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Nature films start this week
Pale Male, possibly the world's most famous red tail hawk, carries a twig in flight in 2004 in New York. Pale Male and Lola, the two red-tailed hawks whose temporary eviction from the ledge of a luxury Manhattan apartment building sparked angry protests. The story will be featured Oct. 28 in the documentary film series that opens Wednesday with ''The City.'' Associated Press file
By JASON ASHLEY WRIGHT World Scene Writer
Published: 10/19/2009 2:20 AM
Last Modified: 10/19/2009 7:59 AM
How about lunch with a view of Manhattan?
Or maybe some cookies and coffee while you travel back in time to look at cities of tomorrow?
You can do both this month at Central Library, which will present its In Focus film series, "Man and Nature," 12:10-1 p.m. Wednesday and Oct. 28 in Aaronson Auditorium, Fourth Street and Denver Avenue.
Free and open to the public, the series features documentary films exploring mankind's relationship with the natural world.
The idea for "Man and Nature" came to Aaron Riggs in the library's media center. He had already been considering a nature theme, "probably because I have a personal connection with that type of material," he said.
"I have long had a love of wilderness," said Riggs, who received the newly released DVD of the 1937 documentary "The City," which will be shown Wednesday.
"The City" is essentially a propaganda piece produced for the 1939 World's Fair, he said. It attempts to make the case for the planned new city of Greenbelt, Md., designed by pioneering city planner Lewis Mumford.
The film takes the viewer on a journey through rural innocence, to urban disorder and to the supposed harmony of the planned suburban city, Riggs said. "The City" will be introduced Wednesday by Jeff Van Hanken, assistant professor of film studies at the University of Tulsa.
Plus, "the Aaron Copland score is really gorgeous," Riggs said. "Though some of the attitude of the film may seem naive with hindsight, the aspiration toward something better that it displays is honorable."
The film seems particularly relevant today, he continued, what with the recent housing crisis and so much focus on what government can or cannot do.
On Oct. 28, the series will feature "Pale Male," which has been proclaimed a classic by the National Audubon Society, Riggs said. It's a PBS documentary about a red-tailed hawk that took up residence on the window ledge of a Fifth Avenue apartment building.
Dubbed "Pale Male" by birdwatchers, the hawk courts, breeds and hunts under the watchful eyes of onlookers, Riggs said. Filmed over a six-year period, this Emmy-winning program will be introduced by Steve K. Sherrod, executive director of the Sutton Avian Research Center.
"It really shows so well what can happen when wild things come into our own environment," Riggs said. "People are so drawn to this hawk living in the middle of Manhattan. It's inspiring and pulls people out of their day to day."
Light refreshments and coffee will be provided, Riggs said. Otherwise, people are encouraged to bring their lunch with them.
The series is sponsored by the Central Library's Media Center and the Tulsa City-County Library Staff Association Recycling Proceeds Fund.
Man and Nature
What: Documentary film series
exploring mankind’s relationship
with nature
When: 12:10-1 p.m. Wednesday
and Oct. 28
Where: Central Library’s Aaronson
Auditorium, Fourth Street
and Denver Avenue
Admission: Free; light refreshments,
coffee provided.
Info: 596-7977
Jason Ashley Wright 581-8483
jason.wright@tulsaworld.com
By JASON ASHLEY WRIGHT World Scene Writer
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