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VOL 17 + ISSUE 49

DECEMBER 9, 2015 - DECEMBER 16, 2015 EDITORIAL

DEAR READER

EDITOR + PUBLISHER Jeff lawrence

The battle for control of the gun violence narrative this season is in full swing. Every week there’s a new example for both sides to cling to, white-knuckled and ready for a fight. Last week, the New York Times took it a step further and ran an op-ed on its cover proclaiming all-out war against gun violence. It was a bold move for a gray lady but with the New York Daily Press getting all the attention lately, she had no choice. Desperate times call for desperate measures. What’s lost in all of this is the actual statistical data, or rather the factually most accurate statistical data, that should be informing policy and opinion. Instead, it’s a sea of frothy anti-gun/pro-gun santorum that oozes from the mouths of pundits. In its zeal to grab some prime-time buzz, the NYT jumped in head first. Thankfully we know what’s going on, and our own op-ed this week addresses it. Shifting gears, this week brings part two of an amazing series from BINJ looking into the challenges facing Boston’s immigrant communities, a brutal takedown of the Elkey Awards, a Missy Elliot dance party, and of course great sex advice from Mr. Dan Savage himself. Hold the Nutcracker jokes, however, as we also have a great update on the old standard and an honest opinion on the new flick Bridge of Spies. In other words, we’ve got you covered from the trigger to the target.

ASSOCIATE MUSIC EDITOR Nina Corcoran ASSOCIATE FILM EDITOR Jake Mulligan ASSOCIATE ARTS EDITOR Christopher Ehlers COPY EDITOR Mitchell Dewar CONTRIBUTORS Nate Boroyan, Renan Fontes, Bill Hayduke, Emily Hopkins, Micaela Kimball, Dave Wedge INTERN Oliver Bok, Mary Kate McGrath

DESIGN CREATIVE DIRECTOR Tak Toyoshima COMICS Tim Chamberlain Brian Connolly Pat Falco Patt Kelley INTERN Chesley Chapman

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ON THE COVER

Yes, even we sometimes like to talk about guns. So take a deep breath, get the blood pressure down, and turn to page 8. ©2015 DIGBOSTON IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY DIG PUBLISHING LLC. NO PART OF THIS PUBLICATION CAN BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT WRITTEN CONSENT. DIG PUBLISHING LLC CANNOT BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. ONE COPY OF DIGBOSTON IS AVAILABLE FREE TO MASSACHUSETTS RESIDENTS AND VISITORS EACH WEEK. ANYONE REMOVING PAPERS IN BULK WILL BE PROSECUTED ON THEFT CHARGES TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW.

JEFF LAWRENCE - PUBLISHER + EDITOR, DigBoston

DIGTIONARY

GUNBARRASSING

verb 1. Ignoring information about gun violence to make your counterpoint more powerful, usually in the form of an op-ed.

OH, CRUEL WORLD Dear DigBoston, It’s bad/sad enough that digboston doesn’t cover the creative musical improvisation of Jazz for example, you know, the real adventurous, cutting-edge sounds notwithstanding the dig’s reputation as an alternative rag. But when a preview of the Chris Botti gig at the Wilber [sic] Theatre … comes out to declare and thus encourage listeners “If innovative Jazz is your thing…” to hear him, THAT establishes the biggest bullshit (lack of) knowledge of the music scene other than popular idioms, in the Boston area I’ve ever read about - and demands that the paper/online site quit pussyfooting around with music creativity and take it seriously as it does brewing, cannabis and sex so they’d learn something and even embrace. Don’t be fooled, Botti is the cute, “smooth” poster boy trumpeter for the establishment who don’t really care about Jazz, the anthesis to innovation! There’s more that meets the ear on the Boston area than digboston allows you to know about.

ILLUSTRATION BY CHESLEY CHAPMAN

NEWS + FEATURES EDITOR Chris Faraone

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NEWS US THE ELEDONKEY SHOW NEWS TO US

A dispatch from the Bay State’s pitiful political awards BY ZACK HUFFMAN Political bottom feeders packed the top floor of Boston’s Omni Parker House on December 3 for the inaugural Elkey Awards, a localized celebration of the cynical sportsmanship of modern American politics. The Elkey, which is a groan-worthy portmanteau hack of the Republican Elephant and Democrat Donkey, were marketed as the successors to the Golden Donkey Awards, a long-dead ceremony for hacks also organized by the Rendon Group, whose captains are all too well aware that consulting fees are just as valuable when they come from the GOP. According to the self-congratulatory program, the ceremony was intended to “send forth a great message regarding the beauty of democracy.” To do this, the hosts honored operatives and campaign managers who are paid to make parasitic politicians seem like decent human beings, as well as the press secretaries and media consultants who are paid to lie to journalists. MSNBC’s Chris Matthews was originally scheduled to host, but he wisely canceled. I lacked his foresight, which is why I found myself stuck at an event with lame jokes, overpriced drinks, and far too many wannabe political fixers desperately trying to network with everything on two legs. In any case, I kept track of all of the winning field directors and pollsters, but it seems awfully silly to list them, since the only other people keeping score are probably already among those who placed the more than 2,100 votes that fueled this sycophantic circle-jerk of an awards show. The online voting method made it so presenters didn’t have to explain why a particular winner did an outstanding job, but there was nonetheless some apparent rhyme to the outcomes. If you were involved with the campaigns of either Governor Charlie Baker or Attorney General Maura Healey, chances are you were given an award. If you were involved with Evan Falchuck’s idealistic third-party gubernatorial run, the announcement of your nomination was met with deafening silence.

The Rendon Group, the public relations firm that organized the awards, started up after Jimmy Carter lost to Ronald Reagan in 1980, leaving founder and former Carter operative John Rendon jobless. His company consulted John Kerry’s successful 1984 senatorial debut, as well as Walter Mondale’s failed bid against Reagan in 1984. By the 1990s, the outfit was in the foreign war game, getting involved in government black ops in Panama for the first Bush presidency, followed by involvement in numerous other military actions, as Rendon once bragged to a Rolling Stone reporter. Rendon’s military involvement culminated in the company’s star role in selling George W. Bush’s bogus war against Iraq.

Back at the event that good government forgot, the night ended with the patronizing presentation of the “Broken Glass Award,” which allowed the old men of the Massachusetts political establishment to declare how swell it is that female pols like Lt. Governor Karyn Polito and Attorney General Healey are reshaping the landscape. Way to go ladies, the boys approve! Whether it’s ignoring important issues like effective addiction treatment and corruption reform, or their universal appreciation for approaching politics like a depraved parlor game, as noted over and over at the Elkeys, bipartisanship is alive and well in the Commonwealth.

And The Winners Are Fundraiser of the Year:

ML GANLEY

(Coakley for Governor/Goldberg for Treasurer) Press Secretary/ Communications Director of the Year:

TIM BUCKLEY

(Baker for Governor) Field Director:

STEVE MOORE

(Goldberg for Treasurer) Best Use of Technology:

TWITTER GOTV MESSAGE (Healey)

State Legislative Campaign of the Year:

RYAN FATTMAN FOR STATE SENATE

Media Consultant of the Year:

Mayoral Campaign of the year:

MARTY WALSH FOR BOSTON

Political Operative of the year:

ROGER LAU

WILL KEYSER (Baker)

(Massachusetts Democratic Party)

Best Primary Battle of the Year:

Policy Director:

MOULTON VS. TIERNEY/CONGRESS

ELIZABETH MAHONEY

Pollster of the Year:

Best Use of Social Media:

DAVID PALEOLOGO (Suffolk University)

(Baker)

BAKER FOR GOVERNOR Political Operative – Rookie of the Year:

TERRY MACCORMACK (Baker)

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Rising Future Political Star:

MAURA HEALEY

Campaign Manager of the Year:

MIKE FIRESTONE (Healey)

Campaign Strategist of the Year:

CHRIS KEOHAN

(Walsh for Mayor/Goldberg for Treasurer) Most Valuable Player of the Year:

WILL KEYSER (Baker)

Best TV Spot of the Year:

HOOPS (Healey)

Best Ballot Campaign:

O’NEILL & ASSOCIATES (No on Question 2/Bottle Deposits) Campaign of the Year:

MAURA HEALEY FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL Best Use of Analytics:

BRIAN WYNNE

(MassVictory GOP Coordinated Campaign) Ethnic Media:

JOSIANE MARTINEZ (Coakley for Governor)

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MAC ATTACK

THE TOKIN’ TRUTH

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A plea to unite legalization factions BY SHALEEN TITLE @SHALEENTITLE

WEDNESDAYS DECEMBER 2nd-30th 5-11pm

Last week, we learned that Bay State Repeal did not gather enough signatures to qualify its initiative for next November’s ballot. Like most longtime Commonwealth drug policy activists, I was rooting for it. It was a good law written by intelligent volunteers with tremendous passion, and it was backed by some of the people who have been fighting for legalization in Mass longer than anyone. As a co-drafter of a separate marijuana legalization initiative that is likely to be on the ballot next year, I hope that BSR supporters will now join our effort, The Committee to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol (CRMLA) in Massachusetts. We need to come together to pass legalization and stop wasting resources and ruining lives through marijuana prohibition. Massachusetts deserves to be the next state with a regulated and above-ground marijuana market that will create hundreds of jobs. But we can only do it if we work as a team. I appreciate the ongoing efforts by The Tokin’ Truth to keep people informed on marijuana laws and the incentives behind them. We need independent reporting to ensure accountability for both the drug policy reform organizations and the marijuana industry. CRMLA’s initiative stands up to all fair scrutiny. Here are the top 5 reasons why supporters of BSR should also support CRMLA:

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1—Fair possession and home growing allowances: This law allows adults 21 and over to possess up to one ounce of marijuana outside of their residences and up to 10 ounces of marijuana in an enclosed, locked space within their residences. Possession between one and two ounces outside a residence is only punishable by a civil fine. Furthermore, adults 21 and over may grow up to six marijuana plants in an enclosed, locked space within their residences and possess the marijuana produced by those plants in the location where it was grown, with up to 12 plants permitted to be grown between people living at one residence.

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3—Lower barriers to entry: Enterprising Bay State residents won’t have to be millionaires or go through unnecessarily complex and competitive application processes in order to become entrepreneurs in this emerging industry. The maximum application and license fees for marijuana establishments are far more accessible than those for the state medical marijuana dispensaries, while still allowing the application fee to cover the costs of running the program. Initial application fees are $3,000; for comparison, application fees for registered medical marijuana dispensaries are $31,500 in total.

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4—Unprecedented support for communities disproportionately harmed by the drug war: This law requires the new regulating agency to adopt procedures and policies to promote and encourage full participation in the marijuana industry by people from communities that have previously been disproportionately harmed by marijuana prohibition and enforcement. It also requires the agency to develop policies to positively impact those communities. These could include education, job training, and placement programs. There are currently no existing medical or adult-use marijuana laws with such a requirement in any state. I’m proud that we included it and look forward to helping to develop those policies to have a major restorative impact.

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5—No exclusion of people with prior marijuana offenses: In contrast to several other marijuana laws around the nation, this law specifically states that a prior conviction solely for a marijuana-related offense will not disqualify an individual from being employed in the newly legal marijuana industry or from getting a license to operate a marijuana business, unless the offense involved distribution to a minor. It was crucial for us to include this in the law in order to prevent perpetuation of the racially biased enforcement of marijuana laws. We need to stop locking disadvantaged people out of the industry. I also hope you will consider what might happen if you don’t support this law. The next chance we have to pass a legalization law realistically would be 2020 if CRMLA lost, and the next law would most likely be far more restrictive. Plus, in the meantime, people will continue to face penalties simply for using marijuana, and the black market will continue to make transactions dangerous while consumers receive products of unknown quality. The drug warriors and prohibitionists are hoping to see rivalry and division among the marijuana reform community. Let’s not give it to them. Shaleen Title is a co-drafter of the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol in Massachusetts initiative and a founding partner of THC Staffing Group.

Central Mass Power Sports 19 Mass Ave., Lunenburg, MA 01462 Phone: 978-429-3000 NEWS TO US

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GUNBARRASSING

A page one op-ed against redundant bandwagon page one anti-gun op-eds BY DIG STAFF @DIGBOSTON It’s absurd to mock other news outlets for making news out of the news as a newspaper column about the news ourselves. But in light of how many commentators and pundits across the political spectrum stopped their own presses to praise or slam the New York Times for running a page one editorial about gun violence—their first such front-of-the-book appeal on any issue in 90 years—we felt it was appropriate, as a voice that week in and week out explores the roots of both urban violence and political chicanery, to lampoon the neoliberal geeks who use token mass shootings to draw attention to themselves. That goes from grandstanding individuals on Twitter to the Gray Lady. If we now fall in among the showboats out of default for mocking this trend on our own cover, so be it. At least we’re not reactionary fools. We don’t endorse the National Review’s now-viral rebuttal of the aforementioned page one manifesto, as the magazine slips into some ugly xenophobic territory in its attack on the Times. Nevertheless, the conservative rag’s umbrella criticism—that the newspaper of record makes a “shallow argument for gun control,” and that last weekend’s “embarrassing” stunt amounts to “Pay Attention to Me!” theatrics—feels irrefutable. At the least, calls by the Times for “halting the spread of firearms and … eliminating some large categories of weapons and ammunition” ring like the voice of an editorial board whose drones have never left Manhattan. We’re city slickers to the core here in progressive Boston, and are appalled by the shamelessness of NRA tactics and the organization’s stranglehold on Congress, but we are also reluctant pragmatists who find baseline facts about firearm use in this country more compelling than the urge to leverage intellectual aptitude over actual evidence. We hate to participate in the cherrypicked statistical showdown that is raging online right now, so we’ll limit ourselves to quoting a single October column from— brace yourself—the New York Times titled “Gun Deaths Are Mostly Suicides.” It reads: “The problem of gun suicide is inescapable: More than 60 percent of people in this country who die from guns die by suicide,” while “suicide gets a lot less attention than murders for a few reasons,” including “that news organizations generally don’t cover suicides the way they do murders [since] there’s evidence that news attention around suicide can lead to more suicides.” Our point isn’t simply that more attention should be paid to suicide and mental health than to banning assault rifles, which would not feasibly have much impact at all on this most dangerous outcome of gun violence, since people aren’t likely blowing their brains out with

AK-47s. The point is that with its page one spectacle, the Times implies that firearm rights are among the biggest issues facing our country right now, and that such a suggestion is ridiculous enough to match virtually any of the lies or propaganda on this topic coming from the maniac conservative right. Watching publications like the Times ignore the elephant at the gun show— show—that there are far less firearm deaths in the US now than there were two decades ago—is like watching Fox News cover any number of issues, only worse since we went in with higher expectations. It truly sucks to have to say this stuff, as we will certainly be attacked by any number of well-meaning liberal college activists and other Democratic sycophants who will fail to understand that we also believe this

country has a significant gun problem, and that it’s tragic how so many people fail to mature beyond their days of playing with G.I. Joe dolls. That’s OK though, because when the mainstream left humiliates itself to the point of holding up the federal “no-fly list” as a credible compendium, it often takes a force to their extreme left to knock some sense back into them. Furthermore, unless Bernie Sanders gets a crack at the Oval Office, we don’t give a damn which of the candidates pull through in 2016. The Times editorial board sure does though, so unless they want their progressive readers to push more of the moderate gun-owning population toward voting for the GOP, its writers should probably pull back the rhetoric and use their platform for more practical purposes.

Firearm Homicide Deaths:

1993

2010

3.6 per 100,000 people

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GRAPHS: PEW RESEARCH CENTER

7 per 100,000 people

APPARENT HORIZON

GROUNDED MONKEYS Millionaires unlikely to flee Commonwealth if Raise Up Mass wins tax on 1 Percent

Boston Business Journal’s Craig Douglas made an interesting criticism of Raise Up Massachusetts last week (“Excited about the proposed millionaires tax? Cut off your nose while you’re at it,” Dec. 4). For those who missed it, RUM is a progressive labor-community coalition that just collected over 155,000 signatures to field a constitutional amendment referendum in 2018 that will create an additional 4 percent income tax for residents who make more than $1 million a year. RUM initially estimated that the new tax would generate $1.3 billion to $1.4 billion of new revenue a year if enacted in 2019. Then the state Department of Revenue recently did their own analysis, and projected that the additional revenue will be significantly higher—$1.6 billion to $2.2 billion a year. This led BBJ’s Douglas to call foul on both the RUM numbers and the DoR numbers. The problem? BBJ analysis shows that projections by amendment advocates and the DoR aren’t taking into account that the number of Mass millionaires fell in 2013 and 2014—leading him to point out that the amount of tax money the amendment will raise could be far lower than expected. Certainly food for thought. And if Douglas had stopped there he would probably have landed on solid ground. But then he overplayed his hand, arguing that if the amendment passes we can “expect more millionaires—and their earnings—to flee the state like a bunch of flying monkeys.” That’s just a truism. The kind of spectre that anti-tax jihadis are fond of raising whenever there’s the slightest danger of tax equity in America. And Douglas offered no citation to back up the claim. Turns out the Commonwealth’s very own UMass Amherst Political Economy Research Institute did a study called “Raising Revenue from High-Income Households: Should States Continue to Place the Lowest Tax Rates on Those with the Highest Incomes?” in 2012 that states “... the research reviewed in this study suggests that modest tax increases on affluent households are unlikely to make substantial changes in their work effort or entrepreneurship or make them any more likely to leave the state.” Also, Douglas seems to have forgotten his own article from Oct. 22, “The BBJ Wealth Report: The towns and cities with the most millionaires,” in which he stated that the falling numbers of millionaires in the state were the result of rich people accelerating “income-related activities in 2011 and 2012 in anticipation of the pending rate hikes on high-income earners” and “deferred asset sales and related income-triggering events to avoid the higher rates, hoping instead for a more-favorable tax climate following the 2016 national elections.” In other words, they played games to make sure that they could report as little income as possible after 2012. Nowhere did he say they left the state, however. Or even that they really lost money. And that’s basically what I would expect rich people to do if the amendment passes. They’ll play games that allow them to report as little income as possible. Some will drop off the millionaire rolls for a time. But the state will gain a good chunk of desperately needed extra income we’re not getting from any of the various neoliberal shell games that legislators have been playing to avoid taxing the rich. The flying monkeys, meanwhile, will remain safely in their roosts. Apparent Horizon is syndicated by the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism. Jason Pramas is BINJ’s network director.

BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS

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IN BOSTON AND OTHER CITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY, ACTIVISTS LIKE RODLINE LOUIJEUNE PLAN SERVICE TRIPS, ORGANIZE DELEGATIONS, AND LOBBY ON BEHALF OF HAITI.

ACTIVISM WITHOUT LIMITS FEATURE

Boston’s Haitian and Haitian-American activists fight for justice across borders and generations Part II in “A Higher Allegiance: The Rise of a Transnational Identity in Boston’s Immigrant Communities,” a BINJ series BY JOSHUA EATON @JOSHUA_EATON

“As a first-generation American, I can use my privilege to write human rights reports, walk the halls of Congress [and] travel freely to Haiti and elsewhere in pursuit of justice and resources for the disadvantaged populations among us.” “Whereas right after the earthquake I was still in a state of numbness … this summer showed me how I could contribute in a real and meaningful way,” Louijeune says. “Which is why I’m involved in this activism now.” In Boston and other cities across the country, activists like Louijeune plan service trips, organize delegations, and lobby on behalf of Haiti. That isn’t just a way to spend a gap year or pad a résumé, they say. By breaking down borders, Boston’s Haitian-American activists are challenging ideas about immigration and assimilation, proving that being fully Haitian and fully American isn’t a contradiction. “That really gets to the importance of community

engagement without borders,” Louijeune says. “I can use the resources that I have acquired in the United States and use them as advocacy tools for people who lack these resources in Haiti, Tunisia, or Sri Lanka. As a first-generation American, I can use my privilege to write human rights reports, walk the halls of Congress [and] travel freely to Haiti and elsewhere in pursuit of justice and resources for the disadvantaged populations among us.” The Greater Boston Area is home to some 64,000 people with Haitian ancestry, according to the US Census Bureau. The agency also reports nearly 42,500 Haitian immigrants in Greater Boston — around 5 percent of the area’s total immigrant population. That makes Boston the ACTIVISM WITHOUT LIMITS continued on pg. 12

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Rodline Louijeune still tears up when she talks about the earthquake that hit Haiti in January 2010. She had visited Port-au-Prince just a few months before to see her uncle. While she was born and raised in Boston, her parents grew up in Haiti. This was Louijeune’s first visit in years, and her uncle made a special effort to show her the island’s beauty. It was the last time she saw her uncle alive. He was among the estimated 200,000 Haitians who died in the magnitude seven quake, which devastated much of the country. When Louijeune returned that May to take care of her uncle’s final affairs, she saw a country struggling to recover. Growing up, Louijeune’s father would take her and her sisters to rallies and pay them a dollar to read the newspaper. Her uncle’s death reinforced that connection, Louijeune says. She decided to take an internship at the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH) last summer and traveled there with a delegation that observed the situation facing migrants forced out of the Dominican Republic. Now a student at Boston College Law School, Louijeune is still active in advocating for Haiti and hopes to practice international human rights law.

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third most-popular destination for Haitian immigrants in the United States, behind Miami and New York, according to the Migration Policy Institute. Marie St. Fleur’s parents moved to Boston in 1969 to escape the brutal regime of François “Papa Doc” Duvalier, who ruled Haiti from 1957 to his death in 1971. Her father avoided Haitian politics because of his experiences under Duvalier, but St. Fleur remembers watching the Watergate hearings with him on television and discussing current events. After graduating from UMass-Amherst and Boston College Law School, St. Fleur went on to become the first Haitian-American elected to a state office in the US. Similar to Rodline Louijeune, St. Fleur grew increasingly involved in Haiti activism after her father’s death in 2007. Shortly after, she visited Haiti for the first time. It was eye-opening, she says, because the gap between rich and poor was so much greater, and basic government services like sanitation and electricity were either unreliable or nonexistent. St. Fleur continues: “It left me feeling that because of what he [my father] did for me, I have all of this amazing opportunity. While I know that I was raised to give back— that’s what I do—I could stretch myself more. That’s why I got involved with Haiti. It’s a passion of mine here, it’s a passion over there.” And involved she is. After her visit to Haiti, St. Fleur founded the National Haitian American Elected Officials Network, which advocates on behalf of the island— especially for more transparency and accountability in US foreign aid. After the 2010 earthquake, her group put together a platform for donors and mobilized resources that were sitting unused in Port-au-Prince. And she has

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“While I know that I was raised to give back—that’s what I do—I could stretch myself more. That’s why I got involved with Haiti. It’s a passion of mine here, it’s a passion over there.” taken delegations of elected officials down to Haiti to see the problems first-hand, creating what she calls “new ambassadors.” While St. Fleur’s family largely cut their ties to Haiti when they moved to the US, she says many of the Haitian families she knew were more involved. That often took the form of visits home, remittances, and participating in cultural activities. The nature of that relationship is now changing, St. Fleur says, with more and more young Haitian-Americans involved in service and activism for Haiti—in the US and on the island. “[What’s] changing is, Haiti has been so dependent on remittances. Now you’re coming to an end of the

‘A Higher Allegiance’ was funded with a $10,000 crowdfunding campaign by the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism on Beacon Reader. Each donation was matched dollar-for-dollar from Beacon’s $3 million immigration reporting fund. For more information, go to binjonline.org.

PHOTOS BY MARIO QUIROZ

PASTOR DIEUFORT J. “KEKE” FLEURISSAINT IS PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF TRUE ALLIANCE CENTER, A “FAITH-BASED CHARITABLE ORGANIZATION THAT SEEKS TO PROMOTE ADVOCACY IN THE HAITIAN COMMUNITY RELATED TO EDUCATION, HOUSING, IMMIGRATION, HEALTH AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.”

generation that will provide that,” St. Fleur says. “It’s good that that new generation is seeing themselves there to be supportive in a systemic way, versus this individual way. That’s what I think the hopefulness is.” This was an election year in Haiti, with parliamentary elections on Aug. 9 and preliminary presidential elections on Oct. 25. Haitian citizens living in the US have the right to vote, but there is not yet a system for them to cast votes outside of Haiti. In 2012, the Haitian Parliament also amended the constitution to allow the children of expats to apply for dual citizenship. However, dual citizens face the same obstacles to voting abroad as expats. The expense of traveling isn’t the only reason some expats avoid travel back to Haiti for elections, according to local activist Kermshlise Picard. This year’s elections were marred by violence, and a coalition of opposition candidates put forth charges of voter fraud in the presidential election. (A runoff election between the two leading candidates, Jovenel Moïse and Jude Célestinis, is scheduled for Dec. 27.) “The Haitian diaspora members who are interested in the elections mostly just talk about them and listen to Haitian radio, direct from Haiti, to keep up with them … From my experience, the ones who are still Haitian have too many things to worry about here to take the risk of going down to Haiti and voting in the elections,” Picard explains. Advocates hope that Haitian expats and dual citizens will be able to vote from abroad by next year’s elections, but that promise is already long overdue. In the meantime, activists like Louijeune and St. Fleur continue to press for change from politicians and NGOs. The US occupied Haiti from 1915 to 1934 to protect American business, and the US government has intervened in Haitian politics several times since. While ostensibly aimed at promoting human rights and democracy, many argue those interventions have had the opposite effect. Haiti is still heavily reliant on US foreign aid, for example—between 2010 and 2014 alone, the US provided Haiti with at $3.1 billion in recovery and development funds, according to USAID. There are many problems with US foreign aid to Haiti, according to St. Fleur, from poor planning and misuse to outright corruption by outside stakeholders. But she says it also presents a huge opportunity to affect real change for the island. The US has been a powerful influence on Haiti, for better or for worse. That’s an influence St. Fleur says Haitian-Americans can leverage. “Our greatest influence is, I think, here. We are the closest neighbor. We are a superpower. We are the superpower,” St. Fleur explains. “And if we can’t make that little half of an island work, I’m not certain how we can go around making most other things work in the world.”

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FEATURE

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

ARTS ENTERTAINMENT

IF I SEE A SINGING TEAPOT, SHIT WILL GET REAL.

WED 12.09

THU 12.10

FRI 12.11

SAT 12.12

SUN 12.13

AERONAUT Live Recording Sessions @DUCKVILLAGE

Free Film Screening!

Boston Music Awards Day #2

Lunch with Steve Theo

Holiday Oddity Market @ Eridanos

Mimi’s Family @ Children’s Museum

Every Wednesday night, Aeronaut Brewing Company records and broadcasts live music and performances in the brewery to patrons in the taproom. It’s kind of kickass. Past performances have ranged from simple jazz, rock, and classical music to live renditions of Shakespeare and 3D light shows. This Wednesday features the Dirty Waters Brass Band. If unique drinking experiences are your thing, then you owe it to yourself to head on down for a beer or three.

The French Cultural Center is presenting a free screening of director Christophe Gans’ La Belle et la Bête, a dark reimagining of the classic fairytale. Winner of the César Award for Best Production Design in 2014, La Belle et la Bête is a spectacle to behold if nothing else. The film will be screened in its original French with English subtitles added in. After the film, an open discussion led by film expert Barbara Bouquegneau will close the night. Oui oui.

Hopefully you won’t have to suffer through Evan Dando and his 2015 Hall of Fame induction speech (or music) to see These Wild Plains, because they’re the only reason you should go. Always slightly insufferable and less relevant each year, the BMAs promise to throw up in your mouth and drop a stiff uppercut to follow. Day #1 is definitely a better lineup, which is why we’re telling you about Day #2. They’re fucked. So come enjoy the Sinclair in all its awesomeness. You should order the deviled eggs and a Notch at some point. That should wash down the puke.

It’s not often that you get a chance to have lunch with Steve Theo. When he’s not teaching at Bay State College or running his promotion and management company, Pirate!, he’s doing shots of Jameson at the Tam or skiing gnarly bumps up north. So it was great to hear that we finally nailed down a date, this Friday, to have some lunch together. Nothing is set in stone yet, but it’s going to be, and when it is, it’s going to be set in muthafucking stone!

Looking for a goat skull as a gift? How about a petrified penis or cufflinks made from dead bugs? Aren’t we all! The perfect gifts are often too expensive and hard to find, which is why Eridanos Tattoo and Gallery is throwing down with their holiday market. Vintage items and funky oddities will be available from Bad Moon Consignment and Our Lady of Reclamation. You’re bound to find some crazy shit to stuff those stockings with, so make a day of it.

We originally told you about this online last week, but it’s important enough that we’re going to remind you. Mimi’s Family is a powerful visual exhibit by photographer Matthew Clowney. It captures the everyday life of a transgender grandparent among her family. Unfortunately the two month run is coming to an end on 12.13, so this is your last chance to see this audaciously moving display. Get there this weekend. You’ll thank us.

Aeronaut Brewing Company. 14 Tyler St., Somerville. 6-11pm/21+/ FREE. aeronautbrewing. com/events/

The French Cultural Center. 53 Marlborough St., Boston. 6:30-9pm/all ages/FREE. frenchculturalcenter.org

The Sinclair. 52 Church St., Cambridge. 7pm/18+/$25. bostonmusicawards.com

Lunch with Steve Theo. Somewhere, Boston. Noonish/21+/Pricey as shit. stevetheo.com

Eridanos Tattoo and Gallery. 36 Prospect St., Cambridge. Noon-8pm/all ages/FREE. facebook.com/ events/934201983335199/

Boston Children’s Museum. 308 Congress St., Boston. 10am-5pm/ all ages/Adults $16. bostonchildrensmuseum. org

12.9.15 - 12.16.15

DIGBOSTON.COM

NEWS TO US

FEATURE

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

MUSIC

HONOR ROLL 2015

The best albums Boston offered up this year BY NINA CORCORAN @NINA_CORCORAN Whoever the music gods are (Robert Plant? Patti Smith? Keith Moon?), we thank them and the CVS-long gift receipt they’re holding after blessing us with this year’s releases. In 2015, we got new albums from the likes of Pile, W00DY, Michael Christmas, Funeral Advantage, Palehound, and more, many of which caught the ears of folks at Rolling Stone and Pitchfork. We announce the full list of winners on Dec 23rd for our Year in Review, so consider this the honor roll at an already prestigious prep school where the coolest kids aren’t always the ones at the podium.

THE BALLROOM THIEVES

GET UR FREAK ON

The free Missy Elliott dance party where you can work it all night BY NINA CORCORAN @NINA_CORCORAN What if we told you there’s a diverse bubble of DJs hidden here in Boston, all worthy of cult club residencies and celebrity endorsements? And that it’s all coming up ’cause Misdemeanor said so? Well, you know what to do. Put your thing down, flip it, and reverse it. Say hello to #mood. The monthly pop-up dance concept takes hold of the Sinclair this Saturday for the first time ever. Presented by Laced Boston, Booger Money Worldwide, and ShanaeTandrell.com, #mood focuses on different genres each month as curated by DJs, hosts, local sponsors, and promoters solely with the goal of changing Boston’s mood toward dance music. To kick things off, the inaugural event revolves around the one and only Missy Elliott. Did we mention it’s free and there’s a free swag-bag raffle? When Bowery Boston approached DJ LeahV about doing a dance party in the restaurant portion of the Sinclair, she didn’t expect it to evolve into something so spirited. “We have some of the most talented DJs in the country, and I don’t feel like there’s enough spaces willing to work with the DJs that make our community so special,” says LeahV. “#mood is not only about being about a different genre, era, or theme; it’s about creating a space for patrons to have fun and feel safe, and for the DJs who specialize in those genres to come showcase themselves. They’re ready to provide something different each time we put this on. We’re not talking same thing, different week. We want to change the #mood of our nightlife community entirely.” As the lead coordinator, talent and music curator, co-promoter, and resident DJ, LeahV is the head multitasker behind the entirety of #mood. The last three months were spent contacting sponsors, designing flyers, handling press, creating the perfect playlist, and scoring a secret DJ (we won’t tell you who, but trust us when we say it’s worth staying the whole night for). With all the stress on her shoulders, she’s been surprisingly put together, but nerves are getting the best of her before she falls asleep each night this week. “I want to keep doing this event, and since I got word of the opening for it about a week ago, I’m on a serious time crunch,” she admits. “This is the fastest I’ve ever thrown an event this big together. I just want it to open well and I really want people to leave feeling like they just had the best night ever.” Kicking off the monthly series with medleys of Missy Elliott tracks draws those hung up on throwbacks as well as adults still bumping old school hip-hop. Beyond that, it’s an homage to the woman who revolutionized rap with “Work It” and “Get Ur Freak On” while silently dropping “On & On” and “Wake Up.” From production to videos, Missy Elliott keeps it fun and insightful, all while owning every aspect of herself. “She’s sexy and beautiful, and did that in a much different way than other female MCs,” says LeahV. “I think she represents all women. No matter how you identify, she’s got you.” That’s because she keeps things nondescript enough for universal adaptability. Rap to her music. Dance to her music. Forget feeling out of place. The body positivity of Missy Elliott’s style inspires through action, not word, positioning her as a witty, positive, confident role model still standing in 2015. “Name another female MC who’s as relevant and timeless as Missy,” says LeahV. She grins. “I’ll wait.” >> #MOOD: MISSY ELLIOTT. SAT 12.12. THE SINCLAIR, 52 CHURCH ST., CAMBRIDGE. 9PM/18+/FREE. SINCLAIRCAMBRIDGE.COM

A WOLF IN THE DOORWAY The Ballroom Thieves make magic within folk. Calin Peters’ warm cello turns otherwise standard folk into the type of work that rustles your bones long after the album’s ended. More importantly, it all comes down to the band’s vocal harmonies, a sound so rustic you would swear the members are in your room singing behind you, waving their hands in an effort to get you to join in.

DUTCH REBELLE

KISS KISS (EP) Dutch ReBelle spits just as many words, if not more, into her verses than Michael Christmas, but she does so with the confidence of someone too busy to pay mind because she’s busy paying dues. Kiss Kiss illustrates her MC skills with a variety of producers on board, from Black Metaphor to Rauxxy Woodro, melting together for a cool mix that keeps you calm in summer but warms you up in winter, all without ever trying too hard.

AUDREY HARRER

ALPHABET RAIN Audrey Harrer’s debut studio release shimmers with six poetic compositions where she uses her harp to shape playful, cinematic structures that challenge the precision of Joanna Newsom. Vocally, she leaps through the tones of Julia Holter and Jenny Hval, finding strength within fragility. Jamaica Plain has something well worth harping on. See the complete Top 2015 Albums list in the upcoming Year in Review issue of DigBoston on 12.23 in print and online at digboston.com.

MUSIC EVENTS THU 12.10

LOCAL LEGEND RESIDENCY PILE + BATTLE HOUSE

[Great Scott, 1222 Comm. Ave., Allston. 9pm/18+/$8. greatscottboston.com]

12.9.15 - 12.16.15

THU 12.10

FRI 12.11

SAT 12.12

SUN 12.13

[The Royale, 279 Tremont St., Boston. 8pm/18+/$20. royaleboston.com]

[Great Scott, 1222 Comm. Ave., Allston. 10pm/21+/$10. greatscottboston.com]

[Orpheum Theatre, 1 Hamilton Pl., Boston. 7:30pm/all ages/$28. crossroadspresents.com]

[The Sinclair, 52 Church St., Cambridge. 7pm/all ages/$20. sinclaircambridge.com]

EXPERIMENTAL QUIRKS DEERHUNTER + ATLAS SOUND

DIGBOSTON.COM

COLORFUL PUNK PARTY AND THE KIDS + PWR BTTM

THE BLACK KEYS’ SIDE PROJECT THE ARCS + MARIACHI FLOR DE TOLOACHE

EMO-FOLK WITH FRIENDS KEVIN DEVINE + VARIOUS GUESTS

MON 12.14

ECCENTRIC SINGER-SONGWRITER DES ARK + DREAM TIGERS

[Great Scott, 1222 Comm. Ave., Allston. 9pm/18+/$10. greatscottboston.com]

MISSY ELLIOT PHOTO BY ATLANTIC RECORDS

MUSIC

Boston’s Best Irish Pub

512 Mass. Ave. Central Sq. Cambridge, MA 617-576-6260 phoenixlandingbar.com

THU Dec. 10 8PM

COMEDY NIGHT FRI Dec. 11 9:30PM

THU 12/10 - CRUSH BOSTON PRES.:

MAYHEM X ANTISERUM FRI 12/11

XMORTIS SAT 12/12

HEROES W/ DJ CHRIS EWEN TUES 12/15 - LEEDZ PRESENTS:

ERIC BELLINGER

THU 12/17 - SECRET SESSIONS:

MCLOVINS

THU 12/10 - LEEDZ PRESENTS:

TERMANOLOGY FRI 12/11

A WILHELM SCREAM PEARS SMARTBOMB SAT 12/12

FOUNDATION KING SAT 12/12

SOULELUJAH! W/ TY JESSO SUN 12/13

JEN FOSTER MON 12/14

COMMON JACK TUES 12/15

HARMLESS HABIT

WEDS 12/16 - BOWERY PRESENTS:

PERFECT PUSSY

PVRPLE Dirty South Joe, Where’s Nasty?, Amadeezy, + Reel Drama DIRTY SOUTH, CRUNK, TRAP, TRILL, CHOPPED N SCREWED, DIPSET

WEDNESDAYS GEEKS WHO DRINK

SAT Dec.12 9:30PM

BASEMENT

MOVEMENT 3-YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Dusty Digital, Timmy Trax, Waldo , Micetro, Rufus Gibson, TC Eureka, Fylosophy & Evaredy TECHNO HOUSE, DISCO + HIP HOP & PARTY JAMS

BEAT RESEARCH MON Dec. 14 7PM

CLASS OF 2015 EXPERIMENTAL PARTY MUSIC THU Dec. 17 12AM

ALL GOOD

Thaddeus Jeffries, Eastman Garcia, Yvng Pavl BREAKS, HIP HOP, R&B, REGGAE, SOCA, CARIBBEAN, CLASSIC HOUSE, INDIE DANCE

Free Trivia Pub Quiz from 7:30PM - 9:30PM

MONDAYS

RE:SET WEDNESDAYS

MAKKA MONDAY 14+yrs every Monday night, Bringing Roots, Reggae & Dancehall Tunes 21+, 10PM - 1AM

Weekly Dance Party, House, Disco, Techno, Local & International DJ’s 19+, 10PM - 1AM

THURSDAYS

FRIDAYS

SATURDAYS

ELEMENTS

PRETTY YOUNG THING

BOOM BOOM ROOM

15+ Years of Resident Drum & Bass Bringing some of the worlds biggest DnB DJ’s to Cambridge 19+, 10PM - 2AM

80’s Old School & Top 40 Dance hits 21+, 10PM - 2AM

80’s, 90’s, 00’s One Hit Wonders 21+, 10PM - 2AM

THE BEST ENTERTAINMENT IN CAMBRIDGE 7 DAYS A WEEK!

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WWW.PHOENIXLANDINGBAR.COM NEWS TO US

FEATURE

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

“A VERY SPECIAL FILM. A LOVE LETTER TO FILM ITSELF.”

FILM

RAIDERS OF THE PAST

Kenneth Turan, LOS ANGELES TIMES

“WILL THRILL YOU AND CHANGE THE WAY YOU WATCH MOVIES.”

Steven Spielberg’s latest movie is too contemporary, through no fault of his own

Matt Patches, ESQUIRE.COM

BY JAKE MULLIGAN @_JAKEMULLIGAN

ONCE Lounge & Music Hall

156 Highland Ave. ONCEsomerville.com COHEN MEDIA GROUP PRESENTS

ONE WEEK ONLY!

EXCLUSIVE ENGAGEMENT STARTS FRI, DEC 11 KENDALL SQUARE CINEMA

ONE KENDALL SQ, 355 BINNEY ST, CAMBRIDGE 617-621-1202

'Tis the season for good eatin' Meal Deliveries make great Gifts Visit us at CuisineEnLocale.com 12/12 The Pre-Christmas Punk Pop Party! Les Sans Culottes (Only area appearance!) w/ Muck & The Mires, Jay Allen & The Archcriminals + more! |$10 | 21+ to Drink | 8pm 12/10 Resonance - New music night in the lounge 12/11 Gilt City Boston - Oyster tasting and craft cocktails! 12/13 Rockin Holiday Flea Market & Blood Mary Bash 12/16 Spectacular Gift Drive for DCF Kids Fund 12/17 Drengskapur+Desolate+Infera Bruo 12/19 Holiday Feast w/ The Aldous Collins Band 1/23/16 The Vikings are coming… back! Ten courses of opulent feasting Tickets are on sale now cuisineenlocale.com

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Presented by Cuisine en Locale www.enlocale.com 617-285-0167 CURRENTLY BOOKING HOLIDAY CATERING & PARTIES

Wed 12/9 8PM - (Jazz/Ukulele)

UKULELE NOIR 11TH ANNUAL BOSTON CHRISTMAS CAVALCADE FOR THE HOMELESS EL VEZ + GUNPOWDER GELATINE FAT CITY BAND GANGSTAGRASS + POPULACE THE EITHER/ORCHESTRA 7 BELOW Thur 12/10 8PM - (Holiday)

Sat 12/26 7PM

SUPERHONEY (REUNION) (Funk)

Tues 12/29 8PM

BARRY CRIMMINS Wed 1/20 8PM

GLEN DAVID ANDREWS + NEW ORLEANS SUSPECTS + BEN KNIGHT

Fri 12/11 6:45PM - (Rock/Tribute)

Sat 12/12 7PM - (Blues/Swing)

Sat 12/12 10PM - (Bluegrass/Hip hop)

Fri 12/18 7PM - (Jazz)

Fri 12/18 10PM - (Tribute to Phish)

(Funk/New Orleans)

17 Holland St., Davis Sq. Somerville (617) 776-2004 Directly on T Red Line at Davis 18

12.9.15 - 12.16.15

DIGBOSTON.COM

17 Holland St., Davis Sq. Somerville (617) 776-2004 Directly on T Red Line at Davis

We’re looking at an era of American history wherein a lawyer can petition a judge for fair process on behalf of a nonviolent foreign agent, only to receive “let’s not kid each other” and a swift rejection in lieu of a favorable response. A media addicted to large-font headlines and a political base addicted to the verbiage of charlatans and carnies has whipped the less-informed elements of the public into a paranoid frenzy, ensuring that they look sideways at anyone who reached our shores via passport. Members of government agencies don’t hesitate to sweep aside the Constitution whenever they need to cut a corner to get someone they don’t like locked behind a cell door. And domestic terrorism even increases with the nation’s fear—drive-by shootings and arsons, committed against those who are seen to be sympathizing with “the enemy.” This all sounds like right now, of course. But that’s just when the movie was made. Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies considers Cold War-era politics through the frame of a ’50s- and ’60s-set prisoner-exchange drama. And yes, you might call the resulting film a national self-portrait—or, at least, you’ll suspect that that’s what Spielberg would like you to say. That’s what he opens with, anyway: The first composition splits mid-level Soviet spy Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance) into three pieces. We’re behind his head watching him paint his own visage; his reflection bounces off a mirror on the left; his melancholic deadpan stare resting permanently on the canvas to his right. He’s interrupted in his art by his job, and then again by the American agents who’ve decided that today is the day they can arrest him. While they rummage through the undersides of Abel’s property, the cinematography (by Janusz Kaminski) dresses them in shadow. There’s one ray of sunlight passing through the open window, and Spielberg frames things so that it envelops the exceptionally calm Soviet man. Like a halo. We fade out of that face and into another one. It’s James Britt Donovan (Tom Hanks), another historical figure, the lawyer who’ll go on to save Abel from the death penalty by arguing with men like that “let’s not kid each other” judge on Constitutional grounds. Bridge was co-written by the crafty brothers Coen— they worked from a script by Matt Charman, who himself worked from texts co-authored by the real Donovan—so when we meet the character, he tells us the subject of the entire film, translated into Coenesque code. He’s an insurance lawyer claiming that the five individual victims of an accident caused by a man insured by his client (“He’s not ‘my guy,’ stop calling him ‘my guy’”) will not be granted their own specific restitutions. Reason being that—even though five people were struck—there was only one single inciting event. So the subjects of this conversation are personal responsibility for unknown figures and the interrelated qualities of seemingly separate occurrences. On that note, we cut back to Abel. The public wants this spy to hang like an ornament off the Christmas tree. But somebody has to defend him in a court of law first, and Donovan is asked to take the job. Then he meets Abel, who remains sure as stone in his refusal to work with the government. (He just wants his punishment, and maybe a pencil and some paper, if he can get some.) Abel’s unentitled eyes and apolitical demeanor win the lawyer over—the spy becomes our guy. Donovan does get the death penalty deferred, by arguing that Abel may be valuable as an item for trade in future years. When the judge reads his verdict of imprisonment—30 years—there are more calls for hanging from the crowd. And there’s another ray of sunlight coming in through the window, causing a flare on the screen. And it’s outlining Donovan this time. Then there’s the second half of the film, which concerns the capture of U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers by the USSR, and the efforts taken by Donovan— stationed in Berlin as a “private citizen,” which is to say, as an unofficial spy—to

facilitate a trade that would get both of these captors back home. This link being made, in narrative and in editing, between American foreign policy and crimes committed against the nation stateside—the implication being that the actions we take abroad and the corners we cut at home have true and justified repercussions on the tenor of the American character—is first alluded to when Abel’s asking for that pad of paper. This film has a primary provocation, and the spy says it aloud: “You have men like me doing the same for your country. If they were caught, I’m sure you’d wish them to be treated well.” When we see Powers caught, we see how he’s treated by his Soviet captors: He’s interrogated day and night, with no awareness of the scope of his imprisonment, as though he were locked down in Guantanamo. Spielberg emphasizes the bright lights and harsh sounds used to disrupt his sleep cycle. It looks, frankly speaking, quite like Zero Dark Thirty. It looks like us. It was Wesley Morris who wrote: “All movies choose their moment. It’s called a release date. Some moments, however, choose their movies.” He was writing about Let’s Be Cops, a comedy that opened one week after Michael Brown was shot and killed in Ferguson. Bridge of Spies is another case where the moment chose the movie—it just chose it a month or two late. Spielberg’s movie opened back in October, and has quietly shuffled its way through the nation’s talking points ever since. Nobody is here to suggest that Steven Spielberg and his collaborators foresaw the attempts to remove citizenship and civil liberties from vetted refugees and ordinary Americans of a specific religious faith. The spirit of their subject is not so specific. It’s the necessity of their subject, even when considered from such a historical distance, that’s so tragic: Sad to say that we truly need a film, in 2015, to remind us that if grace and dignity exist—and if American ideals exist along with them—then we must extend their qualities across our own border. You can call that naive. Spielberg might too. The film ends with a couple of contradictions, slipped into the end titles, that are meant to leave you wondering just how much good Donovan’s American do-gooderism has done. The question raised there is an integral one, because it’s a reminder that the film is chasing something much more ephemeral than the effect of bureaucracy. It’s that ray of light—the one that shows up on Donovan once more during that final prisoner exchange. Like Lincoln before him, Donovan is another of Spielberg’s better angels—not a hero to be emulated, nor an ideal to be celebrated, but a yardstick by which we might measure the American character. Searching through the murky shadows of international politics, Spielberg is always sure to leave some light in—some hope that, beyond the portraits of towering politicians that hang on each office wall, the ideals that this nation was founded on might someday be found. Bridge of Spies is indeed the movie of our current moment, and that’s likely to be true for longer than any of us might like.

“★★★★. GORGEOUS, HEARTBREAKING AND UNFORGETTABLE.” REX REED, NEW YORK OBSERVER

“YOU CAN’T TAKE YOUR EYES OFF EDDIE REDMAYNE WHO IS FLAT-OUT FABULOUS.” PETER TRAVERS, ROLLING STONE

EXCLUSIVE ENGAGEMENTS START FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11

BOSTON AMC Loews Boston Common 19 amctheatres.com

CAMBRIDGE Landmark’s Kendall Square Cinema (617) 621-1202

CHECK DIRECTORIES FOR SHOWTIMES NO PASSES ACCEPTED

‘YOUTH’ IS ONE FOR THE AGES. DIGBOSTON WED 12/9 2 COL (4.62") X 6"

FROM THE DIRECTORALL.DNG.1209.BWD OF ACADEMY AWARD®#1WINNER THE GREAT BEAUTY

>> BRIDGE OF SPIES. NOW PLAYING AT KENDALL SQUARE CINEMA, CAPITOL THEATRE, AND WEST NEWTON CINEMA. RATED PG-13.

FILM EVENTS FRI 12.11

ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S STRANGERS ON A TRAIN

[Museum of Fine Arts. 465 Huntington Ave., Boston. 5:30pm/NR/$911. Also screens on 12.12 and 12.13. 35mm.]

BY NOW, YOU KNOW: BRING SPOONS TOMMY WISEAU’S THE ROOM

[Coolidge Corner Theatre. 290 Harvard St., Brookline. Midnight/R/$11.25. 35mm. coolidge.org]

A RECENTLY RESTORED EARLY ORSON WELLES WORK TOO MUCH JOHNSON

[Harvard Film Archive. 24 Quincy St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge. 7pm/ NR/$7-9. 35mm. hcl. harvard.edu/hfa] SAT 12.12

WIM WENDER’S 280-MINUTE DIRECTOR’S CUT OF UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD

[Brattle Theatre. 40 Brattle St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge. 12:30 and 6pm/R/$9-11. brattlefilm.org]

MERRY CHRISTMAS, SAYS THE COOLIDGE CORNER THEATRE SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT

[Coolidge Corner Theatre. 290 Harvard St., Brookline. Midnight/R/$11.25. 35mm. coolidge.org] MON 12.14

ANOTHER WELLES RARITY AT THE HFA THE IMMORTAL STORY

[Harvard Film Archive. 24 Quincy St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge. 7pm/ NR/$7-9. 35mm. hcl. harvard.edu/hfa]

“A TOTAL WINNER – FUNNY, PHILOSOPHICAL AND MOVING.” Steven Zeitchik,

“EVERY PERFORMANCE FROM THE OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE CAST RINGS TRUE. EVEN THE SUPPORTING PLAYERS ARE SUPERB.” Sandy Cohen, YOUTHTHEMOVIE.COM

EXCLUSIVE ENGAGEMENT STARTS FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11 NEWS TO US

FEATURE

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

ARTS

MERRY AND BRIGHT(ER)

The Nutcracker returns with a brand-new glow

Of all the enduring holiday traditions, none are quite so beloved and magical as The Nutcracker. Mikko Nissinen’s spectacular production for the Boston Ballet turns four this year and has arrived at the Boston Opera House with a distinctive new glow: Award-winning Finnish lighting designer Mikki Kunttu has been brought on board to provide the production with a brand-new lighting design. “I have worked twice before with Mikki, and I find him absolutely extraordinary,” Nissinen said. “We just premiered this production three years ago and in order to really maintain it and move it forward, of course with the quality of dancing, but also with a different concept of lighting design. We felt this was the right time.” With a company of 68 dancers and more than 200 Boston Ballet School students featured in the production, The Nutcracker is no small feat. Finding ways to keep the production fresh is of great importance to Nissinen, not only for obvious reasons, but also because The Nutcracker is often a gateway into the world of ballet for many audience members. “We have to serve that purpose,” Nissinen said. Although Kunttu is one of the busiest, most respected lighting designers in the industry, this is his very first Nutcracker. His work can be seen across multiple genres: dance, theater, music, opera, and television. He collaborated with Nissinen and the Boston Ballet twice before, for Marius Petipa’s Sleeping Beauty in 2005 and Jorma Elo’s Carmen in 2006. “It’s fantastic to be back at Boston Ballet,” Kunttu told me by phone from his hotel room at the Ritz. “It’s one of my favorite companies in the whole world. Amazing people, and I love the city. And I get to see great hockey here also!” During the course of our conversation, one thing left me particularly astonished: Kunttu designed the entire production on a computer from his studio in Finland; his design wasn’t seen on stage—by anyone—until the tech run-throughs the week before Thanksgiving. Kunttu works off of things like sketches of the costumes and sets, which he builds in 3D on a computer. “Not all of the things you can really, really do in a virtual model,” he said. “Some lights just don’t look real if you do it in 3D, so a lot of things are left to be done on stage.” At the time that I spoke to Kunttu, the technical rehearsals hadn’t yet occurred. I was eager to learn just how smoothly—or not—the process of inserting a brand new lighting design that had been designed virtually had gone. By the time I talked to Nissinen, The Nutcracker had been in performances for about a week: “My God, it changed and evolved all through the dress rehearsal,” he said. “It just crystallized his vision of it. Everybody’s super happy.” I supposed that it might be more challenging to work a new lighting design into an existing production rather than collaborate with the other designers for a brand-new production, but Kunttu actually finds the opposite to be true: “When you have a starting point like this, an existing production, it’s easier to start because you have a video to look at and a reference for all of the action,” Kunttu said. His biggest challenge, however, was doing Robert Perdziola’s gorgeous and lavish sets justice: “The set design is so fantastic, so that puts a lot of pressure on my shoulders, that I’m lighting it the way it deserves to be lit,” he said. “I want to make it as exciting as possible.” >> MIKKO NISSINEN’S THE NUTCRACKER. RUNS THROUGH 12.31 AT THE BOSTON OPERA HOUSE, 539 WASHINGTON ST., BOSTON. BOSTONBALLET.ORG/NUTCRACKER 20

12.9.15 - 12.16.15

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