"For a decade starting in the late 60s, the Kashmere Stage Band — a funk-infused outfit rooted in a poor, predominantly black neighborhood in northeast Houston — built a reputation as the most formidable high school band in the country." Scott Tobias for NPR: "Under the leadership of Conrad O Johnson Sr, a prodigious musician in his own right (he once played with Count Basie), the band zigged where others zagged, embracing the sounds (and moves) of James Brown and Otis Redding while its peers were mimicking the ossified standards of 40s big bands. In competition — and on recordings — the contrast was clear: The Kashmere Stage Band was lively, exuberant, spontaneous and contemporary, and the also-rans were square nostalgists."
"Three decades after graduation, members reunite to honor their beloved 93-year-old bandleader, teacher and role model," writes Eric Hynes in Time Out New York. "Amid its celebrations of black power, ambitious Afros and fly female trombonists,...
"Three decades after graduation, members reunite to honor their beloved 93-year-old bandleader, teacher and role model," writes Eric Hynes in Time Out New York. "Amid its celebrations of black power, ambitious Afros and fly female trombonists,...
- 9/25/2011
- MUBI
Gabor Kalman.s documentary feature There Was Once… tells the inspiring story of Gyöngyi Mago, a Hungarian Catholic high school teacher striving to chart a new course of tolerance in her conflict-ridden hometown, Kalocsa, Hungary. While looking for a subject for her dissertation, she discovers a forgotten part of local history: the Jewish community that once thrived but is now non-existent in her city.
Engaging her students in her research, she teaches tolerance and battles prejudice in her classroom. Her quest is set against a backdrop of renewed racial tensions, growing intolerance, and the alarming rise of neo-Nazism in modern-day Hungary. To commemorate the 65th anniversary of liquidation of the local ghetto and deportation of the Jews to Auschwitz and other camps, she organizes an emotional memorial service, attended by survivors and their relatives, along with students, city officials, and the Archbishop. At the same time, a neo-Nazi protest takes place a few blocks away.
Engaging her students in her research, she teaches tolerance and battles prejudice in her classroom. Her quest is set against a backdrop of renewed racial tensions, growing intolerance, and the alarming rise of neo-Nazism in modern-day Hungary. To commemorate the 65th anniversary of liquidation of the local ghetto and deportation of the Jews to Auschwitz and other camps, she organizes an emotional memorial service, attended by survivors and their relatives, along with students, city officials, and the Archbishop. At the same time, a neo-Nazi protest takes place a few blocks away.
- 9/13/2011
- by Melissa Howland
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
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