Honors
In Praise of Criticism
GAA, UNC celebrate drama in New York, honor film critic
In May, filmmaker and critic Godfrey
Cheshire ’ 73 was recognized at the annual
arts brunch with this year’s John L. Haber
Award, given in collaboration with the
New York Carolina Club, the UNC department of dramatic art, Carolina Performing
Arts and the GAA.
Cheshire is the ninth recipient of the
award, named for John Haber ’ 70, an executive with a theater production company,
Dodgers Stage Holding. It is presented
annually to alumni for outstanding contributions to the arts. It is not a lifetime
achievement award, just a way to pay tribute to, as Haber has explained, “someone
well on their way.”
Cheshire is a Manhattan-based film critic
whose writings have appeared in numerous
publications, including The New York Times,
Variety, Village Voice, Newsweek and Interview.
But when this Raleigh native was starting
out, his writing appeared in just one place:
Spectator Magazine, a small Raleigh publication that he helped found in 1978 and for
which he wrote until 1998. He continues
to write for The Independent Weekly in
Durham.
Cheshire returned to North Carolina in
April to premiere his documentary Moving
Midway at Durham’s Full Frame
Documentary Film Festival. The film,
which examines the impact of the
Southern plantation on American music,
movies and modern race relations, was
occasioned by the relocation of the
Midway Plantation in Wake County. The
plantation home that had been in his family was moved in summer 2005 to make
way for a large shopping center, and
Cheshire had seven camera crews document the construction process. Cheshire’s
mother grew up in Midway, and he had
visited the home as a child. While at Full
Frame, he also served on the “Truth and
Reconciliation” panel to discuss his motivations for tackling such a racially charged
project.
Cheshire’s areas of interest include
Southern and American independent filmmaking, the transition to digital cinema,
and international cinemas, especially those
in China and Iran. In 1992, Cheshire was
the first American film critic allowed in
Iran since the 1979 revolution. He is now
writing a book on Iranian film, and he is
the screenwriter and producer of a drama
in development, Baskerville, set in early
20th-century Persia.
Cheshire has a long list of accolades —
former chair of the New York Film Critics
Circle, member of the National Society of
Film Critics, author of a seminal essay on
digital cinema — to which he is adding the
Haber Award.
Previous recipients of what is affectionately known as “The Habey” include
comedian Lewis Black ’ 70, children’s book
author Mary Pope Osborne ’ 71, actor Billy
Crudup ’ 90, choreographer and director Jane
Comfort ’ 67, costume designer William
Ivey Long ’ 69, arts advocate Ben Cameron
’ 75 and actor Michael Cumpsty ’ 82.
Osborne, Long and Cumpsty were all
guests at this year’s ceremony, held at
Manhattan’s University Club. Among the
75 in attendance were Emil Kang, executive director of Carolina Performing Arts;
Joseph Haj ’ 88 (MFA), producing artistic
director for PlayMakers Repertory
Company; McKay Coble, chair of the dramatic art department; and Rick Davis ’ 85,
director of GAA enrichment programs.
“It is wonderful to have that support,
and it really reinforces their commitment to
getting alumni together,” Coble said of the
collaborators. “Having Carolina Performing
Arts and the GAA at the ceremony echoes
what’s going on at Carolina now. We’re
really feeling tremendous support from the
administration for visual and performing
arts. … It’s a boom time for Carolina arts,
and it’s a great time to be here.”
More than half of those attending,
including Kang and Haj, were at the ceremony for the first time, Davis said. Davis
noted that this year, in addition to targeting alumni through the New York Carolina
Club, invitations were sent to alumni in
New Jersey, Connecticut and New York.
“It’s expanded from what we’ve been
doing,” Coble said. “It is more inclusive of a
broader base of alumni, and it’s really won-
GARY GOODMAN ‘ 84
Film critic Godfrey Cheshire ’ 73 was honored at the annual
arts brunch, hosted by the New York Carolina Club, the GAA,
Carolina Performing Arts and the UNC drama department.
derful that people were there who’d never
been to an alumni event.”
Haj was struck by the variety of alumni
he met. “It was fantastic to meet alumni
from several generations,” Haj said. “I met
people who graduated in the ’70s and people who graduated in the ’40s.”
There also was a bit of a youth movement at this year’s ceremony, as Kate
Middleton ’00 spoke during the closing
remarks about her theater company,
Ground-Up Productions, which was started
by several Carolina alumni.
“The Habey Award is given to someone
at the peak of their career, but I think it’s
really important to recognize what our
young alumni have accomplished,” Coble
said. “That’s why Kate was there; we want
to highlight what our young alumni are
doing. I’d love to see more recent [alumni]
come to an event like this because they’ll
realize how deep the waters are, how deep
the alumni pool is.”
Haj agreed with Coble, adding that the
Habey Award is an opportunity for young
alumni to mingle with several generations
of artistic Tar Heels. “They can be in the
presence of these other significant alumni
who have done great things in their lives
and their careers.” ■
