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Talk about jet lag! At least the seats in the NorthPark AMC theatre are comfy.

Yesterday I was moved to tears – not something I’m prone to do – but just couldn’t help myself while watching the 4:00pm emotional screening of Skin. Winner of the Audience Award and Jury Award at the LA Pan African Film Festival and the Audience Choice Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Skin really got under my skin.

Skin is based on the true story of Sandra Laing, a child born in 1955 with dark skin to white parents in South Africa. A very stirring film that introduces questions of identity and self-awareness amidst the backdrop of apartheid. 

After I sufficiently recovered, it was time to head into a different (but equally as comfortable) theatre for The Burning Plain directed by Guillermo Arriaga (writer of Babel), Monday nights’ Centerpiece Screening. Starring Charlize Theron and Kim Basinger (how can you miss with a cast like that?), The Burning Plain introduces characters that are seemingly unrelated – or are they? Arriaga brings them all together, as only a skilled storyteller can do. 

photo of director Guillermo Arriaga and Michael Cain, artistic director of AFI DALLAS International Film Festival

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