Blogger Linda Leinen on Beasts and Serendipity

Blogger Linda Leinen

In a stroke of pure serendipity (okay, Google alerts) we came across Linda Leinen's thoughtful post on how watching Beasts of the Southern Wild inspired her to embark on a personal exploration of her own family's journey.

She shares tales of her great great grandpa David Crowley, who rode out part of his Civil War military service in our home state of Louisiana, and the mysterious discovery of her family crest.

serendipcrest

"It bears a certain resemblance to an auroch, which raises some questions," she writes. "Could that be Grandpa David standing nose to nose with Hushpuppy in The Bathtub? Did Confederate forces experience the Union Army as beasts from the North? Have I found the explanation for my inordinate fondness for hushpuppies?"

Read her whole piece here.

Remembering the Beasts Exhibit at CAC NOLA

This past weekend marked the close of the Beasts of the Southern Wild Exhibit "Beyond the Beasts" at the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans. The exhibit opened March 8th and was designed to illuminate the creative process, and the artists behind the making of the film. In this video, posted recently by The Times-Picayune, Director Benh Zeitlin explains.

Over on Facebook, we've got an album of images from the exhibit -- some found by searching Instagram, like the one below, and a few posted by the gang at Court 13 -- (who have recently begun Instagramming at handle @court13films) that offer a glimpse of the exhibit.

If you have any photos to contribute and we're missing yours, please email us at beasts@beastsofthesoutherwild.com.

by @trevytoe on Instagram

Music of the Beasts

Film Forward Discussion Guides

At the beginning of the year, Beasts of the Southern Wild was selected to participate the Sundance Institute's Film Forward program. "FILM FORWARD is an international touring program designed to enhance greater cultural understanding, collaboration and dialogue around the globe by engaging audiences through the exhibition of films, workshops and conversations with filmmakers."

Through the program, we've been able to share the film with audiences around the world in Jordan, Mexico, Puerto Rico and more. Part of Film Forward's initiative is not only to share films with global audiences but also to encourage dialogue and conversation.

Our friends at Film Forward were kind enough to share their discussion guides with the entire Beasts family. Feel free to use these resources as a guideline in your film group, classroom, church or wherever Beasts is talked about. The PDF's are available for download below:

Film Forward Discussion Guide - Basic discussion questions to kick start conversation about the themes within the film

Film Forward Activation Activities - Generated for classrooms but applicable to anyone, these activation activities help trigger discussion about how the film and its themes relate to viewers on a personal level.

A Dialogue About Race in Beasts of the Southern Wild

Jarvis DeBerry, an editorial writer and columnist at The Times-Picayune in News Orleans, dissects a criticism he has heard about the portrayal of race in Beats of the Southern Wild, and shares his reaction to it

Of course, when your characters are black and celebrate their attachment to nature, when the title of your movie contains the words “beasts” and “wild,” you leave yourself open to accusations of racism, to claims that you see black people as primitive, if not altogether savage. And when your characters ignore the evacuation order that precedes an approaching storm, you might stand accused of romanticizing people who don’t have the sense to come in out of the rain.

As a rural Southerner who has never felt completely at peace in the city and as a New Orleanian who stayed during Hurricane Katrina and interviewed others who did the same, I find both criticisms problematic. Urbanization has been black Americans’ most recent trend, but it is not our historical norm. Thinking of ourselves exclusively as city dwellers helps us forget one of the greatest crimes committed against us: the systematic separation of black folks from their land.

Read the full article at Colorlines.com.