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f e r - a - r - , - e 2 & - Arts & Entertainment Viola Davis: ‘Beatiful Creatures’ Viola Davis is a critical- ly acclaimed actress who garnered her first Acade- my Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her stellar work in “Doubt,” co-starring Meryl Streep, Philip Sey- mour Hoffman and Amy Adams. She received her second Oscar nomination, this time in the category of Best Actress in a Lead- ing Role, for her portrayal of Aibileen, in “The Help,” based on Kathryn Stockett’s best-selling novel. Davis also received a Screen Actor’s Guild Award and an NAACP Image Award for that powerful performance. Next fall, Viola will be seen in the sci-fi action adventure “Ender’s Game” opposite Harrison Ford, as well as in the drama “The Disappear- ance of Eleanor Rigby,” alongside Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy and William Hurt. And she is currently in production on “Prisoners,” starring Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal. Her other feature film cred- its include “Won’t Back Down,” for which she just won another NAACP Image Award, “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,” with Tom K AM ’ S C APSULES Bruce Poinsette Of The Skanner News Celebrity Interview Hanks and Sandra Bullock; “It’s Kind of a Funny Story,” with Emma Roberts, Lauren Graham and Zach Galifianakis; “Eat Pray Love,” starring Julia Roberts; “Knight and Day,” with Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz; “Law Abid- ing Citizen,” with Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler; “Nights in Rodanthe,” based on the Nicholas Sparks novel and starring Diane Lane and Richard Gere; “Madea Goes to Jail”; “State of Play”; “Disturbia”; “The Architect”; “Get Rich or Die Tryin’,” opposite 50 Cent; “Syriana,” starring George Clooney; “Far from Heaven,” with Dennis Quaid and Julianne Moore; and the Steven Soderbergh- directed films “Solaris,” “Traffic” and “Out of Film Fest Shows ‘Africans Through African Eyes’ Sight.” On the small screen, Viola was most recently seen in a six-episode arc on Show- time’s hit series “United States of Tara.” Her exten- sive television credits include roles on “Law & Order: SVU”; “Jesse Stone”; “Life is Not a Fairy- tale: The Fantasia Barrino Story”; “Traveler”; “Centu- ry City”; “Lefty”; “City of Angels”; Oprah Winfrey’s “Amy and Isabelle”; and Hallmark Hall of Fame’s “Grace and Glorie.” A veteran of the stage, in 2010 Viola returned to Broadway in the highly anticipated revival of August Wilson’s “Fences,” alongside Denzel Washing- ton. Her performance in the 1987 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play earned her a Tony Award, as well as the Drama Critics’ Circle Award, Outer Critics Circle Award and Drama Desk Award. In 2001, she was awarded a Tony for Best Performance by a Fea- tured Actress in a Play for her portrayal of Tonya in “King Hedley II.” A graduate of The Juil- liard School, Davis also holds an Honorary Doctor- ate of Fine Arts Degree from her alma mater, Rhode Island College. Here, she talks about her latest outing as Amma in the screen adaptation of the romantic fantasy novel “Beautiful Creatures.” Kam Williams: Hi Viola, thanks for another opportu- nity to interview you. Viola Davis: Absolutely! KW: Congratulations on winning another NAACP Image Award. I loved your performance in Won’t Back Down. VD: Thank you very much, Kam. KW: Do you think the movie suffered from politi- cal blowback, the way that Zero Dark Thirty has been hurt at the box office See VIOLA on page 8 The 23rd Annual Cascade Festival of African Films aims to show Portlanders “Africans through African eyes.” “We love the fact that our films don’t just expand on what you see on the news,” says CFAF coordinator Tara Foster. “There are wonderful things happening in these communi- ties. There are heartbreaking things happening. They are complex societies just like ours and for us to just see one side of what’s happening means we’re cheating ourselves of an understanding of other countries.” In addition to the feature films, the festival will also fea- ture activities such as a family film day, a student fest and talks with directors and/or other stakeholders. All events are free and open to the public and the films will be available at the PCC Cascade Campus library to anyone with a Mult- nomah County library card. The festival is dedicated to the memory of Harold Williams, a member of the PCC board of directors and a long-time community leader. Foster says the festival is both film and education. According to her, the idea is to provide audiences a closer version to the truth. For example, she says there is a nice connection between the festival’s opening night film “Toussaint Louverture” and the recent success of “Django Unchained.” While Quentin Tarantino’s “Django” is a spaghetti western, revenge narrative about slavery, “Toussaint Louverture” tells the story of the Haitian revolutionary who led the most successful slave revolt in history. Foster says the attention around “Django” can help make the story of Louverture more accessible to those that aren’t familiar. “A lot of people don’t understand the significance of the rebel he was,” says Foster. “So we have these two book- ends. One fictionalized, Blaxploitation, cowboy film, ‘Django,’ and then we have this really important, historical film.” A unique feature of the festival is that it will feature talks after every film. Directors Phillipe Niang, Penda Diakite and Eliaichi Kimaro will lead discussions, in addition to other stakeholders, such as professors, economists and oth- ers who live in the countries in the films. “The films are free but our after film speakers are price- less,” says Foster. “You don’t get to go to a film at a regu- lar theater very often and have someone there that specializes in that field, talking about the content of the film. “It gives this important perspective that I couldn’t give.” These perspectives play a huge part in the selection of the films. During marathon screening sessions in the summer, Fos- ter says there are times where she might think a film is great but then a stakeholder could make her aware that it exploits a certain segment of society. This helps her and others maintain a sense of nuance and complexity, concerning the films. In addition, she says organizers do extensive traveling and speak to filmmakers wherever they go. Information is Today’s Currency At home or on the go, rely on The Skanner News for expert insight and guidance on what’s important to you Page 6 The Portland Skanner February 6. 2013
