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IN ACTION
Town In the delta
Top Ton Movies &
Weekend Kross
1 Star Trek: Insurrection
$22.4
2 A Bug's Life $11.0
3 Jack Frost $7.0
,4/so check out You've Got Mail,
starring Tom Hanks & Meg Ryan
4 Enemy of the State $6.6
one in the w orld wants a good job, to
ne o f the pre-em inent literary
be paid a little m ore than they’re
voices o f our tim e, M aya
worth, to be loved and to accept love
tngelou, transports the raw emo-
in return. Everyone wants safe streets
ion, p o w e r an d p o e try o f her
and
for children to be healthy. This is
torytelling to the m otion-picture
what drew me to Down In The Delta.
creen with Down In The Delta. In her
It is a story o f these very kind o f
areer, Angelou has given voice to
human truths, a story to remind us
tories in song, dance, theater, prose,
that, as human beings, we are all more
oetry and television; D ow n In The
alike than different.”
)elta, written by Myron Goble, marks
Both emotional and riveting, Down
er feature-length directing debut,
In The Delta is a story where big city
creened to audience and critical
meets small town, young meet old,
cclaim at the 1998 Urbanw orld Film
parents reconnect with children, and
estival, and soon to be seen in the
life for everyone becomes something
998 Toronto F ilm Festival, Angelou ’ s
they never expected. The film opens
irst film transports us into the same
in Chicago, where Loretta (Alfre
motional territory that has been re-
W oodard) lives with her m other an
plendent throughout her body o f
two children.
/ork - most em phatically, the themes
Loretta is headed won a destruc­
f love, struggle and redem ption
tive path as the succumbs to the drug
mong family.
and alcohol-ridden streets o f her
“The family is not only the com er-
neighborhood. In efforts to pull her
tone o f a com m unity, but the foun-
daughter and grandchildren (new ­
ation upon w hich an individual
com ers M pho Koaho and Kulani
lands and looks out upon the world,”
Hassen) out o fh arm ’s way, L orette’s
lys Angelou. “A family has the
m other Rosa Lynn (M ary Alice)
ower to heal as well as to dam age, to
pawns her m ost valuable and prized
trengthen and build up as well as to
family heirloom, a candelabra known
:ardow n. I have always been drawn
as “Nathan," and moves the family
) stories that affirm life-enhancing
back to their ancestral home in the
dationships. W hat better place to
M ississippi Delta. From there, Down
nd those stories than w ithin the
In The Delta unfolds as a lyrical ode
:ructure o f a family?”
to the notions o f family, responsibil­
She continues, “In all o f m y work,
ity and pride in o n e's ancestry.
try to tell the human truth - w hat it is
W hen M yron G oble, a first-tim e
ke to be a human , w hat makes us
screenw riter and G eorgia native,
umble and fumble and fall and some-
w rote D own In T he D elta, his w ork
ow miraculously rise and go on from
w as honored w ith a Nicholl F ellow ­
arkness into light. The m essage o f
ship A w ard. T he subsequent jo u r­
ly life’s w ork is that hum an beings
ney to bring the project to the screen
re more alike than different. Every­
O
was a collaborative effort involving
a gifted team o f producers and film
industry professional. G oble’s work
initially caught the eye o f T erri
F am w orth, a developm ent ex ecu ­
tiv e at a c to r-p ro d u c e r W e sle y
S nipes’ Am en-Ra Films.
Farnsw orth called the script to
the attention o f Snipes and Amen-
Ra p roducer V ictor M cG auley. An
option on the screenplay w as then
purchased by the prestigious C hris/
R ose P ro d u c tio n team o f B ob
C hristiansen and Rick R osenberg.
T ogether, this gifted group, along
w ith p ro d u c e r R euben C an n o n
jo in ed forces to produce D ow n In
the Delta.
The next step w as finding a d i­
rector w ho could translate the rich ­
ness and hum anity o f G o b le’s w ork
to the screen. C annon had one such
voice in m ind - Dr. M aya A ngelou.
H is idea met w ith unanim ous ap ­
proval, and C annon, C hristiansen,
R osenberg and G oble jo u rn ey ed to
the au th o r’s hom e in W inston-Sa­
lem, N orth C arolina, to present the
w ork.“Down In The D elta is a story
about w om en, and the experiences
ofblack women in particular Ifthere
is anybody w ho has an un d erstan d ­
ing o f w hat the experience is to be
both a w om an and black, it is M aya
A ngelou,” says Snipes. “ H er life
has been such a hodgepodge o f
everything - she is a true m averick.
W e knew she w ould have the sen­
sibility to direct the film , and that
she is successful in everything she
ever does.”
5 The Rugrats Movie $4.5
8 Babe: Pig in the City$1.8
6 The Waterboy $4.3
9 Meet Joe Black
7 Psycho $3.8
1 0 Elizabeth $1.3
$1.6
STAR TREK ANR OTHER
FAROLOOS FILM SCORES
Tuesday, Jan. 5th at 7:30 pm
Jam es D ePreist. co n d u cto r
A great w ay to start the new year! Featured are them es
fro m S ta r Trek . . . and selections from Jo h n W illiam s'
hits, E.T., Jaw s, and other silver screen m egahits!
T ickets start at $ 15
Supported hy:
and rosie 105
Call: 228-1353
(1-800-228-7343) • M on.-Sat.,9 am- 5 pm
www.orsymphony.org
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