Author: Andrea Leland

BEATBOXING – THE FIFTH ELEMENT OF HIP HOP* Directed by Klaus Schneyder:   55 minutes, 2011, Documentary 7:30 pm / St. John School of the Arts, Cruz Bay The film celebrates the incredible art form of making music using only the human body through vocal percussion primarily involving the art of producing drum beats, rhythm, and musical sounds using one’s mouth, lips, tongue, and voice.  Linked to the hip hop movement and stemming from the hardship of poverty and the lack of instruments, a pioneer was inspired to imitate drum rhythms with his mouth – his brilliance creating the term ‘Human Beatbox’. The documentary features artists from New York, California, Florida, Spain, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Belgium, Canada, Austria and Germany, who demonstrate their amazing techniques which often seem impossible to audiences at first sight, but see for yourselves…. MEET THE PRODUCER AFTER THE SCREENING! Angela Viscido is a videographer, editor, entrepreneur and president of Eclectrix, Inc., a full service multimedia company specializing in live performances.  Angela has been committed to the visual and performing arts for the past 29 years.  This includes starting a company to enhance talent in the actors, dance and music industries by creating and developing marketing visuals for the performers. Angela is currently working both in New York City and UK.         *An On Screen/In Person program made possible by Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation through the generous support of the National Endowment for the Arts’ Regional Touring Program.

FREE SWIM Directed by Jennifer Galvin:  50 minutes   / 2009 /   Documentary 7:30 pm / St. John School of the Arts, Cruz Bay Free Swim is about the paradox of Caribbean coastal people not knowing how to swim. Taking place on the island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas we follow a group of kids as they overcome their fears, and reconnect with their environment by learning to swim in open waters.  With fresh memories of a friend drowning and the conflicts of growing tourism, for these kids it’s not just about floating, but gaining new skills for their future. In the U.S. about 60% of ethnically diverse children are unable to swim and African-American children drown at three times the rate of Caucasian children. Free Swim uses the topic of learning to swim as a way to explore more complicated aspects of life on Eleuthera, such as influences on community function by the media, drowning, tourism, overfishing, and education.  The story thread is woven with footage of children learning to swim in their backyard sea. Underwater footage shows the challenges of learning to breathe in a new environment and the powers of discovering a beautiful, new world.  MEET EXPERTS IN LEARNING TO SWIM AT OUR POST FILM DISCUSSION! Learn about St. John programs that teach our youth how to swim.  Featured guests include Dean Doeling, “Using Sport for Social Change” and the ‘Just Swim’ event and Laurel Brannick, champion of the VI National Park ‘Learn to Swim’ program.

Free Movie Night with Acadamy Award Nominee Rick Goldsmith 7:30 PM St. John School of the Arts, Cruz Bay x THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers by Rick Goldsmith and Judith Ehrlich (92 min) 2009 Nominated for a 2010 Academy Award as Best Documentary Feature, this important film has won numerous other awards. It is especially relevant in this era of wikileaks. Daniel Ellsberg narrates his own true story in “The Most Dangerous Man in America”. In 1971 he was a leading Pentagon Vietnam War strategist who concluded the war was based on decades of lies. He leaked 7,000 pages of top-secret documents to The New York Times, a daring act of conscience that lead directly to Watergate, President Nixon’s resignation and the end of the Vietnam War. “Detailed, clearly told, persuasive” – The New York Times fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff Meet the Filmmaker! Rick Goldsmith, along with his co-producer and co-director Judith Ehrlich, are nationally known documentary filmmakers whose cogent and inspirational films deal with the themes of personal risk, conscience, dissent and commitment to ideals. Goldsmith was born and raised on Long Island, New York, and came of age during the war in Vietnam. He studied architecture and dabbled in film at the Rhode Island School of Design. In 1975 he traveled west and has lived in the Bay Area ever since. Please join us in welcoming this Oscar-nominated filmmaker to St John.

Free Movie Night 7:30 pm St. John School of the Arts, Cruz Bay SUGAR A feature length film by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (120 min) 2008 JUST IN TIME FOR BASEBALL SEASON! SUGAR follows the story of Miguel Santos, a.k.a. Sugar, a Dominican pitcher from San Pedro De Macoris, struggling to make it to the big leagues and pull himself and his family out of poverty. Playing professionally at a baseball academy in the Dominican Republic, Miguel finally gets his break at age 19 when he advances to the United States’ minor league system, but when his play falters, he begins to question the single mindedness of his life’s ambition.

By the time she lost a 15 year battle with breast cancer, Rell’s legacy had grown far beyond athletic feats. HEART OF THE SEA tells her larger-than-life story.