nazis." The "Voices" program has a deep connection to its source material, bringing to light the lost works ofcomposers who were each uniquely affected by the Holo- caust. By highlighting individual artists whose lives were affected by the Holocaust, "Voices" draws us away from racial or ethnic groupings. "We are so lucky here in the University to be able to get to know artists, composers, poets, to hear their words as individu- als," said Helton. "So I guess ('Voices of the Holocaust' is) just another way to remind us not to lump people into faceless groups, not to dehumanize." Bilal attempts to balance work with his college career. 'Caprica' isn't a galactic success just yet By NICK YRIBAR carefully crafted, computer-gen- For the Daily erated graphics can be. But trouble is brewing beneath the austere Sci-fi nerds rejoice. "Battle- surface - a terrorist attack per- star Galactica" has returned. petrated by those pesky monothe- It's been nearly 10, tortuous, ists leaves the two central families robot-free months since the re- mired in tragedy and sets off a imagined series spiral of events that may lead to finally reached Caprica's ruin. its conclusion, **You'll notice the absence of the and there has- words "spaceship" or "pan-galac- been painfully "'" tic struggle" in the above synop- little to fill the Fridaysat sis. There's good reason for that. void. "Heroes" 9P.M "Caprica" seems to be attempting has sucked, and Syfy to take the "sci" out of "sci-fi," nobody watches or at least to turn the traditional "Doctor Who," science-fiction elements down to so what is a geek to do? For almost a dull roar. The first 15 minutes of a year, desperate, confused "BSG" "Caprica" are more like a coming- fans have been roaming the of-age drama than "Star Trek," as streets in a daze, muttering "so teenagers argue with their par- say we all" to anyone who will ents and find futuristic ways to listen, making spaceship engine rebel. Thankfully, the angst gives sounds and accusing their loved way (mostly) to the more interest- ones of sympathizing with the ing tension between the majority Cylon menace. polytheists and the new, cultish, But what's this? Is there rea- "One True God" movement. But son for hope? "Caprica," the new even here, there's not a starfight- series from Syfy, is based in the er to be found. Perhaps the new same fictional universe as "BSG," focus in "Caprica" on the human so the problem should be solved. drama behind the "BSG" world Fans should feel the welcome will attract more varied viewers embrace of the familiar - that than its predecessor. Whether special, tingly sensation that this direction will alienate the comes with hearing the name faithful is yet to be seen. "Adama." But something doesn't What we're left with, then, is a seem right. Where are the space- sci-fi show with little to no sci-fi, ships? The space-insubordina- set in a far-off world amid cul- tion? The space-intrigue? What in tural and religious conflict, and the frak is going on here? surrounded by a strange amount Set 58 years before the events of wealth and beauty that seems of "BSG," "Caprica" takes place on to be on the verge of something. a planet of the same name and is So how does it all stack up? focused on the patriarchs of two The answer is a firm "me." families (the Graystones and the The acting alternates between Adamas). Caprica is a meticulously over the top and stilted - kept metropolis where everything with the exception of the is beautiful in the way that only nuanced performance by Esai T1-i E 0 R I C 1 N A L 512 E. William (734) 663-3379 LIMITED TIME OFFER For Our Friends at The U CUSTOMER APPRECIATION Lunch Buffet M-F 11-2pm $2 OFF our Lunch Buffet With Beverage Included Just Present Your U of M I.D. Offer Expires: 2/26/10 Morales ("Fast Food Nation"), us to buy "Caprica" as something playing Joseph Adama - and approaching reality, or at least the heavy focus on the teenag- something that can see reality off ers in the pilot only accentuates in the distance, then the dialogue the problem. While the big ideas needs to sound like it wasn't writ- behind the series are intriguing ten by hack Cylons. (artificial intelligence, human- However, the seeds have been ity spread across multiple plan- sown for some exciting prospects in "Caprica." Despite the acting and ridiculous dialogue, the ideas Aless sc ji are too big to dismiss completely. Time will tell if "Caprica" will prequel t 'BSG.' gain the following that "BSG" toenjoyed - that special kind of fandom that is reserved for sci- ence fiction and fantasy. Even ets in a solar system, etc.), the if it doesn't, it's possible that writing is borderline atrocious. "Caprica" might just be able to This has always been the case in carve out a niche of its own with the world of "BSG," but we for- a new kind of genre that walks gave it because the series is, after the line between science fiction all, a space opera. These people and traditional drama, taking the are fighting robots in space, so best tricks from both. If it works, why should they talk like actual it works. It may not be "BSG," but human beings? But if Svfv wants who gives a frak? "Shut up! I'm watching the 'Lost' season six premiere." Think you know where to find the Best Dessert? Do you have the Best Pick-up Line? Is your landlord the Best? Cast your vote in the Michigan Daily's - Annual Readership Survey Poll' Vetefor the B3est of Ann Arbor Voting extended to January 29th! Go to: http://wwwmichigandailycom/best-2010 to cast your vote today.