Dan Sandford of West Windsor coordinated the film series at the West Windsor Arts Council. “The film committee consisted of a group of veteran stalwarts that had labored for many years in the vineyards — bringing to the public some exceptionally high quality films from around the world,” says Sandford, who was invited to chair the film sub-committee before the arts center opened.
Sanford is the director of graduate admissions at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. He oversees the operation for the school and financial aid for new graduate students. He is also Tisch International student advisor for both graduate and undergraduate students.
Born in Mexico, he lived there for most of his first 18 years. “Spanish was my first tongue but I learned English when I was five and then learned how to read and write in Italian at the Montessori school in Perugia, Italy, when we spent a year living with a large Italian Umbrian family,” he says. He received his BFA and master’s degree from NYU.
His wife, Mariellen, is the vice president of Dance Vision and is associate editor for “TDR: A Journal of Performance Studies,” a journal edited by NYU, published by MIT press, and has an affiliation with Brown, Princeton, and the Shanghai Theater Academy.
They have three daughters. Annie received her BFA in drama from NYU and is studying at Second City in Chicago. Phoebe Rose graduated from NYU Dance with a BFA and is part of Red Currant, a dance collective in NYC. Grace, a senior at South, is in the midst of applying to colleges. A trained ballerina, she has recently shifted her dance focus towards hip-hop. She sings in the choral groups Tickled Pink and First Edition at South.
The family moved from Point Pleasant to West Windsor in 1994. “The reason was twofold — schools and a better commute to NYC,” says Sanford.
The original members of the film committee included Diane Ciccone, Renee Kumar, Ted Ross, and Elane Gutterman. “I was very lucky to be asked to join this established group (and not a little intimidated),” he says. “We proposed a slate of films for the 2010-’11 season but the film series had to be shelved due to a lack of a high grade Blu-Ray projector and top quality screen, which was eventually acquired in time for the 2011-’12 season.”
In January the committee re-grouped and added the creative minds of Susan Matson, Chuck Myers, Uma DeSimine, and Bob Taylor. “After some fervid but positive exchanges, we settled on a list of nine suggestions which we thought were a good blend of drama, foreign films, classics, and documentaries,” says Sandford. “Some of the selections were better known than others but each was a distinctive choice, reflecting the passions and predilections of all members of the film committee.
The WWAC was presented with the suggested list of nine films and an alternate nine in case there were issues concerning cost, unavailability, or distribution. “All 18 films were sufficiently diverse to give the WWAC a palette with which to put together a comprehensive series that would have broad appeal and provide filmgoers with films that were not typical of the offerings at commercial cinemas, thus supporting the idea that there could be a basis for reflective commentary,” says Sandford.
The schedule, subject to change, follows:
Friday, November 11. “Killer of Sheep,” directed by Charles Burnett in 1981, United States. A drama considered by the National Society of Film Critics as one of the 100 essential American films.
Friday, December 9. “Duck Season,” directed by Fernando Eimbcke in 2004, Mexico. A comedy, in Spanish, with English subtitles. “Sansho the Bailiff” may be shown as it was not shown in October due to technical problems.
Friday, January 13. “Born Into Brothels; Calcutta’s Red Light Kids,” 2004. A documentary in English about the children of Indian prostitutes and their experiences as budding photographers.
Friday, February 3. “Brother’s Keeper,” 1992, United States. Documentary about four brothers in upstate New York and a mystery regarding a crime. Did they or didn’t they? “An uncanny film that may or may not be a documentary or an unsolved crime — or both,” says Sandford.
Friday, March 9. “And Along Come the Tourists,” directed by Robert Thalhiem, 2007, Germany. A drama about visitors to holocaust museums is in German with English subtitles.
Friday, April 13. A scary movie yet to be determined in honor of Friday the 13th.
Friday, May 11. “The Grocer’s Son,” 2007, directed by Eric Guirado in France. In French, with English subtitles. Drama about French provinces with a mideastern flavor.
Film Series, West Windsor Arts Council, West Windsor Library, North Post Road, West Windsor. 7:30 p.m. There will be a post screening discussion with audience led by Sandford. Refreshments. Free. 609-716-1931. www.westwindsorarts.org.
