Newark, NJ – June 10, 2010 – Mayor Cory A. Booker, Director of Child and Family Well-Being Maria E. Vizcarrondo, New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services Deputy Commissioner Dr. Susan Walsh, New Jersey Apple Seed Health Care Reform Director George Hampton and the Greater Newark Healthcare Coalition hosted the first Primary Health Care Provider’s Summit yesterday at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

“Providing residents with quality affordable health care has been a central pillar for my administration,” Mayor Booker said. “In these challenging economic times, we must find ways to reduce the financial burden of health care costs, particularly for un-insured or under-insured residents. This alliance presents an opportunity to engage existing primary care physicians in a network that values primary care physicians and other providers of care as the core of quality healthcare delivery and will take advantage of the newest technology to achieve this goal. Such a paradigm shift manifests our City’s national leadership in both the use of cutting-edge technology and in improved coordination of quality health care.”

The summit themed “Local Primary Care Opportunities & National Health Care Reform” focused on creating the architecture of an integrated system of patient-centered health care and medical homes, with an emphasis on implementation of health information technology, creating a secure database and data that will guide model development in delivery of healthcare while concurrently providing the infrastructure necessary to manage the health care of the northeast regional population. The development of these databases and related systems will enable health practitioners and organizations to provide quality, effective health care to patients for improved health outcomes, and save millions of healthcare dollars in unnecessary or duplicative services.

“It’s been exciting to see how urban centers, like Newark, are coming together with organizations that have long provided great health care to address issues like health care reform and health information technology which will impact a whole continuum of care from preventative to hospice. I credit Newark for its leadership role in organizing a coalition which is focused on addressing these issues,” said Deputy Commissioner Dr.Walsh.

Director Vizcarrondo is the Chair of the Greater Newark Health Care Coalition and said, “We are uniting the many health care professionals and organizations in the City of Newark to achieve our common goal: of providing the best quality and most affordable possible health care to all of our residents,” said Director Vizcarrondo. “We are looking to re-define, re-engineer, transition and transform the health delivery system as it exists, to make health care in Newark and the greater Newark area coordinated, efficient and cost effective based on the identified needs of the populations to create timely access with improvements in quality of care in delivering such services.”

Director Vizcarrondo added, “We are really focusing strategically on how do we address the fact that a City like Newark has a dearth of primary health care providers and we are trying to see how collectively how we can have a bigger impact and reach of that particular primary health care needs in the City through these strategies of having the electronic medical records, patient information system, and helping all of our providers to be able to, both, afford and have access to those tools to help them do a better job.”

The mission of the Greater Newark Coalition is to look at having a collective effort in the City of Newark to re-engineer, redefine, and redevelop health care access for all the residents of the City of Newark. The coalition is made up of local hospitals, fairly qualified health centers, our health department other health professionals that are coming together a putting together a collective strategy that will address any of the initiatives coming down in regards to health care reform.

“Because of what’s happening in Newark with St. James, St. Michael’s and Columbus hospitals, it became important to join in with the city of Newark and members of the health industry to make certain that we change the way health care is ultimately delivered in the city and in the greater Newark area. As a result, this coalition was formed and we have been involved with the coalition from its very inception in a variety of initiatives till this day. Health information technology is one of the reasons why we are here today. Today we pulled a variety of primary care physicians and others to talk specifically how we can improve primary care for this Greater Newark,” said Mr. Hampton.

The Coalition will focus on attracting and retaining more primary health care physicians in the City and making sure that there is access to quality care for all of the residents of the City of Newark. The Coalition will also connect local providers to information technology resources.  In fact, today’s summit really is our first approach at working with our private providers to show them the technology that is available right now to be able to have patient information transfers if necessary, be able to do all of their billing as a result that process but showing them that tech has to be built into quality health care, and that it really doesn’t have to be that hard, and that we are here to facilitate that process.

“This is a historic day. For too long we have not focused on the needs of our primary care physicians and the challenges we face as local health care providers. The Greater Newark Health Care Coalition has determined that the foundation of a redesigned healthcare delivery system is through primary care.  It is our primary care physicians who are providing comprehensive health services that improve outcomes and reduce costs.  I’ve been a primary care physician in the City of Newark for more than 28 years. It’s time that we come together to design a solution for adequate healthcare reform for our community,” said Dr. Tom Ortiz, who is a founding member of the Greater Newark Health Care Coalition and Chair of its Provider Subcommittee. Dr. Ortiz is the founder and Medical Director of Forest Hill Family Health Associates and is the first Latino President-Elect of the NJ Academy of Family Physicians.

The summit is a partnership between the City of Newark’s Department of Family and Child Well Being, New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center/St. Barnabas Health Care Systems, University Hospital/UMDNJ, St. Michael’s Medical Center/Catholic Health East, Forest Hill Family Health Associates, Urban Primary Care Physicians Association, Visiting Nurses Association, New Jersey Appleseed, Seton Hall Health Law Project, Newark Community Health Centers, Prudential, the DCFWB as a local public health entity and the DCFWB HRSA Homeless Healthcare Project and other health organizations.

“My responsibility is to use New Jersey high technology as a vehicle for educating at least 5,000 doctors, in the state of New Jersey, in the usage of electronic health records during the next 24 months. This will require a massive effort across the state, principally in North Jersey, where our targeted population is to really assist primary care providers and give primary care to underserved, uninsured, lower income and senior citizens and all of the people who are clustered together in this metropolitan area. I think the Mayor is visionary in his commitment to this important healthcare issue,” said William J. O’Byrne, Executive Director for New Jersey Health Information Technology Reason Exchange at NJIT

“I’m really excited for this opportunity to meet other primary car physicians and be the initial part of the Obama Health Care Initiative. His vision for primary care physicians, especially for non-reserved areas so I think it’s a very exciting time for us to asses our needs and our needs to serve the community. I think right now we are in a crisis mode because the needs are over whelming but the offices and the staff is just extremely understaffed to meet these needs so if we can meet together as a group and try to coordinate a more efficient way to deliver health care. I think our communities are at extreme risk right now,”said Dr. Sushama Srivastava. She has been a Primary Care Physician at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center for about 15 years.

Newark is one of a few municipalities nationwide that provides uninsured City residents access to affordable, quality healthcare. In addition, the City’s partnership with Heinz Family Philanthropies has resulted in Newark RX and Newark Health Plus, which provide discounted prescription drugs and access to primary medical care. Additional extensive services include, but are not limited to, pediatric care, an adult medical practice, communicable disease control and prevention, a dental clinic, a LEAD prevention program that provides a continuum of care including inspections, abatements, case management and interim housing, health care for the homeless, and a WIC program. These services are largely supported by local, state and federal funding including philanthropic organizations, such as the world-reknowned Kresge Foundation, which has contributed $1.5 million in funding to support the City of Newark’s “Getting the Lead Out” initiative.

For more information about any City of Newark program or policy, contact the Non-Emergency Call Center at (973) 733-4311.

 

-NEWARK-

 
Contact:          Newark Press Information Office: (973) 733-8004
E-mail: Pressoffice@ci.newark.nj.us
 
About the City of Newark, New Jersey

Newark, commonly referred to as Brick City, is the third oldest city in the United States and the largest in New Jersey, with a population of more than 280,000 people. Newark sits on one of the nation’s largest transportation super-structures including an international airport, major rail connections, major highway intersections and the busiest seaport on the east coast.
 
With a new Administration as of July 2006, Newark continues to see signs of a strong revival. In population, it is one of the fastest growing cities in the northeast. Its six major colleges and universities are further expanding their presence. The production of affordable housing has doubled, businesses are returning and crime is going down. There is still much work to be done but Newark is on its way to achieving its mission: to set a national standard for urban transformation.

March 21 2010, BRIDGEPORT CT. The Brazilian, Latin American and North American communities will be joining for a memorable all-day soccer event on May 23 that will feature the Brazil Masters team facing the Bridgeport All-Stars.  Bridgeport Soccer Fest 2010 will begin at 9 a.m. at Central High's Kennedy Stadium and last until 8 p.m., serving as a fund-raiser for Chile and Haiti. The Brazilian team will bring together former World Cup soccer players Zinho, Vampeta, Reinaldo, Ronaldao, Nenem Futebol de Areia, Donizete Pantera, Jairzinho, Mauricio, Junior Baiano, Careca, Ricardo Lopes and Lira.

A tribute will be paid to three soccer champions -- Pele, Jairzinho and Zico -- who will receive awards from the city of Bridgeport. Children's, teenager's and women's games will also be played, and there will also be music and dance entertainment from local groups as well as from a Samba and Carnival band featuring Brazilian singer and composer Waguinho do Cavaco. Admission is $20, and tickets are on sale now at ticketweb.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Newark, NJ - April 23, 2010 - The City of Newark, the Newark Environmental Commission, and the Newark Bears partnered to celebrate the 40^th anniversary of Earth Day last night, at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium, before the evening’s home opener against the Camden Riversharks. Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr., threw out the ceremonial first pitch. The Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium located at 450 Broad Street.

“It has been a goal of my administration over the past four years to provide quality parks and recreation in every ward and neighborhood. In addition, my administration has adopted eco-friendly practices and policies, to address global climate change. Our Earth Day programs will unite our administration, our non-profit partners, and our residents in an alliance to create a cleaner and greener Newark,” Mayor Booker said in a statement. “I urge all residents to join us on Earth Day. Together we can help save our planet and build a stronger, safer, prouder City.”

“The Bears look forward to doing our part, joining the Mayor and Council, and continuing to lead by example.  Our organization will continue to use this great venue to show case important causes and projects.  This celebration of both Earth Day and Bears’ Opening Day is a chance to promote our Green initiative and start the drive for yet another Bears Championship Season,” said Bears Baseball LLC Senior Vice President Tom Cetnar III.

The activities began with an “Earth Day Dialogue” at 3:30 p.m., in which residents were able to learn about “green” programs and share their ideas and concerns with Newark environmental and business leaders. The first 200 people to attend received a free tree sapling.

“Together with residents, businesses and community organizations, in Newark we are greening our homes, greening our neighborhoods, and greening our local economy. We are meeting global goals of carbon reduction by creating climate prosperity - already, more than 1,000 homes have been weatherized, and more than 40 businesses enrolled in cost saving energy programs. Together, we are making a difference,” said City of Newark Sustainability Officer Chelsea Albucher. She works closely with the City’s Environmental Commission and municipal departments to advance policy, programs and partnerships to enhance environmental health and advance economic development.

At 5:45 p.m., the City and the Bears honored Newark’s “Green Leaders” on the field, saluting business, non-profit, and community organizations that are working to “green” Newark. A list of organizations is attached.

“Newark needs the support of every resident in the battle to protect our planet and its environment. By acting locally, we make an impact globally. I urge our residents to learn about our recycling, ‘green’ construction, weatherization, and other environmental programs, to share them with family, friends, and community, and make ‘going green’ and Earth Day part of their daily lives. I commend all the community partners who have come together for today’s celebrations as together we ‘Green’ Newark,” said Deputy Mayor for Neighborhood Engagement Margarita Muñiz, who presented the awards.

“We are literally building a ‘green’ Newark by encouraging environmentally-friendly construction methods, practices, and developers in our City. Doing so make both environmental and economic sense. ‘Green’ construction will help protect and improve Newark’s environment, and provide jobs and career opportunities for Newark residents in these growing fields. So our ‘green’ programs are a win-win situation for all Newark residents, and I encourage all of our residents to get involved, and help keep Newark ‘green,’” said Director of Public Safety Anthony Campos.

In addition, thanks to support from the Edison Innovation Foundation, residents were able to donate old electronic equipment at the Stadium to the Urban Renewal Corporation for recycling. The first 100 persons who did so received a discount on their ticket to the evening’s game. These donations are tax-deductible, and will benefit the City of Newark’s Re-Entry Initiative. For more information on Newark based donation sites, contact Urban Renewal at (973) 268-9873.

“Our community and environment are on the precipice of critical times. With over a billion computers and electronic waste needed to be recycled over the next decade, it’s time to be creative. Urban Renewal has created a program that trains formerly incarcerated and economically disadvantaged people to recycle, repair and refurbish used technology.  We are committed to making a positive change for our community and environment,” said Lane Jacobs, CEO of Urban Renewal Corporation.

The celebration at Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium was the highlight of “Earth Month” in Newark, which is offering residents a variety of “green” activities, including tree-planting, gardening workshops, and seminars. The culmination of the month’s activities will be held on Arbor Day, on April 30, when Mayor Booker and Governor Chris Christie will join 13^th Avenue School students and volunteers in Newark’s West Ward to plant more than 150 trees. A list of city-wide tree-planting dates and locations is attached.

“Greening Newark is about our well being, it is about our making our homes and neighborhoods better, safer, healthier. Greening Newark is about our future, it is about our children and our children’s children.  Getting involved is creating your legacy. Planting trees are a wonderful symbol of Newark's commitment to ensuring a vibrant, prosperous Newark,” Council Member-at-Large Donald M. Payne, Jr. said in a statement.

“Every Newarker has the right to a clean and healthy environment where they live, work, and play. I encourage everyone to take action. Together we can realize healthier neighborhoods, vibrant businesses, and create jobs. Going Green will not be done by the City alone. It takes the participation of each and every one of us. The Environmental Commission has information about how you can get involved, by greening your home, greening your neighborhood and greening our economy,” said Kim Gaddy, Chair of the City of Newark’s Environmental Commission.

Some of the programs planned for Earth Month in Newark include the following:

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    ·       Tree-planting across Newark in April and May, in partnership with the Newark Renaissance Tree Program. Contact: Shannon Buckley at (609) 439-1755, or visit their website at www.newjerseytreefoundation.org

    ·       The Greater Newark Conservancy making Flower Barrels available. Contact: (973) 642-4646 or www.citybloom.org

    ·       Gardening Workshops, hosted by the Greater Newark Conservancy, in April, May, June, and July. Contact: (973) 642-4646 or www.citybloom.org

    ·       The New Jersey Environmental Federation Annual Conference, set for the Rutgers University Center for Law and Justice, on Saturday, April 17, to discuss environmental health and justice issues facing New Jersey. Contact: (732) 280-8988 or http://cleanwaterfund.org/feature/2010conference

    ·       Essex County Environmental Center Earth Day on Saturday, April 17, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The center will offer activities, tours, demonstrations, and free snacks. It is located at 621 Eagle Rock Avenue in Roseland. Contact: (973) 226-6082

    ·       The Trust for Public Land’s Park Leadership Forum, on Saturday, April 24, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Central High School. The theme is “Connecting Schools, City Agencies, and Communities.” Central High is located at 246 18^th Avenue.

    Contact :(973) 718-7338, Ext. 105, or donna.Kirkland@tpl.org

Newark, NJ - April 20, 2010 - Mayor Cory A. Booker, the Newark Municipal Council, Director of Public Safety Anthony Campos and other Newark dignitaries will host the City of Newark’s Second Annual School Crossing Guard Appreciation Dinner at the Mediterranean Manor, on Wednesday, April 21, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Mediterranean Manor is located at 255 Jefferson Street.

This event will recognize the City’s 195 crossing guards for their commitment to protecting and serving Newark’s schoolchildren. All Crossing Guards will receive gift bags from the City.

WHO:             Mayor Cory A. Booker, the Newark Municipal Council, Director of Public Safety Anthony Campos, other Newark dignitaries and crossing guards.

WHAT:          Host the City of Newark’s School 2nd Annual School Crossing Guard Appreciation Dinner.
 
WHEN:          Wednesday, April 21.
                        6 p.m.

WHERE:        Mediterranean Manor
                        255 Jefferson Street
                        Newark
 
Contact:          Newark Press Information Office - (973) 733-8004or PressOffice@ci.newark.nj.us

New York, April 16 2010.HFFNY, started today with the New York premiere of the Brazilian film, Veronica, 1 pm at the Quad Cinema, the Festival’s primary screening venue. The Opening Night Ceremony and Screening takes place at the New York Directors Guild Theatre, 110 West 57th Street, at 7 pm with the New York premiere of Los Dioses Rotos, the box office sensation and award-winning film by Cuban director Ernesto Daranas. Actress Silvia Aguila will present the film.

Since its inception, HFFNY has recognized and celebrated some of the most illustrious Latin American filmmakers in the industry. Continuing this tradition, HFFNY 2010 honors renowned Cuban writer, director, poet, actor and dramatist Enrique Pineda Barnet, who has given the public more than 4 decades of unforgettable cinema. HFFNY pays him tribute with screenings of Cosmorama, considered the precursor to the contemporary video art movement, and today is part of the permanent collection at the Centro Reina Sofia de España (Queen Sofia of Spain Center); La Bella de la Alhambra, Best Picture winner of the prestigious Goya award; and La Anunciación, his most recent film about the reunion of state-side Cubans and their families.

As the festival enters its second decade, HFFNY established the Havana Star Prize to recognize the work of outstanding filmmakers in the categories of Best Film, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. The first Havana Star prizes will be awarded at the Closing Night Ceremony on April 23rd at 7 pm at the New York Directors Guild Theatre. Internationally renowned Cuban artist, Yoan Capote, designed the Havana Star Prize especially for HFFNY. The recipients will be chosen by three prominent members of the film industry, producers Michael Hausman (Gangs of New York, Brokeback Mountain, The People vs. Larry Flynt), and Sandy Lieberson (The Rolling Stones’ Rock and Roll Circus, Stardust) and director Louis Perego (President of National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP) NY Chapter, owner of Skyline Features, a bilingual (English and Spanish) multimedia and educational production company.

The fifteen films competing for the first Havana Star Prize are:

• Los Dioses Rotos (Broken Gods) – a love triangle within the modern day Cuban underworld recalls the life of famous politician and pimp Alberto Yarini.Director Ernesto Daranas, Cuba
• Dawson Isla 10 (Dawson Island) – the harrowing ordeal of deposed President Allende’s cabinet after the 1973 coup who are determined to survive political imprisonment. Director Miguel Littin, Chile
• La Pasión de Gabriel (Gabriel’s Passion) –a young priest, caught in the middle of a civil war he doesn’t understand, struggles with his love for the church and a young lady. Director Luis Alberto Restrepo, Colombia
• Hermafrodita – a touching story about a young girl’s struggle in the 60’s to keep her dual sexuality a secret. Director Albert Xavier, Dominican Republic
• La Bodega (The Warehouse)– a young man and his best friend seek to avenge his sister’s brutal assault. Director Ray Figueroa, Guatemala
• Huacho – a beautifully conceived story about the struggles of a peasant family in Chile. Winner of the Opera Prima prize at the Festival del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano de La Habana (New Latin American Cinema of Havana). Director Alejandro Fernandez, Chile
• La Tigra, Chaco – a sweet and touching story of a young man who, while visiting his father, finds love with an old childhood friend. Directors Federico Godfrid and Juan Sasiaín, Argentina
• Memories of Overdevelopment – the long-awaited sequel to Tomás Gutierrez Alea’s classic Memorias del Subdesarrollo (Memories of Underdevelopment). Director Miguel Coyula, Cuba-U.S
• Miente (Lie) – an edgy, visually stunning psychological thriller told through the eyes of a young artist. Director Rafi Mercado, Puerto Rico
• Castro – based on a Samuel Beckett novel, a woman searches for her wayward husband with the help of three hapless men. Director Alejo Moguillansky, Argentina
• Veronica – the story of an elementary school teacher who while escorting one of her students home, discovers his slain parents and they are forced to go on the run to try to save themselves. Director Mauricio Farias, Brazil
• El Premio Flaco (The “Booby” Prize) – a comedy about how to laugh at despair when a woman is lifted out of poverty after winning a lottery. Directors Juan Carlos Cremata and Iraida Malberti, Cuba
• CrónicasChilangas (Chilango Chronicles) – the intersecting lives of three people in Mexico City - an honest retired teacher, a young man who believes in extraterrestrials and a woman addicted to porn. Director Carlos Enderle, Mexico
• Libertador Morales, El Justiciero – an honest motorcycle-taxi driver and law-abiding citizen, Libertador Morales becomes El Justiciero, an avenging hero who foils the crime spree of a local Caracas street gang. Director Efterpi Charalambidis, Venezuela
• Historias Extraordinarias (Extraordinary Stories) – a visually stunning and award-winning film that weaves together three separate and seemingly unconnected stories. Director Mariano Llinas, Argentina

FREE AND SPECIAL EVENTS

One of HFFNY’s main goals is to reinforce the educational component and accessibility of the Festival. Running parallel to the screenings, HFFNY 2010 continues to collaborate with The Metropolitan Museum of Art, El Museo del Barrio, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Queens Museum of Art, and NYU’s King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center, Cantor Center, and Tisch School of the Arts to bring free or low cost screenings, panels, and programs for all ages integrating different communities in celebration of Latin American and Latino cultures.

To kick off the Festival, HFFNY collaborates with two major museums to present several events:
April 7th, Nuevo Cine at El Museo del Barrio with the NY premiere of the Colombian documentary, Desterrados about the mounting tension of the more than one million Afro-Colombians violently displaced since the 1990’s, and El Play, a documentary about a small city in the Dominican Republic famous for producing some the world’s best baseball players. Pablo Medina, El Play’s director, will be present for Q&A. On April 9th at The Bronx Museum of the Arts, we will have the U.S. premiere of 20 Años, a Cuban animation film, and the world premiere of Homo Erectus, a comedy about a young man coming out to his macho dad. Homo Erectus’ director Alejandro Lora and producer Alberto Gonzalez will be on hand for a Q&A session followed by a party with DJ Asho and a live performance by Pepito Gomez and his sextet (Traditional, Son and Timba) celebrating the music of Cuba.

On April 17th at 4:30 pm, the Queens Museum of Art will present Fantasma de Buenos Aires, the latest full-length feature produced by Fundación Universidad del Cine (Argentina), a well-crafted story of a 20th century ghost awakened by accident in 2009 Buenos Aires. On April 20th, at 6 pm, the Festival presents Teaserland, an entertaining program of fake movie trailers by well-known directors such as Isabel Coixet (Elegy, The Secret Life of Words), Jaume Balaguero (Rec), and J.A. Bayona (The Orphanage), and other up-and-coming filmmakers. This program is sponsored by TD Bank.

The Festival returns to world-renowned The Metropolitan Museum of Art on Saturday, April 17th, 12:35 pm, with the series Latin American Films For Children. This year, HFFNY offers children aged 5 to 12 four shorts from Colombia, El Salvador and Spain. These screenings are offered in collaboration with the Museum’s El Primer Contacto con el Arte program.

For the first time, HFFNY has partnered with the U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce to proudly celebrate Mexico’s Bicentennial of Independence and Centennial of its Revolution on April 20th at
Quad Cinema, 6:15 pm with the presentation of Crafts, Humors and Short Stories of the Mexican Independence and Revolution, a collection of 26 ninety second film shorts made by five of the best known Mexican animation directors.

Continuing to serve the filmmaking industry and film aficionados, HFFNY has organized the panel, The Business of Filmmaking: LATIN AMERICA–U.S., the legal and business aspects of motion picture development, finance, production, and distribution at NYU’S King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center on Tuesday, April 20th, 7 pm. Key industry figures will discuss the director, distributor and lawyer perspectives: Alfredo Calvino, Maria Marta Antin, Fernando Ramirez and Jeff Levy-Hinte and moderated by Sandy Lieberson, Chairman of Film London. This free event is made possible with the support of NALIP, Mexicana Airlines, and LART.

Some highlights of this year’s festival are the films about music and dance. Giselle, a beautiful ballet film by this year’s honoree, Enrique Pineda Barnet, celebrates the 90th birthday of Cuba’s prima ballerina, the great Alicia Alonso. The Extraordinary Journey of Fernando Bujones by Israel Rodriguez is about the life of the choreographer and dancer who died at the prime of his career. Mundo Alas is a documentary about a group of disabled artists who tour Argentina accompanied by Argentina’s most important folk rock singer/songwriter Leon Gieco, who will be on hand for a Q&A session after the film. 

In its world premiere, Mambo City by Bette Wanderman, gives a personal account of soulful Puerto Rican singer Awilda and the band, Grupo Latin Vibe. Além Da Luz by Ivy Goulart is an intimate look at the lives of six blind Brazilians and their struggles, dreams and desires. Cooking Up Dreams by Ernesto Cabellos is a journey to the kitchens of Peru's coast, highlands and jungle, as well as Peruvian expatriate communities in Paris, London, Amsterdam and New York. Anécdotas sobre Fidel,directed by Estela Bravo, interviews international luminaries, as well as top members of the government and military about their experiences with Fidel Castro. In Crítico by Brazilian Kleber Mendonça, 70 critics and filmmakers discuss the conflict between the artist and the observer. Diary of the End, directed by Juan Alejandro Ramirez, is a visceral account filled with brutally honest, yet liberating confessions of a Peruvian woman.

HFFNY 2010 closes on Friday April 23rd at the New York Directors Guild Theatre with the special presentation of award-winning Uruguayan film, Gigante at 5 pm. The Closing Night Ceremony and Awards Presentation begins at 7 pm followed by the U.S. premiere of Eso que Anda, an entertaining documentary by Ian Padrón follows the band Los Van Van on their most recent tour in Cuba, attended by more than 1 million people. Director Ian Padron will be attending. The Closing Night party will be at LQ.

SPECIAL GUESTS OF THE FESTIVAL
Returning after several years of absence is the Cuban delegation:

• Enrique Pineda Barnet – Director, La Anunciación
• Silvia Aguila – Actress, Los Dioses Rotos
• Hector Noas – Actor, Los Dioses Rotos
• Juan Carlos Cremata and Iraida Malberti – Directors, El Premio Flaco
• Ian Padron – Director, Eso Que Anda / Van Van Fever
• Susana Molina – Vice President, ICAIC
• Rosa Maria Molina – Director of International Relations, ICAIC

Other guests include:  

• Leon Gieco – Director, Mundo Alas, Argentina
• Diego Vasquez – Actor/Writer, La Pasión de Gabriel, Colombia
• Albert Xavier – Director, Hermafrodita, Dominican Republic
• Rafi Mercado – Director, Miente, Puerto Rico
• Miguel Coyula – Director, Memories of Overdevelopment, U.S.-Cuba
• Carlos Enderle – Director, Crónicas Chilangas, Mexico
• Alejandra Villasmil – Artistic Director, Huacho, Chile
• Efterpi Charalambidis – Director, Libertador Morales, Venezuela
• Ernesto Cabellos – Director, De Ollas y Sueños, Peru
• Mariano Llinás – Director, Historias Extraordinarias, Argentina
• Ignacio Rey – Producer, La Tigra, Chaco, Argentina
• Ray Figueroa – Director, La Bodega, Guatemala
• Estela Bravo – Director, Anecdotes about Fidel, Cuba
• Alfredo Calvino – CEO, Latino Fusion
• Maria Marta Antin – Universidad del Cine, Buenos Aires Talent Campus
• Pablo Medina – Director, El Play, U.S-Dominican Republic
• Alejandro Lora – Director, Homo Erectus, Cuba
• Israel Rodirguez – Director, The Extraordinary Life of Fernando Bujones, U.S
• Ivy Goulart – Director, Beyond the Light, Brazil

The presenting sponsor of HFFNY 2010 is NBC 4 / Telemundo 47. Additional sponsorship is provided by El Diario La Prensa, The National Arts Club, WBAI, TD Bank, Latino Artists Round Table (LART), NY Remezcla, Xael Charters, U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce, Mexicana Airlines, LICP Graphics, Cine Latino en NY, NALIP, Havana-Cultura.com, Marazul Charters, Rockamedia, Copacabana Pizza & Grill, Giovanna’s, Bardolino, Il Buco, and Brazil Brazil. Official hotel sponsors are the Maritime Hotel, the Bowery Hotel, and the Gershwin Hotel.

HFFNY is made possible with public funds from the NYS Council on the Arts, a state agency and supported, in part, by public funds from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs. Mayor Bloomberg’s Latin Media and Entertainment Commission (LMEC) supports the festival. HFFNY is included in New York City’s Immigrant Heritage Week celebration.

The Havana Film Festival New York is a project of American Friends of the Ludwig Foundation of Cuba (AFLFC), a non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization building cultural bridges between the U.S. and Cuba through programs in the arts.

For a complete schedule of events and venues, please log on to www.hffny.com

Source: http://www.hffny.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

When: Thursday, April 22nd @ 6 PM
Location: BEA
240 East 52nd St.
New York, NY 10022


What: The Brazilian Endowment for the Arts proudly invites you and your friends to the extraordinary night of our first celebration of the Portuguese language, Lusofonia. it will be an exciting event with poetry, lecture and art! We will be counting with the illustrious presence of Dr. Arnaldo Saraiva (a correspondent member of the Academy of Letters in Brazil) and the brilliant artists: Costa Val, Cila Santos, Isabel Amaro, Helena Alves, Rene Nascimento, Leonor Alvim, Miguel Garcia, Shirley Pedrosa, Miriam Rylands and Andreia Santos.

Please RSVP. Space is limited.
Phone: (212) 271-1556
Email: bibliobrnyc@gmail.com

"The Brazilian Endowment for the Art's", (BEA's)

The BRAZILIAN ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS, a non-profit organization, which aims to promote Brazilian culture, arts and literature in the United States. Our programs consist of monthly conferences, art exhibits, Portuguese lessons, films and documentaries, and the “Saraus”, Brazil’s musical soirees.

Our library has been visited by prestigious guests as Jose Sarney, a former President of Brazil, and Ana Maria Machado, both of whom are members of the Brazilian Academy of Letters. We have received the former Speaker of the House, Tomaz  Nonô, Ambassador Graça
Lima and his wife Mariza, and the cultural attache and poet, Davino Sena. We have welcomed exponents of the arts, sciences and literature:  Prof. Gregory Rabassa,; the brazilinista Kenneth Maxwell; the historian Jordan Young; the writer and journalist Luiz Carlos Lisboa; dozens of writers, musicians, artists and actors such as former Miss Pernambuco and Vice Miss Brazil, Núbia Santana, Reinaldo Cotia Braga, Moema Caveiro Campos, and Sergio Duarte, poet and special ambassador at the United Nations.

We have already had exciting events such as “A Night in Soho” with dancing, music, and poetry. The “Festa Junina” opened the summer season with traditional costumes, food, dance, the quadrilha.  In addition, we have enjoyed special performances of samba and capoeira by sambista Quênia Ribeiro, and the capoeirista Caxias.

The Brazilian Library is open to the public, housing a collection of more than 2,300 books submitted by our affiliates, such as the National Library, the Brazilian Academy of Letters and dozens of authors and individual donations.

Location: BEA

240 East 52nd St.
New York, NY 10022
Phone: (212) 271-1556
http://www.brazilianendowmentforthearts.com

If the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Pope have no problem with evolution, why are our children being brainwashed and our science teachers under attack? In an exclusive interview, Richard Dawkins explains why his new book is here to prove once and for all that humans did not walk with dinosaurs
Stefanie Marsh
Richard Dawkins at New More..College, Oxford.

A last-minute crisis in the Dawkins household meant that we were unable to meet — as was planned — at his home in Oxford where I had intended to infer from his three libraries, the birds’ nests that he apparently keeps in his living room, all sorts of deep meanings about Britain’s Top Public Intellectual (Prospect magazine, May 2008).

The day before our interview, however, there was an urgent telephone call from Dawkins’ assistant: Richard’s beloved dog had died, I was told, the atmosphere in the household was too funereal for an interview. Instead, we were to meet in one of the characterless rooms in New College where, when the day came, Britain’s “angriest”, most “vituperative” atheist — as his many critics like to call him, along with “belligerent”, and even “mad” — greeted me in a cheerful if rather delicate mood from behind a set of double doors.

Anybody who has ever met Dawkins outside a debating room describes him as a rather shy man — not at all the “Darwin’s rottweiler” of public life. In private I found him to be charming, if slightly irritable at times, a surprisingly romantic creature who is also the kind of person one can imagine bitching behind your back for being too thick. At one point he launched into a long, perfectly articulated and very soulful description of what it was like looking up at the stars at night in an attempt to convey how an understanding of science can enhance one’s experience of the natural world. He is also passionate about poetry — Housman, Shakespeare, Yeats — and admits to being “rather embarrassingly, rather shamingly moved to tears when I read poetry aloud”.

The loss of his dog was clearly on his mind on the day we met, as was evidenced by the awkward conversational dead end we meandered into at one point: “I just loved that little dog, just adored her,” he said. “She was a Coton de Tulear. It’s a breed that comes from Madagascar.” There was another melancholy pause while he ruminated aloud: “Just the dearest little dog. She had been ill for quite a long time. Her name was Pamba — the Swahili for cotton. It is ... there’s a sort of an attitude that ‘it’s only a dog’. But ‘only’ is not the right word. You can love a dog as much as a human . . .”

The idea that Dawkins is capable of doing very much more than deeply offending people is probably inconceivable to those who accuse him not only of a virulent disrespect for religion but of being an apologist for Hitler and Stalin who, it is rather irrelevantly pointed out, were atheists too (except that Hitler was raised a Roman Catholic and Stalin studied at a Georgian Orthodox seminary). Dawkins prefers to see himself in the John Lennon mould (“Imagine there’s no religion”) — at odds with the vocabulary that he sometimes chooses to employ when he wants to win an argument. He can be just unbelievably scathing sometimes and, it must be admitted, amusingly so, provided you’re on the same team: the Pope is “either wicked or dim”, for preaching against the use of condoms in Africa; Howard Jacobson is “an odious pseudo-intellectual”; Noah’s ark is “petty. Pathetic, really”, when compared with what evolutionary theory has to tell us about how life really began.

Of course it’s exactly this combative (he calls it “clear”) tone that has made him so famous, so deeply revered and profoundly hated, and I very much doubt that he would have been even half as successful or well known had he agreed to tone himself down, as many of his colleagues in the scientific community would like him to do. “I think there’s a widespread perception that I am polemical and strident and shrill and things,” he says a little dolefully. “I don’t think I’m strident and shrill. Because religion is seen as off limits I’m seen as excessively angry and polemical and somehow not to be taken seriously as a sort of balanced, nuanced thinker. Time and time again I’m described as just as fundamentalist as a fundamentalist.” Does it matter? “I think probably that my reputation suffers somewhat because of that. ”

He admits to feeling misunderstood at times and during our conversation frequently refers to his old friend Douglas Adams, who was his great champion and whom he clearly still misses intensely. He has his atheist wing-men Christopher Hitchens and A. C. Grayling, but despite its terrific sales, Dawkins’ previous book, The God Delusion, managed if not to offend then at least to shock or irritate almost everyone else in public life. For The God Delusion Dawkins got a pounding in the press from many columnists who didn’t take to what they often referred to as his own “missionary zeal”. There were fellow academics who said that he’d scored an own goal. And Terry Eagleton must have slaved for days over a never-ending article for the London Review of Books in which he accused Dawkins of being too ignorant of the Scriptures to have any kind of informed opinion about the existence of God. To his credit, anything that’s written about him, good or bad, Dawkins links to his website, alongside a campaign encouraging closet atheists to 'out' themselves and an online shop where you can buy T-shirts with large As printed on them (you can guess what the A is for).

The new book, The Greatest Show on Earth, is more what I would call emollient, although Dawkins doesn’t agree and says that it merely fills a gap in his repertoire. He’s written eight books on evolution so far and one wouldn’t have thought there can be that much more to say on the subject. But with the rise of creationism in the US suddenly there is. “Forty per cent of Americans believe that the world is less than 6,000 years old,” Dawkins says, several times, and indeed even most religious folk in Britain would concede that this is a worrying statistic, not ameliorated by the fact that the same ideas are beginning to be taught in some British schools.

And so Dawkins set about writing The Greatest Show on Earth to demonstrate how we know evolution is true. It took him about a year, and the resulting book is a beautifully crafted and intelligible rebuttal of creationism and intelligent design.

Wasn’t it faintly depressing for a scientist in the 21st century to find himself arguing the case for evolution? “There’s an aspect of that,” he says. “But I don’t want to put that in a too depressing, negative way. It’s a challenge — a cheerful sort of challenge because it’s so thrilling and exciting.” When he wrote The God Delusion his stated aim was to convert everybody who read it to atheism. With the new book it is to shake some sense into creationists: “I suppose anybody who reads it should no longer be capable of thinking evolution isn’t a fact,” he says, perhaps rather optimistically, I think. “I’d like to think there’s got to be something wrong with people who finish the book and don’t think that.”

I’m afraid he’s destined to be disappointed, as down deep he himself knows. There’s an hilarious transcript in Chapter 7 of a televised conversation he once had with someone called Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women of America (in his Waspy, amusing way he points out that Wright’s “opinion that ‘The morning-after Pill is a paedophile’s best friend’ gives a fair idea of her powers of reasoning”). Anyway, Wright is asking Dawkins to “show me the evidence of the in-between stages from one species to another”, and Dawkins is telling her over and over again to visit any natural history museum and look at the fossils. But Wright is having none of it: “If evolution has had the actual evidence then it would be displayed in museums, not just illustrations,” she says.

It’s hopeless. And Dawkins concedes that, “[Wright] certainly wouldn’t read the book and even if she did read it, it wouldn’t make any difference. Nothing is going to change the mind of somebody who is so doggedly certain ... I think you have to make a real distinction between people who are religious in the sense that your vicar or bishop is religious but accept that evolution as scientific and people like Wendy Wright, who think the world is 6,000 years old, which is flat contradictory to every scrap of evidence we’ve got. That does drive me to despair because nothing’s going to shift those people.” Nevertheless, he’s optimistic that, “many people just don’t know what the facts are. They are simply uneducated. And that’s a fault of us as scientists for not going out there and communicating with them.”

It’s not just in America of course (none of Dawkins’s books has been translated into Arabic). But at least in the US his books aren’t banned. Why does he think creationism has had such a revival in the States? “It is a political question in a way. I think in America there’s a political almost paranoia among these sort of Sarah-Palin-voting rural-small-town population who feel belittled by the urban New York-San Francisco intellectual periphery of the country. They feel like a kind of underdog. It’s the same lobby that feels that everybody has the right to carry a gun.”

How about in Britain? “I don’t know what it is in Britain. Maybe it’s just American influence. Maybe it’s Islamic influence which is strong.”

The most powerful parallel Dawkins draws in his book is between Holocaustdeniers and what he refers to as “historydeniers”, by which he means creationists.

“I have American colleagues who have told me that they’ve had students go to the dean and complain that their religion is being insulted by this professor who is teaching about evolution.” He likens teaching science in parts of America to teaching ancient history to a classroom dominated by “a baying pack of ignoramuses ... who scurry about tirelessly attempting to persuade unfortunate pupils that the Romans never existed.”

Unlike with the previous book, most people in Britain will agree with most of what Dawkins has to say in The Greatest Show on Earth. But they still find him irritating for being such a literalist, so passionate and emotional.

What drives him, I think, is not so much outright anger but a sense of incredulity, alongside a profound desire to be understood. He admits to getting annoyed with “fuzzy-thinking” vicars.

“Do you go to church? You’ve heard sermons?” he asks. “The vicar will talk absolutely straight about something like Adam and Eve. But then if you stopped him on his way out of church and you said, ‘Vicar, you don’t actually believe in Adam and Eve, do you?’ and he would say, ‘Of course I don’t believe in Adam and Eve’. And I would say, ‘Well why don’t you say so in the sermon? Because plenty of people in your congregation won’t have realised that and I think that’s a very serious point’.”

One gets the impression that he is in an almost permanent state of dumbfoundedness at humankind’s ability to hold two contradicting ideas in its head: “It’s almost as though they [vicars] don’t really see the distinction between actually what’s true and what is only true in a metaphorical or mythological sense. It’s as though they don’t really care about the difference. I think that’s it! They don’t really care about the difference!”

And does this fuzzy-headedness mystify him? “Yes, it does. And they will say things like, ‘Well it’s obviously not true but who cares in what’s true?’ And they’re not really interested in what’s true, they’re interested in what feels right or what feels good or what’s moral or, um ... if I may put it this way, what feels to be true: ‘There’s a deeper truth than mere scientific truth’ and that sort of thing. ‘There are spiritual truths that transcend scientific truths and which are so much more valuable and humane’.” And what goes through Dawkins’ head when he’s listening to these kinds of opinions? “Well! A kind of intense irritation! Because I don’t mind people talking about mythological truth but I do mind them muddling it up. There is such a thing as scientific truth and I think it matters, and if you don’t think it matters then I get annoyed.”

We’ve moved away from creationists here, but the principle is the same: our capacity as humans to believe in things that have no scientific underpinning. Is creationism, would he say, a form of stupidity? Does he find it annoying that there are so many stupid people in the world?

“I don’t think I would put it that way,” he says. “Well, I was going to say a lot of ignorant people, but that sounds abrasive too. Ignorant is just a factual statement. I’m ignorant about football and all sorts of things. And I don’t think you’d take it as an insult if I said you don’t seem to know anything about football. It’s actually just a factual statement; it means you don’t know anything about it. I know quite a lot about evolution and there are plenty of people out there who know nothing about evolution and who probably who would enjoy learning something about evolution. Perhaps they can teach me about football.”

Does he think he’s an intellectual snob? “Nooooo,” he almost yelps. “I would say I am an elitist in the good sense, which is in the sense that you’re not snobby but you want to be part of an elite and you want other people to be part of that elite too.” And one senses that when others fail to become part of the elite, he gets depressed.

What he does far better than mauling other people with his fabulous intellect is unravelling the delights of the natural world, a fact that has been slightly obscured over the past two years with all the fuss stirred up around The God Delusion. The new book brings readers back in touch with the wonder of Nature, as will, I think, his next project: a children’s book on evolution.He’s not, in the end, so dogmatic about atheism that he doesn’t celebrate Christmas (“I am a cultural Christian”) and he even admits to “a very very slight sentimental nostalgic liking for The Holly and the Ivy.”

As to the big unanswered questions: “I think we all think that there’s something else out there. I do, certainly. But it’s not supernatural. It’s ... I think there’s a lot that science doesn’t know and indeed may never know, and that’s exciting.”

One final criticism often leveled at Dawkins is that if you take away belief in God, society collapses and the world suddenly becomes a cold and comfortless place. He immediately leaps in with an “all that matters is what is true or not”. But I think he would be better off talking a little more about his own experience of life, which is certainly not devoid of comfort or love. He is on a third marriage, to the Doctor Who actress Lalla Ward, and is said to be on good terms with his first wife. He has many close friends. Consolation in an atheist world comes through “human contact, human love. We are intensely social animals and I think we derive great comfort from talking to loved people, listening to them.”

Soon after he gives me the talk about stars. If only this, Richard Dawkins’ poetic, highly articulate, deeply moved and moving side could come to the fore more often, we might begin to remember how very lucky we are to have him.

Source: www.Liveleak.com

Five employees of Perdue Farms Inc. have filed a federal, class-action lawsuit against 15 managers, accused of regularly hiring illegal aliens. The plaintiffs allege that the managers have conspired to hire large numbers of illegal aliens, thus suppressing the wages of legal workers.

The plants named in the suit are in Salisbury, Md., Accomac, Va.; Bridgewater, Va; Concord, N.C.; Cromwell, Ky.; More.. Dillon, S.C.; Dothan, Ala.; Fayetteville, N.C.; Georgetown, Del.; Lewistown, N.C.; Milford, Del.; Monterey, Tenn.; Perry, Ga.; Rockingham, N.C.; Showell, Md.; and Washington, Ind.

The plaintiffs make the following accusations against Perdue managers:

- Falsely attesting on I-9 forms that illegal immigrants presented genuine work documents.
- Hiring employees that previously worked in other Perude plants under different aliases.
- Coaching illegal aliens to claim high numbers of dependents on tax forms to reduce tax withholding.
- Tipping off illegal employees to rumors of government raids in plants so they are not at the plant during the inspection and not arrested.
- Telling legal workers perceived to be underworking to work harder or they would be replaced by new hires "from the tomato fields," a euphemism for illegal workers.

The lawsuit states: “Illegal immigrants will work for extremely low wages, will typically not complain about workplace conditions and injuries, and because of their vulnerable situation, will accede to employer demands to work harder and longer hours than American citizens.”

The plaintiffs’ attorney, Howard Foster, said: “They are able to get away with it because the federal government lets them get away with it. They don't enforce immigration laws very well.”

Perdue Farms is one of the country’s largest poultry processing company, with more than $4.5 billion in annual sales.

The food processing industry is notorious for hiring illegal aliens. The following is a short list of some of the more high-profile companies recently caught with illegal aliens in their employ:

-Agriprocessors Inc. - On May 12, 2008, ICE agents executed criminal and administrative search warrants at Agriprocessors, Inc., in Postville, IA, which resulted in the arrest of 389 illegal aliens. 305 of those arrested were also convicted of criminal offenses.

CEO Sholom Rubashkin was arrested and charged with federal conspiracy of harboring illegal immigrants and aiding and abetting aggravated identity theft. However, the U.S. Attorney’s office later dropped all 72 charges against him.

-Pilgrim’s Pride - On April 16, 2007, ICE agents arrested 311 illegal aliens working at five Pilgrim’s Pride sites. Of the 311 arrested, 91 were charged with other criminal violations.

-Del Monte Produce - On June 12, 2007, ICE agents arrested 168 illegal alien employees at their Portland, OR facility. In addition to the illegal workers, 13 managers and other workers were arrested and charged with various crimes including selling Social Security cards.

-Swift and Company - On Dec. 12, 2006, ICE agents arrested 1,297 illegal aliens at six Swift meat processing factories in six states. 274 of those arrested were also charged with other criminal offenses.

-Smithfield Foods - After ICE agents raided the Tar Heel, NC plant and arrested 21 illegal alien workers, 500 workers with fake Social Security numbers were promptly fired from the factory. Another raid in August 2007, netted 28 more illegal aliens, all were from Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras.

Source: Liveleak.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

When: SATURDAY, MAY 8, NOON TO 4:00 P.M.

HARTFORD, CONN. (April 12, 2010)-Trinity College's fourth annual Samba Fest will take place on Saturday, May 8, from noon to 4:00 p.m.

The event marks the North American debut of Berimbrown, Brazil's 10-member, Afro-fusion band.

Berimbrown's lively groove melds North American funk, soul, and reggae with regional and historical Brazilian references. Foremost among these is the berimbau, a musical bow that is an iconic symbol of capoeira, the Afro-Brazilian martial art, dance, and game.

The group has performed and recorded with Brazilian international music stars Milton Nascimento and Gilberto Gil in their homeland. Berimbrown's latest CD, "Live from Europe Tour 2007," includes original compositions as well as reinterpretations of seminal Brazilian musical works such as Nascimento's "Fé Cegá, Faca Amolada" and Gil's "Parabolicamara."

The ensemble's Portuguese-language lyrics combine social criticism with uplifting, celebratory messages concerning human rights.

Berimbrown was founded in 1997 by Mestre Negoativo as a spin-off from a community-based socio-cultural and artistic project in the impoverished Maria Goretti neighborhood of Belo Horizonte, a fringe district of the city of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The ensemble's aim is to identify and preserve Brazil's African cultural roots and to promote citizenship through its art.

Berimbrown's music is discussed within historical and cultural contexts in "The Berimbau: Soul of Brazilian Music" by Eric A. Galm (University Press of Mississippi, 2010), who is an assistant professor of music and ethnomusicology at Trinity College, founding director of the Trinity Samba Ensemble, and producer of Samba Fest.

Samba Fest also features the Trinity Samba Ensemble with special guest Brazilian vocalist José Paulo, who grew up singing with the Salgueiro samba school in Rio de Janeiro. His debut CD, "Canzoni Stonate," was released by Albatroz Music/Sony Music International in November 2008. Paulo was named "Outstanding Brazilian Male Singer in the United States" by the Brazilian Press Awards in 2009, and he is a featured performer on a forthcoming CD by Brazilian singing star Roberto Carlos.

The Trinity Samba Ensemble is an academic course in which students learn Brazilian culture through its music and rhythms. They perform participatory call-and-response songs in Portuguese for non-Portuguese speaking audiences. The Samba Ensemble plays a variety of percussion instruments, including the surdo (similar to a bass drum); tamborim (small frame drum); agogô (double-bell); and ganzá (shaker). The group takes musical cues from the repinique, the "master drum," and includes electric guitar, bass, and keyboards, which add harmonic layers to the multi-part vocals and rhythms.

Tierra Mestiza will open Samba Fest with music from Mexico, Central, and South America. An acoustic ensemble comprising several types of guitars, brass, and percussion, Tierra Mestiza specializes in romantic songs that achieved global popularity in the 1930s to 1950s. Additionally, the group will perform songs addressing issues of human rights.

Ginga Brasileira, a capoeira group based in New Haven, will demonstrate their art, and the duo Juggle Joy will teach circus-oriented dexterity skills throughout the afternoon. There will be craft activities and movement-based games for children organized by Trinity College student groups.

Admission is free to this family-friendly event, although Trinity College requests contributions of non-perishable food items for a Hartford food pantry.

Samba Fest is presented in conjunction with Trinity's Fun Fair/Annual Community Events Staff. Financial support is provided by the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism and the National Endowment for the Arts, Greater Hartford Arts Council, and University of Connecticut Center for Latin American Studies. Additional support is provided by Trinity's Center for Urban and Global Studies Arts and Culture Initiative, Austin Arts Center Guest Artist Series, Department of Music, Offices of Community Relations, Multicultural Affairs, and Campus Life, PRESHCO (Programa de Estudios Hispánicos en Córdoba), and Women & Gender Resource Action Center. Berimbrown's North American debut is underwritten in part by the Governo de Minas, Programa Música Minas, and Fórum da Música de Minas Gerais.

Telemundo is media sponsor.

Samba Fest will be held outdoors on the Mather Quadrangle in front of the Austin Arts Center at the Trinity campus, between Broad and Summit Streets, near New Britain Avenue. In case of rain, Samba Fest will be moved indoors to the nearby Koeppel Community Sports Center, 175 New Britain Avenue.

Trinity College is served by CT Transit Bus Routes 37, 39, and 61. For bus schedules, call CT Transit at 860-525-9181.

Free parking is available on campus.

Family-Friendly Event Features
North American Debut of Berimbrown, Brazil's Afro-Fusion Band;
Trinity Samba Ensemble with Brazilian Vocalist José Paulo;
Latin American Music by Tierra Mestiza;
And Many Activities for Children

Media Contacts:
Susan Hood, susan.hood@trincoll.edu <mailto:susan.hood@trincoll.edu> , 860-869-2129
Mike Raciti, Michael.raciti@trincoll.edu <mailto:Michael.raciti@trincoll.edu> , 870-297-5348

For more information, please call 860-297-2199 or visit www.trincoll.edu/artsattrinity

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