NAKOM, A RARE FILM FROM GHANA, MAKES ITS NORTH AMERICAN DEBUT MARCH 18-19 IN NYC

First feature film made in Kusaal language captures dilemma of family responsibility in the village versus urban education and opportunity

by Dwight Casimere

NEW YORK--NAKOM is a beautifully filmed, sensitive portrait of a Ghanaian medical student, Iddrisu (Jacob Ayanaba) who is suddenly called to return to his family's remote African farming village from his studies in the capital city of Akkra, when his father suddenly dies.

Directed by Kelly Daniela Norris and  co-director and writer TW (Trav) Pittman, with writer  Isaac Adakudugu, the film features a hauntingly beautiful film score by acclaimed Senegalese composer Daby Balde.   This is Norris's second debut feature. Her first, Sombras De Azul, won the audience award at its premiere at the 2013 Austin Film Festival.

TWPittman is making her feature directorial debut with NAKOM. The film is unique in that is it filmed entirely on location in Ghana, primarily in the rural village, from which the film derives its name, and in which Pittman once served as a US Peace Corps volunteer. Previously, she produced the feature Sombras De Azul, which was set in Cuba, and is the only Cuban-American co-producton in the 50 year history of the U.S. embargo.  NAKOM breaks similar ground. It is a Chanian-American co-production, which is co-written by Isaac Adakudugu, who is a native of the title village. Their mutual involvement and experience shines through in this brilliantly executed film.

From the outset of the film, we get a sense of the dichotomy experienced by Iddrisu. We hear a car speeding down the highway and immediately see the sun rising over the awakening village of Nakom. Herders and the other villagers are going about their daily routines and, a moment later, we see the hustle and bustle of the morning rush hour traffic in Accra. Issidru is joyfully going about his daily routine as a medical student at the university. Kibitzing with friends as he rushes, late to class and trying to charm his disgruntled professor with that winning smile of his. Back in his dorm room, he gets a call with the bad news. His father has just been killed in a motorcycle accident and he's needed urgently back home. Arriving on a crowded bus, he gets a  ride on the back of a motorcycle borrowed by his kid brother from the pastor's wife. Along the way, Iddrisu gets a visual crash course, reorienting him to the world he left behind

His sister is cooking the evening meal and sarcastically says to him that she is surprised that he still speaks Kusaal, their native language. When he visits his mother in mourning, we get a clear picture of the dilemma he will face. When he tells her that he will only be there for a short time to attend the funeral, she lays a guilt trip on him, saying that she knows he will live up to the responsibilities he owes to his family and the village.

A visit to his Junior Mother (apparently the men who rule the villages have more than one wife), doesn't go much better. We learn from her that the father left a significant debt behind that has to be repaid and it is up to him, as the oldest son, to repay it.

Finally, he lets loose his grief, removing the shroud from his father's face and shedding tears.

Nakom quickly trades in his school books for a pickax and begins the sequeless transition into village life. While he struggles to dig his father's grave in the drought-hardened earth.  His brother and another villager tease him as "the bachelor chief" because of his new position as an unmarried man who now occupies his father's house. Iddrisu doesn't take kindly to the teasing. "Do your arms work, or only your mouth?" he retorts, throwing the pickaxe in their direction.

The uncle has sent word that he refuses to come to the funeral, apparently angered by a property dispute.  An impatient Iddrisu decides that the show must go on without him. We then witness a traditional Muslim burial, with the body carried to the grave by Iddrisu and his brothers and the women of the village trailing behind, wailing and crying. The sun sets, and with the evening prayer, the events of the film are set in motion.

Iddrisu visits his uncle, attempting to broker a compromise. "How can I fight with him?" the uncle says of Iddrisu's father. "It''s like one arm fighting the other!" A deal is brokered, and Iddrisu agrees to take charge of the harvest of the next crop, using the profits to settle his father's debt. The uncle  kill a live chicken in celebration of the deal.

Iddrisu tells his mother that he plans to return to the university once the debt is repaid from the harvest. His mother isn't having it and derides him for being a coward for turning his back on his family and his responsibilities as the new head of the village.

Mobilizing the village to begin the planting and harvest, he decides to move the farm to his uncle's richer soil. He then develops a new marketing strategy to increase his profits once the harvest is complete, thus earning the money the village needs to pay his father's debt.

The behind-the-scenes facts of NAKON are as ground-breaking as the film itself. It is the first fiction feature produced in the Kusaai language. The entire cast is of nonactors, mostly from the village of Nakon. Ghanaian filmmakers play key roles in all aspects of the production. The cast and crew stayed within the village for the entire time of the 4 month shoot, sleeping in a two-room schoolhouse and sharing beds with mosquito nets. This was a full immersion experience!

The film inches toward the protagonists' crucial decision; should he stay in the village as its leader or return to the university to continue his education. Perhaps he has already gained a more vital one by coming back home.

NAKOM  has its North American Premiere at the New Directors/New Films 2016 Festival

Festival Screenings:

Friday, March 18, 8:30pm, Walter Reade Theatre

Saturday, March 19, 2:00pm, MoMA Titus 2

NEW PRODUCTION OF PUCCINI'S MANON LESCAUT FEATURES ROBERTO ALAGNA IN ROLE DEBUT

by  Dwight Casimere


Roberto Alagna has become the "go to" tenor  at the Metropolitan Opera. This month, he stepped in to save the day after famed tenor Jonas Kaufman withdrew from the Met's new production of Manon Lescaut, which opened February 12 to rave reviews. Fortunately, he had learned the role some years ago for a series of performances that were ultimately canceled. so he was able to assume the lead role of Chevalier Des Grieux in his role debut opposite super hot soprano Kristine Opolais in Puccini's passionate love story, Manon Lescaut. Saturday, March 5 at 1pm, audiences in 2,000 movie theaters in 70 countries around the world will have the opportunity to see this dynamic due in action when the opera will be transmitted worldwide as part of the Met's Live in HD Series.

With Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi in the pit as Conductor of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the production by British director Sir Richard Eyre, who previously staged Carmen in his Met debut in 2009,  features set design by Rob Howell of London's National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Costumes are by Fotini Dimou, who also designed the costumes for the same production at the festival Hall Baden-Baden in 2013. Lighting designer Peter Mumford, also of London,  has previously lit Met productions of Werther, Carmen, Peter Grimes, Faust Madama Butterfly (debut in 2006) and the 125th Anniversary Gala.

Choreographer Sara Erde of New York has worked as assistant stage director for the Met's Rigoletto, Madame Butterfly and La Donna del Lago.

Sir Rihard Eyre sets the action during the Nazi occupation of France in 1941, giving the production a bit of an historial edge, over its original setting in the salons and boudoirs of late 18th century France.

Manon Lescaut is a production that bristles with sensuality, fantastic singing and superb acting. Roberto Alagna gives a visceral performance as Lescaut's ardent lover, Des Grieux, who pursues her love even to the gates of hell. Although this is his first time playing the role on stage, it seems as if it were written for him. Latvian soprano Kristine Opolais sings the  doomed heroine with abandon. The sexscenes between she and Alagna are among the most sensuous to ever play out on the Met stage. Opoplaise is also currently burning up the Met stage in her debut as Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly.

The Met is in the midst of a sort of undeclared Puccini festival  this season with productions old and new of La Boheme, Madama Butterfly, Manon Lescaut, Tosca and Turandot either previously ended or returning for a spring run with new casting.


Met Live HD's offering last month was Puccini';s Turandot in a lavish production, which was transmitted Saturday, January 30 with an Encore Presentation February 3. Swedish Soprano Nina Stemme soared as the enigmatic Turandot, whose ruthless riddles spelled doom for her wealthy suitors who came from around the globe in search of her hand in marriage. Only brave Calaf, sung with force and conviction by Marco Berti, ultimately conquers the vengeful Turandot with his ardor. This was truly and inspired, eye-popping production.

MET OPERA "MADAMA BUTTERFLY" A TENTATIVE, BUT PROMISING SEASON PREMIERE

PUCCINI MASTERPIECE SHOWCASED IN VIVIDLY STAGED PRODUCTION

Ana Maria Martinez in the title role with  Roberto De Biasio as Pinkerton
Photos: Metropolitan Opera/Marty Sohl


by Dwight Casimere

Credit the superb staging and production design of Anthony Minghella, direction and choreography of Carolyn Choa, set design by Michael Levine and the imaginative puppetry of Blind Summit Theatre, with salvaging what might have been a rather hum-drum season premiere of the Metropolitan Opera's current offering of Puccini's Madama Butterfly.

Gibraltar-born conductor Karel Mark Chichon, the current Chief Conductor of the world-renowned Deutsche Radio Philharmonie infused Puccini's ground-breaking orchestrations with an urgency and vitality that, at times, overshadowed the performances on stage. Soprano and Houston native Ana Maria Martinez, stepping in for an ailing Hei Kyung Hong, showed glimmers of the conflicting angst felt by the named lead, Cio-Cio San, who suffers the ridicule and disgrace of her family and culture by embracing the Christianity of Pinkerton, the American Navy Lieutenant to whom she is wed in a sham "wedding." Sung by Sicilian tenor Roberto De Biasio, who seemed to tip-toe around the character, his sweet voice would inexplicably vanish into thin air whenever it was drowned out by Puccini's lush orchestrations. Soprano Martinez  seemed to gain her footing in the beautiful "Un bel di," the signature aria of this seminal work. Once out of the shadow of her lackluster co-star. Martinez seemed to blossom and take flight, much as her namesake, Butterfly.

Ana Maria Martinez as Butterfly with her handmaiden, Suzuki, sung by Maria Zifchak with her love-child puppet provided by Blind Summit Theatre.


Madama Butterfly tells the story of Cio-cio-San, the teenaged geisha whose family's fall from grace has led her to be bartered like a piece of chattel, along with a house and gaggle of servants to American Navy Lieutenant B.F. Pinkerton at the height of U.S. Imperialism and the Manifest Destiny that began to unfold at the start of the 20th century. The deal is brokered by Goro, sung by Tony Stevenson in his Met debut, and U.S. Consul Sharpless, sung with smarmy smugness by Polish tenor Artur Rucinski, also in his Met debut.

Artur Rucinski in his Met debut at Sharpless


 Butterfly is given to Pinkerton almost an an accessory to the house he has leased "for 999 years." A phony marriage ceremony is hastily arranged. The 15 year old Butterfly is just as convinced of its validity as Pinkerton is of its  being just another meaningless peculiarity of Japanese culture. One can almost hear the gears turning in the back of his, planning his hasty return home once his tour of duty is completed to claim his American wife. His attitude is the ultimate representation of Manifest Destiny Imperialism which dominated the Western world view of the East at the turn of the last century.

Butterfly's tragic ending is telegraphed from the beginning. When her handmaiden, Suzuki, sung with  an assured ease by Met veteran Maria Zifchak, attempts to clear out Butterfly's old belongings in preparation for her wedding, Butterfly admonishes her not to throw away her most prized possession, the dagger her father used to commit ritual suicide at the behest of the Mikado. She eyes it almost lovingly, as if anticipating its kiss of death.

Soprano Martinez seemed at her vocal and dramatic best when she stepped away from the colorless shadow of her co-star. She seemed to come to life and at the conclusion of Act II, Part I, when Butterfly and Suzuki strewed the house with flowers in anticipation of Pinkerton's return.

Additionally, some of the most artistic scenes in the entire performance were provided by some of the opera's ancillary elements; the dancers and the chorus.  Butterfly and Pinkerton's love-child was portrayed by a life-sized puppet operated by two puppet masters shrouded in black from Blind Summit Theatre. Their pantomimed dance with two puppets representing the romance between Butterfly and Pinkerton was one of the highlights of the entire staging, which drew the audience into the emotional vortex of the opera and riveted its emotional impact.

Also, the use of lanterns and origami flags by the dancers and chorus gave much needed visual punctuation to scenes during the lush orchestral interludes. They were expertly conducted by  guest conductor Karl Mark Chichon. The orchestral passages were instrumental in advancing the story in and of themselves.

Lanterns, origami, puppetry, confetti and sliding silk panels are elements borrowed from Japanese theatre and artistry were the  visual elements that punctuated the story of Madama Butterfly


Have no fear, brighter days are ahead for Butterfly, so feel free to plan a future visit. The indisposed Hei Kyung Hong assumes the lead February 27. A new cast assumes the helm March 17 with the sultry Kristine Opolais, now electrifying the stage as Manon Lescaut, in the title role, with the indefatigable Roberto Alagna, also her co-star in Manon, as her Pinkerton. The serious money says this combination is sure to ignite fireworks. Visit metopera.org for more details.

NY Philharmonic: Yefim Bronfman plays Liszt Piano Concerto No. 2

by Dwight Casimere

Yefim Bronfman, the former New York Philharmonic Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-In-Residence at the Steinway

There's no question that Franz Liszt was the undisputed piano virtuoso of his time, playing the concert halls of Europe to standing ovations through much of the mid-19th Century. Although he wrote numerous challenging pieces for piano and orchestra, there are only two numbered full-scale concertos that bear his name. Grammy Award-winning pianist  Yefim Bronfman, the New York Philharmonic's 2013-14 Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-In-Residence gave a brilliant accounting of the work with the young Russian conductor, Juraj Valcuha, the Chief Conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonia Nazionale della RAI, Torino, Italy as guest conductor.

Clocking in at just under 20 minutes, the relatively short duration of the piece in no way diminishes its Romantic beauty. Bronfman carefully built the slow opening measures with a light, unhurried approach, before unleashing the full measure of his superior technique in the ensuing Allegro agitato. Conductor Valcuha did a masterful job of framing Bronfman's magnificent playing with restrained tempos and carefully balanced passages from each of the orhcestra's  sections. The bracing finale gave everyone the thrilling ride they had hoped for, with Bronfman diving into the Allegro animato with surety, dispatching the notes with a dramatic flourish, yet allowing each of them to ring with distinction.

The concert was bookended by two climactic tone poems that are virtual beacons in the annals of modern 20th century composing; Zoltan Kodaly's energetic and almost cinematic Glantai Tankoc (Dances of Galanta), which preserves the whirling dervish frenzy of Hungarian Gypsy dances, long since vanished, and Maurice Ravel's sardonic and equally frenetic LaValse, said to be his musical commentary on the ravages wrought by the first World War. A haunting clarinet solo played with heartfelt yearning that reminded one of the reed player Yusef Lateef (1920-2013), was the most outstanding element of the Kodaly. Guest conductor   Valcuha brought a youthful vitality to the Ravel, which garnered a much-deserved thunderous ovation.

NAZ AND MAALIK FILM EXPLORES MUSLIM, GAY SUPPRESSION WITH A LIGHT TOUCH

Naz and Maalik, Opens in NYC Friday, Jan 22

by Dwight Casimere

Director Jay Dockendorf's first feature, Naz and Maalik is a light, breezy look at a day in the life of two freshman college aged African American teens living in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant, whose lives are complicated by the fact that they are black, gay and Muslim. Taking place sometime in post 911 New York, the film attempts to shed light on the growing pervasiveness of unauthorized surveillance of Muslim citizens and the taboo against the homosexual lifestyle, especially among orthodox religious groups. In the shadow of today's presidential campaign, with one of the leading candidates calling for barriers to Muslim immigration and veiled code words that beat the drum for increase scrutiny of the indigenous Muslim population, Naz and Maalik, which is debuting to audiences in select theaters beginning this weekend, is particularly resonant. 

The lead actors, Kerwin Johnson Jr. (Naz) and Curtiss Cook Jr. (Maalik), handle the characters with just the right touch of offhand, devil-may-care likability. They're just a couple of young dudes happy to be alive, spending their time hustling lottery tickets, religious tarot cards and scented snake oils on the streets of Brooklyn. The items they sell, ostensibly, Maalik says, to save money for college tuition, are purchased by passersby. The items are practically worthless, but people buy them anyway, largely because they are charmed by the youth's sense of humor and carefree attitudes. They're a  bright light in an otherwise grim environment. 

The characters of Naz and Maalik are fun to watch, even if very little of what they do makes any sense. But such are youth! They're actually quite refreshing, and their portrayal gives an appealing patina to a story that could otherwise turn very dark in a hurry. 

There are references to the weighty subject matter of the film. The two are closeted gay in a community that largely frowns upon it, especially their devout Muslim family, (The opening scene shows their outraged sister questioning them about a used condom found in her bed) and the local Imam (Muslim priest) who consistently admonishes them about the gay lifestyle, hinting that he already knows, no matter how much they try to hide it.

Oh yeah, about the surveillance thing. That comes out pretty early in the film too, with a shabby looking guy, played by Bradley Brian Custer  (whose obviously a narc of some kind) offering to sell them an illegal gun, which the guys playfully refuse. They at first pretended to be interested, then faked him off. Their cat and mouse game, however, backfires, and lands them squarely in the cross-hairs of an over-eager rookie FBI agent, Sarah Mikell (Annie Grier). She questions them about their whereabouts the night before and, of course, the two bungle it by giving conflicting stories in order to hide the fact that they were sleeping together. That just gets them deeper into Mikell's psychological dragnet. Outside of the fact that they're selling petty stuff illegally on the street, she can't seem to find anything else wrong with them, but she's determined to find something. Her's is the only performance that doesn't quite ring true, but, that may have been the director's objective, to make her character a cardboard cutout caricature, totally out of place in the gritty reality.

The film sort of ends on a flat note of irony. I guess that's part of the director's point as well, that none of what's happening now, the unwarranted and unlawful scrutiny of religious groups and the marginalizing of certain lifestyles is counterproductive, at best, and makes very little, if any, sense. 

The steady cam work of cinematographer Jake McGee, give the film a fluid, almost dance-like quality that works well with the loose, almost improvisational acting by the lead characters.

Production designer Dylan Metzger really brings the mean streets of Bed Stuy to life in a way that shows their humanity and diversity and the score by Adam Gunther captures just the right mood throughout. Kudos to casting director Holly Buczek for finding the two neophyte actors who play the lead characters as if they were living in their skin from day one.

The film is a little thin for such a weighty subject but, given the Twitter generation, with their short attention span and penchant for condensing weighty concepts into a 120 character haiku, Naz and Maalik may be just the right vehicle to spark discussion on a subject that otherwise might get swept under the carpet.

Naz and Maalik, a  Pecking Wilds Production

Opens theatrically in New York City Friday, Jan. 22 at Cinema Village, also available in DVD/VOD through Wolfe on Jan. 26

Cast: Kerwin Johnson Jr., Curtiss Cook Jr., Annie Grier, Bradley Brian Custer, Ibrahim Miari, David Farrington, Monciana Edmondson

Director: Jay Dockendorf 
Screenwriter: Jay Dockendorf
Producers: Jacob Albert, Margaret Katcher
Executive producers: Margaret Katcher, Jay Dockendorf, Nylkoorb
Director of photography: Jake Magee
Production designer: Dylan Metzger
Editor: Andrew Hafitz
Composer: Adam Gunther
Casting director: Holly Buczek

NY Philharmonic U.S. Premiere: Magnus Lindberg Violin Concerto No. 2

by Dwight Casimere

                               
Violin soloist Frank Peter Zimmermann

 Composer Magnus Lindberg at the U.S. Premiere in New York

NY Philharmonic Music Director conducts the U.S. Premiere of Lindberg's Violin Concerto No. 2

NEW YORK--New York Philharmonic Music Director Alan Gilbert conducted a stunning concert of Respighi's Vetrate di chiesa (Church Windows) and Stravinsky's captivating Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring).  The first was extremely atmospheric and evocative of the serene image of church steeples and ornate windows cast against the bright awakening of dawn and the hushed silence of approaching evening. By contrast, Stravinsky's primal Rite of Spring, displayed the full array of the orchestras percussive powers and exceptional strength in the brass and woodwind sections.

The centerpiece of the concert, however, was the U.S. Premiere of Magnus Lindberg's Violin Concerto No. 2, in its U.S. Premiere, with the esteemed German violin virtuoso Frank Peter Zimmermann as soloist. Lindberg, formerly the New York Philharmonic's Composer-In-Residence (2009-2012) and currently in the same position with the London Philharmonic, was personally on hand to present an on-stage discussion of his piece with conductor Alan Gilbert and to welcome Zimmermann to the stage. In his remarks, Lindberg discussed the work's many difficulties and his collaboration with violinist Zimmermann in ironing out some of the rough spots. "There were parts of it that I had written for him that I thought would be difficult to work out," Lindberg said of the violin solos. "But Frank would always call me back and say, 'No,No. I think this can work!"

The proof of those words were evident as soloist and orchestra embarked on a probing journey through the labyrinth of Lindberg's challenging work. At times, there was a constant ebb and flow between the soloist and orchestra, with the violin leading the way. Zimmermann dispatched the complex series of stops and runs with ease, making even the most difficult parts seem like child's play. The orchestra, with Gilbert keeping a sprightly pace, seemed right in cadence, without rushing tempos. The overall effect was of lightness and movement, in spite of the obvious complexity of the music. The piece conveyed a wide ranging exploration of harmony and pitch which came off as engaging the audience, rather than holding them at arm's length.

Its been a couple of years since Gilbert conducted Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring. This time, he seems to have found an even deeper emotional connection to this powerhouse of a piece. There was a great deal of restraint in keeping an emotional lid on the thundering percussion and constantly shifting melodies before allowing the music to erupt in a series of ever-building crescendoes. Gilbert managed to find new gems hidden within this treasure of the modern repertoire. It was a thrilling ride, well deserving of the thunderous ovation which followed.