Hoboken Library Staff Picks

So in past Junes I’ve written about some amazing LGBT authors and biographies of some of my favorite LGB actors, for this year’s post I wanted to blog about some films that look at LGBT families from a variety of backgrounds.  All are available for streaming from Hoopla for Hoboken Public Library resident card holders and other BCCLS members.

Romeo Romeo

Romeo Romeo, a short documentary from 2012, looks at the lives of Jessica Casano-Antonellis and Lexy Casano-Antonellis as they struggle to conceive.  The Romeo in the title refers to the son they are desperately hoping for.  Romeo Romeo is sometimes funny and other times heartbreaking.  Many of their difficulties will be relatable to any couple who has struggled with issues of fertility and both the emotional and financial costs that occur.  Romeo Romeo gave me a deeper understanding of what couples or individuals who are going through treatments like IVF go through both procedurally as well as personally.  Every time the couple took a pregnancy test I found myself hoping along with them that it would come back positive.  It was heartwarming to see their friends and family showing their support.  Lexy has a pretty singing voice and works part time as a performer so her lovely vocals are featured throughout Romeo Romeo.  You can see an interview with the director Lisa Gottlieb here.

Chutney Popcorn

In Chutney Popcorn, Reena, played by Nisha Ganatra, leads a comfortable life working in a salon creating intricate henna designs, riding her motorcycle, and spending time with her spunky girlfriend.  Then when her recently married sister learns she is infertile, Reena decides to act as surrogate, throwing her life in to chaos as first her sister decides she might not want the baby after all and then her girlfriend breaks up with her.  Nisha Ganatra also directed, co-wrote, and produced the film. More recently Ganatra directed several episodes of the ground breaking series Transparent about a family’s evolution as they learn one of their members is transgender.  Playing Reena’s girlfriend Lisa is Jill Hennessy, who you might remember as Jordan Cavanaugh, in one of my favorite procedurals from the early 2000s Crossing Jordan.  Notable Indian actress, Madhur Jaffrey, gives perhaps the best performance of the movie as Reena’s mother, who slowly learns to embrace her daughter’s orientation.  I remember watching this film in college back when it came out in 1999.  Re-watching Chutney Popcorn recently, it was fun to flash back to 90’s fashion.  It was jolting, however, to realize that just 15 years ago that Reena’s announcing to her mom that she wouldn’t be getting married because she was gay seemed like something that at the time might always be true and made me realize how far LGBT Rights have come.  Check this out for a sweet story that shows the power of love and family.  Chutney Popcorn is also available to borrow on DVD for BCCLS members.

Any Day Now

As mentioned in last year’s Pride Month post, Alan Cumming is one of my favorite actors so I was interested to check out Any Day Now, a film where he portrays part of a gay couple who take in a child with Down syndrome after the teen’s mom goes to jail.  Despite the love and support they provide, they face legal challenges due to prejudice against their relationship.  Although set in the late seventies/early eighties as a period piece, the original script for Any Day Now had actually been written over 30 years before the movie was made by Emmy winning Screenwriter George Arthur Bloom, who was inspired by a real story.  Travis Fine, who also directed Any Day Now did some rewriting, but the “heart and soul of [his] screenplay remain as the anchor to the movie,” according to Bloom (you can see an interview with him here).  The movie has a powerful message about justice and equality, but the strong performances of the actors help it rise above simply didacticism.  Alan Cumming gives an amazing performance as Rudy Donatello, a singer and sometimes drag performer, who shows heart and courage when facing a biased world.  Garret Dillahunt performance as his partner Paul, is much quieter, but still conveys great emotion.   Any Day Now is also available on DVD from the Hoboken Public Library and other BCCLS libraries.

-Written by Aimee Harris, Head of Reference

I am very excited that on Saturday May 7 Barbara Freiberg will be coming to do a program at the Hoboken Public Library for our library patrons ages 13 and up about one of my favorite artists, Frida Kahlo.  Freiberg will be talking about Kahlo’s interesting life and teaching students to create their own still life drawings based on Kahlo’s style.  Space is limited for the class, but the library has a variety of books, movies, and more that you can check out even if you aren’t able to participate.  Plus you can also join us for a series of Wednesday morning art classes with Liz Cohen.  See our Eventbrite page for more details and to RSVP.

Frida

I still remember how excited I was going to see the 2003 film, Frida, directed by Julie Taymor in the theater.  I was captivated by Salma Hayek’s passionate performance as the legendary artist throughout her life.  Check it out at HPL and other BCCLS libraries.

The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo

Image via Popscreen

This documentary directed by Amy Stechler celebrates Kahlo as not only a great artist, but also a strong woman who overcame many obstacles in her personal life and as a Latina.  The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo is narrated by actress Rita Moreno. Mexican-American singer Lila Downs provides the voice of Kahlo.  It includes interviews with Kahlo’s students as part of its special features. Check it out from HPL and other BCCLS libraries.

Frida Kahlo’s Garden, Edited by Adriana Zavala, Mia D’Avanza, and Joanna L. Groarke

If like me, you missed seeing the New York Botanic Garden’s Frida Kahlo exhibit last fall, which included a display of Kahlo paintings and recreated her famed garden and studio at the Casa Azul, in Mexico City, you can still visit in book form with Frida Kahlo’s Garden, which looks at how plants and nature inspired Kahlo through a series of essay, photographs, and illustrations.  Check it out from HPL and other BCCLS libraries.

Beauty is Convulsive: The Passion of Frida Kahlo, by Carole Maso

For a highly original look at Kahlo’s life check out Carole Maso’s prose poem Beauty is Convulsive.  Maso pays particular attention to how Kahlo’s disabilities first from polio as a child and then a tragic bus accident caused her physical pain which she was able to channel into transcendent art.  Check it out from HPL and other BCCLS libraries.

Frida, by Jonah Winter and illustrated by Ana Juan

Frida, a colorful picture book, will charm you and your children.  Winter gives a biographical account of Kahlo’s life illustrated by Juan in a style and with symbols capturing Kahlo’s spirit.  Your own little artist will be inspired.  Check it out from HPL and other BCCLS libraries.

Viva Frida!, by Yuyi Morales

Yuyi Morales’s uses only simple text in Spanish and English, but the lively photographs using dolls and cutouts will ignite your child’s imagination in the picture book, Viva Frida!  Available in print from HPL and on Hoopla as a video picture book.
Frida & Diego: Art, Love, Life, by Catherine Reef

It is impossible to discuss Frida Kahlo without mentioning Diego Rivera, other than art, the greatest love of her life.  Rivera was also a great artist and was well known for his murals, which captured the lives of the average working class Mexican.  Teens will enjoy this biography that looks at both great artist and their passionate and turbulent romance.  It is recommended by School Library Journal for grades 7 and up.  It is available in in the HPL YA department.

Frida Kahlo And Diego Rivera: Their Lives and Ideas, 24 Activities

If you are a homeschooler or simply looking for fun artistic learning activities for your child on a rainy day, check out this Hoopla title that looks at the life and art of Kahlo and Rivera and gives idea for activities like painting self-portraits in Kahlo’s style, making a Day of the Dead ofrenda, and crafting an Olmec head carving.  It will have your kids thinking about art in a new way.

Milestones of Art: Frida Kahlo: Viva Mexico, by Willi Bloess

You can check out a graphic novel adaptation of the life of Kahlo written and illustrated by Willi Bloess on Hoopla.  If you enjoy his work about Frida Kahlo, you can also check out his comic adaptations of other great artists including Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh, Keith Haring, and Andy Warhol.

La Casa Azul: Inspired by the Writing of Frida Kahlo, by Sophie Faucher, translated by Neil Bartlett

Quebeçois playwright Sophie Faucher not only wrote La Casa Azul, but also played the role of Frida in the early 2000’s.  You can read Faucher’s dramatic interpretation of Kahlo’s life using some of Kahlo’s own thoughts from her diaries and letters on Hoopla.

Women Artists and the Surrealist Movement, by Whitney Chadwick

Although there are more recent works on Surrealism, this continues to be my favorite work about the genre.  It will be of interest for not only its section on Frida Kahlo, but also if you would like to learn about other female surrealist artists who were her contemporaries; two of my other favorites are Leonora Carrington and Leonor Fini.  Available from BCCLS libraries.

-Written by Aimee Harris, Head of Reference