Calvin and the Movies in April

March 26, 2004 == MEDIA ADVISORY

Calvin and the silver screen will be close acquaintances in April as the
school sponsors two events with Hollywood connections.

First, on April 1 and 2, Calvin graduate Jeannine Oppewall will come to
Calvin's campus to talk about production design and film. Her visit includes a
talk on art direction in Seabiscuit (she was the production designer for the
film) to be held on April 1 at 7 pm in the Commons Lecture Hall at Calvin.
That talk is free and open to all.

In addition to Seabiscuit, Oppewall has worked on such movies as Catch Me If
You Can, Snow Falling On Cedars, Bridges of Madison County, Pleasantville and
LA Confidential. She's been nominated for Oscars three times as well as L.A.
Film Critics Association awards and more.

For more on her career see http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0649223/

Oppewall also will do a senior seminar on April 1 for a Calvin English class
and will speak with a Calvin video production class that day. On Friday, April
2 she will do a Q&A session on production design and take part in a lunch with
students.

The, on April 15 Calvin will host a national movie premiere. It's a quirky
movie about romance tours to Russia called "A Foreign Affair" and it was
written by 1993 Calvin graduate Geert Heetebrij. The film was shown at the
Sundance Film Festival and opens in theaters the first week of May. The Grand
Rapids showing will be the first showing commercially anywhere in the U.S.
Heetebrij will attend this premiere in Grand Rapids and will take part in a
special post-screening panel discussion on the making of the movie. He will be
available for interviews on Wednesday, April 14 and Thursday, April 15.

The premise of the film, which stars David Arquette (Scream, Eight Legged
Freaks), Tim Blake Nelson (O Brother Where Art Thou, Holes) and Emily Mortimer
(Lovely & Amazing, Bright Young Things) is relatively simple: two brothers
have for years relied on their mother to care for them and are thrown for a
loop when she dies. Their solution? Go on a two-week romance tour in search of
a wife who can replace mom in the cooking and cleaning department.

Both Heetebrij and director Helmut Schleppi felt the only way to tell a
realistic story about romance tours would be to actually experience one. They
contacted Phoenix-based A Foreign Affair (AFA) about joining a tour (after
getting the permission of their wives!) and soon thereafter they were on their
way to Russia.
 
For more on the film see http://www.aforeignaffair.net

NOTE: Heetebrij will be available for interviews on Wednesday, April 14 and
Thursday, April 15. At the premiere introductions to the audience will be at
6:45 pm and the 90-minute film will begin at 7 in two theaters. Following the
film there will be a discussion with dessert and beverages.

For a high-res picture of Heetebriji see:
http://www.calvin.edu/alumni/chapters/michigan/grand_rapids/cat/2003_04/images_foreign-affair/heetebrij_geert.jpg

For more on the film see http://www.aforeignaffair.net

Also see http://www.calvin.edu/alumni/chapters/michigan/grand_rapids/cat/

-end-
Received on Fri Mar 26 11:22:30 2004