CSUMB's Monterey Bay Film Society Partners with Philip Glass and Company

The Monterey Bay Film Society and the Philip Glass Center for the Arts, Science and the Environment are teaming up on the Philip Glass Days and Nights Festival, beginning this October with the festival's presence at Henry Miller Library and Sunset Center. Colloquially, the MBFS is putting on "days" of film screenings and workshops featuring longtime Glass collaborator and filmmaker Godfrey Reggio (Koyaanisqatsi, Visitors) and, possibly, Mexican actor and director Diego Luna (Y Tu Mama Tambien, Milk), while the "nights" portion of music and performances will be programmed by Philip Glass. 

The full festival schedule will be announced in early August. Free tickets to the upcoming events will be provided to many underserved county youth. 

It's a partnership that works on an artistic level, but also on a philosophical level, too. Reggio worked for years with youth in poor neighborhoods in New Orleans, and his "Quatsi" trilogy of films, scored by Glass, tackle social and environmental issues with artistry. And Glass is a longtime booster of many nonprofits, including The Kitchen art space in New York. The Monterey Bay Film Society was founded in 2007 by artist and CSUMB Cinematic Arts and Technology Chair Enid Baxter Blader [who is my fiancee], later joined by CSUMB Media Production Specialist Chris Carpenter and Sundance Creative Director Mike Plante, in response to rising rates of violent crime among local youth, offering artistic outlet, college readiness and career opportunities for 2,000 young people annually. It's also been responsible for bringing prominent Latino filmmakers to the area to workshop with underserved students, including Rodrigo Garcia (Albert Nobbs, Revolucion) and, last year, Gerardo Naranjo (Miss Bala). 

The Glass Center's aim is to bring leaders in the arts, sciences and the environment to the area to convene and collaborate through "performances, seminars and education programs." The long-term partnership between the Monterey Bay Film Society and the Glass Center promises year-round presence and activities.