Film Fest Finale Filled with Fun Surprises
Indian director Nagesh Kukunoor accepted PSIFF’s Mercedes-Benz Audience Award for his film “Lakshmi.” (Photo by Pat Krause)
By Pamela Price PALM SPRINGS – The Closing Night Gala for the 25th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) on Sunday, Jan. 12, at the Palm Springs High School Auditorium began with a bang. The event opened with the announcement the an Indian film featured in the festival, “Lakshmi,” which was presented in Hindi with English subtitles and was making its world premiere, was the recipient of the Mercedes-Benz Audience Award for best film in the festival. Nagesh Kukunoor, the film’s director, was en route to the airport when he was informed of the good news. He made a U-turn and headed to the high school, where he said he was “thrilled” to accept the honor.
According to Therese Hayes, who has served as PSIFF’s Asian film programmer for 17 years, “Lakshmi” was the best of the fest’s top five film entries. “The story addresses the 44,000 children abducted every year in India, where they end up in the sex trade,” she noted. Another unexpected announcement turned the spotlight on the U.S. premiere of the comedy “Cupcakes” (Israel/ France), which was added to the Best of the Fest agenda and screened the next day — marking the official conclusion of this year’s prestigious event. The Closing Night Gala included a screening of “Le Week-End,” in which Paris becomes a playground / battleground for an academically inclined English couple on the
brink of making changes in their relationship. “It reminded me of an updated version of ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf?,’” said local author Grace Robbins. This year, in all, 191 films from 60 countries were screened — including 46 of the 76 foreign language entries for the 2014 Academy Awards (Whose nominations will be announced Thursday, Jan. 16). “It’s been a tremendous year for the festival, capped by record numbers of attending filmmakers and filmgoers,” said Darryl Macdonald, PSIFF director. Media impressions made by the event hovered around a billion globally. While its reputation as an international “star” has never been in doubt, Palm Springs, at long last —thanks to PSIFF — has received its close-up.
Lecture Extolls Benefits of Activity vs. Aging
By Larry Jameson PALM DESERT – “Staying Active into Your 90s and Avoiding the Things that Shorten Life” is the theme of a lecture by Cal State San Bernardino kinesiology professor Terry Rizzo at CSUSB’s Palm Desert Campus on Saturday, Jan. 25. The lecture will ask and answer the questions most frequently asked by mature adults about staying active as a means of living well into their 90s and beyond. Rizzo will discuss how a significant body of research evidence indicates that physical activity or structured exercise has a major role in shaping many of the changes — physical, psychological, social and cognitive — that occur across the life span. The federal Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention estimates that between one-third and one-half of Americans older than 50 years do not engage in leisure-time physical activity. Many reasons contribute to this unfortunate statistic; among them is simply a lack of information about the relevance and application of the importance of exercise as we age. A highly-respected, awardwinning kinesiology professor at Cal State San Bernardino, Rizzo says his professional mission is to use his “passion and commitment to promote programs associated with health, physical activity, recreation and dance for all individuals across the life span.” Rizzo is the only person to win both of Cal State San Bernardino’s top faculty
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awards in the same year — the Outstanding Professor Award for excellence in teaching, research and service, and the Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching. Serving in his 18th year as chair of CSUSB’s kinesiology department, Rizzo has been active in national and regional organizations, including serving as president of the California Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance; president of the National Consortium for Physical Education for Individuals with Disabilities; and member of the board of directors of the American Kinesiology Association. He was also editor of “Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly,” the leading international rehabilitative sciences journal. The lecture will take place at 2 p.m. in the campus’s Oliphant
Prof. Terry Rizzo of Cal Stat Bernardino will conduct a lecture on healthy aging at CSUSB’s Palm Desert Campus Jan. 25. Auditorium, located at 37-500 parking. Reservations are Cook Street. Admission is $5 not required. cash at the door and includes
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January 15, 2014
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