Posted By Rachel Elizabeth Jones on Fri, Sep 21, 2018 at 4:36 PM

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Courtesy of Jay Craven

'Wetware' film still

On Saturday, September 22, in Burlington, Vermont filmmaker Jay Craven offers two preview screenings of Wetware, his 10th feature. Craven is well known for his period adaptations of  Vermont-centric novels by the late Howard Frank Mosher, including Where the Rivers Flow North (1993) and A Stranger in the Kingdom (1999). His latest is a distinctly different venture.

Rife with moody neon and existential angst, Wetware takes place in the near future, in which human genetic enhancement technology is being woven, with snags, into the fabric of everyday life.

The Vermont International Film Festival and Kingdom County Productions present two benefit screenings tomorrow at 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. at the Film House of the Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center. Proceeds support KCP youth education programming. On Saturday, September 29, Town Hall Theater in Middlebury hosts one preview screening.

In advance of this weekend's screenings, Craven fielded questions from Seven Days.

Tags: Jay Craven , Wetware , Kingdom County Productions , Craig Nova , Vermont International Film Festival , Image , Web Only

Posted By Dan Bolles on Tue, Sep 18, 2018 at 4:00 PM

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Stephen Mease/Burlington City Arts

Highlight publicity image

Maybe it's much too early, but, to quote an old song, "What are you doing New Year's Eve?"

In Burlington, at least, that's a question many have pondered since the news broke in April that First Night Burlington was ending after 35 years of producing its citywide NYE celebration. Would-be revelers might find some, ahem, resolution in the form of a new partnership between two local organizations that hope to rekindle end-of-year magic in the Queen City.

Tags: Burlington City Arts , Signal Kitchen , Highlight , Bright Idea Project , New Year's Eve , Alex Lalli , Image , Web Only

Posted By Jordan Adams on Fri, Sep 14, 2018 at 4:12 PM

Courtesy photo

Aziz Ansari

Higher Ground Presents announced on Friday that actor and comedian Aziz Ansari will perform on Thursday, September 27, at the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts in Burlington. The former star of television series "Parks & Recreation" and "Master of None" is attempting a comeback after being accused of sexual misconduct in January.

Tags: Aziz Ansari , FlynnCenter for the Performing Arts , #MeToo , comedy , Image , Web Only

Posted By Jordan Adams on Mon, Sep 3, 2018 at 12:55 PM

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File: Matthew Thorsen

Tina Friml

The results are in: Tina Friml is Vermont's Funniest Comedian of 2018. The annual competition came to a head on Saturday, September 1, at Burlington's Vermont Comedy Club. Fifteen comics competed for the distinguished honor, out of an original 56 who entered the preliminary round in August.

Last year's Funniest Comedian, Tim Bridge, hosted the nearly three-hour, sold-out showdown. Contestants were given nine minutes to regale the audience with their most hilarious bits. Friml was the final comic to take the mic.

Tags: Standup comedy , Tina Friml , Gladys , Kyle Gadapee , Mike Thomas , Tracie Spencer , Vermont Comedy Divas , Natalie Miller , Vermont Comedy Club , Image , Web Only

Posted By Kymelya Sari on Mon, Sep 3, 2018 at 5:00 AM

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Courtesy of Neville Elder

Moustafa Bayoumi

In the American classic The Souls of Black Folk, W. E. B. Du Bois asked, “How does it feel to be a problem?” The book, written during the Jim Crow era, consisted of several essays on the black experience, including the rise of the black church, education in the South and racism.

More than a century later, Moustafa Bayoumi posits that Arabs and Muslim Americans are the “new problem” of American society since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Tags: Moustafa Bayoumi , Muslims in America , Will Miller Social Justice Lecture Series , University of Vermont , Image , Web Only