Photo Credit Tess Steinkolk 2008

The event begins with a showing of The Kidnapping of Ingrid Betancourt, the 2003 award-winning documentary directed and produced by Vicotria Bruce and Karin Hayes (official site). The film opens as Betancourt narrates her own life story and continues after she is kidnapped on February 23, 2002. It documents her family and her political party as they fight to both free her and keep her presidential campaign alive. 

The Kidnapping of Ingrid Betancourt has been described as “compelling from the start, for the sheer bravery of Betancourt’s campaigns, the love she has for her family and the tradition of service that runs in her bloodline” (Roger Catlin, Hartford Courant) and as “a documentary which should be seen by any person who values the concepts of liberty and democracy” (Phil Hall, filmthreat.com). The film is also the winner of multiple awards including the DuPont- Columbia University Award for Broadcast Journalism and the Audience Award at the Slamdance Film Festival. 

WHYY Executive Producer of Audio Content Elisabeth Perez-Luna will moderate a discussion with Betancourt following the film. Luna is an award winning journalist and a regular contributor to NPR’s Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition. She’s the executive producer of WHYY’s A Chef Table, You Bet Your Garden, What Are We Thinking?, This I Believe, Impact of War and others.

Betancourt will also be signing copies of her memoir (to be released Tuesday, September 21, 2010), Even Silence Has an End: My Six Years of Captivity in the Colombian Jungle. In her memoir, Betancourt brings the reader into her six years of captivity, as well as her life after the trauma, and relates her shocking story of courage and resilience.  You can learn more about the book by tuning into the “Diane Rehm Show” (WAMU/NPR) on Wednesday, September 22. Listen here. 

The event begins at 7:30 PM at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute (824 West Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA). Tickets are $10 for General Admission and $8 for BMFI and First Person Arts members. Buy your tickets here. 

Join us as Ingrid Betancourt tells her incredible story! We’ll see you there!

- Laura Reeve

First Person Salons are an interactive program offering emerging and established artists and writers an opportunity to present their new memoir and documentary-based works or works-in progress, and offering audiences access to exciting new works that might otherwise go unseen. Artists working in all media, and from all levels of experience, whose work is based in real-life experience, are welcome to apply using the application form available at the link above. Each Salon will be curated by the staff of First Person Arts. Submissions will be accepted on a rolling basis at salons@firstpersonarts.org.

Location:
Laurie Beechman Cabaret at The University of the Arts
Philadelphia Arts Bank – 601 S. Broad Street Philadelphia, PA 19147

2009 Schedule:
2nd Wednesdays of each month from 7:30pm to 9:30pm

Artist Willis Humphrey will present the process and influences that lead to the design and creation of his mural at 6th and South Streets, Mapping Courage: Honoring W.E.B. Du Bois and Engine #11.  Humphrey has been drawing and sketching for as long as he can remember.  After graduating from the Art Institute of Atlanta in 2000 and working as a graphic designer for 7 years, he had the opportunity to work as a muralist with the City of Philadelphia’s Mural Arts Program.  He’s currently working as a lead artist on his fourth mural and developing Nomo design factory, a business that creates and manufactures artistic merchandise with a message.  He’s also co-creator of an artist collective called “Elevators,” bringing artists of various disciplines and backgrounds together to uplift art and the masses.   His mural is online at www.muralfarm.org, keyword “dubois.” More information on Mapping DuBois, the research project that inspired the mural, is available at http://www.mappingdubois.org/

Born and raised in the South as a first generation Korean American, West Philadelphia resident Charlene Kwon’s graphic stories frequently involve heat, sweat and alienation. At the Salon, she will present slides from her memoir, Hey Mom I Told My Therapist About You, and will discuss why she chose the graphic novel/artist book medium. She will finish with a reading of “Trees”, which also appears in the book. Her story “Trees” was a finalist in Glimmer Train Press’s Family Matters competition and is currently a finalist for the Flatmancrooked Prize for Excellent Writing Done During a Period of Great Fiscal Renewal. She was awarded a Dean’s Fellowship from Columbia University where she completed her MFA in 2007. Hey Mom I Told My Therapist About You was in an exhibition by the Philadelphia Center for the Book titled Stretching the Spine: Books on Health and Healing at Hahnemann Library.  The book is about her mom’s disappearance from 2001 to 2003.

As a writer and performer, Betsy Herbert will be reading two autobiographical short stories: “The Doorbell”, and “You are on Fire” at the Salon. She has a strong affinity for autobiographical work, particularly power dynamics in the family.  Herbert has read in Philadelphia’s “Chapter and Verse” Series, performed autobiographical monologues at Tapestry Theater’s “Funny Fest” and written and performed a solo show about her participation in a sleep study.  As a founding member and creative artist in the Workshop for Potential Movement, Herbert collaborated on two original works, “Speak! Mascot” and “Meet Your Replacement”. She has also performed with some of Philadelphia’s most popular improv groups and performed in comedic plays, most recently in Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium’s “Streetcar Named Durang”, as part of the 2008 Philadelphia Fringe Festival.

RA Friedman is a transplanted New Yorker who grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. At the October Salon, he will be projecting 3.25 x 4” glass slides using a 1000watt, 19,000 Lumen projector that is cooled by an industrial fan, and discussing the evolution of the Tsirkus project.   Tsirkus Fotografika is a non-profit, 501c3-sponsored public arts project that uses vintage and DIY photographic methods and equipment to bring the creative stage to communities. Friedman came to Philadelphia in 1994 after graduate school at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge. The son of avid amateurs, Friedman started taking pictures when he was five and assisted New York art photographer Nathan Rabin as a darkroom tech during high school. He continued to capture images through college and graduate school. More information about Tsirkus Fotografika can be found at http://tsirkus.org.

Artists working in all media and at all levels of experience, whose work is based in real-life experience, are encouraged to apply to present their work at future Salon events. To apply, visit www.salons.firstpersonarts.org or email salons@firstpersonarts.org.

First Person Arts is a nonprofit organization and producer of the annual First Person Festival of Memoir and Documentary Art and other programs that tap into the power of personal stories and speak to diverse audiences, including people whose voices are not often heard. First Person Arts is guided by the belief that the sharing of personal experience is a powerful way for people to celebrate uniqueness, bridge differences, and find common ground. For more information, please visit www.firstpersonarts.org.

The First Person Salons series is presented in collaboration with The University of the Arts School of Theater Arts and with the benefit of artistic partnerships with Scribe Video Center, InLiquid, Philadelphia Independent Film and Video Association (PIFVA), and the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program.

The First Person Salons are presented in collaboration with The University of the Arts School of Theater Arts with assistance from our artistic partners:

City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program
Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe
Philadelphia Independent Film and Video Association
Philadelphia Dance Projects
InLiquid
The University of the Arts School of Theater Arts
Scribe Video Center
Dance/USA

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