S1: It's time for KPBS Midday Edition. On today's show. The arts and culture shaping San Diego. I'm Jade Hindman with conversations that keep you informed and inspired and make you think. Hear what's happening at the Filipino-American Friendship Festival. Then our movie critics give a review of The Odyssey. Plus , your weekend preview. That's ahead on Midday Edition. So for the last six years , the Filipino American Friendship Festival has commemorated the signing of the Treaty of Manila , an act that freed the Philippines from U.S. colonial rule. While this Saturday , it's happening at Liberty Stations , NTC Park festival organizer Joann fields is here to tell us all about it. She's the government and public relations director for the Asian Pacific Islander Initiative. Also with us is Noemie Don't du Joplin. She's the producer for the documentary Love All. The film will also have a presence at the festival. Joanne. Noemi , welcome. Thank you for having us. So glad to have you both here in studio. Um , so listen. The Tree of Manila was signed on July 4th , 1946. Remind us of the significance of that day and why you wanted to commemorate it through this festival , Joanne.
S2: Well , it's like our Independence Day. We were once a territory of the United States , just like Puerto Rico and Guam currently are their territories. But when the Treaty of Manila was signed July 4th , 1946 , we gained our independence and became our own self-governing country , the Republic of the Philippines. So this history isn't taught. And as adults , where are you going to learn that we're not going to school anymore? It's definitely not being taught in school for our kids to learn. So that's why we want to commemorate this with all of San Diego and all the guests that are coming , because it's a teachable moment and it's a fun time because we also celebrate the accomplishments and contributions of Filipinos in San Diego.
S1: America recently commemorated 250 years since declaring independence from British rule. How are you thinking about that anniversary coming into this festival?
S2: Well , it it's amazing that That's 250 for the United States. And then our 80th anniversary for the Treaty of Manila. And , um , coming into this it again , it gives us a platform to share our history , our contributions , because many times when we say , Who's Asian? I hear Chinese , Japanese , Vietnamese , Pacific Islander , Native Hawaiian , Samoan , Tongan tomorrow , but not Philippines. And with this Treaty of Manila , our commemoration , um , it shows that we're resilient because Spain tried to rule us. Um , Japan tried to take us over the United States , try to govern us. So , um , there's a lot it's really packed with a lot of information , and I feel like it ties in because it's our Independence Day. And again , as adults , when are we going to learn this info? Exactly.
S1: Exactly. Um , there will also be a lot of important stories highlighted at the festival. Um , local ones , uh , including the Redondo families. They are the subjects of the Love All documentary. What can you tell us about the Redondo and their place in San Diego's Filipino community? Noemi.
S3: So Love All is the untold story of the Redondo family. There are Filipino-American tennis legends from National City. They rose to fame in the 1970s under the care and encouragement of their Filipina grandmother , mamita. And while this story is very much about extraordinary tennis players , it's really about something much bigger about family and resilience , identity , community and and sacrifice. And these are all experiences that a lot of Filipino American families can relate to.
S1: And we actually spoke with the director and one of the family members on midday earlier this month. How did you first get involved with the film?
S3: Well , I'm from San Diego. I was part of a well , I am part of a military family , just like many Filipino Americans in San Diego , raised in southeast San Diego. And so I really found my village and my voice as a leader through different clubs at Bell Junior High and Morse High School under the mentorship of my teachers , um , the late Guinan Lopez de lute , the late Guinan , Sally Ito's. And there I was able to really appreciate the culture and , um , and really , you know , appreciate just everything about being a Filipino-American. Um , I was fortunate enough that my parents kept us very connected to the Filipino community through clubs like the Beagle Club of San Diego and the Nga Buenos of Southern California , where I could appreciate the food and traditions and just the sense of community. So. Fast forward a few years. I found my love for filmmaking. I worked with 50ft² Productions and had known Matt and Sarah for a while , and they approached me with this project and I. I knew it was a no brainer because this really connected everything , um , that I was passionate about my Filipino heritage , filmmaking , and really uplifting the story that deserves to be remembered , right?
S1: And last year , you actually had a table set up , um , at this festival , and you met a whole lot of people , many of whom knew the family personally. What did you hear from them?
S3: You know , a lot of a lot of people who approached us gave us that. Oh , finally , this this family needs to be known. They have contributed so much not just to tennis , but to the entire landscape of San Diego community in general. And they are still very active in the community , and they have a service oriented heart. And so there was a lot of appreciation , um , and it was balanced with a lot of people who had no idea that we had our own Filipino-American representation in Wimbledon coming from National City. And , you know , a lot of people don't know that we have a Filipino-American in the San Diego Football Club. So these are things that we are so excited to have the story out and really just we want to bring it back to our community and to the to the region.
S1: And Joanne , the festival is the place to really springboard these these stories.
S2: Yes , absolutely. And I want to chime in with Walter Redondo , who you had here in the midday on news. He's also an artist and he is bringing one of his paintings. A ten by ten painting that will be in the middle of what we're starting as an art gallery. So we have live murals being made , one aerosol with our our friends from the Chavez Family Industries , and then doctor Joanne Phillips , who is an elder , and she owns a mural museum in Oceanside , and she's going to paint a live mural. So who knew? And this , it's all just coming together. And again , we're showcasing Filipino games. We have our Rhodes Scholars , Mayor Mesa High School students , and our Road Scholar program. They're going to teach Filipino games. That's how you preserve your culture and heritage and have fun. Yes , we'll have karaoke. Yes , we're going to line dance. Yes , we'll have food. But there's so much more to our community. And this is one place to , to to learn about it. And then you can do more fact finding. You can watch the documentary Love All on KPBS app. It's streaming now , but if you didn't know where to look , or if you didn't know there was this story , then um , it's a missed opportunity. But this is our opportunity to embrace our culture and share it with all of San Diego , because this is not just for the Filipino community. This is for the whole community to enjoy. It's a free family festival. All you have to do is bring your own chair. We say BYOB , bring your own money. Right? Uh , so , uh , it'll be a fun time. And it's for all ages.
S1: And it seems like community and friendship because this is the friendship festival that's like , central to this festival. Tell me a bit more about that and how , um , you're elevating that idea.
S2: Oh , um , just like I mentioned , we have the Chavez Family Industries , um , coming in to paint with us there. Um , they're showing friendship and relationship through art and their murals. We have line dancing with the Trunk Foundation and the Jarana Band , a Filipino band singing Spanish songs. We like to charge out. We like to , um , listen to Latin music and trunk Foundation , led by Ozzie Meneses. How fun is it that we might not speak the language together at all times , but we can dance to the same beat together and we love to dance , so these are just various ways that we can strengthen relationships. And and then also it's a reunion of sorts. Some people haven't seen each other for so long. And being at NTC Park , many Filipinos graduated boot camp there. They see each other and it's been decades since they've seen each other. So again , strengthening relationship , friendships , um , all convening on July 18th at NTC Park , Liberty Station.
S1: And why have you all chosen to hold this festival there? There's some significance there.
S2: Oh , absolutely. The history again , that many Filipinos. There's over 200,000. 17,000 Filipinos residing in the county of San Diego. They came. The majority came by way of the military. They went to boot camp at NTC Park. Logistically , it's great because our Filipino friends up north and mosquitoes. Oceanside , Escondido Mayor Mesa , they say Chula Vista National City is too far south and vice versa. National city , if you're from Palm City. Nestor. All the way. Cedro. Um , they're saying that's too far north if we go to Mayor Mesa or Peak. So it's the middle ground , and it's beautiful. You know , we have this Southern California weather and landscape. We need to enjoy the amenities. And it's right there historically at NTC.
S1: Yeah , absolutely. Yeah. No , I mean , what is the the theme of community and friendship mean to you?
S3: Well , I really found my my village in junior high in high school. And being with my , my friends who all had the same like mind of preserving the Filipino-American experience. And we did that through folk dance. It was , um , it was such a wonderful time to be coming up in , um , in San Diego and , um , this event , I'm really looking forward to seeing all the different spaces that Joanne and her incredible team have put together , including the storyteller space. Um , and , and just bringing people from many different backgrounds together and , and just celebrating culture and heritage and , and , um , just enjoying a really fun day of making new friends and and , you know , a beautiful San Diego summer day. Yes.
S2: Do you have a jeepney? I have to. I'm so excited to share that the Filipino workers center , they're bringing a jeepney. And that is the mode of transportation in the Philippines. But we have two coming locally , and the Filipino Worker Center is sponsoring that. So it's a great photo op. And it's a it's again , an opportunity to talk about our our history , our culture and , and tell the kids , like , if you haven't been to the Philippines , we're there. We're bringing pieces of the Philippines to you , including the food , like Porky's , lechon. Yeah.
S1: All of that. Yes. Let me ask you this question , because that is so important to to really teach the younger generation and will everybody about , you know , the history and the culture within the community. And it can't just be like with one event , right? So tell me about the efforts. You've got a documentary out. I mean , tell me about the efforts to to educate out that grow from this event.
S2: So I have a monthly networking luncheon. I learned that from Doctor Smith , the late Doctor Smith , Pastor Smith , Reverend Smith , um , when he had the Catfish Club. Well , in the Filipino community , we have the lumpia club lunch and it's networking and talking with our leadership , our decision makers , so that we can have a dialogue , um , about policies that impact us and give feedback so that we haven't had something like that before. So we have festivals , but you're not going to really talk about policy there or you're not going to go to a gala. Like what? Um , Noemi mentioned we have associations. My parents are from Muskegon , Pangasinan. You usually get together for an association Gala. You're not going to talk about policy there. But with this networking lunch and we have it every month now , we're able to engage and network. And again , not just for Filipinos , but there are a lot of Filipino professionals that attend. Um , and we we we can't talk. So our topic for next month is with the Port Commission. It just so happens the first Filipino port commissioner is Filipino doctor Gil Gabb. And he's going to talk about the national city balance plan and what are the business opportunities for the national city community , and how does that impact the whole San Diego port community , which entails five cities. So I know that was a mouthful , but it's us trying to engage.
S1: What cities?
S2: San Diego , Imperial Beach , Chula Vista , Coronado National city. Okay. Phew.
S1: You got it , man.
S2: I was afraid I might not mention one , but all those cities and until we had a voice there representation. Now we're feeling comfortable. How can we engage? How can we get small business participating at a port property? How can we have an event like the Philippine medical doctors now they host a carabao five K , and that's their platform to talk about health and wellness. And again we are just the springboard happening in July. Their event is on October. But we're going to collaborate with partnered and we're going to promote what's next in October.
S1: All right I've been speaking with Joanne Fields , festival organizer and government and public relations director for the API initiative , and Norman Dua , Dumplin producer for the documentary Love All. The Filipino American Friendship Festival takes place at NTC Park in Liberty Station this Saturday , July 18th. It'll run from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and it is free. We'll include more details on KPBS. Joanne. Noemi. Thank you so much.
S2: Thank you.
S3: Thank you. Jane.
S1: Still to come , our movie critics give a review of The Odyssey. KPBS Midday Edition is back after the break. Welcome back to KPBS midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman. Homer's epic poem The Odyssey is one of the oldest surviving works of literature , and it has remained popular over the millennia , inspiring all sorts of movies , shows and books. In fact , if you name your favorite story , chances are you can find some of the Odyssey's DNA in it. It tells the story of the Greek hero Odysseus and his journey home after the ten year long Trojan War. Well , this week , Christopher Nolan's epic Imax adaptation of the ancient tale arrives in theaters , and that's where Nolan wants you to watch his film. To discuss the film , we have once again gathered our midday movie's critics. KPBS Cinema Junkie Beth Accomando and movie Wallace podcaster Yazdi for Beth Yazdi. Welcome to you both.
S2: Thank you so. Much.
S4: Much. Thank you Jade.
S1: So let's begin with a little of the trailer for Christopher Nolan's Odyssey.
S5: Tell me what you remember.
S6: Oh , life. A son. We want a war. Help me! Go home.
S1: So , Yazdi , do you feel Nolan's film merits making the effort to see it on the big screen in Imax and 70 millimeter?
S4: Uh , the short answer is yes. I should say , though , that I'm not your typical fawning , you know , Nolan devotee. And I've found plenty to gripe about with his more recent films. But even so , there is no denying the majesty as well as , and this is the surprising part , the emotional heft of his latest , The Odyssey. Dare I say , this may be amongst Nolan's best films. Even an immediate improvement from his past films is the score for The Odyssey from Ludwig Göransson , and for once , there is no clanging , deafening background music that drowns out the dialogue. Hooray! Because that was an issue with a few of his last films , Nolan still cannot resist , though the needless back and forth in time through the entire running time of this film , which makes the first half hour of the film pretty hard to decipher. But having said all that , as far as pure cinematic achievement goes , first film shot entirely in Imax. The use of mostly practical effects over CGI and a three hour film shot almost exclusively on location , it is hard to deny the Odyssey its flowers.
S1: I mean , a full rundown there , Beth. What are your thoughts?
S7: I'm going back to my normal self of being a little more negative than Yasi , so I had really mixed feelings about this. I know you talked about like , the emotional heft , and that's the place where it fell short for me. I was impressed by the scale and the spectacle and the technical skill. I mean , it was impressive to see this on the big screen , but I never fully felt engaged in the emotional weight of the story. And while some have complained about the casting of Lupita Nyong'o as Helen of Troy because she's black and the cinematic image has always been of a blonde , fair skinned woman , this has been somewhat racist backlash towards her casting , which has been an unfair criticism of Nolan casting her in this role. But aside from that , I was upset about the casting of American actors Matt Damon and Anne Hathaway. As Greeks , it's not so much that they're not Greek , but they just did not strike me as the right people for these particular roles. And I had heard that Nolan had considered Tom Hardy for the role of Odysseus , and now that would have been a different film that I might have been able to embrace more fully. Robert Pattinson got it right as the kind of slimy villain , but for the two leads , I just wasn't as emotionally invested in them as I was hoping to be. And I did hear Nolan in an interview , and he was talking about how he was obsessed to make this movie from a very young age , and I was going like , oh , wow , you've loved Homer's The Odyssey this long? And then he said his obsession was making a film all in Imax. I feel like it was the format he was in love with at the age of 16. I thought he was going to say he was obsessed with this Greek story. So a lot of the promotion about the film , a lot of the discussion has all been about the logistics , how big it is , how epic it is , the technology that was used. And I just feel like maybe some of the emotional weight of the story got lost. Plus , for me , I felt like the film didn't give us much context to know what's going on. So who is Helen? Like? Why was this war fought? What's the role of the gods in this whole thing? I mean , they're kind of expecting us to know this from when we read these books back in , like , high school or something. But you're thrown into it , and I feel like he could have done better at that. And I think , Yazdi , when you're talking about the back and forth in time , the other thing about that is it doesn't help clarify a lot of those things. And we don't feel like it's this long journey , which is part of what the whole story is about. Like taking so long to return home when you're jumping about all the time. So I will say , I think he wanted this to sort of be a spiritual sequel to Oppenheimer , because Odysseus is a man who's carrying the weight of all this destruction that was caused through him during the Trojan War. But again , I just never felt like we knew enough about him to fully understand what Nolan wanted to make the film about. I do understand that he wanted to make it in 70 millimeter Imax and a movie grounded in the real world as much as possible , but for me , that just wasn't enough.
S1: You said that he didn't really explain , like why this war is fought , the role of the gods. Isn't that all though? Very like interpretive from one viewer to the next. That part of the story.
S7: I mean , how you see some of those things playing out can be interpretive on the part of the audience , but I think if you don't know why or what role Helen played in why the Trojan War was fought , then you're kind of at a loss for understanding. Like , why do these people hate each other? Why do they want to kill each other? Why are they willing to go to war? And in the story , the gods play a role in how all this plays out. I mean , one of the things about the gods that's so much fun in Greek mythology is they're like petty humans. Like , yeah , they are doing things because they want to mess with you or , you know , they've got personal vendettas and and those things play out in the context of that world. Whether you want to believe it's fate or that man has free will or anything like that , that's totally up to interpretation. And I don't even know how that plays out in this film.
S1: He didn't even explore it. No.
S7: No. Yeah.
S4: Yeah. No. And I think the movie does expect you to come with some prior knowledge , like you're never explained anything about Helen of Troy. I mean , she has very few scenes in the movie , hardly any. Likewise , people keep talking about Agamemnon and we don't really know how he sits within , you know , everything else. Maybe a Star Wars like feed at the start of the movie , which laid everything out , would have helped.
S7: Athena pops in now and again. But again , we don't understand , like her connection to him or to the story. Or , you know , they talk about Zeus's lore and how he's supposed to be telling the humans that you have to be kind to everyone because anyone could be a god , but those things are just dropped in there. I mean , it's not a part of the real fabric of the story. I just felt like his attention was elsewhere. Interesting.
S1: Interesting. Well , you you actually went to see this film with someone who. Who builds suits of armor? Yes. To get his take on how it works in the film.
S7: I thought it would be fun to go with someone who actually handcrafts armor to see a film where , you know , this is a part of the film. And so Jeffrey Hedgecock has 40 years of experience crafting armor very authentically to whatever time period he happens to be working in. He's done armor work on Army of Darkness , The Evil Dead film , and The Cell , and he does extensive historical research whenever he builds armor. And so he shared some thoughts with me about how armor can function in a film.
S8: Well , there's been a lot of talk about what the armor looks like online , and you can pick apart the historical accuracy of it , but it's a film. And for me , I always look at how the armor is used in the film and how does it help tell the story? How does it help develop the characters? What does it say about the characters? And of course , whether it is used in a way that signifies that the armor is indeed protection? If it's not protection , then it's just an article of clothing. The armor needs to help tell the story. Armor is usually under the subheading of the costume designer. It sort of falls between the cracks in the wardrobe department. It's usually considered specialty wardrobe. In any case , it really needs to help tell the story whether or not it's historically accurate. A movie is not a documentary. It's not there to tell us exactly the way things were. Just give us an impression of history and an impression of of how our ancestors lived.
S7: And he thought that the armor used for the Giants in the film was particularly effective , because it is used in part as a display of power and invincibility. But he did criticize. In The Battle of Troy , he said he got a little pulled out of the story because the Trojan armor couldn't protect them from the most basic weapon that was being used , which were bow and arrows. So he felt that it should have been more functional in that context. But , you know , the Trojan soldiers also looked very like washed out in these white grayish armor. And it was almost like Nolan had condemned them to death from the beginning. They were like spectres and spirits and ghosts from the time that the war started. So maybe it was costuming there and , you know , symbolically showing us these were all doomed to die.
S1: Had Nolan leaned more into the mystical , supernatural part of this?
S7: Maybe it would have worked better.
S1: It would have worked better. It would have. Well , Yazdi , I mean , how do you place this film in Nolan's filmography?
S4: So there's no mistaking that this is a Nolan film. All the usual Nolan isms. I hear there's no opening credits. We talked about this fuzzy back and forth in time , which really doesn't do this particular story in , you know , in particular , any justice. And then we have the sprawling cast with many new characters introduced fairly late in the plot. And as we've said before , so many of those characters are just left generally untethered with the rest of the plot. So it's hard to kind of get your arms around it. But I also think there is a certain maturity in storytelling here. Um , I'm not giving anything away by saying the last half hour of the movie is almost entirely devoted to more emotional beats compared to , you know , large scale action. Um , so I kind of did a did appreciate that. Um , many have taken a lot out of Homer's classic , but I was surprised that Nolan kind of highlighted the principle underlying theme of the Odyssey to be something quite unexpected , which is Odysseus's great guilt from having won a war that came at the cost of killing so many innocent people , as Beth mentioned earlier , this , curiously , was also the theme on his take on Oppenheimer. So it's interesting that Nolan continues to wrestle with , even as we have wars going on right now , he continues to wrestle with the price we pay with the people who die during wars. Having said all that , again , in terms of sheer scale , The Odyssey definitely trumps everything else that Nolan has done , which is saying quite a lot. And after finding his last few films to be somewhat hollow spectacles , I was hoping and praying that Nolan would go back to his roots and make smaller films such as Memento and The Following and Prestige. Instead , he made the biggest film of his career to date and , you know , to give credit where it's due. I think he did nail the assignment against all odds. Like Beth , I heard another interview with Nolan where he actually said that once he gets older , all he will be making is smaller films. And right now , while he has the energy and vigor he wants to make the big ones. so I understand that.
S7: Promises , promises. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. There's logic in that. Well , Beth , how does the Odyssey rank for you in Nolan's canon?
S7: All right , well , it hasn't changed my ranking of my favorite film. Memento still remains my personal favorite. I think that film was perfection. And that's where the nonlinear narrative , the breaking up of time , worked so well because it was so part of the character and part of the theme of the film. So that still is the pinnacle for me. I also love The Dark Knight , but I think that was more for Heath ledger , so I feel like Nolan is an extremely talented filmmaker , but I feel like the recent growth in scale of his films has meant that he sort of lost the intimacy , and I feel like he is a little more obsessed with that bigger picture aspect of it. And with the technology. I mean , I think he does love the , you know , the whole process of filmmaking. The technology used to bring that vision to life. But sometimes I do feel like he loses a little of the humanity along the way. Yeah , so I wasn't a big fan of like , Tennant or Inception or Interstellar , but The Prestige , Dunkirk and Memento at the top. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. Well , you know , the Odyssey , as you mentioned , it touches just touches on Greek mythology. This go around and but it's always been popular in movies. Do you have a favorite film you'd recommend as a companion piece or counterpoint to Nolan's film here?
S4: I'm a big fan of the clash of the Titans from 1981.
S9: Clash of the Titans the combat , the courage , the splendor.
S4: The spectacle which really embraces the fantastical elements of Greek mythology. It almost feels like the gods and humans are on the same playing field and the practical effects used in that film which which actually may even seem silly by current standards. They're extremely endearing , so I just love watching that movie. Anytime it's on television , I'll watch it. And I think this use of practical effects kind of harkens back all the way to Jason and the Argonauts from 1963 , which used impossibly clever practical effects from Ray Harryhausen , which stand up , you know , even to to this day. But one of Nolan's true achievements with his odyssey is that the fantastical elements of the plot are made quite realistic and inherently believable , even when you're dealing with things like the Cyclops or Sersi. And again , that speaks to the technical proficiency of what you see on the screen.
S1: All right , Beth.
S7: Well , I will second some of these choices here. The Ray Harryhausen films are absolutely my favorite. I am wearing my Ray Harryhausen Jason and the Argonauts shirt today. It glows in the dark to Jason and the Argonauts when I was a kid that totally captured my imagination. He used a stop motion animation to bring the harpies to life. These skeletons. All sorts of things. And they're fabulous. Plus , and Jason and the Argonauts. You have Pussy Galore herself. Honor Blackman as Hera , Queen of the gods. So those two remain my favorite in the world of Greek mythology. I know some people may , like , think they're a little silly in terms of the production values. I think they're magical. There's also Kirk Douglas in Ulysses , and I think that's also worth checking out as being , I think , a little more faithful to kind of the the narrative of Homer's original poem.
S9: Marvel at the tremendous spectacle of the Trojan War , Ulysses and his warriors springing from the mammoth wooden horse to overwhelm the walls of Troy , see Ulysses live his fantastic adventures again. Film where they actually happened 5000 years ago. The thousand and one thrills of Ulysses. The greatest of all adventurers. Mightiest of all warriors. Biggest of all motion pictures , Ulysses.
S7: But for well oiled Greek history and mythology , there are no better films than 300.
S6: This is Sparta.
S7: Perhaps the only Zack Snyder film I like , and Troy as a second , although it's less successful in that realm. And then I do want to throw out. I'm going to be like Yazdi. Today I'm going to throw in some extra stuff. My two offbeat suggestions are Xena The Warrior Princess , the TV series. I adored that show. And then Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits had an absolutely wonderful segment with Sean Connery as King Agamemnon.
S10: Where did you come from?
S11: I'm not sure.
S12: Who sent you. The gods. Zeus. Apollo. Athena.
S7: That is just a beautiful , so heartfelt section of that film.
S1: Interesting and well to go out. Yazd , India has a wealth of mythology to draw on. Can you recommend any films?
S4: Yeah , to get your cup of mythology. Indian Indian cinema is where you should go. And I think the most recent example is the Baahubali films. There were three of them in Sahadeva. Those films were made from the same director as RR , and all of those films can be watched right now on Netflix. But I should say that Indian cinema has been rife with films based on mythology from the very beginning. But the more recent films like Kantara from 2025 , Kalki from 2024 and Brahmastra Part one from 2022 have done a great job with using the available contemporary technology to create these incredible tales of tremendous dazzle , while still retaining the emotional strength of those antique stories. In fact , one of the most eagerly awaited Indian films this year is a retelling of the Ramayana , with some of the biggest names in Bollywood attached to it. And that film opens in November. So something to look forward to.
S7: And just an FYI for you. Ramayana has a panel on Thursday at Comic-Con next week , and the last time that India took the stage at the pop culture convention , it was pretty epic with live music and dance.
S1: All right , sounds great. The Odyssey opens tomorrow , which is Friday. Be sure to check for the Imax screenings. I'd like to thank our midday movie critics , Beth Accomando and Yazdi Beth Yazdi. Thank you so much.
S7: Thank you.
S4: Thank you.
S1: Still to come your weekend preview. When KPBS Midday Edition returns. Welcome back. You're listening to KPBS Midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman for our weekend arts preview. We have skateboarding culture on the border , Final Fantasy music , and a teenage girl genius on the 19th and the 19th century. Joining me with all the details is KPBS arts reporter and host of the finest podcast , Julia Dixon Evans. Julia , welcome.
S3: Hey , Jade. Thanks for having me.
S1: Glad to have you here , as always. So let's start with the skateboard art. Tell us about border crossings. Yeah.
S3: Yeah.
S13: So for listeners , it's spelled BOARDER like a skateboard. Um , and it's just opening this weekend at Centro Cultural de la Raza in Balboa Park , but it's part of a bigger project out of San Diego State University's Fred J. Hansen peace chair. Um , it's basically a love letter to the role of skateboarding culture right here on the border , and vice versa. The role of the border in skateboarding culture. Um , the literal skateboard itself , how it can bridge connections , community be part of this , like border exchange? Um , there's a ton of art involved in all of the art. Is is board based? Like made out of skateboards. There's 52 pieces , and they're divided between this , the San Diego exhibit and Balboa Park , and then a sister exhibit that says Sickert in Tijuana , and that exhibits up through the end of September. So you have time if you want to also go and check that one out. Artists include brisk , one , chick lit , Michelle Guerrero or Mr. B , Baby Panca , Seth Sullivan , known as the Art pusher , and then also Spencer Little. He makes these really incredible wire based sculptures. So I'm really curious to do what he is , to see what he does with the skateboard and a ton more. And it opens with a reception this Friday from 3 to 8 at Centro Cultural de la Raza.
S1: Yeah , sounds really cool. All right. At the radio show , the San Diego Symphony is celebrating the music of video games. So tell me more about that. That's interesting. Right.
S13: Right. And they have such great music. Yeah. This concert is called Distant Worlds Music from Final Fantasy. Um , this year is the 25th anniversary of one installment of that series , final Fantasy ten. This is a Japanese sci fi fantasy game series really revolutionized. Like the role playing video game genre , um , it debuted as as a franchise in 1987 , and music's always been a really big part of that game. Um , there are these themes that are shared across all of the different installments and like kind of variations , they have a prelude. There's the March and this weekend it's Friday night. The symphony is going to perform a bunch of the pieces from different Final Fantasy games. It's conducted by Arnie Roth , and they're bringing in Ricky , who's the original vocalist. He's saying on this piece , and CTE. Danny.
S14: Hey , dad.
S15: I'm making it back. Danny boy.
S13: So the performance is Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the Rady Shell downtown. And as with almost all concerts at the shell , you can just take a little walk on the public path during the conference or during the concert , and you can hear the music for free. Um , so if you're looking for a cultured way to kick off your Comic-Con week , there you go.
S1: And that is such a lovely thing to do. It's a walk on that path. Yeah , and catch the music. Um , there's also a unique production pairing the opera and ballet this weekend in the North County. Is that correct? Yeah.
S13: Yeah. So this is from Cin Valera Entertainment , their local opera and ballet company founded by two sisters just a couple years ago in 2023. And they're doing this weekend a one act opera by Puccini called IL Tabora , which means the cloak. And this piece is not actually performed very often. It's part of a triptych of other one act operas that he wrote. It's set on a river barge in Paris , where the lives of , like the dock workers and barge owners are entangled. There's romance , there's jealousy , there's betrayal. You gotta love it.
S16: This ain't broke romance with the. Chorus.
S13: And the way that this production is pulling this off is the first half of the show will be the opera. So co-founder and soprano Tiffany Brannon will play the part of the barge owner's wife , the lead. And then after an intermission , there's the ballet version. So the other co-founder , the other sister ballerina Rebecca Brennan , will take a turn with the leading lady. The performance is Sunday at 3 p.m. at California's Center for the Arts , Escondido.
S1: All right. And then Cygnet Theatre is opening a production of Arcadia. What do you know about that? Yeah.
S13: Yeah. So this is Tom Stoppard's play from 1993 , Arcadia. This play won the Laurence Olivier Award. It was also nominated for a Tony a couple years later. And it takes place in one single house across hundreds of years. So part of the story starts in the early 1800s. They're following this extremely smart teenage girl , Thomasina Cleverly. And the way that she made all of these observations that were like , super ahead of her time , like scientific observations. And we also then jump ahead to two centuries later as these researchers come to the House to try to unravel like the truth about who she was and what happened to her. The play just opened. This week it's in lower cost previews for a couple more days , and it will be up on stage at Cigna and Liberty Station through August 9th.
S1: Sounds fascinating. And here's a fun one for kids or anyone who loves libraries and zines. Yeah.
S13: Yeah. So this is this is. Yeah , DNA author Julie Fish. Um , they're coming to town on tour with a new graphic novel called The Froggy Library , and it's informed by their work studying both zine making and indigenous library studies. So in the book , we follow a young frog named Inara who gets a summer job working at the library near their grandmother's house and at the library. And Nora takes on this big archiving project. It's all about their little corner of the world , and we follow along as Honora learns about memory and community and what it means to archive. There's also like zine making in the book , like frogs in making I love that and Five Ashes having two events in San Diego libraries on Friday. Um , the first is 1 p.m. at Skyline Hills Branch , and then at 430 , they'll be at the Central Library downtown. And both events are free.
S1: All right. And finally , what's on your radar for live music?
S13: So there's a show at Soda Bar on Saturday. It's a solo show with Australian indie rocker Alex Lahey. Uh , her debut album , I Love You Like a Brother from 2017 , is one of my all time favorites. We're listening to a track from that album called Every Day Is the Weekend.
S17: My hands are cold on my feet and no one are you leaving me or if you just forgot. Because in the end , we were never friends with Ron.
S13: So this is at Soda Bar on Saturday , and it's even kind of an early show. Doors are at 630.
S1: All right. You can find details on these and more arts events on our website at kpbs.org. I've been speaking with KPBS arts reporter and host of the finest podcast , Julia Dixon Evans. Julia. Thank you.
S13: Thank you. Jade.
S17: You're going away.
S1: That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.
