Festival

Alongside of Buddhism, Shinto is Japan’s major religion that contributes to the Japanese philosophy of life. These two religions complement each other and coexisted for over a thousand years both culturally and socially to the life of Japanese people. It is also influenced by Confucianism and Taoism. Shinto is Japans state religion, created in the late 6th century. In 1868, the government forced Shinto and Buddhism to separate in the Meiji period. Meiji government ordered a separation of…

Ancient Mesopotamia spans a great distance both in space and time. Much of what united this vast expanse of peoples and cultures is religion. For the people of ancient Mesopotamia religion was at the foundation of their entire world. They all shared an unwavering belief that humans had been placed on the Earth solely for the purpose of providing for and serving at the pleasure of the gods. To them the deities that they worshipped were all knowing and all powerful, and needed to be both feared…

Often, when New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day Celebrations are mentioned, many Americans tend to imagine fireworks and champagne among other vibrant festivities occurring on December 31st and January 1st. However, while Vietnamese-American families celebrate this holiday, they also celebrate their own unique holiday based on the lunar calendar. Due to my relationship with Gabrielle Nguyen, I have been able to experience the New Orleans Vietnamese community’s rendition of some of the events of…

followers. Muslims worship in a place called a Mosque, they are expected to pray five times a day. A Mosque is used for other things as well such as Muslims getting together and discussing things and also for political uses. Muslims have many main festivals such as Muharram which is the new year for them, it celebrates the time from which Muhammad immigrated. They celebrate this day quite quitely by praying, reading and reflecting upon the year Muhammad immigrated. They also celebrate Muhammad's…

the written creation of David Scullion, and direction by Simon Berry, has had many stops on the festival trail. Making the Official Selection list at DC Shorts 2016, LA Shorts Fest 2016, San Diego International Film Festival 2016, London Short Film Festival 2017, and the Cleveland International Film Festival 2017. The film has also been awarded with the Audience Choice Award at the San Diego Film Festival 2016. Speechless and not sure if you should laugh or cry, Mine is a blast. It is hard to…

Hola! Ecuador is a South American country located on the west coast. Culture plays a big role in Ecuador’s food, clothing, festivals, and holidays. All these things make up the beautiful country and its culture. Ecuador is an amazing country with lots of history and heritage. The country is next made of three parts, la costa, la sierra, and la oriente. The la costa is the coast of Ecuador is the low west coast. La sierra is made up of volcanoes, mountain ranges, valleys and plains. La sierra is…

the last couple of years. In the year 2009, far right Hindu activist from Sri Ram Sena to Bajrang Dal were involved in beating up unmarried couples and blackening their faces, as mark of shame for celebrating Valentine’s Day. They claimed that the festival was a “western practice” and promotes “lust not love”. Following this other Anti- Valentine’s Day groups also expressed their views and this led to public debate about moral policing and Indian culture. However what is interesting to note is…

Numb Faces “Oh my god, why me! Why does it have to be me”, I blamed when broken glass hit my face and woke up in a wrecked car. The car was not the same that I had earlier that night, it looked totally different, and everything was a mess. I couldn’t let myself out the car, because the door was stuck. I felt disoriented my body was shaking, tears washed my face, I can’t think straight, I made the biggest mistake of my life. I want to cry out loud, but I do not have the guts to do it, all I felt…

atmosphere and compare that to what I was judging on screen. The festival framework provided a layer of examination on top of that. I was in a screening of Jaqcues Rivette’s La Belle Noiseuse, when I was first struck with what I admire most about audiences of the Hong Kong International Film Festival. They were earnest. This could be considered true of Hong Kong audiences in general, but my involvement with them was limited (I don’t think festival audiences were exclusive or “special”, perhaps…

The early Greeks developed order and form within dance that was called choral dance. It was a more communal form where the lines of dancers would move circularly or straight within ranks. These dances would be performed at events such as Athenian festivals and were accompanied by procession, sacrifices and games. The Greeks would also dance at religious ceremonies; they would perform fertility dances to ensure fertile fields as well as fertile women. They would dance in preparation for war and…