Great Plains Mini Film Festival and Panel Discussion

In conjunction with Smithsonian's Museums on Mainstreet exhibit Crossroads: Change in Rural America, the Red Cloud Opera House is pleased to present the Great Plains Mini-Film Festival! We'll be screening two very different films that present a slice of life in rural America: the Christopher Guest-directed mockumentary Waiting for Guffman, and the critically-acclaimed Lee Isaac Chung film Minari. Immediately following the screening of Minari, we'll welcome a panel of experts for a moderated discussion entitled, "Telling Our Stories: How Public Art Reflects and Projects Rural Lives."

This event is presented free-of-charge through the support of Humanities Nebraska and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment. Funding has also been provided to the Willa Cather Foundation from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act of 2021. NEH is committed to Sustaining the Humanities through the American Rescue Plan (SHARP). Arts programming in the Red Cloud Opera House are also supported by a Basic Support Grant from the Nebraska Arts Council and Nebraska Cultural Endowment. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily reflect the views of Humanities Nebraska, Nebraska Cultural Endowment, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

About the Panel, "Telling Our Stories":
Diana Martinez, Artistic Director at Film Streams, Omaha
Bob Puschendorf, author and former Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer
Jamie Horter, community artist and rural advocate
In a panel moderated by the National Willa Cather Center's Education Director Tracy Tucker, panelists will discuss the role of public art projects—everything from murals and sculpture to film and literature—as they relate to rural spaces. Both historically and today, public art tells the stories of rural citizens—but whose stories, and what do they mean? Does our art reinforce stereotypes, or does it reflect modern changes to the rural lifestyle? Who gets to tell the rural story, and how? Are rural citizens the author of their own stories, or are they the audience? This panel will look at Minari as one example of rural lives on film as we discuss these topics, and more, immediately following the film's conclusion.

About Waiting for Guffman:

Written by Eugene Levy and Christopher Guest, who also directs, Waiting for Guffman also stars Fred Willard, Catherine O'Hara, Parker Posey, David Cross, and a host of hilarious character actors in this campy mockumentary from the team that brought you Spinal Tap and Best in Show. In the film, the residents of Blaine, Missouri—home of the first UFO landing in the United States and stool capital of the world—are planning an original musical production, "Red, White and Blaine," in honor of the town's sesquicentennial. Corky St. Clair, the musical's writer/composer and former off-off-off-off Broadway professional, leads the production and anticipates the arrival of Mort Guffman, a representative of the prestigious New York-based Oppenheimer Organization, who will (they believe) launch them all to Broadway stardom. Runtime 1h 24 m. Rated R. (1996)

About Minari:

Directed by Lee Isaac Chung and nominated for six Oscars, Minari is the acclaimed story of Jacob Yi, who relocates his Korean-American family from California to rural Arkansas in the 1980s, to chase the elusive American Dream. Amid cultural unease and the  threat of financial disaster, Jacob is convinced that he has found their own slice of Eden in the rich, dark soil of Arkansas. Minari stars Steven Yeun, Yeri Han, Yuh-Jung Youn, Noel Cho and Alan Kim. Minari is a drama about yearning and assimilation, and according to Chung, an homage to an earlier exploration of the topic, Willa Cather's My Ántonia. Runtime 1h 55m. Rated PG-13. (2021)