Arts & Culture

Great Expectations, And Some Hope Of Meeting Them

Credit Amy Sussman / Getty Images

In plays like FOB, M. Butterfly and Chinglish, David Henry Hwang, seen here at a 2006 gala, touches on the obstacles that can stand between immigrants and the American dream.

By editor

Originally published on Thu June 28, 2012 11:34 am

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David Henry Hwang is a playwright from Los Angeles, currently living in New York, who has dealt with issues of cultural identity in his work, especially as it pertains to the Asian-American experience. He spoke to NPR's Morning Edition about his thoughts on the American dream.

"I define the American dream as the ability to imagine a way that you want your life to turn out, and have a reasonable hope that you can achieve that.

11:03 pm

Wed June 27, 2012

In France, A Star Rises From An Oft-Neglected Place

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Credit Thierry Valletoux / Weinstein Co.

Omar Sy plays Driss in the hit French film The Intouchables. The feel-good movie won numerous awards in France, but has met with a mixed reaction in the U.S.

Credit Weinstein Co.

Driss and Philippe (Francois Cluzet) indulge in one of the shared vices that cement their friendship in The Intouchables.

By Eleanor Beardsley

Originally published on Thu June 28, 2012 11:34 am

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Frenchman Jean Dujardin may have won this year's Academy Award for best actor for his role in The Artist, but in France he was beat out for the country's most prestigious acting award, the Cesar, by a new acting sensation: The 34-year-old son of African immigrants, Omar Sy.

4:47 pm

Wed June 27, 2012

Pieces Of AIDS Quilt Blanket Nation's Capital

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Credit Ebony Bailey / NPR

People view the AIDS Memorial Quilt at the National Mall this week.

Credit Scott Stewart / AP

A sunrise ceremony is held in 1987 in Washington, near part of the quilt bearing the names of people who have died of AIDS.

Credit Stephen R. Brown / AP

Thousands of people examine the individual panels of the AIDS Memorial Quilt as it is displayed in Washington in 1992.

Credit Wilfredo Lee / AP

Volunteers lay out the quilt on the grounds of the Washington Monument in 1992.

Credit Jamal Wilson / AFP/Getty Images

Then-President Clinton and first lady Hillary Clinton visit the quilt on the Mall in 1992, when it was made up of 40,000 panels that covered the equivalent of 24 football fields.

Credit David La Spina / AFP/Getty Images

Marchers carry portions of the quilt through the Mall during a 2001 march in observance of the 20th year of public awareness of HIV and AIDS.

Credit Ebony Bailey / NPR

Visitors tour portions of the AIDS Memorial Quilt on display at the National Mall this week.

By Neda Ulaby

Originally published on Wed June 27, 2012 6:06 pm

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The AIDS Memorial Quilt is too big to display all in one piece. Since 1987, it has grown to more than 48,000 panels that honor the lives of more than 94,000 people who have died of AIDS. The last time the whole quilt was shown together was in 1996, on the National Mall. Now it's back in Washington, D.C., for its 25th anniversary.

4:26 pm

Wed June 27, 2012

'Beasts' Finds Its Heart In A 6-Year-Old Heroine

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Credit Jess Pinkham / Fox Searchlight

Hatching A Star: The tenacious Hushpuppy, of Benh Zeitlin's Beasts of the Southern Wild, is played by the equally fearless Quvenzhane Wallis, who was plucked for the role from a Louisiana elementary school. "It was an absolute miracle that we found her," Zeitlin says.

Credit Jess Pinkham / Fox Searchlight

Much as playwright Lucy Alibar's father once did, Hushpuppy's father, played by Dwight Henry (right), encourages his daughter (Wallis) to be tough and strong by saying things like, "Show me your guns."

Credit Jess Pinkham / Fox Searchlight

Director Benh Zeitlin says Beasts of the Southern Wild was a collaborative effort, with then-6-year-old actress Quvenzhane Wallis contributing lines like, "When you're small, you gotta fix what you can."

By editor

Originally published on Wed February 20, 2013 11:51 am

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The most captivating narrator in a movie right now has to be the fierce, brave 6-year-old girl at the center of director Benh Zeitlin's new film, Beasts of the Southern Wild.

Her name is Hushpuppy, and she lives with her father in the Bathtub, a ramshackle, isolated community that clings to the Louisiana coast — and is perched on the edge of extinction. The Bathtub is cut off by a levee built to protect the other side, but one day, Hushpuppy explains, a storm will blow in and breach that levee.

12:00 pm

Wed June 27, 2012

Is That Frozen Foam On Your Beer Or Are You Just Happy To See Me?

Credit Kirin

By April Fulton

Originally published on Wed June 27, 2012 12:05 pm

Apparently, it is just what it looks like — frozen foam, on a beer.

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