The 13th Annual Sacramento Film & Music Festival opens on Wednesday, August 15th and runs through Sunday, August 19th at the Crest Theatre. The film includes 87 projects of all lengths, programmed into 12 screenings, and representing 13 countries. While the Festival remains true to its submission-based, international, all-genre roots, this year’s program has been scheduled to provide a stronger showcase for locally produced content, with local programs on each of the five days. This includes the Festival’s own pair of nine year old programs that incubate local talent and facilitate the production of original content - “Sac Music Seen,” a music video program that pairs local filmmakers wit

  A Sacramento area activist will propose an ordinance that aims to drive some of Sacramento's underground economy back above board, to the County Board of Supervisors during their June 12th meeting. Davi Rodrigues, the principal author of the ordinance, hopes to convince the County Board of Supervisors to consider adding it to the county code where it could be a useful tool in combatting the Sacramento area's underground economy where day laborers and those that employ them congregate. The proposed ordinance would require employers to display how they are complying with the state's workman's compensation laws when they are hiring a day laborer. In addition, it would require any day labo

Today at the Capitol, more than 200 domestic workers and their children marched in cold weather for AB 889. Tom Ammiano and other California legislators took part in “Shadow Your Legislator” sessions where children of domestic workers will get to spend one on one time with their legislators, some of whom are children of domestic workers themselves.

When Nancy Swift and husband Tom Chandler adopted 2-year-old Meskerem, Swift met Meskerem’s biological mother, who had one request: that her child be given every possible opportunity. On Tuesday morning, Swift, Chandler and Meskerem made the trip from their home in Mt. Shasta to Sacramento, where Meskerem joined 23 other children aged 12 and under in receiving their citizenship certificates. According to Swift, receiving the certificate is a big part of providing her adopted toddler with the opportunity her biological mother asked for. “She’s been such a blessing to us,” Swift said. “This is finalizing her status here in this country. It’s been a long journey to becoming a family.” Th

Long before Mikuni Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar existed, co-owner Taro Arai was an 11-year-old paperboy with big dreams. He saved $6,000 over five years to move his family from Japan to the United States. Arai wrote and published his first book, “Abundance: Finding the American Dream in a Japanese Kitchen,” in hopes that he will inspire other Japanese youths. The book is set to be released Wednesday and combines his family’s history with recipes for some of Mikuni's customers’ favorite dishes. “It’s not just a recipe book,” Arai said. “It has my life story in it.” The book’s 12 chapters tell different stages of Arai’s life and include recipes named to coincide with their themes.

Too bad there’s not an instant replay for political endorsements since the Sacramento Bee recently made a highly questionable call by choosing Dan Lungren over Dr. Ami Bera in the 3rd District Congressional race. “By a slim margin,” the Bee argued, stating that Bera’s grasp of the nation’s and district’s “vast challenges” isn’t “as wide as it should be.” What are these “vast challenges” and what are the two candidates' positions about them? Lungren’s record on the economy and jobs is dismal: voting against the 2009 Recovery Act stimulus and unemployment extensions – job creators/savers – and recently voting against a $30 billion small business lending and tax breaks bill (more jobs help)

  Two local groups continue to protest the Sacramento City Council more than one month after the council decided to boycott Arizona companies. One of the groups, Boycott Sacramento, is intentionally avoiding local businesses in response to the council’s sanctions on Arizona businesses.  Another group, Recall Sacramento, is saying it will attempt to remove certain council members from office. However, Assistant City Clerk Stephanie Mizuno said the group has not yet officially started the recall process.  The groups formed after the City Council decided June 15 to dispute Arizona’s new immigration laws by boycotting that state’s companies.  The council passed the boycott in a 6-1 vote, wi

Immigration is obviously both a hot button topic and the hot potato of American politics.  It's also the focus of three short documentaries that play at the Crest Theatre on Tuesday evening on the fifth day (of ten) of the 11th Annual Sacramento Film & Music Festival.  Coincidentally, all three films were made by students at either Berkeley or Stanford and they complement each other to form a fascinating program. "Iraq in the US" has a unique Sacramento connection, focusing on the lives of Iraqi refugees who have been relocated here to build new lives.  "New American Soldier" tells the stories of several green card holders who joined the US military to become eligible for citizenship - co

Sacramento’s elected leaders agreed to boycott Arizona companies in protest of the state’s new immigration laws. The City Council passed the boycott Tuesday with a 6-1 vote. Mayor Kevin Johnson and council members Rob Fong, Bonnie Pannell, Ray Tretheway, Sandy Sheedy and Kevin McCarty voted to approve the boycott. Councilman Robbie Waters opposed the move. Council members Steve Cohn and Lauren Hammond were absent. Hammond was absent from the entire City Council meeting, but Cohn appeared at City Hall to discuss a separate issue after the hearing on the Arizona law. Arizona’s new law says that an individual’s immigration status should be addressed by police officers in certain circumst

The city of Sacramento should react to Arizona’s strict new immigration law by opposing and possibly boycotting Arizona businesses, the City Council decided Tuesday night. The elected officials asked city staff to prepare a resolution strongly opposing the Arizona law. The resolution will include language on economic boycotts the city could take against Arizona. In June, the City Council will make a decision on the resolution. City staffers have not yet presented information on all of the city’s existing business relationships with Arizona businesses. The City Council made its decision after hearing from about 70 people with strong views on the law. Most of the speakers opposed the law,

Friday, May 1st: 4 p.m. Union Civiva Primero De Mayo will be holding a demonstration and rally in support of immigration reform on the west steps of the Capitol. About 200 participants are expected. The following is a press release for the event: We the Workers Who Pay Taxes Demand: Bail out Working People -- NOT Wall Street or the BANKS! This Is Why We Will March on May 1st, 2009 April 29, 2009 In recent months, we have witnessed billions of dollars pumped into the financial institutions WITH NO STRINGS ATTACHED. Reckless behavior and greed have been graced with the most extravagant rewards, allowing the rich to get even richer. After receiving their bailout, A.I.G. executives resu

Crossing Over Written and directed by Wayne Kramer By Tony Sheppard Capitol Weekly Thirteen years after making a short film of the same name, writer/director Wayne Kramer (“The Cooler,” “Running Scared”) has revisited the topic for a feature that feels like three or four shorts spliced together. Unfortunately the outcome makes me wish they could be separated again and shown one after the other, with their respective overlaps encountered sequentially. “Crossing Over” is the latest film to tell a story that weaves multiple lives, with a common theme that connects them. It’s successful on some levels, but it also suffers the fate of other similarly-structured films in that some of those co

Becoming a U.S. citizen is a big deal, and that's exactly why nearly 3,000 people showed up at the Memorial Auditorium Thursday, Feb. 20. The approximately 900 new citizens crowded the auditorium, while their families and onlookers sat in the balcony to witness the event. Doors opened at 7 a.m., but the ceremony took place at 10 a.m. By 11:15, the new citizens were out the door, many in line for a social security card. Outside the Memorial Auditorium, representatives from the Republican and Democratic parties registered new voters, and vendors sold frames for the citizenship certificates. The line, which nearly reached all the way around the block, was filled with many people speaking in