Film
On campus, The Stanford GSB Black Alumni Association in partnership with The Stanford GSB Hispanic Alumni Association will be hosting a screening of “Dear White People,” followed by a Q&A session with director Justin Simien and filmmaker Spike Lee (“Do the Right Thing”). The event will take place on Friday, January 30, in Cemex Auditorium at 6:00 p.m. Doors will open at 5:45.
There will be an information session regarding the application procedures for arts grants this Wednesday at Harmony House from 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. University representatives will be discussing how to write successful grants and resumes.
Off campus, the Aquarius Theatre in downtown Palo Alto is now screening “Still Alice.” “A moving portrait of an Alzheimer’s patient,” the film is, according to staff critic Madelyne Xiao, a well-crafted film with a stunning turn by Julianne Moore in the film’s lead role.
Photo by Linda Kallerus, courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.
In addition, Xavier Dolan’s “Mommy” will be opening in select cinemas in San Francisco, Berkeley and Marin. The film, set in the near future, tracks the relationship between a hyper-violent adolescent and his loving, but ultimately overwhelmed, mother. After premiering at Cannes last May, the film made its way to the Toronto International Film Festival, where film critic Will Ferrer had the chance to view the film, placing it on his annual top five list. Though “Mommy” did not make the Academy’s foreign language film shortlist, it is most definitely worth the trip downtown.
Theater
This week, don’t miss Stanford Theater Lab’s production of “The Woolgatherer,” directed by Ouree Lee. “The Woolgatherer” is a comedy about the dysfunctional interactions between Rose, a peculiar store clerk, and Cliff, a rambunctious truck driver. It performs at 8 p.m. at Roble Theater on January 29, 30 and 31. Find more information here and get your free tickets at tinyurl.com/WGTickets.
Hillel will be hosting “The Mitzvah Project” on Monday, January 26 at 7 p.m. This free event combines a one-person play with a lecture with a reception to provide a conversation exploring the Jewish experience during the Second World War. More information is available here.
Maria Bamford, of “Benched” and “Arrested Development” fame, will be performing at CEMEX auditorium at 8 p.m. tomorrow evening, a co-sponsorship between the Stanford Storytelling Project and the ITALIC program. Admission is free and doors open at 7:30 p.m. More information is available here or at storytelling.stanford.edu.
On Thursday, January 29 at 5:30 p.m., Stanford Live welcomes Bill T. Jones, the MacArthur “genius grant” recipient and Tony Award-winning choreographer (“Still/Here”; “Spring Awakening”; “Fela!”) for a conversation with Prof. Harry Elam, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education. You can learn more and RSVP to the free event here.
Music
The Stanford Symphony Orchestra will be performing “The Planets” by Gustav Holst at Bing Concert Hall next Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m.. Students gain free admission with their SUID. If 20th century English music is not your thing, head up to San Francisco, where you can hear the SF Symphony perform Mozart and Bach at Davies Symphony Hall this Thursday through Saturday. And if you’re craving to hear even earlier music, the Music Department will be hosting a free concert featuring works of composers who influenced Bach and performed with period instruments by Mensa Sonora California. It will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, January 27 at Memorial Church.
Off campus, garage rocker Ty Segall will be playing at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco on Thursday and Friday night (Jan. 29 and 30). If you’re looking for a ’90s grunge throwback, Bush will be headlining at the Nob Hill Masonic Center in the city on Friday as well. And for pop fans, Sam Smith will be crooning at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium on Saturday (Jan. 31).
Visual Arts
“She Who Tells a Story” opens this week at Cantor Arts Center, an exhibit showcasing the work of 12 female photographers from Iran and the Arab world whose work addresses the issue of representation and identity in the Middle East. The exhibit will be on show every day from January 28, 2015 through May 4, 2015.
Contact the Arts & Life editors at arts ‘at’ stanforddaily.com.