Made in India is a feature length documentary from filmmakers Rebecca Haimowitz and Vaishali Sinha. The film explores the human experiences behind the phenomena of “outsourcing” surrogate mothers to India.
In a review of the film, Varietywrote: “Rebecca Haimowitz and Vaishali Sinha’s engrossing feature follows a working-class U.S. couple proceeding with a last-resort hope for having a child genetically their own: paying a young Mumbai woman to carry their implanted embryos in her womb.”
In the United States, surrogacy can cost up to $100,000. For Lisa and Brian Switzer, the subjects in the film who have exhausted natural options at childbirth, those costs are prohibitive. They look to India, where the cost of surrogacy is reported at roughly $25,000. “In the US, if you’re struggling to have a child, you have to be a lawyer or a doctor to afford this,” they said. “It’s not fair.” When accused of exploitation, Lisa responds: “Walk a mile in my shoes before you judge me.”
The award-winning film screens at 92YTribeca on November 9. Both filmmakers will be in attendance to discuss issues of sex, sexism and colonial legacy.
Register Now To Watch A Free Webcast Of The 92Y Wonderplay™ Conference
The 92Y Wonderplay™ Conference is sold out, but you can still join us by watching a free webcast. Sign up online before November 11 for the chance to win a roundtrip flight to New York (up to a $500 value) and a ticket to next year’s conference!
The 92Y Wonderplay™ Conference, now in its fifth year, brings together early learning professionals with prominent leaders in education, child & family development and researchers from the national and international community.
Learn how the brain develops during the first five years of a child’s life; why this is a critical time for language, sensory motor and emotional growth; and what you can do to support this in your classroom and school community.
Presenters include faculty from NYU, Bank Street College, CCNY, Early Childhood Direction Center at New York-Presbyterian and other leading researchers and teachers.
Theater: Story Pirates After Dark: Story Pirates don’t dress as pirates or make anybody walk the plank, but they do steal: they take their inspiration from kids themselves, creating an entire show adapted from stories penned by authors under the age of 12.
Film: Made In India: A feature-length documentary film about the human experiences behind the phenomena of “outsourcing” surrogate mothers to India. Both filmmakers will be in attendance to discuss issues of sex, sexism and colonial legacy.
Comedy: Political Subversities: a darkly funny cabaret that finds the humorous, the stupid and the downright absurd in today’s social and political landscape.
Daytime: Pauline Kael: A Life in the Dark. Hear the story of this remarkable, controversial woman whose aggressive writing style was an odd fit at the stately New Yorker, with Brian Kellow, Polly Frost and Ray Sawhill.
Film: Love Letters: Not available on DVD and out of print for many years, this is one of Jennifer Jones’ best performances and one of her least-seen films.
Film: Bell Book and Candle: The same year Vertigo was released, Kim Novak and Jimmy Stewart also made this Greenwich Village beatnik-witches love story that is a cult favorite of fans of great design, the underrated Richard Quine and sexy witches.
Film: Naomi. Ilan Ben Natan, a 58-year-old astrophysics professor, is obsessively in love with his young wife, Naomi. When Ilan discovers that his deepest fears have come true—Naomi has a lover—he is unable to control himself. He confronts the lover and commits a horrible act, the consequences of which weigh heavily on his conscience.
Film: The Lie. Based on the story by T.C. Boyle, The Lie is the story of young parents Lonnie (Joshua Leonard) and Clover (Jess Weixler). With director/actor Joshua Leonard in person for post-screening Q&A.
Leading Adlerian psychoanalyst and president of the Alfred Adler Institute of New York Ellen Mendel presents a comprehensive introduction to Alfred Adler. She will be joined by Margot Adler, Alfred Adler’s granddaughter
Beyond the Stage: On John Bolton with author David A. Andelman, former correspondent at The New York Times and CBS News.
What is English? Where does a language come from, and what political and social factors are at play in building a language and a community? With The Economist‘s Robert Lane Greene
Hollywood’s Greatest Dances: Session 5 with Howard Oboler, MA
In the book, you talk a lot about the Austria’s café culture. Why do you think we don’t see that here in America as much?
It’s all about history. We didn’t know about coffee before the Turks came to Vienna in 1600. When the Turks came, we fought them back and then they left us the coffee. And it took time for us to figure out what do with it and so we invented the coffeehouse. In the 1800s and 1900s, all the artists used to work out of the coffeehouses so they became a meeting point for interaction and to hang out and work together. It became this culture of sitting in a café all day long and you have snacks and coffee and cakes. It’s a very Central European mentality that you also see in Budapest and around Eastern Europe.
Kurt Gutenbrunner, Harvey Sachs and the Ensemble for the Romantic Century will all be at 92YTribeca on November 13 for Eat, Drink & Think Like...Beethoven. This will be an in-depth look into Beethoven and his world. Listen and watch as musicians and actors from the Ensemble for the Romantic Century bring his story to life. Learn about Viennese Kaffeehaus culture as you taste historically accurate pastries and drinks.
Whether you’re seeking a literary conversation, stimulating analysis of current events or an evening of sing-alongs, this 137-year-old organization has you covered. Offerings at the 92nd Street Y’s younger sibling, 92YTribeca, are typically quirkier and cheaper and often include a beer. Three cheers for uptown and downtown culture.
Time Out New York‘s “Best of NYC 2011” is on newsstands now. See it all here!
92Y Guest Blog: Connecting To The Weekly Torah Portion With Rabbi David Kalb
Rabbi David Kalb, Director of Jewish Education for the Bronfman Center for Jewish Life at 92nd Street Y, continues his series of guest blogs below, with another post on the weekly Torah portion.
Born To Run – The Journey: Lech Lecha
One of the greatest songwriters of all times is Bruce Springsteen. I still remember the first time I heard his classic song “Born To Run”. It hit me very powerfully with it’s theme of journey. That is how I feel when I hear the opening of this weeks Torah portion Lech Lecha.
Lech Lecha tells the story of the rather unusual birth of the Jewish nation. In Bereishit/Genesis 12:1, God commands Avram (Abram, who will eventually be known as Avraham/Abraham): “Go for yourself (Lech Lecha) from your land, from your relatives, and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” We read no theology, see no miracles and receive no proof of God’s existence. God simply tells Avram to go on a journey. The command itself is also unusual: Lech Lecha, “Go for yourself.” The Torah could have simply used the single word Lech, “Go,” and identify where Avram was coming from and where he was headed. It is unnecessary to add the word Lecha, “for yourself.” The word Lecha seems superfluous and somewhat awkward. It is more logical to say, simply, “Go.” Why Lech Lecha? Perhaps because the Torah teaches us that Avram’s journey is a journey of self, not simply of geography. God does not just tell Avram to go on a physical journey, but commands Avram to go on a spiritual journey as well. When God says Lech Lecha, “Go for yourself,” God commands Avram to begin a journey to try to understand God.
The above slide show provided by the CDC shows a dramatic increase in obesity rates in The United States. 36 states now exceed a median obesity of 25 percent in 2010, where no state had an obesity rate this high 25 years ago. These statistics cause alarm, given obesity’s link to several deadly diseases including heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.
Knowledge about how our bodies process nutrients and sense satisfaction from the foods we eat represents a potent weapon to fight obesity, which is why 92nd Street Y is proud to host Karen Miller-Kovach, MBA, MS, RD, the Chief Scientist at Weight Watchers International on November 8. Miller-Kovach, who spent 14 years at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation as the organization’s director of nutrition services, will discuss the latest research in obesity and weight loss.
More information and tickets to The Science Of Successful Weight Loss with Karen Miller-Kovach, are available here.
Bergson was gracious enough to answer our Culture Klatsch Q&A that pries deep into our subjects, looking at their culture and media diets. Spolier alert: he prefers reading physical copies of books.
Where do you go for news when you start your day? The New York Times online.
How much do you use Twitter and Facebook (or other social networking services)?
I use both a fair amount although like many people, I’m not a big fan of Facebook’s new layout with the ticker in the upper right hand corner of the screen. Sometimes you miss stuff when you don’t go on there. It’s a funny sign of the times that I learned of both the birth of my best friend’s daughter this year and the breakup of a couple I’m friends with on Facebook. Sometimes I wonder if there’s going to be a privacy backlash down the road!
Do you like Supertramp? Of course you do, who doesn’t? This video for “The Logical Song” features Athena Reich (Lady Gaga Impersonator and Arts Educator among other things) and Maria Colaco dancers. It was made possible in part by a Harkness Space Grant from 92Y’s Harkness Dance Center.
92Y Video: An Evening With Malcom Gladwell Moderated By Ariel Levy
Malcolm Gladwell was here with author Ariel Levy (Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture) last night for discussion of his, books, advice his father gave him, Occupy Wall Street and more. Watch some highlights in the video above.
Gladwell told Ariel the only advice his father gave him was: “Not to become a journalist. ...’don’t go work for The Daily Mirror.’”
Gladwell also had shared this thoughts about the current reality among young adults leaving college “encumbered… with mortgage level debts,” as well as some advice for Occupy Wall Street and President Obama. “I think they have to get angrier,” he told Ariel. “I do think there is a weird absence of anger on the part of people who unhappy with the status quo. And there’s even an absence of anger in our President, which I think would be appropriate for him to get angry with the way things have gone. There’s nothing wrong with standing up and saying ‘this is bullsh*t!’ Right? I inherited a mess. I’m trying to clean it up and I need your help. There’s nothing wrong with saying that. Liberals… shouldn’t let the conservatives co-opt all of the anger in the system.”
Upcoming Talks at 92Y include: Dr. Harry Wells Fogarty on Carl Jung (Nov 3); A Conversation with Lindsey Buckingham (Nov 4); Niall Ferguson: The West and the Rest (Nov 6).
New New York: What Buildings Are Changing The New York City’s Skyline?
Jake Rajs photography focuses on new buildings that are changing the New York City’s skyline. Do you know what building is in the photo above?
See more exquisite images and hear insightful commentary capturing the indomitable spirit of NYC on November 30 at 92YTribeca as photographer Jake Rajs celebrates the city’s newest landmarks—Time Warner Center, Hudson River Park, MoMA sculpture garden and more—placing them in the context of famous highlights such as Rockefeller Center, the Brooklyn Bridge, Lincoln Center and Times Square.
Daytime: Roy Lichtenstein in His Studio: Join Roy Lichtenstein’s studio assistant for an intimate portrait of the Pop Art founder and his bold, colorful work.
Film: Mur Murs: A Visitor (Juliet Berto) explores street life in early ‘80s Los Angeles, looking at music, subcultures and where murals interact with graffiti, in this little-seen Varda documentary, one of several of her documents of California life.
The Mechanic: This November, Not Coming to a Theater Near You celebrates the 90th birthday of one of cinema’s most badass action actors—Charles Bronson.
Film: Mr. Majestyk: This November, Not Coming to a Theater Near You celebrates the 90th birthday of one of cinema’s most badass action actors—Charles Bronson.
