Author: Matthew Westphal

With ‘AMC Artisan Films’, Big Theater Chain Tries To Give Smaller Movies A Boost

“According to a press release, the initiative will spotlight ‘character and narrative driven movies’ that big-budget box-office behemoths tend to overshadow. … If any of this sounds familiar to you, it’s because … the promise to recognize ‘artist-driven, thought-provoking’ movies that show ‘expertise in writing, directing, acting and/or one of the many component parts that make up a movie,’ echoes one of the company’s previous initiatives” — AMC Independent from 2010. – Slate

In Barbershops And Laundromats, Bringing Books To Kids Who Can’t Get To Libraries

“This developing movement, supported by nonprofit groups, entrepreneurs, libraries and community fund-raising, is redefining the borders of traditional neighborhood public libraries by creating literary spaces in places where children find themselves with time on their hands. It is bringing the book to the child, instead of the child to the book.” – The New York Times

Plan To Merge Florence’s Uffizi And Accademia Galleries

“The Italian culture minister, Alberto Bonisoli, is planning to merge the Gallerie degli Uffizi with the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence under a single administration” as part of a new set of reforms rolling back the previous government’s reforms of Italian museums. “The Accademia — best known as the home of Michelangelo’s David — will maintain curatorial independence, he added, through its own scientific committee.” – The Art Newspaper

Venice’s Mayor, And The Cruise Companies That Control Its Port, Want The Monster Cruise Ships To Keep Coming

Despite concern over both the huge amount of daytripper traffic by passengers and the physical damage that the enormous ships cause to both the Venice Lagoon and the low-lying city itself, the mayor and city government favor continuing to dock cruise vessels at the terminal in the city. And they’re pushing UNESCO to accept their plans, despite the availability of other options. – The Art Newspaper

A Fringe Festival Of A Fringe Festival Is Popping Up In Philly

“At the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, the vast majority of shows require paid admission … with tickets for the curated shows (those are the shows that the festival invites to participate) regularly closing in on the $50 mark. But at Free Fringe Philly, all shows will be free.” Says Sarah Knittel, one of the Free Fringe Philly’s creators, “We’ve been getting really bummed out over how ‘fringe’ in this town has started to feel really exclusive and unaffordable. So we’re going to take fringe back to the people and Robin Hood it a bit.” – Philadelphia Magazine

Controversial Purchase Of Westminster Choir College By Chinese Company Canceled

“Rider University has dropped a controversial plan to sell Westminster Choir College to a for-profit company based in China and instead is resuscitating efforts to relocate the choir college. The decisions, announced Monday, put Rider back where it was at the end of 2016, when students and alumni fought against the idea of relocating Westminster from its own campus in Princeton, N.J., to Rider’s main campus seven miles away in Lawrenceville, N.J.” – Inside Higher Ed

Two Women Writers Claim They Were ‘Pushed Off’ Idris Elba/Kwame Kwei-Armah Play

Tree, inspired by Elba’s 2014 “character album” Mi Mandela, is debuting this week at the Manchester International Festival before a run at London’s Young Vic, where Kwei-Armah is artistic director. The current script is by Kwei-Armah, but Tori Allen-Martin and Sarah Henley argue that they worked on a script for four years before being “pushed off” and “bullied and silenced.” Kwei-Armah claims — backed up by Elba, MIF and the Young Vic — that, following workshops, the Allen/Martin-Henley script was not “artistically viable” and that they were unwilling to meet with Kwei-Armah to “discuss the future of the show.” – The Guardian

Andy Warhol’s Portraits Of Prince Don’t Violate Copyright, Rules Federal Court

“A 2017 lawsuit by photographer Lynn Goldsmith against the Andy Warhol Foundation has come to a close, as a federal judge in New York ruled yesterday that Warhol’s 1984 Prince Series works, which are based on a portrait of Prince shot by Goldsmith, do not infringe the copyright of the original portrait she shot for Newsweek in 1981.” – ARTnews

Melbourne’s Two Biggest Arts Festivals To Merge Into New Event

The Melbourne International Arts Festival, the city’s premier showcase for “high art,” and White Night, a late-winter outdoor festival, will unite into a new 18-day festival under a new name in August-September 2020. The joint artistic directors are Hannah Fox, who specializes in large-scale sound or visual installations, and Gideon Obarzanek, who founded Melbourne’s leading contemporary dance company, Chunky Move. – The Age (Melbourne)