Hollywood
Eight city-based artists shortlisted for the Chicago Digital Media Production Fund
NEW DELHI: Eight projects have been selected by the Chicago Digital Media Production Fund with a total of $100,000 in grants to eight digital media artists’ projects from the city in amounts ranging from $3,500 to $19,000.
Grants from the Chicago Digital Media Production Fund support independent film and video projects intended to raise awareness about current social issues. These projects are scheduled to be available for free online viewing by 15 May 2016. Now in their fourth year, the funding is done by Voqal Fund and Chicago Filmmakers.
“The Production Fund allows us to support artists who are creating work with the intention of sparking meaningful conversations around social change,” said Brenda Webb, Chicago Filmmakers’ executive director.
“The projects of the eight media artists receiving grants exhibit a range of compelling ideas. They include a narrative web series that tells unapologetically authentic stories through characters who are as diverse as they are genuine; a documentary web series that examines the historical to present day occurrences of police violence in Chicago; a four-part docu-series that explores the consequences of industrialization and urbanization on the environment and community of Wolf Lake, Illinois; an experimental documentary portrait piece highlighting real working women in Chicago and their ability to “make things move”; a video-based online instructional tool that helps sighted students gain a more nuanced understanding of people with visual impairments; a docu-series that asks key questions revolving around civil liberties in the United States; the second season of a previously funded cartoon web series that cleverly tackles issues like racism, gender, religion, feminism, and LGBTQ equality via humanoid food characters; and a narrative short that uses a non-linear style to tell the story of a young teen who will do anything to get his hands on the latest must-have pair of basketball shoes, despite dangerous, or even fatal, consequences.”
The Chicago Digital Media Production Fund is a project of Voqal Fund and is administered by Chicago Filmmakers. The Production Fund is intended to support digital media works that encourage social change and requires that all works funded are available for free online viewing upon completion in order to reach the widest possible audience. The fund supports artists with varying levels of experience, both to recognize accomplished individuals, as well as to provide opportunities for young and emerging artists.
Hollywood
Did the ballet and opera controversy cost Timothée Chalamet his Oscar? Â
The actor’s ‘dying art forms’ comments may have danced away his Oscar chances.
LOS ANGELES: Last night, the 98th Academy Awards delivered a performance that wasn’t in the script, as Michael B. Jordan clinched the Best Actor statue, leaving Timothée Chalamet’s widely predicted win to pirouette away into the night. While Chalamet was long considered the frontrunner for his starring turn in Marty Supreme, many are whispering that a singular, ill-timed performance, not on screen but on the campaign trail, may have rewritten the finale.
For months, the narrative surrounding the race had a singular star, Chalamet, the critics’ darling and the bookies’ bet. However, the closing numbers saw a dramatic plot twist. Chalamet found himself upstaged not just by his fellow nominees but by the ghost of public opinion, following remarks he made during a Variety and CNN actor-on-actor conversation in February.
What started as a breezy discussion turned distinctly frosty when Chalamet, the conversation’s designated trendsetter, took aim at some classical institutions. “I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera, where no one is interested anymore,” he said, before branding them “dying art forms.”
The backlash was swift and, unfortunately for Chalamet’s campaign, star-studded. For the film industry, an establishment that often fancies itself as the glamorous custodian of the high arts, the actor’s comments didn’t just strike a bum note. They sounded like a discordant symphony. Academy heavyweights, including Jamie Lee Curtis, Whoopi Goldberg and Steven Spielberg, publicly voiced their disapproval. Spielberg himself countered that the “cinematic experience” and classical performance are bound by a similar dedication to audience engagement, effectively suggesting that Chalamet’s view was perhaps a bit too modern for its own good.
The conversation quickly became a media maelstrom. In a masterstroke of high-culture clapback, renowned ballerina Misty Copeland didn’t just issue a statement. The Academy even choreographed a surprise performance by her for the ceremony itself, a powerful, wordless rebuttal that many saw as a direct riposte to Chalamet’s dismissive claims. Even regional arts institutions joined the choreography. The Seattle Opera offered a cheeky “TIMOTHEE” discount, granting a 14 percent markdown to prove that people do, in fact, care.
Did this cultural counterpoint truly cost Chalamet his win? While some industry insiders argue that Michael B. Jordan’s complex dual performance in Sinners, a performance that also swept the SAG Awards, had simply built up too much momentum, the timing of Chalamet’s comments was undeniably poor. Coming as final Oscar voting began, they arguably soured his narrative and made a vote for him feel, to some, like a vote against artistic unity.
Even the ceremony itself wasn’t finished with the narrative. Host Conan O’Brien, whose sharp tongue is a celebrated feature of these galas, didn’t miss a beat. “Security is extremely tight tonight,” O’Brien jibed during his opening monologue, glancing toward the front row. “I’m told there are concerns about attacks from both the opera and ballet communities. They’re just mad you left out jazz!”
The laughter that followed was pointed, a final public curtain call for a controversy that Chalamet likely wished had closed weeks ago. Whether it was a case of genuine peer disapproval, a sudden surge in support for Jordan’s powerhouse performance, or simply a case of poor footwork on the campaign stage, the ballet and opera debacle has now cemented its place in Oscar history. Chalamet’s experience serves as a clear memo to future contenders. Even when you are the headline act, a solo performance can still fall flat if you forget to play to the entire house.
