Desert Star Weekly April 27, 2018 issue

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Your adjudicated newspaper for Riverside County

desert

STAR W E E K L Y

Nanjing Massacre survivor Xia Shuqin

By Jack Lyons Theatre and Film Critic Member American Theatre Critics Association Seven years ago, AM-DOCS Film Festival founder Teddy Grouya, felt that filmmakers of documentaries needed a proper festival of their own to display their diverse and wide-ranging, special subject-

matter films, for lovers and audiences of the documentary film genre in a festival format with all the trimmings. The audiences for the first AM-DOCS festival has grown exponentially to the point where seven years later, the place to see just documentary films in America, is right here in Palm Springs, California, at The Palm Springs Cultural Center and Camelot Theatres.

By Desert Star Staff A jury has found actor Bill Cosby guilty on three counts of aggravated indecent assault over a 2004 incident in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Cosby, 80, faces up to 30 years in prison. After deliberating for over 14 hours, the jury decided that Cosby sexually assaulted Andrea Constand without her consent and while she was unconscious and intoxicated. Each count carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $25,000. Cosby will remain free on bail pending the sentencing hearing, the judge ruled. Thursday’s verdict came after a retrial. The first trial

ended in a mistrial last year because the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict. The verdict was hailed by feminists and advocates of the #MeToo movement, protesting sexual harassment of women since accusations against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein went viral in 2017. However, the charges against Cosby go back to 2014, with over 40 women accusing the AfricanAmerican comedian of sexual impropriety since then. Cosby had admitted to giving Constand the antiallergy medication Benadryl and that their sexual encounter was consensual. Prosecutors declined to

PRESORTED STANDARD

Garth Brooks headlines Sunday at Stagecoach Country Music Festival, see entire line-up on page 6.

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Friday, April 27, 2018 Vol. 12 No. 34

AM-Docs 2018 Festival The popularity of the festival has created a need for a Spanish language segment to meet the demand for Spanish speaking documentaries at the 2018 festival. Grouya, wisely added a two-day break-out segment on April 13th and 14th that was held at Cathedral City’s Mary Pickford Theatre, where 30 Latino documentaries were screened; with some

Q & A sessions following the screenings. The 2018, eight-day festival that ended on April 14th, screened 170 films, covering a broad range of subjects from filmmakers located all over the world; some of whom, attended with their films in competition. We were fortunate to see the festival documentary film entry “The Girl and the Picture”, written, produced,

and directed by Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Vanessa Roth. Her documentary is a strong, powerful, visual statement on war and survival in general, and more specifically, following WW II and its aftermath, her film depicts how it affects all people, not just the victims, but also the Continues on Page 3

Guilty: Bill Cosby convicted of sexual assault

Bill Cosby after being told a verdict is in at his sexual assault retrial, Norristown, Pennsylvania, April 26, 2018. © Mark Makela / Reuters press charges in 2005, citing insufficient evidence, but changed their mind and indicted the actor in 2015.

Prior to the allegations, Cosby had a reputation for championing family values. He was best known for

family sitcoms such as The Cosby Show (1984-1992) and Cosby (1996-2000).


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