Embrace of the Serpent
Thursday 23rd February
Portrush Film Theatre Kiwis
Doors open 7PM Film Starts 7:30PM
The film tells two stories thirty years apart, both featuring Karamakate, an Amazonian shaman and last survivor of his tribe. He travels with two scientists, firstly with German Theo von Martius in 1909 and American named Evan in 1940, to look for the rare yakruna, a (fictional) sacred plant.
Theo, an ethnographer from Tübingen who has already resided in the Amazon for several years, is very sick and is travelling by canoe with his field notes and a westernised local he saved from enslavement on a rubber plantation named Manduca. Karamakate prolongs his life, blasting white powder called "the sun's semen" (possibly a hallucinogenic made from virola) up his nose, but is reluctant to become involved with a westerner and refuses his money. Theo is searching for yakruna as the only cure for his disease and the three set off in the canoe to search for it.
Many years later an American botanist, Evan (Brionne Davis), paddles up to a much older Karamakate (Antonio Bolívar) who has apparently forgotten the customs of his own people. Evan says he is hoping to complete Theo's quest and Karamakate does assist, again reluctantly, saying his knowledge is spent. Evan has a book of Theo's final trek, which his aide sent back to Europe, as he did not survive the jungle. The book includes an image of Karamakate, which he refers to as his chullachaqui, a native term for hollow spirit. Karamakate agrees to help him only when Evan describes himself as someone who has devoted himself to plants, although Evan's real purpose is actually to secure disease-free rubber trees, since the United States's supplies of rubber from South East Asia had dwindled due to the Japanese wartime advance.
Both expeditions feature an "Apocalypse Now"-style Spanish Catholic Mission by the side of an Amazon tributary, run in 1909 by a sadistic, lone Spanish priest who beats orphan boys for any "pagan" behaviour, and in 1940 by a delusional Brazilian figure who believes he is the Messiah. He only trusts the visitors when he believes they are the Biblical Magi, but Karamakate wins his respect when he heals his wife. By now the children of 1909 have grown into disturbed and violent acolytes.
In 1909, we are left with Theo, sick and having fled the Mission, arriving at a frontier post just about to be invaded by Colombian soldiers during the Amazon rubber boom, where the sacred yakruna is being abused by drunken men, and cultivated, against local traditions. Karamakate is furious and destroys it. In 1940, Karamakate does show Evan the origin of the plant in striking denuded dome shaped mountains (Cerros de Mavecure), allegedly the home of yakruna. He reveals one yakruna flower that is on the last plant – he has destroyed all the others – and prepares it for Evan. The preparation being hallucinogenic, aids Evan in undergoing a superconscious experience. A part of this experience has been shown in colour to signify its intensity. The film ends with a transformed Evan remaining enamoured by a group of butterflies.
It was nominated for an Oscar in 2016 in the Foreign language film category. Reviewers have remarked on the beautiful cinematography in black and white and the absorbing story-line.
(information taken from Wikipedia)
A Taste of Puglia
Kiwis Thursday 2nd March
Cost of this limited event is £14.95 per person. Tickets on sale now limited to 40 persons first come first served.
Fresh Food, Fine Wine and Italian Music what more could you ask for. For Tickets contact Chris on 02870822402
Atlantic Lounge Portrush Presents
The Strypes
Sunday 5th March Doors open 9pm
The Strypes are a four-piece rock band from Cavan, Ireland, formed in 2010 consisting of Ross Farrelly (lead vocals/harmonica), Josh McClorey (lead guitar/vocals), Peter O'Hanlon (bass guitar/harmonica) and Evan Walsh (drums). The band played the local scene with various members switching parts as they searched for their sound. They draw inspiration from 1960s blues boom and 1970s pub rock bands such as Dr. Feelgood, Eddie and the Hot Rods, The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, Lew Lewis and Rockpile as well as the original bluesmen and rock 'n' roll artists such as Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Howlin' Wolf and Little Walter, among others. The band members' current ages are 18 to 20 years.
The band, with a shared love of blues and rhythm and blues music, formed in the town of Cavan, Ireland. After several months gigging around their hometown, the band began playing clubs and pubs around Ireland, playing sets mixing original material with rhythm and blues covers. Their set of fast-paced, gritty, garage rock "speed blues", which mixed the powerful approach of Dr. Feelgood with the intense rave-up format of The Yardbirds, quickly became well received by crowds across Ireland and their reputation as a live act grew.
(Information courtesy of Wikipedia)
Tickets £14 from Venue or Ticket Master.
Jive Lessons
Monday 6th March 7.30pm
More Performing Arts Academy
Get your dancing shoes on and learn to Jive at More School of Performing Arts River House Railway Road Coleraine. New six week block begins on Monday 6th March. Text 07879077197 for more details.
Waggy Races
Portstewart Strand 5K
Sunday 26th March
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