© 2005-2006 BONES/BANDAI
Global Weekends
This program is presented in conjunction with the Museum exhibition Traveling the Silk Road: Ancient Pathway to the Modern World. The ancient Silk Road's trading routes promoted the exchange of ideas, arts, and goods among different peoples. In that spirit, this April Global Weekends continues to highlight contemporary cultural influences from varying perspectives.
Much like the ancient Silk Road, today's social media promotes cultural exchange. One instructive example of such global exchange is the spread of India's Bollywood films and Japanese anime throughout the world. Discover and experience how and why these forms have been quickly embraced by American pop culture.
American Museum of Natural History
Bollywood and Anime in America
Saturday and Sunday, April 17 - 18
Free with Museum admissionThis program is presented in conjunction with the Museum exhibition Traveling the Silk Road: Ancient Pathway to the Modern World. The ancient Silk Road's trading routes promoted the exchange of ideas, arts, and goods among different peoples. In that spirit, this April Global Weekends continues to highlight contemporary cultural influences from varying perspectives.
Much like the ancient Silk Road, today's social media promotes cultural exchange. One instructive example of such global exchange is the spread of India's Bollywood films and Japanese anime throughout the world. Discover and experience how and why these forms have been quickly embraced by American pop culture.
| SATURDAY, APRIL 17 — noon - 5:30pm Kaufmann Theater |
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| Film: ChakDe! India noon Kaufmann Theater, first floor Directed by Shimit Amin and produced by Aditya Chopra. 2007 152 min. Hindi with English subtitles |
Directed by a new voice, this film was a critical and a box-office success in India and also among the South Asian diaspora. It tells the story of a Muslim field hockey player who is forced to quit the sport for political reasons but makes a comeback as coach for the Indian women's national team. The players compete in an international tournament by overcoming their diverse backgrounds and by learning to use everything life hurls at them. It's a story about second chances in life, honesty, sincerity, and integrity in realizing one's dream. Screening followed by a discussion. This film is rated PG. |
 ©Yash Raj Films |
| Performance: Bollywood Axion (BAX) 3:00pm Kaufmann Theater, first floor |
The BAX Dance Company, with artistic director Pooja Narang, performs a fun and colorful mix of popular high energy Bollywood dances. The company has worked with Slumdog Millionaire choreographer Longinus Fernandes and performed at the 2009 Latin Grammy Awards in addition to appearing in The Accidental Husband and on CBS's "Early Show." |  Courtesy of Bollywood Axion |
| Anime feature film: Yona Yona Penguin 3:45pm Kaufmann Theater, first floor Directed by Rintaro, 2009 87 min. Japanese with English subtitles |
The U.S. premiere of a fantasy adventure directed by internationally renown auteur Rintaro features Coco, an adventurous little girl who is obsessed with penguins. One night, Coco receives an invitation, and what awaits her is an encounter with a world she has never seen before. The film was featured at the 66th Venice International Film Festival. |
 ©2009 Rintaro + Madhouse, "Yona Yona, Penguin" Film Partners + DFP |
| Sunday, April 18 — noon - 5:30pm Linder and Kaufmann Theaters |
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| Anime feature film: Eureka Seven: Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers noon Kaufmann Theater, first floor Directed by Tomoki Kyoda, 2009. 115 min. English dubbed |
Based on the popular TV anime series "Eureka Seven," this film tells the story of Renton and his love Eureka. For almost half a century, mankind has battled a mysterious organism from space called "EIZO." In 2054, the young soldier Renton boards a fighter aircraft and heads for the battlefield with one goal: to rescue his childhood friend, Eureka, who was kidnapped eight years ago. This film is rated PG-13. |  ©2009 BONES/Project EUREKA MOVIE All Rights Reserved  ©Miramax Films |
| Talk: Re/Making of American Pop Culture 2:15pm Linder Theater, first floor |
In a cross-cultural conversation on Bollywood and anime, Aseem Chhabra, independent Bollywood film critic; Dr. Madhulika Khandelwal, director of the Asian American Center, Queens College; Taeko Baba, president of event media company, New York-Tokyo; and Roland Kelts, author of Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S., share their perspectives on these forms in American pop culture. | |
| Film: Bride & Prejudice 3:45pm Kaufmann Theater, first floor Directed by Gurinder Chadha, India, 2005. 112 min. English |
Gurinder Chadha of Bend it Like Beckham directs an English-language Bollywood-style musical. The film stars a host of Bollywood actors including former Miss World Aishwarya Rai. This modern musical retelling of Jane Austen's classic Pride and Prejudice is a story of one girl's unlikely search for love interspersed with a swirl of music, dance, and comic misunderstanding. Screening followed by discussion. This film is rated PG-13.
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| SATURDAY, APRIL 17 and SUNDAY, APRIL 18 12:30 - 5:00pm, Hall of Birds of the World and Grand Gallery |
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| Bollywood Dance Workshops 12:30 and 2:00pm Hall of Birds of the World second floor |
Experience and learn the lively Bollywood film dance movements with Pooja Narang, choreographer and founder of Bollywood Axion. |  Courtesy of Bollywood Axion |
| Anime Galleria 1:00 - 5:00 pm Grand Gallery, first floor |
The Anime Galleria will feature an Anime Trailer Marathon that includes a collection of 2009/2010 titles by anime distributors including Aniplex, FUNimation and Microsoft; Video Games MONSTER HUNTER™ TRI by Capcom and ASTRO BOY™ by D3P; popular Manga provided by VIZ Media, TOKYOPOP, and others; a rare collection of original Astro Boy tin Toys from the 1960s from Toy Tokyo; a demo on how to make Figures by Gundam Planet; introducing NTT DOCOMO USA's ATAKU® for the ability to view Anime on Mobile Phones; and the opportunity to create CG anime yourself with SmithMicro computer software. Video game equipment is provided, in part, by Play N Trade. | |
| 3:30 pm Grand Gallery, first floor |
Enjoy a live performance by Shing02, hip hop rapper best known for Samurai Champloo's opening song.
Shing02; from new york tokyo on Vimeo. |
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For details, call 212-769-5315 Download Event Flyer (.pdf) |
The Anime in America program is co-presented with the event media company New York-Tokyo. Shing02 program is presented, in part, by 
.
The Global Weekends series is free with suggested Museum admission. Neither tickets nor reservations are required. Seating is limited and is available on a first-come, first-served basis.
It is recommended that you arrive with plenty of time to enter the Museum and locate the program spaces. For further information, call the Museum's Department of Education on weekdays at 212-769-5315 from 9 am to 5 pm.
The parking garage is open during Museum hours; enter from West 81st Street. For public transportation, call 212-769-5100.
All programs are subject to change.
Support for Global Weekends is made possible, in part, by the May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation, Inc., the Tolan Family,
and the family of Frederick H. Leonhardt.