Carbondale Chamber of Commerce recently issued the following announcement.
The Varsity’s Thursday night film series begins on Aug. 16 with “Sita Sings the Blues,” the creation of Nina Paley, a San Francisco-based animator who grew up in Urbana, Illinois, and tells the story of the break-up of her marriage by way of the epic Indian tale of Ramayana set to the 1920s jazz vocals of Annette Hanshaw.
Sita is a Hindu goddess and a dutiful wife who follows her husband Rama on a 14-year exile to a forest, only to be kidnapped by an evil king from Sri Lanka. Despite remaining faithful to her husband, Sita is put through many tests.
Nina (the filmmaker Paley herself) is an artist who finds parallels in Sita’s life when her husband – in India on a work project – decides to break up their marriage and dump her via email. Three hilarious Indonesian shadow puppets with Indian accents – linking the popularity of the Ramayana from India all the way to the Far East – narrate both the ancient tragedy and modern comedy in this beautifully animated interpretation of the epic.
In her first feature length film, Paley juxtaposes multiple narrative and visual styles to create a highly entertaining yet moving vision of the Ramayana. Musical numbers choreographed to the 1920s jazz vocals of Annette Hanshaw feature a cast of hundreds: flying monkeys, evil monsters, gods, goddesses, warriors, sages, and winged eyeballs. “Sita Sings the Blues” earns its tagline as "The Greatest Break-Up Story Ever Told."
The Varsity will show “Sita Sings the Blues” at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug 16. Tickets are $7 for general admission, $5 for students, and are available in advance at www.thevarsitycenter.org.
Tickets also will be available at the venue on the night of the show when doors and the bar open at 6:30 p.m. The Varsity Bar features beer, wine, select cocktails, non-alcoholic beverages, snacks and popcorn.
“Sita Sings the Blues” is not rated.
The Varsity is downtown Carbondale at 418 S. Illinois Ave. Keep up with upcoming events at www.facebook.com/varsitycenter.
Original source can be found here.
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