FRIDAY APRIL 14
Esports Career and Entrepreneurship
Summit @ UNCG Alumni House (GSO) 4 p.m.
UNCG is hosting an esports career and entrepreneurship summit to explore the business of esports through a panel discussion with the top dogs of esports and gaming. During the panel, the public will learn how UNCG’s Scholastic Esports Alliance prepares students for careers in esports. Visit uncg.edu/events for more information and to register.
Huma Bhabha: Artist’s Talk and Sculpture Dedication @ Weatherspoon Art Museum (GSO) 4:30 p.m.
Join Huma Bhabha for an artist talk as the Weatherspoon Art Museum dedicates her sculpture “Receiver.” Reception in the courtyard at 5:30 p.m. Visit weatherspoonart.org for more information.
by MICHAELA RATLIFFAPRIL 14 - 16
REM Explored @ Winston-Salem Symphony (W-S) 7:30 p.m.
The Winston-Salem Symphony is excited to announce a concert featuring the music of R.E.M. arranged for a full orchestra and founding member of R.E.M. Mike Mills’ Concerto for Violin, Rock Band & Orchestra. Purchase tickets at wssymphony.org
The Boy from Oz @ Winston-Salem Theatre Alliance (W-S) 8 p.m.
Winston-Salem Theatre Alliance takes on The Boy from Oz, a musical biography and tribute to the late musician Peter Allen. Watch on as the production covers Allen’s rise to fame as he becomes a pop star, wins an Oscar and more. Purchase tickets at theatrealliance.ws
SATURDAY APRIL 15
An Evening of Smooth Jazz @ High Point Arts Council (HP) 7 p.m.
Celebrate Jazz Appreciation Month with an evening of smooth jazz by the J. Trio. Ticket entry includes food. To purchase tickets, head to etix. com and search for ‘High Point Arts Council.’
SUNDAY APRIL 16
Go Green Plant and Garden Sale @ Greensboro Farmers Curb Market (GSO) 9 a.m.
Shop through a variety of flowers, herbs, and perennials to beautify your garden during the curb market’s plant and garden sale. Accessories like hanging flower baskets, birdhouses and garden tools will also be available. Find more information at gsofarmersmarket.org
Find more events and add your own to our calendar at triad-city-beat.com/local-events/.
Model Call @ Wildlight Wellness Collective (W-S) 12 p.m.
BUSINESS
PUBLISHER/EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Brian Clarey brian@triad-city-beat.com
PUBLISHER EMERITUS
Allen Broach allen@triad-city-beat.com
OF COUNSEL
Jonathan Jones
EDITORIAL
MANAGING EDITOR
Sayaka Matsuoka sayaka@triad-city-beat.com
CITYBEAT REPORTER
Gale Melcher gale@triad-city-beat.com
SALES
KEY ACCOUNTS
Chris Rudd chris@triad-city-beat.com
AD MANAGER
Noah Kirby noah@triad-city-beat.com
CONTRIBUTORS
Carolyn de Berry, John Cole, Owens Daniels, James Douglas, Michelle Everette, Luis H. Garay, Destiniee Jaram, Kaitlynn Havens, Jordan Howse, Matt Jones, Autumn Karen, Michaela Ratliff, Jen Sorensen, Todd Turner
WEBMASTER
Sam LeBlanc
ART ART DIRECTOR
Aiden Siobhan aiden@triad-city-beat.com
COVER:
Design by Aiden Siobhan
’ve always had high standards. For myself, for my partners, for my co-workers. It bleeds into everything I touch or imagine. It bleeds into my work.
Ia new story I’m working on and how they might be involved but towards the end of the conversation, I opened up space to address the elephant on the call.
“I know you’re not my biggest fan,” I said.
by Sayaka MatsuokaSo when a piece of mine misses the mark or ends up being flawed in some way, it keeps me up at night. A misspelled name, an incomplete narrative, a misquote.
Nothing gives me more anxiety.
Unlike many other jobs, journalism is a public-facing profession. Our bylines exist on every single piece of work that we produce, in perpetuity. So when someone takes issue with something we did, we’re easy to find. To track down.
I can’t count the number of emails, handwritten letters, direct messages, comments I’ve gotten over the years pointing out some sort of flaw in my work. Everything from small quips about spelling to long diatribes about how I’m inherently a bad human being and I should just pack it all in.
The haters, the racists, the misogynists, the assholes are easy to ignore. The ones that leave behind a string of worries in my mind for weeks are the ones that express truth behind their criticism.
Because sometimes, I miss the mark. We all do.
A few weeks ago, I connected with a person who has long been critical of my work. We were talking about
And so we dove into it. Why the stories she was upset about came out the way they did. Why sometimes, as journalists, we do our best to tell the fullest stories we can, but even we, fall short at times.
And the answer is simple. We have a limited amount of resources. We’re human. We make mistakes, as much as I hate to admit it.
This whole column may sound like a long-winded excuse, a way to shirk responsibility for missteps that I have made in the past or may make in the future. But actually, I’m hoping it’s an honest explanation and a call to keep us accountable.
“I appreciate what you do and I do look to your paper as our community paper.”
That’s what the person said to me. That’s why my shortcomings in the past were even more frustrating.
So, if we get something wrong, call us out. Our jobs are to get the record straight, to shine light in dark places, to hopefully make the world a more honest and just place.
But also understand that we’re human too, and we are doing our best. Of course, if that best causes harm, then we should be held to account. But believe me, I lose more sleep over it than you do.
To suggest story ideas or send tips to TCB, email sayaka@triad-city-beat.com
When a piece of mine misses the mark or ends up being flawed in some way, it keeps me up at night.
This week, we’re delving into the attendance rate for city council members in Greensboro and Winston-Salem. Everyone remembers having attendance taken in school and parents getting phone calls if you were absent from class. It’s the same thing, except council members were elected to their positions and are paid to be at the meetings.
The results for city council meeting attendance were collected between Aug. 11, 2022 — when Greensboro’s new city council was sworn in — and April 4 of this year. Attendance results for committee meetings, special meetings and work sessions were collected from Aug. 11-March 1. Results were gathered from meeting minutes and video footage, which can be found appended on the city council meeting schedule on the websites for the City of Greensboro and the City of Winston-Salem
How we graded: Dock a letter grade for each city council meeting absence. Dock half a letter grade for committee meeting, special meeting and work session absences (e.g. A to A-). For council members who attend committee meetings they are not required to attend, they get extra credit (e.g B to B+).
A note on Greensboro meetings:
Greensboro holds city council meetings at 300 W. Washington St. on the first and third Tuesdays of the month. Councilmembers also attend special meetings, which are sometimes called in order to vote on items that may require expedited action. Work sessions are usually scheduled to discuss and learn more about topics through presentations from city staff. Greensboro’s special meetings are typically held once or twice a month, and the same goes for work sessions.
Mayor Nancy Vaughan: B-
Vaughan participated virtually during the Aug. 16, Sept. 6 and April 4 city council meetings, and was absent on Nov. 15. She attended an Oct. 13 special meeting over Zoom, and was absent from a Feb. 16 work session.
Mayor Pro Tem Johnson: F
Johnson missed the city council meeting on Feb. 7, and has been absent from the Oct.10, Feb. 2, Feb. 3 and Feb. 20 special meetings. Johnson attended a work session on Jan. 12 over Zoom, and was absent from the Sept. 29, Oct. 27 and Nov. 3 work sessions. Johnson told TCB the absences were due to being out of the country, as well as being evaluated on a grant her nonprofit
had written to the state — adding that she still worked during that time but that she felt she “needed to attend that.”
Sharon Hightower (District 1): A
Hightower has attended all city council meetings in person save for the Dec. 20 meeting which she attended over Zoom. She also attended in person for all special meetings and work sessions.
Goldie Wells (District 2): B
Wells was absent from the Nov. 15 city council meeting, but has been present for all special meetings and work sessions. Wells participated virtually during the Sept. 1 work session.
Zack Matheny (District 3): F
Matheny missed city council meetings on Sept. 20, Dec. 20 and March 21. He also missed a special meeting on Sept. 19, which included National Incident Management System overview training for city officials. NIMS is an emergency preparedness system, and the course is intended to familiarize officials with their role in incident prevention and response. Matheny participated virtually during the Feb. 2 and Feb. 3 special meetings, and was absent from the Dec. 20 work session. In a text to TCB, Matheny explained that he was absent because he “had things planned whether they are international board meetings, family vacations, etc.”
Nancy Hoffmann (District 4): A Hoffmann has attended all city council meetings, special meetings and work sessions — many virtually. Hoffmann attended the Aug. 16, Sept. 6, Dec. 6, Jan. 17 and April 4 city council meetings over Zoom, but attended in person for all special meetings. She was also present over Zoom during work sessions on Sept. 1, Jan. 12, Jan. 26 and Feb. 16.
Tammi Thurm (District 5): AThurm has been present for all city council meetings, attending one over Zoom on Feb. 21. Thurm missed the Feb. 20 special meeting, but was present and in-person for all work sessions.
Marikay Abuzuaiter (At-large): A
Abuzuaiter attended all city council meetings, participating over Zoom on March 7. She was also in-person for all special meetings and attended the Sept. 29, Oct. 27 and Jan. 26 work sessions over Zoom.
Hugh Holston (At-large): AHolston has been present and in-person for every council meeting and special meeting. While he was absent during a work session on Sept. 29, Holston has been present and in-person for work sessions except for a Jan. 26 meeting which he joined over Zoom.
On Winston-Salem meetings: Winston-Salem holds city council meetings at 101 N. Main St. Council holds its regular meetings every first and third Monday of the month, with four committee meetings held on Mondays and Tuesdays during the second week of the month. Councilmembers are assigned to two committees each and make recommendations for items that typically go on to the city council for final decisions.
Mayor Allen Joines: B
Joines was absent during on Feb. 20, a notable city council meeting due to the outpouring of support from public commenters for residents of 1200 Willie Davis Drive and 1635 Cleveland Avenue who were facing eviction While the mayor does not sit on any committees, he has been a frequent attendee of finance committee meetings.
Mayor Pro Tempore Denise D. Adams (North Ward): A
Adams has not missed a single council meeting or committee meeting — serving as the vice chair of the Finance Committee and the chair of the Community Development, Housing and General Government Committee. Adams has also attended a couple of meetings for committees she does not serve on.
Annette Scippio (East Ward): A+ Scippio has attended every city council meeting and all of the meetings for committees she is assigned to. Scippio is the vice chair of the Community Development, Housing and General Government Committee and a member of the Public Works Committee.
Extra credit: Scippio also frequently attends committee meetings for committees she is not a member of, and has attended all Public Safety Committee and Finance Committee meetings. Scippio is often the sole non-committee councilmember in attendance at public safety committee meetings.
John Larson (South Ward): A+ Larson has attended every city council meeting and has not missed any committee meetings. Larson is the vice chair of the Public Safety Committee and a member of the Public Works Committee.
Extra credit: Larson has also attended all of the meetings for the other two committees he does not sit on.
Barbara Hanes Burke (Northeast Ward): A+ Burke has not missed a council meeting or committee meeting as the vice chair of the Public Works Committee and a member of the Public Safety Committee. She attended one city council meeting virtually on Nov. 1 and one public safety committee meeting virtually on April 10.
Extra credit: Burke has also attended all meetings for the other two committees she does not serve on.
Kevin Mundy (Southwest Ward): A Mundy has attended all city council meetings as well as meetings for committees he serves on as a member of the Public Safety and Community Development, Housing and General Government committees. Mundy has attended all meetings for the Finance Committee, of which he is not a member.
James Taylor, Jr. (Southeast Ward): A Taylor has been present for all city council meetings and is the chair of the Public Safety Committee and a member of the Finance Committee. Taylor hasn’t attended any meetings for committees he is not a member of.
Jeff MacIntosh (Northwest Ward): B+ While MacIntosh has missed one city council meeting on Oct. 3, he has been present for every meeting for the committees he sits on. MacIntosh is the chair of the Public Works Committee and a member of the Finance Committee.
Extra credit: MacIntosh frequently attends Public Safety committee meetings in addition to the committees he serves on, and has attended all of Community Development, Housing and General Government Committee meetings since August 11.
Robert C. Clark (West Ward): B Clark missed one city council meeting on April 3, but has attended all of the committee meetings he serves on. Clark is the chair of the Finance Committee and a member of the Community Development/Housing/General Government Committee. Clark hasn’t attended any meetings for committees he is not a member of.
Greensboro’s new social district along State Street welcomed roaming alcohol consumption on April 1.
The first social district, an area of the city where customers can sip alcoholic beverages from participating businesses while they walk around, kicked off downtown in March 2022. In January, council declined to extend the boundaries of the downtown district but added State Street as a second location during a Dec. 20 city council meeting Mayor Pro-Tem Yvonne Johnson along with councilmembers Sharon Hightower and Goldie Wells voted against the amendment. Councilmember Zack Matheny was absent.
The change had initially been slated to go into effect the next day, on Dec. 21 at noon. However, Mayor Nancy Vaughan made a motion to suspend the start date until April 1 in order to allow more time for conversations with business owners on State Street.
Heading toward North Elm Street, the boundaries of the social district lie just before Georgia Street past State St. Jewelers. In the other direction, the social district extends just past Bull City Ciderworks and ends before North Church Street.
The social district also juts out along some streets connected to State Street, with signage indicating its boundaries.
The timeframe is enforced from 12-9 p.m. Monday through Sunday; alcoholic beverages may be purchased only from participating businesses inside of the social district and consumed within its borders. The container must also clearly identify the business from which the alcoholic beverage was purchased. Containers may hold a max of 16 fluid ounces and can’t be made of glass. They must also display the statement, “Drink Responsibly - Be 21” in no less than 12-point font, as well as a logo or marking that is unique to the State Street social district.
Despite last week’s April showers, business owners on State Street are already noticing an uptick in business.
Owned by father and son duo Dorn Miller and Tyler Miller, State Street Wine Company is located in the heart of State Street.
“With it just kind of starting last Saturday, last Saturday was one of our bus-
iest days, if not the busiest day,” Tyler Miller told TCB While they’re still getting an idea of how much will change, Miller said that business has been steady during the week.
“Every night we’ve had people coming in who will walk down the street,” Miller said.
Miller noted that while some of the shops aren’t participating in the social district, the ones that do have had “people walking in and out.”
Miller also said that they haven’t noticed anyone breaking any of the social district’s rules such as the 12-9 p.m. timeframe, adding that their company closes at 9 p.m. anyway. Bull City Ciderworks also closes around the same time, depending on the day of the week.
Another shop that noticed a busier Saturday than usual was Eclectic by Nature, owned by proprietress Tavane Taylor. Located at the corner of State and Bradford Streets, the metaphysical gift shop is also home to two felines. Merlin the cat observed shoppers while they wandered through the store. Merlin declined to comment on the new district but obliged to pose for a photo.
The success of the social district downtown helped pave the way for State Street, which was mentioned during the Dec. 20 meeting by Mayor Vaughan.
“In speaking to some of the retail owners in downtown Greensboro since the social district started… they have noticed an increase in their business and they’ve noticed an increase in repeat business,” Vaughan said, adding that she believed that the city owed it to the State Street business owners to “give them an opportunity if this is a way to increase their business.”
However, not all of State Street’s business owners have been too thrilled about the change.
During an April 4 city council meeting, Mary Ann Contogiannis — owner of the Renaissance Center for Plastic Surgery & Wellness — spoke against the social district.
Contogiannis ran for office in 2022 to represent North Carolina’s 6th Congressional District, but lost in the Republican primary.
“There’s a big difference in posting a sign on your door saying you’re not participating in the social district when it is all around you,” Contogiannis said, requesting that the social district stop at her building on Roseland Street.
Contogiannis also spoke at the Dec. 20 meeting with concerns about alcohol consumers potentially acting inappropriately toward patients after they are discharged.
Assistant City Manager Trey Davis clarified during the meeting that businesses are not forced to participate in the social district, saying, “If a business is in the identified map area, then they can post signage to indicate that they don’t welcome people who are consuming alcohol inside their establishment.”
Rhyme and Reason sits squarely on the corner of State and Roseland Streets. Like other businesses, the gourmet chocolate shop has also been feeling the effects of this new opportunity. Founder Elizabeth Tully said that there had been “a lot more foot traffic coming this far up the street” and that it’s been great for the business so far.
“As far as I know, everybody on the street has been really excited about it and we’ve had a good experience so far,” Tully said.
Rep. Tricia Cotham, the NC House member from Charlotte, shocked state political observers last week when she decamped from the Democratic Party — under which she won both a primary last May and a general election just five months ago — to join the Republicans.
It’s seismic. Her defection gives Republicans a supermajority in both the House and Senate, able to override Gov. Cooper’s veto without having to make deals with the other side.
So often in North Carolina, our representative government comes down to just one person.
Let’s put aside, for a moment, Cotham’s betrayal to a party she has belonged to her whole life. And forget about the Democrat voters in District 112 who put her through her primary and elected her to the seat as a counterweight to GOP overreach that has plagued the NC Legislature for almost 25 years. That part, stunning in its duplicity, has been well covered by now.
And forget for a moment that this is political suicide — if, that is, she plans on running in District 112 again, where as a Democrat in 2022 she won by 20 points. This is a solidly blue district, and she should expect no loyalty from voters who, rightly, feel burned.
Let’s look instead to the glee with which the Republican caucus has welcomed Cotham, who until now has been an avid supporter of women’s choice, LGBTQ+ issues and voter rights — anathema to the modern NC GOP.
The hypocrisy is astounding. Rank-and-file Republicans in NC consider Sen. Thom Tillis to be a RINO, and have vowed to primary out all moderate voices in the party. Ironically, one of Cotham’s reasons for leaving the Dems was that they had become too rigid in their thinking, that they wanted to “control” her. To seek refuge from this by allying with a party that embraces election deniers, insurrectionists, white supremacists and fascists seems… insincere.
No matter to House Speaker Tim Moore, who welcomed Cotham to the party like a returning hero, and proceeded to file a flurry of legislation: six bills targeting transgender North Carolinians. Cotham will be tested right away as they make their way through the House. No matter how she votes, neither side will ever be able to trust her again.
by Sayaka Matsuoka
On Tuesday, April 18, nationally-acclaimed author and NC native, Brendan Slocumb will be visiting Bookmarks in Winston-Salem for the national launch of his new novel, Symphony of Secrets. In it, a music professor investigates the work of a famous composer who may have stolen his pieces from Josephine Reed, a Black, Jazz Age prodigy.
Slocumb was raised in Fayetteville and holds a degree in music education, with concentrations in violin and viola, from the UNCG. He’s also taught music at public and private schools for more than 20 years, and has performed with orchestras throughout Northern Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC. His debut novel, The Violin Conspiracy, was one of the most anticipated novels of 2022.
Q A Q A
What would you like to start by talking about?
My newest book, Symphony of Secrets, I’m really excited about. It’s a story that I don’t think too many people are aware of. It’s very relevant today. It takes place partly in 1920 and the other half is in the present day. It tackles some really important and ongoing issues.
Tell me about some of those issues and what does your research process look like?
I am a stickler for accuracy just because as a reader or if i’m watching a movie or something, when things are just a little bit off, I’m like, C’mon, you really could have taken a little bit more time and gotten that together. So, I know I can be very critical so I’m looking at it through the writing with a critical eye. With the research for the 1920s I looked up not only music styles but clothing styles and meals, what people would eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner, where they would work, how much they would make, what segregation was like during those days. Even for women, what were women out in the workforce doing. Everything that was going on at the time I wanted it to be reflective in the story.
What were some of the more surprising things that you found through your research?
A
One of the things that really stood out to me was the amount of money that the music publishers made off of musicians, songwriters and performers. They would be paid pennies for these songs that everyone around the world
that would be singing and dancing to. A lot of them would be destitute because they could not live off of what they were paid for their work. It’s been happening for a really long time and it’s a real thing.
Q A
This book has a 100-year time gap. What parallels or differences do you see between the different eras that you’re writing about?
In my experience, it is prime for minority writers now. I don’t necessarily like to use the word minority, but for stories that we have to tell from our own perspective, the time is perfect for that. People are really receiving those well. Whereas, the parallels for Symphony of Secrets at least, you couldn’t as an Asian-American person or a Black-American person, you could barely go to the library let alone write a book that would be well-received around the world and I feel very optimistic because things are changing and that’s great. People say we live in a racist country and this and this, but you take a look at where we’ve come from and where we are now, yes, there’s a long way to go, but progress is truly being made. Books like The Violin Conspiracy and Symphony of Secrets and all the other books that writers of color are putting out, it’s really opening up the eyes of the people who would not have necessarily thought, This is a way of life for people, it’s not the same as mine; I never would have thought this had I not read this. So, I think some good is being done.
Has the landscape of performing or teaching classical music changed in your lifetime?
In terms of education, I think more people are accepting of musicians of color. I think people are seeing that more people are making names for themselves in traditionally white spaces, which is fantastic because we’ve been there the entire time. Whatever the reason is, I’m happy to see it. We’ve come such a long way. I’ve come from walking into a room and people thinking I’m the custodian to being a respected person who is going to conduct these difficult pieces of classical literature. We’re on the right path, I really truly believe.
It does seem like there’s been a shift. How does that inform how you approach teaching?
As far as education is concerned, you look at traditional classrooms, most of the teachers that you see for classical music or strings or band, are mostly white females. When I walk into a classroom I demand respect and attention just from my appearance. I think people are becoming more open to the idea that, Whoa this Black guy who looks very scary, he’s actually quite capable and he knows what he’s doing and I can learn something from him. I think people are softening their attitudes to atypical teachers, music education wise. I’m so happy to see more students of color in music and teachers as well. We bring a completely different perspective to teaching and I think it’s a different way of connecting.
You described yourself as ‘scary.’ Can you expound on that?
In my experience, when a Black man walks into a room, he’s there for one of two purposes: To cause trouble or to take out the trash. That’s been my experience. Just based on how we’re portrayed on TV and in the movies, you’re a gangster, or a thief, or a basketball player. You can’t do anything educational or non-traditional Black men roles. So when I walk in I never change who I am regardless of where I’m going. I’m still going to show my tattoos, I’m still going to wear my earrings, I’m still going to be myself, I just happen to be a Black man. I’m completely capable and qualified to teach at a very, very high level. I just happen to be Black. I’m glad people are looking past my skin tone to actually give me an opportunity based on what I can do and not just what I look like.
Do you ever feel pigeonholed or tired of being labeled as a Black writer or Black musician?
I used to, but I realized that we’re all human and our race is part of our identity. But once people have read what it is that I’m talking about and see me, I don’t think they see a Black man, I think they see someone who has a story to tell and it’s an interesting story from a perspective that they’re completely unaware of. And for a lot of people that’s very eye opening. You see that hard exterior melt.
I know you went to UNCG and know the area. Are there places in the Triad you like to hit when you’re here?
I’m a huge breakfast guy so I will eat breakfast for breakfast, lunch and dinner so I’m a huge fan of Tex and Shirley’s. I’m totally going there when I come into Winston, I’m going there just to eat.
Life was never the same once the cameras stopped rolling. For some documentary subjects, the films led to instant celebrity and a sense of status. Others, however, dealt with the negative emotional impact of having their life’s most traumatic moments exposed to and criticized by the public.
“I can’t describe how painful it is to relive my mom’s death over and over again,” says Margie Ratliff, the daughter of Michael Peterson.
In 2004, Ratliff and her family were the subjects of The Staircase, a popular docuseries based in Durham that covers the trial of Peterson, who was convicted of murdering his wife Kathleen Peterson in 2003.
Through interviews with documentary participants, filmmakers and film critics, Subject takes a harrowing look at the lives of subjects of well-known documentaries as they give firsthand accounts of living life under the microscope and the chaotic aftermath.
“The subject is now being given a chance to reveal what is not revealed in the film and their own experience of it,” says filmmaker Kirsten Johnson. In a little more than an hour and a half, Subject manages to shed light on a variety of documentaries ranging in topics, but mainly focuses on the subjects of a select few. Arthur Agee, from a poor neighborhood in Chicago, dreamed of making it to the NBA and starred in Hoop Dreams (1994) after being recruited to play basketball at a predominantly white high school in Westchester, Illinois. Cinematographer Ahmed Hassan speaks of a personal responsibility as a protestor documented the events of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution in The Square (2013) The Egyptian media was ecstatic when The Square was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature during the 86th Academy Awards, offering him money and interviews. But when those who Hassan protested against watched the film, everything changed.
“Now, Egypt is so dark,” Hassan says. “I cannot use my camera. I’m not safe.”
Subject also stars Mukunda Angulo, one of seven homeschooled children indefinitely confined to a small Manhattan apartment by their father, only
leaving for the occasional and strictly-supervised family trip. The Wolfpack (2015) shows what happens when Angulo and his six brothers defy their father and truly experience the outside world and social situations for the first time.
During the course of the film, Margie Ratliff speaks of the inability to move on from the events in The Staircase because others won’t let them go. Filmmakers found the events and media frenzy of The Staircase (2004) so interesting it led to two additional works — The Staircase (2018) on Netflix and The Staircase (2022) on HBO Max. When “Game of Thrones” star Sophie Turner was cast to play Ratliff in the HBO Max version, and she was asked to discuss the role with Turner, Ratliff knew then her experience was taken as a joke.
“So you want me to talk about the most traumatic points in my life that I have spent decades in trauma therapy over with an actress who then gets paid to play me?” Ratliff says in the documentary.
Ratliff didn’t end up participating in the HBO version.
The film also features filmmakers and critics who discuss the cultural impact of documentaries and why the people in the stories should be the same ones who tell them.
According to filmmaker Assia Boundaoui, directors fail to think about how subjects are later affected by appearing in documentaries and the repercussions of having distressing or personal experiences exploited.
“There’s like this unspoken agreement that the subject will never talk about the process of being in the film,” she says.
As Subject shows, some rules are made to be broken.
Subject is screening for free at Reynolds Place Theatre April 22 @ 4 p.m. as part of this year’s Riverrun Film Festival. After the screening there will be a panel discussion with Arthur Agee from Hoop Dreams about the ethics of documentary filmmaking. Sponsored by the Wake Forest University Documentary Film Program.
In Subject, those interviewed for popular documentaries like Hoop Dreams, get a second chance to tell their stories.
BY CAROLYN DE BERRY
The annual division of eggs, Dunleath neighborhood.
by Matt Jones
Across
1. Gemini star
7. Tour guide
14. “Is Anybody Goin’ to San ___?” (1970 #1 country hit)
15. Like 18K or 22K, relatively
17. It’s sung in French and set in Spain
18. Fenced
19. Language spoken in “The Passion of the Christ”
21. Suffix with Senegal or Sudan
22. Hardware acronym
23. C8H17 radical
24. Uracil carrier
26. “___ good you let him know” (Hamlet quote)
28. Lindsey of “Pretty Little Liars”
29. Alaska natives
31. Hill affirmations
32. It branches into Ulster and Dublin accents
35. Lasso handler?
37. They come to a point near your field of vision
38. Etonic rival
39. Corrupt
40. Undisputed
44. Subject of some terraforming proposals
46. Actor Sheridan who plays Cyclops
47. Word after rap or flow
48. “Tarzan” actor Ron
49. Role, figuratively
51. Silence, in a way
53. Costal enclosures
56. Rabbit creator
57. Mars option
58. Decreasing figure?
59. Hohe ___ (Cologne shopping locale)
60. Devices that displayed numbers
Down
1. Tropical beans
2. Revolting type, old-style
3. Levels
4. Director with a memeworthy Mark
5. “You Can’t Stop the Reign” rapper
6. Santoni who played Poppie on “Seinfeld”
7. Abbr. on bottles of beer
8. Times associated with availability
9. Those, in Toledo
10. Black listing
11. Gym instructor’s deg.
12. Musical character who sings “I swear on all my spores”
13. One of Chaucer’s Canterbury pilgrims
16. Involve
20. Some strength-training enthusiasts
25. “Whenever”
27. Throws a sleeper then touches the ground, essentially
29. Went for the silver, perhaps
30. Ganon, to Link
33. Family surname in current TV
34. “... the giftie ___ us”: Burns
35. Field items that follow an arc
36. Barely
37. Underground experts
41. Add new padding to
42. “Mr. Belvedere” costar Bob
43. They’re real knockouts
45. Zulu warrior king
47. Toyota model rebooted in 2019
50. Forever and a day
52. Laugh line
54. “Proud Mary” band, briefly
55. Dir. from Iceland to Ireland
LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS:
‘Running Free’ — more words, words, words.© 2023 Matt Jones © 2022 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@jonesincrosswords.com)
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As a Certified Transformational Health and Life coach, the most challenging question I have ever asked myself and other women is: “What do you want?”
This question is challenging because many women, including me, tend to suppress our desires and wishes. This is because we worry about what others will think of us if we express our true passions or disbelief that our desires will never come to fruition.
We have dedicated much of our time and energy to raising our children and building a family, whether working full-time or staying home. Yet, our focus and intentions have always been centered around our children and family.
However, it is important to remember that it is never too late to discover what we truly want in life. It is okay to prioritize and pursue our desires and needs with passion and determination.
I want to introduce you to the 7-Day Journey to ME Journal to make it easier for you to answer this question.
The Journey to ME, Empty Nesters Journal, is an excellent way to reconnect with yourself and create a roadmap to your new vision and new you.
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gulnarahealthcoach@gmail.com | facebook.com/gulnara2019
