Serious Cinema

Israeli filmmaker Amos Gitai is arguably the best-known Israeli filmmaker, but
his work isn’t what you’d call pure entertainment. Serious and political, Gitai’s
films tackle the complex issues surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
His latest, Kedma, tells the story of a group of Israeli Jews who try to
make a home in Palestine. As if to prove how little has changed in the past half-century,
the film is set not in current times but in 1948. “Although fiction, the film
provides a historical context for the founding of the state of Israel,” says Museum
of Fine Arts film curator Marian Luntz. In the movie, a tired and hungry boatload
of concentration camp survivors lands on the shores of Palestine and is confronted
by several groups of people, all with different agendas. The Jews want them to
immediately take up arms for the cause, and, for different reasons, both the British
soldiers and the Arabs want to keep them away.

Gitai has said that most of his movies deal with themes of exile and displacement,
ideas he tries to apply to both sides of the conflict. The filmmaker has made
more than 40 films to date, working in documentary, fictional and historical
genres. Says Luntz: “He manages to be lyrical and even subtle, a quality lacking
in most recent Israeli films.” 7 p.m. Thursday, August 21, through Sunday, August
24. Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Brown Auditorium, 1001 Bissonnet Street. For
information, call 713-639-7515 or visit www.mfah.org.
$5 to $6. — Bob Ruggiero

SAT 8/23
Latter-Day Laika A space program veteran since 1984, Jim “Dogface” Voss has ridden the rocket
five times, logging 201 days in space. He also spent a total of 22 hours floating
weightless outside the shuttle, doing maintenance tasks and generally being
a badass — Voss tested space suit modifications and tools that eventually would
be used to build the International Space Station. The “Dogface” nickname originated
during a 1992 mission aboard the shuttle Discovery. Commander David M. Walker
had been nicknamed “Red Dog” during his military days, so the rest of the space
crew took dog-themed monikers as well, with names like “Cujo,” “Pluto” and “Underdog.”
Here’s your chance to meet “Dogface” in the flesh. Now retired from NASA, he’ll
sign free autographs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, August 23. The Space Store
(Johnson Space Center), 1400 NASA Road One. For information, call 281-333-4030.
Free. — Troy Schulze

SUN 8/24
Gotta Have That Crunk The Dirty South Mixtape Tour stops in Texas Lil Jon & the EastSide Boyz may hail from Atlanta, but they’ve got love for
their fans in Texas. Lil Jon, Big Sam and Lil Bo sent a shout out to the Lone
Star State with “Diamonds,” a guitar-driven track on their latest album, the
modestly titled Kings of Krunk. “We did that song for Texas,” Lil Jon
has said. “The vibe of the track is on some Texas shit, so we did that song
for our Texas fans. They love us for that crunk shit, but we also want to show
we can rap if we wanted to.” See for yourself at this weekend’s Dirty South
Mixtape Tour, which also features performances by David Banner, Chingy, Killer
Mike, Field Mob and the Ying Yang Twins. 5 p.m. Sunday, August 24. Texas Southern
University Health and P.E. Arena, 3000 Wheeler Avenue. For tickets, call 281-652-6847.
$20 to $45 ($5 discount for registered voters). — Cathy Matusow

THU 8/21
Saucy Senior When she was governor of Texas, Ann Richards spoke her mind, consequences be
damned. She’s talked candidly about her battle with alcoholism, and in her new
book, I’m Not Slowing Down, Richards again opens up — this time about
being diagnosed with osteoporosis in 1994. The half autobiographical, half health/nutrition
advice book, which Richards wrote with Dr. Richard Levine, chronicles her struggle
with the disease. “It has stabilized,” she told USA Today, “and my bone
density is now normal for a woman my age. The damage was reversed. I caught
it at the right point.” Too bad she can’t say the same about the Bush administration,
part deux. Richards speaks and signs books at 7 p.m. Thursday, August
21. Barnes & Noble, 12850 Memorial Drive. For information, call 713-465-5616.
Free. — Bob Ruggiero

Sat 8/23
Go with the Fold Maybe a haiku is the best way to describe the delicate craft of Joan Son: Folded
tenderly / A piece of paper becomes / A swan in her hand. Bad poetry
aside, her origami installations are an elegant testament to the art of patience.
In a workshop at the Museum of Printing History, Son will teach students to
play God, creating their own paper menageries filled with cranes, butterflies,
frogs and flowers. Bonus (equally bad) haiku for her students: Go with the
fold and/ Your paper cranes will float on/ A river of air. Noon to 3 p.m.
Saturday, August 23. Museum of Printing History, 1324 West Clay. To register,
call 713-522-4652. $45. — Keith Plocek