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 |
EVENTS
AND PROGRAMS
at
the Mechanics' Institute
**** BOX
OFFICE INFORMATION
****
For RESERVATIONS BY PHONE: call
the 'Events Line' at (415) 393-0100
For RESERVATIONS BY EMAIL: rsvp@milibrary.org
Reservations are held at Box Office. Arrive 15 minutes
before event for seat selection. OPEN SEATING
If
you are not a Mechanics’ Institute member, JOIN NOW, and
attend most of our Author events and CinemaLit Film Series for
FREE. Membership
application and information.
|
.
AUTHOR
& LITERARY EVENTS
Tamim
Ansary
Anita
Amirrezvani
|
Monday,
October 6, 6:00 pm
Litquake Panel: East of Istanbul: Voices from
the Muslim World
Moderated
by Sandip
Roy |
Authors from Afghanistan and Iran will present readings
from their books and discuss what it means to have emerged
from Muslim nations. How does one's country of origin
influence an American writer's work?
The panel includes Tamim
Ansary, San Francisco's "One
City One Book" honoree for "West
of Kabul, East of New York: An Afghan American Story";
Anita
Amirrezvani, author of Blood of Flowers,
Persis
Karim, author of Let Me Tell You Where
I've Been: New Writing by Women of the Iranian Diaspora;
and Niloufar
Talebi, editor and translator of Belonging:
New Poetry by Iranians Around the World. Moderator
is esteemed journalist Sandip Roy, host of Upfront,
the Pacific News Service weekly radio program on KALW-FM,
San Francisco.
Litquake
Celebration – October 3-11, 2008
Visit website
for complete schedule and venues.
|
|
Persis
Karim
Niloufar
Talebi
|
|
Friday,
October 17, 8:00 pm to 10:15 pm
Saturday, October 18, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
Humanities
West presents:
Benjamin Franklin and the Invention of America
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Attend
this two-day program of lectures, discussions,
and musical presentations exploring how Franklin’s
influence as a creative inventor, colonial patriot,
master politician, and esteemed diplomat helped
form a nation. Herbst Theatre,
401 Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco.
Tickets $20 - $100; available through City Box
Office at 415/392-4400 or
online.
For public information call
415/391-9700 or visit Humanities
West .
Mechanics’
Institute is a collaborating organization. |
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Monday,
October 20, 6:00 pm
Film, Literature, and
Intellectual Life in Japan and China: a Conversation
between Ian Buruma and John Nathan
Co-sponsored
by Asia Society and Japan Society
| Two
legendary experts on East Asia, journalist Ian
Buruma and translator John Nathan share the stage
to discuss their new books -- Buruma’s The
China Lover and Nathan’s Living
Carelessly in Tokyo & Elsewhere.
That’s the jumping point for an engaging
conversation on art, politics, and the “expat”
life in Asia |
| |
Ian
Buruma is the Henry R. Luce Professor
of Human Rights and Journalism at Bard College.
A longtime resident of and expert on Asia, he
is widely known for his essays in The New
York Review of Books and elsewhere and his
many books, including God’s Dust,
Behind the Mask, The Wages of Guilt,
and Murder in Amsterdam. Buruma received
the 2008 Shorenstein Journalism Award and the
2008 Erasmus Prize and was recently included in
Foreign Policy’s list of the world’s
leading 100 public intellectuals. |
|
In
his enthralling new novel The China
Lover, Buruma uses the real life
of the starlet Yamaguchi Yoshiko as a lens through
which to understand the contradictions and complexities
of modern Japanese and Chinese history. |
| |
John
Nathan is the Takashima Professor of
Japanese Cultural Studies at U.C. Santa Barbara.
He arrived in Tokyo fresh out of Harvard in 1961.
By the middle of the next decade, he had translated
the novels of both Yukio Mishima and the Nobel
laureate Kenzaburo Oe into English. Nathan became
widely recognized as a translator, as the author
of the definitive biography of Mishima, Japan
Unbound, and Sony: A Private Life,
and as an Emmy-winning filmmaker.
Nathan’s newest book, Living
Carelessly in Tokyo & Elsewhere,
recounts his remarkable life in the arts in Japan
and the US and the many friendships he made along
the way.
|
|
Members of AS, JS and MI Free; Public
$10
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Tuesday,
October 21, 6:00 pm
Co-sponsored
by the League of Women Voters, San Francisco
|
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The
Voters Choice:
Know Your Ballot |
Don’t gamble
your vote away—get the information you need
to understand those complex, often cryptic, local
and state BALLOT MEASURES on November 6. Experts
from the League of Women Voters, San Francisco,
will offer the pros, cons, and “hot”
points for each measure. Questions from the audience
are encouraged to get the political ball rolling.
Moderated by Suzanne Stassevich and the Voter
Services Committee. |
Members of MI & LWV Free;
Public $10
|
|
Tuesday,
October 28, 6:00 pm
Co-sponsored
by Japan Society, Asia Society and William Stout Books
Zen
Architecture:
The Building Process as Practice
Paul Discoe
Paul
Discoe, a pioneer of Zen architecture,
and co-author Alexandra Quinn
share more than forty years of study, design,
building, and Zen Buddhist practice. From simple
hand sketches to the completion of Zen temples,
residential projects, grand estates, and modular
structures, this exquisite book illustrates a
singular vision influenced by traditional Japanese
design, contemporary life, and Buddhism. Photos
by Roslyn Banish.
Paul Discoe, an ordained Buddhist
priest, studied art history and philosophy as
an undergraduate in the United States and Buddhist
temple design and construction in Japan. Projects
included in this book are structures for the San
Francisco Zen Center at its three practice places:
Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, Green Gulch Farms,
and City Center; the Felsentor Zen Temple in Switzerland;
the Kojin-an Zen Temple in Oakland, California,
and many other prestigious homes and projects.
His current project is a system of prefabricated
building parts, made of salvaged and recycled
materials that can be assembled in many forms.
Alexandra Quinn is a freelance
arts management consultant, writer, and editor
living in San Francisco. Her publications include
Candy Story, translated from the French novel
by Marie Redonnet.
Roslyn Banish is a San Francisco-based
photographer. She has authored a number of documentary
books, combining photographs and text. Roslyn
received a master’s degree in photography
from the Institute of Design in Chicago.
|
Members of MI, AS & JS Free;
Public $10
|
|
Thursday,
October 30, 6:00 pm
The
American Resting Place:
Four Hundred Years of History Through Our Cemeteries
and Burial Grounds
Marilyn Yalom with photography
by Reid S. Yalom
| |
Experience
a moving, majestic, perhaps, macabre history of
America gleaned from the gravestones, graveyards,
and burial sites across the country. Marilyn Yalom,
author of Birth of the Chess Queen, and
her photographer son, Reid, illuminate ethnic
and religious rites of passage from immigrant
communities ranging from Dutch churchyard cemeteries
to sacred Native American burial mounds. |
Marilyn
Yalom
is the author of the critically acclaimed Birth
of the Chess Queen, A History of the
Wife, and A History of the Breast.
Educated at Wellesley College, the Sorbonne,
Harvard, and Johns Hopkins, she was decorated
as an Officier des Palmes Académiques by
the French government in 1991. Marilyn has been
a professor of French and comparative literature,
director of an institute for research on women,
a popular speaker on the lecture circuit, and
the author of numerous books (translated into
twenty languages) and articles on literature and
women’s history. Married to the psychiatrist
Irvin Yalom for fifty years, Marilyn is the mother
of four children and the grandmother of five.
She lives in Palo Alto, California.
|
|
| Reid
Samuel Yalom
is a San Francisco–based photographer and
the author of Colonial Noir: Photographs from
Mexico. Reid shares his time between commercial
and fine-art photography and can be found in a
number of galleries and museums nationwide. |
Looking
Forward |
Angels |
Heavenly
Queen |
Members Free; Public $10
PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION: Oct 20 – Nov 26, 2008,
4th floor Meeting Room
|
|
Thursday,
November 6, 6:00 pm
The
United States Constitution:
A Graphic Adaptation
Jonathan
Hennessey
|
|
From
the Founding Fathers to the Freedom Riders, from
the Preamble to the Twenty-seventh Amendment,
this graphic novel adaptation of The United States
Constitution really rocks! Writer Jonathan
Hennessey and illustrator Aaron McConnell have
created an entertaining and provocative examination
of the Electoral College, the separation of powers,
how a bill becomes a law, and other subjects.
It’s a perfect time to brush up on our Bill
of Rights!
Jonathan Hennessey is a writer
living inI Los Angeles, who has worked for ten
years in the film and television production industry.
Aaron McConnell is a freelance
illustrator living in Oregon. |
Members
Free; Public $12
|
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Tuesday,
November 11, 6:00 pm
Sea
of Poppies
Amitav Ghosh
|
|
Internationally
beloved author Amitav Ghosh weaves a sweeping
saga of human destiny during the time of British
Colonial rule and the sordid drug trade of the
East India Company in China. At the heart of the
story is the Ibis, a former slave ship sailing
across the Indian Ocean in 1838, on the eve of
the Opium Wars. A runaway Indian widow, a bankrupt
raja, and a mulatto American ship’s carpenter
are among the disparate characters brought together
on this voyage from the lush poppy fields of the
Ganges, across tumultuous seas, to the crowded
backstreets of Canton. |
One
of India’s best known writers, Amitav
Ghosh has taught at Delhi University,
Columbia, the City University of New York and
Harvard. His books include The Circle of
Reason, The Shadow Lines, In
An Antique Land and The Glass Palace.
He divides his time between Kolkata, Goa and
Brooklyn and is currently working on the next
volume of the Ibis Trilogy. |
|
Members
Free; Public $12
|
|
Thursday,
November 13, 6:00 pm
Traitor
To His Class:
The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin
Delano Roosevelt
H. W. Brands
| |
This
timely biography examines the life of one of America’s
greatest presidents. Born to wealth and privilege,
Franklin Delano Roosevelt became a champion for
the poor and downtrodden throughout his presidency.
Despite deteriorating health from polio, he went
on to be one of our most energetic, charismatic
presidents, known for his political genius, firm
leadership and matchless diplomacy. He guided
this nation through the Great Depression and the
World War II, and transformed the economy with
his New Deal legislation.
Brands
explores the forces and individuals that shaped
this remarkable man including his uncle, Theodore
Roosevelt, his overprotective mother, and his
brilliant wife Eleanor Roosevelt, one of the most
influential First Ladies in history. |
|
| Dr.
H. W. Brands is the Dickson Allen Anderson
Centennial Professor of History and Professor
of Government at the University of Texas. His
twenty-two books on American history and personalities
include, The First American, a biography
of Benjamin Franklin that was a finalist for the
Pulitzer Prize, and Andrew Jackson, a
national bestseller. |
Members
Free; Public $12
|
|
Tuesday,
November 18, 6:00 pm
Towers
of Gold: How One Jewish Immigrant Named Isaias Hellman
Created California
Frances Dinkelspiel
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|
A
brilliant entrepreneur and financier whose tenacity
was tested in the wild and dusty frontier of gold-rush
era Los Angeles, Isaias Wolf Hellman was one of
the most influential individuals in the history
of early California. Integral to the expansion
of Wells Fargo Bank, the establishment of the
University of Southern California and the financing
of the burgeoning oil industry, Hellman’s
meteoric rise from store clerk to the upper echelons
of society is chronicled in Frances Dinkelspiel’s
meticulously researched biography.
Frances Dinkelspiel is an award-winning
journalist and the great-great granddaughter of
Isaias Hellman. Her work has appeared in The
New York Times, People, The
San Jose Mercury News, San Francisco
Magazine and other venues. She lives in Berkeley,
California. |
Members Free; Public $12
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| CINEMALlT
FILM SERIES |
Michael
Fox, Curator |
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|
ABOUT CINEMALIT: Film
lovers and aficionados enjoy an ongoing feast of classic American
and international films at the Mechanics' Institute. CinemaLit programs,
which are presented nine months a year, were created to complement
and highlight the Mechanics' Institute Library's vast collection of
more than 2500 videos and DVDs including classics, drama, comedy,
foreign films and documentaries. The CinemaLit Film Series is open
to members and the public. Each
program begins with an introduction of the movie, genre and themes
by curator Michael Fox or well-known local film writers and critics
such as David Thomson, Eddie Muller, Joe McBride and others. The
evening concludes with a salon discussion involving the audience
and speakers. Films are shown on large screen in the best available
format, DVD or video.
The
Mechanics' Institute's charming meeting room/cafe space, which seats
up to eighty people, provides an intimate, informal atmosphere for
film viewing, lively conversation and congenial socializing. The
cafe offers light refreshments and freshly popped popcorn.
Location:
Mechanics’
Institute,
57 Post Street (near Market St), San Francisco
Transit: MUNI/BART- Montgomery Station
Time: Every Friday. Mechanics’ Café opens
at 6:00 pm
Program begins at
6:30 pm. A salon style discussion follows the film.
Admission: Tickets available at the door.
MIL members: free ; Public suggested donation $10
For more information and reservations: Call (415) 393-0100
or email us
at rsvp@milibrary.org
/ Reservations are required - Limited seating |
.
.
OCTOBER
- Timeless Japan : From Edo to Eternity
October films are co-sponsored
by the Asia Society and the Japan Society. Member
of these groups, along with Mechanics' Institute members,
may attend these film events FREE OF CHARGE. |
Friday,
October 3
Tampopo
(1986)
104 minutes
Directed by Juzo Itami ; starring Tsutomo Yamazaki,
Nobuko Miyamoto
The comic possibilities of food are on the menu when a truck
driver and a widow set out to open the perfect noodle shop. |
|
Friday,
October 10
The
Eel (1997)
117 minutes
Directed by Shohei Imamura ; starring Koji
Yakusho, Misa Shimizu
Paroled after serving eight years for killing his cheating wife,
a man gradually reenters rural society.
|
|
Friday,
October 17
After
Life (1998)
118 minutes
Directed by Kore-eda Hirokazu ; starring Aarata,
Erika Oda
Counselors help the recently deceased choose and film a memory
they’ll keep for eternity. |
|
Friday,
October 24
Dr.
Akagi (1998)
128 minutes
Directed by Shohei Imamura ; starring Akira
Emoto, Kumiko Aso
In this earthy, droll film set during World War II, a devoted
country physician fighting a hepatitis epidemic assembles a
ragtag group of assistants. |
|
Friday,
October 31
Seance (2000)
128 minutes
Directed by Kyoshi Kurosawa ;
starring Koji Yakusho, Jun Fubuki
In the spirit of Halloween, this off-kilter psychological thriller
concerns a psychic housewife involved in the police hunt for
a kidnapped girl.
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NOVEMBER
- David Thomson introduces, Have You Seen…?
Films introduced by CinemaLit guest speaker,
David Thomson
|
Friday,
November 7
The
Small Back Room
(1949)
Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Starring David Farrar, Kathleen Byron
This gritty wartime tale, adapted from Nigel Balchin’s
novel, centers on the professional and personal travails of
an alcoholic British bomb-disposal expert. |
|
Friday,
November 14
The
King of Marvin Gardens (1972)
Directed by Bob Rafelson
Starring
Jack Nicholson, Bruce Dern, Ellyn Burstyn
A moody, haunting yarn about a Philly DJ and his Mob-connected,
pie-in-the-sky Atlantic City brother.
|
|
Friday,
November 21
Red
River (1948)
Directed by Howard Hawks
Starring John Wayne, Montgomery Clift
One of the great Westerns, this epic limns a love-hate father-son
relationship against the backdrop of a cattle drive. |
|
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| CinemaLit
Film Series
Guest Speaker Biographies |
| Michael
Fox has written about film for more than 50 regional
and national publications since 1987. He created and authored
the “Reel World” column in SF Weekly for more than
a decade, and hosted the first season of KQED-TV’s short-lived
program on independent film, “Independent View.” He
has sat on juries for the San Francisco International, Mill Valley,
Cinequest and United Nations Association film festivals and the
Independent Television Service (ITVS), and contributes notes to
the San Francisco, Mill Valley and SFILGBT festival programs.
He also teaches courses in documentary film at the Osher Lifelong
Learning Institute at San Francisco State’s downtown campus. |
|
| |
Terrance
Gelenter
is a nationally syndicated film critic, lecturer and interviewer.
Among his many interviewees are Billy Wilder, Sidney Lumet,
James Ellroy, and Isabel Allende. He is founder of Paris
through Expatriate Eyes, a firm specializing in designing
and escorting literary and cultural tours of Paris. The CinemaLit
title is used with permission of Terrance Gelenter.
|
| Matthew
Kennedy teaches anthropology at the City College
of San Francisco and film history at the San Francisco Conservatory
of Music. He is a film critic for Bright Lights Film Journal
online and has written three books on classic Hollywood: Marie
Dressler: A Biography, Edmund Goulding's Dark Victory,
and Joan Blondell: A Life between Takes. For more information,
please visit his website. |
|
| |
Eddie
Muller
is film-noir expert and author of Dark City: The Lost World
of Film Noir, Dark City Dames, and co-author of Grindhouse:
The Forbidden World of Adults Only Cinema. His mystery
novels include The Distance and Shadow Boxer. |
| David
Thomson’s
writing has appeared in Film Comment, Movieline, The New Republic
and Vanity Fair. He is a regular contributor
to Esquire and The New York Times. He is
the author of A Biographical Dictionary of Film, Showman: The
Life of David O. Selznick, Rosebud, the award winning
biography of Orson Welles, Beneath Mulholland and Nevada. |
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SALONS
AND SPECIAL PROGRAMS
|
Heading North:
Journey to Atacama Desert, Chile |
Thea
Bellos, Photography
|
To
celebrate Chile’s Independence Day (Fiestas
Patrias), Berkeley photographer, Thea Bellos presents
a new show of striking images highlighting her
journey to the Atacama Desert. Located in Chile’s
far northern area, El Norte Grande is known for
its high mountain desert, geysers, dry salt lakes,
indigenous villages and terraced farmlands. See
these spectacular views and photos of Santiago,
Valparaiso and San Pedro de Atacama.
|
PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION : now through October 15, 4th Floor
Meeting Room
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| Volunteer
Opportunities:
Volunteers are needed for our Events and CinemaLit
Film Series.
Call Laura Sheppard, Director of Events at (415) 393-0114
or Pamela Troy, Events Assistant/CinemaLit Coordinator at (415)
393-0116. |
Revised: October 10, 2008
|
