Absinthe: New European Writing is co-hosting a festival of new European film and writing with Oakland University on May 9-10, 2008. 

Sponsored by the Judd Endowment, Office of the Provost, College of Arts & Sciences, Department of English, Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, and Concentration in Film History and Aesthetics.

Click here for a map with directions to Oakland University.

All events are FREE and open to the public. 

The full schedule is below.

Friday, May 9, 2008 in the Oakland Center at Oakland University (lower level Lake Rooms):

7:00-10:00 PM

The Ann Arbor Film Festival will present a selection of short films from Europe.

The Irish poet Eamonn Wall will read selections of his poetry. Wall was born in Enniscorthy, County Wexford, Ireland. His poetry has been published widely in Ireland and in the U.S. His books include Dyckman-200th Street, (Salmon, 1993), Iron Mountain Road (Salmon, 1997), and The Crosses (Salmon, 2001). In addition, Wall regularly contributes book reviews and articles on Irish fiction. 

The Belarusian poet Valzhyna Mort, author of Factory of Tears, will read poems from her collection. Mort was born Valzhyna Martynava in 1981 in Minsk, Belarus. Her work has been translated into many European languages, and has appeared in various literary magazines and anthologies, including an Anthology of Belarusian Poetry (Sofia, 2002). See the cover story on Valzhyna in the May/June issue of Poets & Writers magazine.

 “Valzhyna Mort is electrifying.” —Franz Wright

(photo: © Olaf Kuhl)

A silent auction will also take place on Friday evening with proceeds to benefit the festival.

The first 100 guests will receive a free copy of the current issue of Absinthe: New European Writing.

Free dessert and drink will be provided, and door prizes will be raffled off throughout the evening.

Saturday, May 10, 2008 in the Oakland Center at Oakland University (main level Gold Rooms):

10:00 AM--A screening of the German film Yella (preceded by a selection of short films by Oakland University students):

Determined to escape her estranged husband after he attempts to kill them both by driving their car over a bridge, small-town East German girl Yella (Nina Hoss) sets out to create a new life for herself in metropolitan Hanover, West Germany. She finds a job with Philipp (The Counterfeiters' Devid Striesow), a hard-bargaining venture capitalist who introduces her to the thrills of the negotiating table – where Yella's icy beauty and demeanor are assets as valuable as her quick wit. Attracted as she is to the business world in which she is beginning to achieve a measure of success, Yella is also attracted to Philipp – with whom an affair inevitably begins. But she is simultaneously distracted by something sinister just beyond her, and our, ken: is it the past catching up with her, or is it the future that looms? What is she remembering, hallucinating or foreseeing?

1:00 PM--A reading by the Detroit-area writers and translators Doris Runey, Keith Taylor, and Marilynn Rashid.

Doris Runey teaches at Oakland University.  A writer and translator, her book A Cinematic Translation of Ionel Teodoreanu's Lorelei: Creating a Film Script from a Classic Romanian Novel was published last year.

Keith Taylor coordinates the undergraduate program in creative writing at the University of Michigan and has published eleven volumes: collections of poetry and short fiction, edited volumes, and translations.

Marilynn Rashid teaches Spanish at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. Recent poems and translations have appeared in Marlboro Review, Nimrod International Journal, and Runes.

2:00 PM--A screening of the Romanian film The Way I Spent the End of the World (preceded by a selection of short films by Oakland University students):

The film takes place during the last year of Ceausescu's dictatorship in Bucharest, 1989. Eva, 17, lives with her parents and her 7 year-old brother Lalalilu. One day at school, Eva and her boyfriend accidentally break a bust of Ceausescu. They are forced to confess their crime before a disciplinary committee. Eva is expelled from school and transferred to a reformatory establishment. There she meets Andrei and decides to escape Romania with him. Lalalilu is more and more convinced that Ceausescu is the main reason for Eva's decision to leave. So, with his friends from school, he devises a plan to kill the dictator.

The Way I Spent the End of the World appeared at several film festivals, including the Toronto International Film Festival, the Berlin International Film Festival, and the Cannes Film Festival.

4:30 PM--A reading by Polish poet Piotr Sommer and translator Bill Martin

Piotr Sommer is a poet and translator of contemporary English-language poetry, including the work of  Frank O'Hara, John Ashbery, Robert Lowell, and many others. He has published several dozen books of poetry, literary criticism, and anthologies. He also writes poetry for children and is editor of the monthly Literatura na Swiecie/World Literature. Continued (Wesleyan University Press, 2005), his first book-length collection of poetry translated into English, gathers poems from his previous Polish publications. He lives outside Warsaw.

Bill Martin is a literary translator of Polish and German and a former editor of Chicago Review. He lives and teaches in Chicago.

7:00 PM--A screening of the Russian film The Island (preceded by a selection of short films by Oakland University students):

Filmed on the bleak and beautiful shores of the White Sea, the movie patiently observes the tempestuous solitude of Anatoly, a monk who served aboard a barge during World War II. He was captured by Germans and coerced into shooting his captain to save his own life. He survived and was taken in by monks at an island monastery. His sin pushes him to the brink of insanity, but it does not stop him from playing the edgy prankster with his fellow monks or serving as an oracle to local villagers. A story of a "wise fool" healer atoning for a wartime crime, The Island asks the favorite Russian question: Who is guilty? And to that, it adds another: How can we be redeemed?

The Island was shown at several film festivals, including the Toronto International Film Festival, the Venice International Film Festival, the Sundance Film Festival, and the London Film Festival, and was awarded five major Nika Awards (Russian Oscars).

Presentation of The Island is generously underwritten by the Council of Orthodox Christian Churches of Metropolitan Detroit (COCC)--Promoting Orthodox Christianity Since 1957

The Oakland University/ Absinthe Festival of New European Film and Writing is supported by the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and Oakland County Arts & Culture.

We have arranged hotel accommodations for festival attendees at the Crowne Plaza--Auburn Hills. To receive the special rate ($79 +taxes) contact the hotel at (248) 373-4550 and let them know you'll be attending the festival or make your reservations online here.

For additional information about the festival contact Dwayne Hayes at dhayes@absinthenew.com.