Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Lillian Alling Community Event: Sweet Land



Thursday, September 23
Film Screening: Sweet Land
Vancity Theatre, Vancouver International Film Centre
1181 Seymour Street
7:00pm


Director: Ali Selim // USA 2005 // 110 mins
Cast: Elizabeth Reaser, Patrick Heusinger, Alan Cumming, Alex Kingston, John Heard, Ned Beatty, Tim Guinee, Lois Smith

Sweet Land is a poignant and lyrical celebration of land, love, and the immigrant experience, as recollected in a man’s memory of his grandmother’s stories. Inge arrives in Minnesota in 1920 to marry a young Norwegian farmer named Olaf, but the community is suspicious of this German stranger, and the marriage is forbidden. Alone and adrift, Inge goes to live with Olaf’s friend and neighbor Frandsen and his wife Brownie, where she learns the English language, American ways, and a hard-won independence.

Similar in scope but equally as personal, Vancouver Opera’s world-première production of Lillian Alling, by composer John Estacio and librettist John Murrell, is a sweeping story embracing the immigrant experience of the 1920s, the history of British Columbia and the journey of a courageous and driven woman who walked from New York City across North America and along BC’s Telegraph Trail. BC historian and author Jean Barman will introduce the film and offer parallels to consider between these two stories.

Visit www.vancouveropera.ca or http://www.viff.org/theatre/ for details and to book your tickets in advance or you can purchase your tickets at the door.

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