daily ncbresksn
thursday, msrch 17, 1977
. .
It takes up two rooms in the north end of Lyman Hall.
Film reels are stacked on tables against the wall. Books are
piled up behind the tape recorder that sits under a picture
plastered bulletin board. This is the Film Co-op open since
December 1976.
Gary Hill, resident artist for the Nebrsskan Arts Coun
til and one of the co-op's organizers, said he is satisfied
with what the co-op has accomplished so far, even if
there is nothing to show for all the work and time put
into it.
The co-op's goal is to remain open to anyone. He said
it would be a bureaucratic mistake if the university "suck
ed up" the co-op in some department.
Informal, non-credit co-op meetings are held every
Thursday in Lyman Hall 114 at 7 pan.
IO said the co-op is also trying to get books and set
up a file that would include equipment and lab price
information.
There are about 10 super-eight millimeter and seven
16 millimeter films being made but none are finished
yet because filmmaking takes time, he said.
He has been working on his film, "Food from Trash"
since 1971 , and has spent almost $7jOOQon it.
"It's more work than anybody tHinks," he said. To
begin, equipment must be found, which is where the
co-op comes in, he explained. Then film has to be bought
and actors lined up. After the film is shot it has to be.
processed and edited.
"If I knew how long it would take, I probably would
never start the thing," he said. T just start and do one
step, then the next."
The co-op is open to anyone, anywhere, he said. That
is the one stipulation required by Otto and John Kotouc,
who donated $4jOGO in actual equipment and $6,000
in cash to start the co-op.
"There is no requirement that a guy needs a degree to
make a film," Hill explained. About half of the people
involved with the co-op are non-students of all ages and
one filmmaker is only 1 1 -yearsold, he said.
Hill, whose official title is Filmmaker in Schools for
UNL, said he would rather have the open workshop
atmosphere of the co-op than teach a structured course.
C V . f
Filsamsker Gay IO takes "Civs" daring a recent wosking session.
Photo by Ttd Kirk
m 1 n n
.i -a
Review by WEI Hoffman
Cousin Cousine (currently at the Plaza 4) is the hottest
French import of the year and it's easy to see why it's
making such a big hit with American audiences. Those put .
off by the oft-times ponderous tone of foreign films will
find Cousin Cousine just the opposite.
The film is light and enjoyable. It never really takes
itself seriously and doesn't expect the audience to either.
The plot is slim. The movie relies upon the charm of
the performers, and they carry it off beautifully. Marie
Christine Barrault and Victor Lamous play two distant
relatives rapidly approaching middle age who decide to
chuck it all, including their respective spouses (Guy
Marchand and Marie-France Pisier), and run away
together.
Director Jean Charles Tacchella keeps everything
flowing on a nice naturalistic level. His style, while crafts
manlike and unspectacular, leaves plenty of room for the
actors to build their characters.
As a couple, Barrault and Lamous exude an honest and
open type of relationship. In fact, the entire movie is so
free of any stuffy seriousness or pretentions that it
becomes difficult not to join in and wish the couple good
luck as they say good-bye to their family on Christmas
Eve.
. Cousin Cousine is a refreshing view of life from a dis
tinctively optimistic and down-to-earth point of view that
could serve us well in uptight times. Also refreshing is the
fact that the film is being shown in a subtitled version, so
the audience will not have to suffer the irritations of a
badly dubbed soundtrack. ,
Different offering
. I don't make a habit of attending Walt Disney movies
(at least not for the past 10 yean), but the latest Disney
release Freaky Friday (currently at the Plaza 4) seemed to
offer something a little different.
For one thing, the story presented some intriguing
possibilities. The plot concerns a 13-year-old girl and her
mother who find their identities switched into each
others' bodies for one day. As the irresponsible teenage
struggles with the household chores, Mom must endure
Music fraternities
to perform tonight
The UNL music fraternities tdll pretest a public per
formance cf the Dadi cnr.lata "Sta&ct auf, ruft uns die
Siisrne" at KzzbsZ rtrciiJ II1 tzzl-i at 8.
Members cf the. School cf liaise fraternities wT
provide chorus, sclch and crdicstraunicr the direction
cf Dzvt Jants, a liscda csior.
- Soloists are Fatriria Ikrr.ry, seprmo; Donald Freed,
teacr; and Tosdy Txitzt,bm. OrsZa h CyztMXaa&.
Tssty ccwers Quesih Fails' mi Csrclce Cure-
The fcfcrsitStt pit:;!?atr in the prcsrara are Delta
Osiicrca, Uii Fhi EpsSca, Fhi Ms Alpha Sinfbtiia. szi
Siia Alp. -3 ! a.
the challenges of a day in high school.
But what really lends Freaky Friday its distinction and
separates it from the innumerable other kiddie vehicles is
the casting of Jodie Foster and Barbara Harris as the flip
flopped mother-daughter duo.
Foster was great as the teen-age hooker in Taxi Driver
and Harris was equally terrific as the daffy spiritualist in
Hitchcock's Family Hot last year. Teamed in Freaky
Friday, they both give captivating performances.
.Harris always has been great at being kooky, and in this
movie she has a field day. Blowing huge bubbles with her
gum, Harris imitates a teeny-bopper to the hilt, and in the
process makes Freaky Friday worth seeing on the basis of
her performance alone. "
The rest of the film gets a bit creaky and sloppy at
times, but there are redeeming bits by Kaye Ballard and
Ruth Buzzi as a couple of blood-thristy coaches to take
up the slack. They more than make up for the predict
ability. Freaky Friday is a tremendously pleasurable diversion.
Anyone looking for unchallenging entertainment could do
a lot worse; unless of course you have any qualms about
being caught at a Walt Disney movie. However, Freaky
Friday made me wonder if I haven't missed something
rail these years.
- FSsos oa the way -
As the big Christmas releases begin to lose their punch,
we can expect an interesting assortment of new releases to
hit Lincoln within the next few weeks.
If thrillers are your thing, there's Stanley Kramer's
The Domino Principle, a love story set against the back
ground of an assassination, or John Frankenheimer's
Black Sunday i a film about terrorists' attempts to blow up
the Super Bowl.
There's a powerhouse cast in Voyage of the Damned,
a film dealing with a ship load of Jews trying to escape
Nazi Germany. One of the films nominated by the Oscars
for Best Picture, Bound for Glory (a bjography of Woody
Guthrie), and Ralph Bakshi's new animated feature
Wizards also should appear soon.
Finally, Islands in the Stream, based on' Hemingway's
book, Fellini's Casanova and Paul Newman in Slap Shot
(small-time hockey) all promise to offer us something
different, if not better.
The ChaUenge-A Tribute to Modern Art, a film
dealing with the works of great modern artists, will be
presented at the Sheldon Film Theatre through Saturday.
Narrated by Orson Welles, the film utilizes rare and
unique footage of great modem artists in their studios
and also provides comments on their works.
The film focuses upon artists such as Chagall, Henry
Moore, Lipchitz and Dali, and contains rare footage of
Matisse and Picasso.
The film explores the great art collections of the world,
including The Louvre, The Guggenheim and Museum of
Modern Art.
The film wSl be shown at 7 and 9 p.m. through Satur
day, with Friday and Saturday matinees at 3 p.m. Ad
mission is $2. r
Quality, av&lsbility'ar&cffi&risi
By Charlie Krig
Editor's note: This is the first article in a series on how
fine arts are brought to UNL
There has never been a question whether a university
should promote and sponsor the arts. The question has
been which arts.
The Cultural Affairs Committee (CAC) brings in most
performances in Kimball Hall, according to CAC coor
dinator Ron Bowlin.
The group tries to "present quality programs to draw
significant audiences which wl pay significant ticket
prices to cover the costs' of the shows, Bowlia said.
However, quality is hard to define, Do!ia said. "It's
difficult to knew what you're getting (when booking a
performer so we usually rely on first hand information"
he said. By that, Bowlia sad, he means CAC checks w'uh
p-ecpie at UNL and fa ether pcrfbnsssc related areas cf
knowled5 to ice what foy recornrocr!.
"Most people who come to us, we dsa't rant The
people we wast can wait until we come to them he Ex
plained. The mere popular aa srtkt is, the harder it is to
pt a Czit and beck him."
In fact, to'i Un said, it often comes down to just that:
whatever performer is available at the time.
But besides "quality" and "aYaHibHiiy" there are
two other related criteria. "Will it draw an audience?"
and "Do we have a mixed program?" are two more
questions, Bowlin said. He added CAC tries to get an
equal balance of dance, theatre and music, but that
it's not an easy job.
In dance, Bowlin says CAC would like .to ,he!p ihe
"newer" companies but they tend to book the well
known, major ones. CAC thinks it's good to get three sub
stantial dance companies each year, he added.
As for theatre, Bowlin said he looks for as many com
panies as possible but laments "there are never as many
good ones as we (CAC) want"
However, he said there are plenty of musical per
formers because CAC can choose freni marry areas in
cluding vocalists, orchestras, and instrumentalists.
Cf the 5111,250 that CAC received last year, Bowlin
estimated ticket sales covered 45 per cent cf it. The rest '
cms from the Schorl cf Music (15 per cent), the Fees
Jlccatioa Doard (13 per cent), the College of Arts and
Science (3 per cent; this money cones from tax revenues,
not student fees, Bowlin said), other arts funding pro
grams (23 per cent; state, federal, and regional fundir.-)
and a find category of "other" (1 per cent; private coV
tributions, bequests, etc.).
Continued eap.13