Under the baobab: Centre Film Festival, other recent events put Centre County in spotlight
Congratulations to interim head coach Terry Smith and the Penn State football team for their resounding win over Michigan State. It was PSU’s first Big Ten win this season. Running back Kaytron Allen had a career day, with 181 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Bowl eligibility is still possible if the Lions win their last two games.
Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams are undefeated. The No. 5 ranked men’s and No. 6 ranked women’s hockey teams are still cruising along in the top ten. PSU’s NCAA 2024 National Champion women’s volleyball are still ranked in the top 25. Penn State’s wrestling team under Cael Sanderson’s leadership continues to set the bar for national and international excellence. We Are ...
Elsewhere in the community, the 7th Annual Centre Film Festival, guided by the steady hands of artistic director Pearl Gluck, was held last week in various locations including The State Theatre in State College, Rowland Theatre in Phillipsburg, UEC Theatres 12, Tempest Studios, Websters, 3 Dots, the Palmer Museum, Foster Auditorium and the Carnegie Cinema. The festival’s executive producers are: PSU Bellisario College of Communications, The Happy Valley Adventure Bureau, Rowland Theatre, Scholar Hotels, and the State College Borough.
Centre Film Festival’s inaugural Keystone Visionary Award was presented to State Senator Camera Bartolotta for her leadership and commitment to workforce development. Sen. Bartolotta serves on the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Pittsburgh Film Office board of trustees and the Pittsburgh Ballet board of trustees.
Don Roy King was presented with the Lifetime Achievement award. King helmed 16 seasons of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” earning 11 Primetime Emmys out of 16 nominations, and 16 DGA nominations — winning seven of them. He received two additional Emmys, including one for directing “The Mike Douglas Show.”
Jerrie Johnson, a 2016 graduate of PSU School of Theatre, received the Chandler Living Legacy Award for their innovative, culture-shaping work in film, TV and theater. Johnson is acclaimed for her acting and writing on the hit Netflix series “Harlem.” At the closing night ceremonies all three award winners were interviewed by Fritz Smith, Steve Broadnax, and Don’s daughter, director Cameron King.
The Center for The Performing Arts at Penn State hosted a nearly sold-out production of the Broadway touring show of “Six” at the Eisenhower Auditorium. We were privileged to see the pre-Broadway production in Chicago. After surviving a premature COVID closing, the musical has grown and blossomed into a delightful, entertaining spectacle.
The School of Theatre presented a timely and relevant production of “Antigone,” which interrogates the uneasy relationship between law and the tyranny of human whimsy.
The Mid-State Literacy Council’s 11th Annual Book Fair will be held this weekend. Featured presenters include: Dr. Carline Crevecoeur, Matt Maris, Ashley Kraige, Terry Lee Watson, Michel Lee Garrett, Nicole Felker, David Whitmarsh, Zach Lorber, Leslie Beers, Chelsea Wall, and the council’s executive director, Bridget Schell. This year’s theme is: “Broadening Perspectives: Expand Your Mind, One Page at a Time.”
Ken Burns, America’s guru, is premiering “The American Revolution” on WPSU. The series is the origin story of our Republic. Along with “Roots” and Burns’ “The Civil War,” this six part, 12-hour documentary is essential viewing for anybody who wants to know who we are and how we got this way. We are fortunate to be able to support a local public radio and TV station.
In remembrance
I was not a fan of former Vice President Dick Cheney’s politics. We roasted our marshmallows in different camps. Yet this week we sat around the same campfire. I watched his state funeral, which included Presidents Biden and Bush and all the living past VP’s, Republicans and Democrats. It was a dignified ritual which should remind us, that all of us are the people.
Rest in peace Mr. Vice President and our beloved Mimi Barash Coppersmith, whose celebration of life was held last weekend. May flights of angels sing you both to your rest.
Charles Dumas is a lifelong political activist, a professor emeritus from Penn State, and was the Democratic Party’s nominee for the U.S. Congress in 2012. He is a Lions Paw honoree. He lives in State College with his wife and partner of over 50 years.