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FYIDC
Sometimes in April
“In the end, we will remember not the
words of our enemies, but the silence of
our friends.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Hotel Rwanda has received a lot of attention,
but to fully understand the complexities
of the horrors that occurred during the
genocide in Rwanda, see the HBO feature
film “Sometimes in April,” which was
recently screened at the National Cable
and Telecommunications Association. Set
in the lush countryside of Rwanda and in
Washington and Paris, the film looks at
the Rwandan genocide and the bravery of
its victims through the eyes of one family.
Viewers see themselves through the eyes
of the protagonist, a strong “Hutu” man
married to a “Tutsi” woman, who can not
believe his countrymen would be capable
of such horrific evil because of absurd“tribal distinctions” that linger in part due
to Belgium's colonial “divide and conquer”rule. He, his neighbors and the world
watched one of the worst genocidal rampages
in history, with nearly a million victims
killed in one hundred days. Recently
released to video, “Sometimes in April” also
explores the world's response to the atrocities
and chronicles the country's struggle
to find justice and accountability ten years
later. The film stars Idris Elba (HBO's “The
Wire”) and Debra Winger (Oscar nominee
for “Shadowlands,” “Terms of Endearment”and “An Officer and a Gentleman”) as
former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
Prudence Bushnell. Other cast members
include Pamela Nomvete, Carole Karemera,
Oris Erhuero, Fraser James and Noah
Emmerich. With humanizing performances
by all, the film is beautifully written and
directed by Raul Peck (“Lumumba”) for
HBO and should be required viewing for all
politicians, journalists and talking heads. |
KUSH, Inc.
KUSH has announced the opening of
its Shona Art and Culture Exhibition,
featuring a collection of rare and
semi-precious hard stone sculptures
of Opal, Serpentine, Springstone, and
Verdite. These sculptures capture the
radiance of Zimbabwe's rich cultural
and spiritual identity. KUSH Inc.
is a D.C.-based nonprofit using art
to raise awareness of contemporary
experiences, history and cultures in
Africa. The second and third generation
artists featured in the exhibition
have been carefully chosen to share
their distinctive artistic style, reflecting
both their Shona heritage and
their modern-day African lifestyle.
Sales from exhibits benefit the artists
and their native communities,
as well as support KUSH advocacy
and humanitarian endeavors. KUSH
is dedicated to the rebuilding of the
New Sudan, following a civil war
that has taken the lives of 2.5 million
people and displaced another 4.5 million.
KUSH brought together artists
from Zimbabwe and the South Sudan
to share their experiences and their
dreams for their countries.
The collection is on view at the
KUSH Gallery, located at 1605
Connecticut Ave. N.W., 3rd Floor.
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 Alexandria Times Returns
After 207 years, a group of Washington businessmen
have revived the Alexandria Times.
The newspaper was originally published
from 1797-1802 as the Alexandria Times& Advertiser. George Washington was a
subscriber and an advertiser of that publication
during his final years at Mount Vernon.
The paper revealed that Washington “took
in the Alexandria papers” under his favorite
pear tree at Mount Vernon each morning at 5
a.m., preferring them over the “Georgetown
papers” because they were more national and
international in scope. “Alexandria is one of
the most under-served newspaper markets in
the country,” said John Arundel, the paper's
editor and publisher. “We found in particular
that upmarket readers are not being served
well by the weekly here [The Alexandria
Journal], which hasn't had a competitor in
more than 200 years.” Arundel comes from a long line of newsmen.
His father, Arthur W. Arundel,
started WAVA, the first all-news radio station
in the U.S. in 1961. His brother, Peter
Arundel, is publisher of Times Community
Newspapers in Northern Virginia, which
includes the McLean Times, the Fairfax
Times and the Loudoun Times-Mirror. The
Alexandria paper will be dropping the name“Advertiser” because it no longer plans to
feature advertisements on the front page, as
the original paper did. |
Merkado: Latin Cuisine with an Asian Twist
That success of Logan Tavern impelled owner David Winer and his partners to
open Merkado, a few doors down in the quickly developing area of P Street,
N.W., just across from Whole Foods. Merkado is a unique neighborhood bar
and restaurant featuring Latin cuisine with an Asian twist. Winer describes its
decor as “sophisticated urban cantina crashes into a subtle Asian tea-house” with brightly painted portraits gracing brilliantly-colored orange walls. Winer,
also the owner of Grillfi sh restaurant in the West End, hired chef Edward
Kim, formerly of Soigne in Baltimore, to design the menu, which is divided
into small plates, big plates, side plates and sweet plates, with such items
as Wonton Empanadas, Baja California Rolls, Asian Paella, Slow Cooked
Pork Mole and a make-your-own-nachos-menu. Diners are raving about the
seared white tuna sashimi in miso-sake reduction and truffl es, and the crab
and shrimp spring rolls spiced with Wasabi lime mayo. Merkado’s long bar
makes a perfect spot to select a drink from the cocktail menu, which includes
Latin and Asian beers, premium sakes and a Merkado saketini (plum wine and
chilled sake). Currently open only for dinner, the 85-seat restaurant will soon
be serving brunch on Saturdays and Sundays.
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