Pie in American cuisine

Pie in American cuisine has roots in English cuisine and has evolved over centuries to adapt to American cultural tastes and ingredients. The creation of flaky pie crust shortened with lard is credited to American innovation.
American cuisine in the colonial era was simple compared with the more elaborate dishes found in contemporaneous European cuisines. The simplicity of American cuisine, and the American preference for pies, was influenced by the religious culture and general circumstances of the colonial era. As European pies evolved into dainty tarts, the American "pot pie", cooked over the hearth in a Dutch oven, was generous and filling, reflecting American preferences for simple and hearty meals.
Background.
Although borrowed from English cuisine, pies have over generations been adapted by American cooks to the ingredients and culture of the United States. Harriet Beecher Stowe observed:
The pie is an English institution, which, planted on American soil, forthwith ran rampant and burst forth into an untold variety of genera and species. Not merely the old traditional mince pie, but a thousand strictly American seedlings from that main stock, evinced the power of American housewives to adapt old institutions to new uses. Pumpkin pies, cranberry pies, huckleberry pies, cherry pies, green-currant pies, peach, pear, and plum pies, custard pies, apple pies, Marlborough-pudding pies—pies with top crusts, and pies without—pies adorned with all sorts of fanciful flutings and architectural strips laid across and around, and otherwise varied, attested the boundless fertility of the feminine mind, when once let loose in a given direction.
The creation of flaky pie crust made with lard is credited to American innovation. Early versions of pie were baked in long, narrow pans, then called a "coffyn" instead of crust; these early pastry shells were intended simply to hold the filling, not to be eaten. The term "crust" came into use during the American Revolution. Tough pie crusts continued to be used to preserve food in the New England climate. Mark Twain once described New England apple pie as follows:
"Construct a bullet-proof dough...toughen and kiln-dry it a couple of days...fill with stewed dried apple; aggravate with cloves, lemon peel and slabs of citron; add two portions of New Orleans sugar. Then solder on the lid and set in a safe place till it petrifies. Serve cold at breakfast and invite your enemy."
The pie culture of the United States has been influenced over centuries by ethnic, social, and agricultural changes, and through shifts that have seen the country become more urbanized and industrialized. American food in the colonial era was simple, contrasted with more elaborate counterparts in European cuisine, influenced by the religious culture and general circumstances of the colonial era. Cultural independence from England gained momentum after the war.
The 18th-century cookbook "American Cookery" mostly contains recipes for meat-based pies: chicken pie, stew pie, mince pie and pies with salt pork. While European pies evolved into dainty tarts, the American "pot pie", cooked over the hearth in a Dutch oven, was generous and filling. By the 19th-century fruit pies had become a common breakfast food in the United States.
According to James E. McWilliams, American cooks "embraced the rough edges of American foodways to foster a pastoral ideal that promoted the frontier values that the colonists had once downplayed".
During the Second World War American homemakers were asked to make open-faced "coverless' pies as part of a national strategy to ration wheat and fat.
Types.
Custard pies.
Butterscotch pie.
Butterscotch pie is made by cooking brown sugar with egg yolks, cornstarch, milk or cream and butter to make a butterscotch custard pie filling which is topped with meringue and browned in the oven. Its invention is said to date back to 1904, credited to a creamery in Connersville, Indiana, where the recipe was published in the 1904 edition of a Methodist church cookbook.
Buttermilk pie.
A 19th-century recipe for buttermilk pie is made by beating sugar with eggs, then adding butter and buttermilk. The custard is poured into a pastry-lined tin over a layer of thin apple slices. To make a buttermilk lemon pie, eggs, flour and sugar are beaten together, then buttermilk and lemon are added. The filling can be made with egg yolks, and the whites used for a meringue topping. Some versions add raisins, nutmeg, dates or vanilla flavoring. Buttermilk pie can be flavored with lemon or orange zest, the latter garnished with chopped walnuts, currants and cinnamon.
Chess pie.
Chess pie has been a classic pie of Southern cuisine for centuries. The basic ingredients of butter, sugar and eggs, thickened with either cornmeal or flour, are common to all chess pie recipes. There are variations on the basic recipe that add other ingredients like milk, cream, almonds, lemon zest, vinegar, apples, damson preserves, and dried fruits or nuts.
Maple cream pie.
A 1939 recipe for maple cream pie is made with maple sugar and scalded milk in a double boiler. Cornstarch is added to the sweetened milk to make a thin paste which is poured over beaten eggs, then cooked all together briefly then butter, vanilla and salt are stirred. Once cooled the custard is poured into the pie shell, served topped with whipped cream. Some versions are baked in the oven.
In anti-slavery New England William Fox and others advocated for the boycott of sugar from the West Indies to pressure slaveholders. Maple sugar became a substitute for cane sugar, first advanced by Benjamin Rush who published a tract on sugar maples in 1788, and soon after founded the Society for Promoting the Manufacture of Sugar from the Sugar Maple Tree.
Thomas Jefferson took up the cause, vowing to use "no other sugar in his family than that which is obtained from the sugar maple tree." He obtained 50 pounds of maple sugar from writing in 1790 to Benjamin Vaughan that high-quality sugar would be obtained from local maples with "no other labor than what the women and girls can bestow ... What a blessing to substitute sugar which requires only the labour of children, for that which it is said renders the slavery of the blacks necessary," but Jefferson's maple grove did not take to the Virginia climate and all the trees died. The tradition of making maple pie, although not as common as it used to be, continues to symbolize New England values of a simple lifestyle and economic independence.
Peanut butter pie.
The filling for peanut butter pie can be made with corn syrup or flour and milk. If milk is being used, the filling is made in a double boiler by melting sugar with flour and slowly adding milk, stirring, then adding egg yolks. The peanut butter is added to this prepared mixture, which is allowed to cool, then poured into a pre-baked pastry and served with whipped cream or meringue. Alternately, corn syrup can be mixed with the other ingredients and baked in the oven. Some recipes layer the peanut butter custard filling with a topping of gelatin and whipped egg whites folded into plain custard.
Chocolate peanut butter pie is a variation made with a filling of sweetened peanut butter layered into a pie shell made of frozen whipped cream and topped with a chocolate ice cream and whipped cream mixture. This pie is served frozen.
Pecan pie.
Pecan pie is a classic Southern dessert pie. It was not until the 1930s that pecan pie became very popular, after the recipe was printed on the labels for commercially produced bottles of corn syrup. Some historians consider this recipe the original, but earlier published recipes for milk-custard pecan pies are known from as early as 1824, such as one found in "The Virginia Housewife", and there are syrup-based pecan pie recipes dating to 1921. The Derby pie and Tar heel pie are variations on the classic pecan pie.
Pumpkin pie.
By the time Amelia Simmons had published "American Cookery", the first American cookbook, in 1796, pumpkin pie had evolved into a form similar to the pumpkin pies of the modern day. "American Cookery" included two recipes for "pompkin pudding" baked in pie crust. While early pumpkin pies were made like fruit pies with sliced or fried pumpkin combined with spice, sugar and apples in a pastry crust, Simmons' recipe was for a pumpkin custard filling made with sugar, eggs and cream. The custard version of pumpkin pie appears in later cookbooks like "The Virginia Housewife" (1824) where it is made with brandy and a lattice-top, and in Eliza Leslie's 1827 cookbook where it appears as "pumpkin pudding". The pumpkin pie became a Thanksgiving standard, featured in Lydia Maria Child's 1844 poem "The New-England Boy's Song about Thanksgiving Day":
<poem>Over the river, and through the wood—
Now grandmother's cap I spy!
Hurra for the fun!
Is the pudding done?
Hurra for the pumpkin pie!</poem>
Raisin and sour cream pie.
This meringue-topped baked custard pie is made with sugar, egg yolks, sour cream, flour and raisins, baked in a pastry-lined pie dish until the custard filling is set. Some recipes add pecans to the filling, or spices like cinnamon and cloves.
Sweet potato pie.
To make the filling for a sweet potato pie sugar, eggs, butter and milk are added to pureed sweet potatoes with a little nutmeg. The ingredients are whipped and baked in an open-faced pie crust.
An article from 1903 compared sweet potato pie and pumpkin pie, saying of pumpkin pie "In its way it is very good, particularly if seasonings are put in it to give it the palatableness that it lacks. But we can not admit that the pumpkin pie is equal to the sweet potato pie, when the latter is compounded according to approved antebellum recipes." The article goes on to note the declining popularity of the "old-fashioned" sweet potato pie, attributing it to the increased availability of canned pie fillings and commercially baked pies.
Fruit pies.
Apple pie.
There are many variations on the basic apple pie that may add raisins, dried cranberries, or caramel candies to the filling, or replace the traditional pastry top crust with iced cinnamon rolls or streusel toppings like nut streusel or oatmeal streusel. Cinnamon is commonly used, and sometimes more elaborate mixes of spices that include nutmeg or allspice. Some recipes add apple cider, whiskey or maple syrup to the filling, or replace some of the white sugar with brown sugar.
In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, apple pie became a symbol of American prosperity and national pride. The phrase "as American as apple pie" has entered the popular lexicon.
Blueberry pie.
Blueberry pie recipes are known from the mid-19th century, which is later than for other fruits like apple pie. One recipe from 1850 is made with just flour-dredged blueberries and sugar baked in pastry. Wild blueberry pie has been the official state dessert of Maine since 2011.
Blueberry pie filling can be made with fresh blueberries, sugar, thickener and lemon or lime juice. Sugar can be a mix of white and brown sugars, and the filling can be thickened with cornstarch, tapioca flour or all purpose flour. The pie can be made with a basic streusel or crumble topping instead of top crust, to which oats or nuts can be added.
To make a blueberry pie with creamy filling, heavy cream can be poured into the pie through the vent hole before serving, or it can be made with shredded coconut and cream cheese.
Cranberries, blackberries, orange zest, marshmallows, peaches or basil can be added to the filling.
Blueberry pie can be served warm with vanilla ice cream, topped with whipped cream or drizzled with a simple powdered sugar or currant jelly glaze.
Cherry pie.
A basic cherry pie can be made by simmering cherry juice with sugar, cornstarch and a pinch of salt in a saucepan until thickened. Once thickened, butter is stirred in, then the mixture is poured over the pitted cherries into a pastry-lined pie dish and baked in a hot oven. Lattice top crust is a common choice for cherry pies.
The filling of a cherry pie can be made with fresh, frozen or canned cherries. A variation on the basic filling can be made on the stovetop by simmering canned cherries with water and cherry juice with a mixture of vanilla pudding, sugar and lemon juice. The mixture is boiled then removed from the heat and butter is added. Red food coloring can be used to give the pie a more intense red color. This filling is cooked entirely on the stovetop, without baking, and poured directly into a pre-baked pie shell.
Some recipes add pineapple to the basic filling to make cherry-pineapple pie. There are different ways to make this filling. A no-bake version is made by adding the fruit to orange gelatin and making a topping with crushed bananas and chopped nuts. For baked versions of the pie, the filling is similar to other preparations, with crushed pineapple added.
There are other variations of cherry pie, such as the cherry angel pie made by filling a meringue bottom crust with vanilla custard and canned cherries. This pie filling is not baked, but chilled in the refrigerator, and garnished with whipped cream before serving.
Canned cherry pie filling is also used as a topping for other types of pies like custard pie, ice cream pie and cheesecake pie.
Green tomato pie.
Green tomatoes are used to make "mock mincemeat" with apples and raisins, to imitate the flavor of a mincemeat pie, by cooking green tomatoes with sugar and apples, vinegar, raisins and spices until thickened. Some versions add orange peel, jelly, fruit juice or butter. This mock mincemeat is used as pie filling.
Green tomato pie can also be made like other fruit pies, by sprinkling sugar, flour, cinnamon and other spices or raisins over sliced tomatoes and pieces of butter, or by cooking the ingredients on the stovetop before baking in a pastry-lined dish.
Mixed berry pie.
Berry pie is made with a mix of berries like blueberry, raspberry, blackberry and strawberry using frozen, canned or fresh berries. Spices include ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice, and sometimes coconut is added. The pie can be glazed by brushing the top crust with milk and sugar before baking, or it can be glazed with egg whites and fruit preserves.
Raspberry and strawberry fillings are also layered with chocolate, custard, vanilla pudding or cream cheese fillings, and topped with fresh fruits, jam, hot fudge or whipped cream to make layered no-bake pies.
Peach pie.
Peach pie is made with fresh, frozen or canned peaches. The basic fruit pie filling, made with fresh fruit, lemon juice, sugar and cornstarch, can be frozen in advanced and used later. The basic fresh peach pie can be combined with other fruits like strawberry, blueberry, blackberry, apple, pear or prunes. Peach pie can be topped with whipped cream or streusel with other ingredients like nuts, fresh fruit, coconut or cinnamon.
The peaches n' cream variation is made with cream cheese and egg yolk. Some versions also add sour cream. Peaches can be used in a cream pie made with vanilla pudding and fresh fruit slices in a graham cracker crust. There are also several varieties of peach ice cream pie made with vanilla or peach ice cream, fruit and sometimes raspberry sorbet and other ingredients.
Black bottom peach pie is made with a chocolate cookie crumb crust. The no-bake filling is made by dissolving gelatin in peach syrup and adding crushed canned peaches and lemon juice, then folding in whipped cream when the mixture has cooled enough that it starts to thicken.
Shaker lemon pie.
Shaker lemon pie is a four-ingredient pie that originated in the Shaker communities of the Midwestern United States. To make this pie, lemon slices and sugar are placed in a bowl for several hours until the lemons are juicy, then eggs are beaten in and the mixture is poured into a pastry-lined pie dish. After it is baked, the pie can be served with ice cream, either warm or at room temperature.
Savory pies.
Poultry.
Poultry pies in the 18th-century were a more general class of pie including chicken, but also turkey, duck, goose or any other small or large wild bird. While pigeon pie became immensely popular in England, it reached American shores only to be overshadowed by turkey and chicken. Early recipes for chicken pie from European cuisine were a mix of sweet ingredients like dates and gooseberries, spices like mace and all kinds of meats like tongue, coxcombs, mutton and other ingredients added to the pie along with the chicken.
American cooks stripped many of the European elements to create a dish representative of post-Revolution values like thrift and moderation. Leftover chickens and turkeys were turned into pies layered with dumplings.
Chicken pie became an essential dish at Thanksgiving meals, featured in Sarah Josepha Hale's novel "Northwood: Life North and South":
"This pie, which is wholly formed of the choicest parts of fowls, enriched and seasoned with a profusion of butter and pepper, and covered with an excellent puff paste is, like celebrated pumpkin pie, an indispensable part of a good and true Yankee Thanksgiving"
Edward Everett Hale wrote that "...there was no other day on which we had four kinds of pies on the table and plum pudding beside, not to say chicken pie."
Harrier Beecher Stowe wrote in "Old Town Folks":
"In winter's doldrums, chicken pies became a respite from the numbing similitude of preserved meats, baked beans and brown bread suppers. The fresh cheer that chicken pies brought to the winter dark and their rekindling of holiday celebrations cemented their place in our regional cuisine."
In Esther Allen Howland's 19th century cookbook, chicken pie appears on a menu for Thanksgiving dinner made with parboiled chicken and gravy.
Salmon.
Catholic French-Canadians who settled in New England ate salmon pie on Fridays when observant Catholics abstain from eating meat. It was also eaten during Lent. There are several variations of the simple pie, made with canned salmon. The salmon could be combined with mayonnaise and lemon juice and baked in pastry and served with mushroom gravy. Vegetables could be added such as celery, carrots, potatoes and peas. Some versions include onions, green pepper, or milk and creamed corn thickened with egg.
Tourtière.
Tourtière is a French-Canadian meat pie, usually prepared for the Christmas Réveillon meal. Although its roots may lie in Medieval cuisine, the story of how the pie arrives in New England remains a matter of dispute. Some say that meat pies first arrived in Canada in the 17th century, others say the particular form of the dish made with potatoes, fragrant spices like cloves and cinnamon, and game birds and animals evolved in Quebec. It arrived in New England with French-Canadian immigrants, who made up nearly one-tenth of New England's population by 1900. It has become a symbol of regional French-Canadian identity that has survived assimilation and language loss. In the United States the fragrant spices are toned down, and cloves often replaced by allspice, which is the most common spice in American versions of the pie. There are many regional variations of the basic mince and potato pie.
Other.
Banana cream pie.
Banana cream pie is a modified custard pie that dates to at least the 19th-century. It was ranked the favorite dessert of the United States Armed Services in the 1950s. The no-bake pie filling is made with vanilla pudding or pastry cream, layered with sliced bananas and whipped cream.
Grasshopper pie.
Grasshopper pie is a no-bake mousse pie with a chocolate crumb crust. The filling can be made with marshmallows or cream cheese. The cream cheese version is made by adding green food coloring to a mixture of condensed milk with cream cheese, then gently folding in chocolate covered mint cookie crumbs and whipped topping. Alternately, a mixture of creme de menthe, creme de cacao and melted marshmallows can be gently folded into fresh whipped cream.
Variations of the chocolate cookie crumb crust can be made with wafer crumbs or crumbled sandwich cookies, or by melting chocolate in a double boiler and stirring in toasted rice cereal, then pressing the mixture into a pie dish and allowing it to set in the refrigerator.
The pastel-colored pie is associated with springtime, and especially with Easter celebrations in the United States.
Chocolate cherry pie.
Chocolate cherry pie, said to have evolved from a Viennese cake, can be made in different ways. A no-bake chocolate cherry pie can be made by pouring chocolate pudding over cherries with a layer of whipped topping and whole cherries. In a variation, cocoa powder can be added to the bottom crust that is filled with homemade chocolate pudding with a layer of canned cherry pie filling with whipped cream topping.
Alternatively, another version of no-bake chocolate cherry pie is made by simmering sugar, flour and milk in a saucepan until thickened, then mixing in gelatin and cherry juice. Once cooled the gelatin is gently folded into whipped egg whites together with pieces of maraschino cherry and grated chocolate, and garnished with whipped cream before serving.
Chocolate cherry pie can also be made with sweet cherries and a basic custard flavored with chocolate cherry liqueur.
Mud pie.
Mud pie is a type of pie with many variations that can be made at home but is also a common dessert at American restaurants. One of the simplest no-bake versions is made with only four ingredients, mocha or coffee ice cream in a chocolate cookie crumb crust with a generous topping of whipped cream and warm fudge sauce. Sometimes coffee liquor or Kahlua is added, or cookies mixed in, and some versions made with eggs are baked like other custard pies. Often associated with the cuisine of the Deep South, especially Mississippi, the mud pie can be found in other regions of the country as well. The name is said to come from the effect created by hot fudge sauce melting the ice cream as it is poured over individual slices of pie.
Rhubarb pie.
There are different styles of filling for rhubarb pie. An early recipe for "Pie Plant Pies" from 1874 was made with just four ingredients: sugar and rhubarb stems, water and a little flour as a thickener. Strawberries and butter can be added to the basic recipe for strawberry rhubarb pie. For a baked custard filling egg yolks and butter can be added. This style of pie can be topped with meringue. Some recipes also add milk to the filling.
Vinegar pie.
Vinegar pie was one of the most popular Southern desserts in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and during the Great Depression. It is one of the desperation pies (also called make-do pies or poor man's pies). These are homemade pies made with staple ingredients, usually eggs, butter, flour and sugar, though often even eggs and butter were omitted in lean times. Made with a small amount of vinegar sweetened with a lot of sugar, it was a very simple type of pie and inexpensive to make, at times when fresh lemons were a luxury.
Preferences.
A 2008 survey by the American Pie Council found that 19% of Americans preferred apple pie, making it the most popular pie in the United States, followed by pumpkin pie (13%), pecan pie (12%), banana cream pie (10%) and cherry pie (9%). Pie remains the most popular dessert choice for holidays (followed by cake and cookies).


Trodmore Racecourse

Trodmore Racecourse was the name of a fictitious racecourse, supposedly in Cornwall. On 1 August 1898 it was the subject of an elaborate punting scam.
A man named Mr. Martin contacted the offices of a leading newspaper, "The Sportsman", to inform them of a horse racing meeting he was holding the following day in the village of Trodmore. They were so impressed with the quality of the racecard that they promised to publish the runners, riders and results.
Punters placed bets with several bookmakers, and collected as usual when results came through. Everything seemed to be going to plan until another leading newspaper, "The Sporting Life", noticed that they had not been informed.
They did not want to be left out, so they copied the results 24 hours later, but there was a slight, but important, difference in the sets of results: one winning horse was given at 5-1 in the Sportsman, but at only 5-2 in the Sporting Life.
Both newspapers, wanting to know the correct odds, attempted to contact the racecourse, and after they could not be contacted, notified police, who commenced a fraud investigation after Trodmore was nowhere to be found on any map of Cornwall. Those behind the scam were estimated to have made £100,000.
Nobody was ever caught for the scam.


Joachim Beuckelaer

Joachim Beuckelaer (c. 1533 – c. 1570/4) was a Flemish painter specialising in market and kitchen scenes with elaborate displays of food and household equipment. He also painted still lifes with no figures in the central scene. His development of the genre of market and kitchen scenes was influential on the development of still life art in Northern Europe as well as Italy.
Life.
Details about the life of the artist are scarce. Beuckelaer was born in Antwerp into a family of painters. He was likely the son of the painter Mattheus Beuckeleer and the brother of Huybrecht Beuckeleer. His brother also became a painter and the works of Huybrecht have occasionally been misattributed to Joachim. He possibly learned to paint in the workshop of his uncle, Pieter Aertsen, who had married his aunt Kathelijne Beuckelaer. Aertsen was best known for his market and kitchen scenes, genres. Beuckelaer became an independent master in the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke in 1560.
Beuckelaer remained active in Antwerp throughout his career and continued to develop themes pioneered in painting by Aertsen, but arguably surpassing his presumed master in skill. The date of his death is not known with certainty but fell likely between 1570 and 1574.
Work.
Beuckelaer specialised in market and kitchen scenes with elaborate displays of food and household equipment. During the 1560s, especially during the early part of the decade, Beuckelaer painted some purely religious works, for which, unlike the kitchen and market scenes, drawings are known. In this period he also made designs for stained glass.
Beuckelaer's market scenes, like those of Aertsen, often incorporate biblical episodes in the background. His "Four Elements" series, acquired by the National Gallery, London in 2001, exemplifies this on a large scale. "Water", for example, shows a fish market selling twelve kinds of fish, representing the twelve disciples of Jesus. Through an archway in the background Christ can be seen walking on the Sea of Galilee after his resurrection, making fish appear miraculously in empty nets.
Both Aertsen and Beuckelaer gradually developed images that detached the world of produce from the religious content of their earlier hybrid images. These later works depict either kitchens or markets and the persons associated with those activities, more often women than men. The later paintings by Beuckelaer show a greater profusion of foodstuffs in the market scenes, together with a more prominent foregrounding of female peasants immersed within these sales items. Beuckelaer also produced several images of fish stalls, often with background religious scenes, but sometimes completely separated from any additional narrative or reference. In the year 1563 Beuckelaer was experimenting with more outspoken landscape settings in an innovative way, which left its marks with later artists in Antwerp.
One of the still lives without figures in the kitchen or market scene itself is the (c. 1660/65, Mauritshuis, The Hague) is unique in his oeuvre. In this composition Beuckelaer painted a kitchen with numerous ingredients for a lavish meal: vegetables, fruits, nuts, poultry and a large cut of meat. The table linen and crockery are also in view. In the background, Beuckelaer depicted the biblical story of Christ at Emmaus. This story is pushed into the background while the secondary matter of the dinner preparations for Christ's visit at Emmaus has become the painting’s main subject. This and similar scenes are regarded as the forerunners of the still-lifes of the 17th century, in which the narrative elements vanished entirely.
His still life of a carcass referred to as (Wallraf-Richartz Museum) dated 1563 is likely the earliest dated example of this subject.
Beuckelaer was also employed painting the figures in the work of other artists such as Anthonis Mor and Cornelis van Dalem. The 17th century biographer Karel van Mander claimed that the artist was only able to sell his paintings at low prices, and that they only became prized after his death. However, the large size of his later works and the number of workshop variants produced has been taken as an indication of a degree of success at least towards the end of his life.
Research into the technique underlying Beuckelaer's canvases has shown that he often recycled his own compositions from one image to the next. He employed patterns of clustered items through tracings to compose new pictures with apparent variety. This kind of technique allowed him to increase production efficiency and cut costs in time and effort.
His work was influential. The Flemish still life and animal painter Frans Snyders developed his Baroque many market scenes by taking inspiration of the work of Aertsen and Beuckelaer. Northern Italian painters such as Vincenzo Campi and Jacopo Bassano were also influenced by his work.


Wucai

Wucai (五彩, "Five colours", "Wuts'ai" in Wade-Giles) is a style of decorating white Chinese porcelain in a limited range of colours. It normally uses underglaze cobalt blue for the design outline and some parts of the images, and overglaze enamels in red, green, and yellow for the rest of the designs. Parts of the design, and some outlines of the rest, are painted in underglaze blue, and the piece is then glazed and fired. The rest of the design is then added in the overglaze enamels of different colours and the piece fired again at a lower temperature of about 850°C to 900°C.
It has its origins in the "doucai" technique. The usual distinction made with "doucai", which also combines underglaze blue with overglaze enamels in other colours, is that in "wucai" only parts of the design include blue, and these cover wider areas, and are often rather freely painted. In "doucai" the whole design is outlined in the blue, even if parts are overlaid by the enamels and invisible in the finished product. Some parts may also be painted in the blue. However, this is not true of all pieces classified as "doucai", especially from the 18th century onwards. Fragments of incomplete examples, only done in blue, have been excavated from waste tips at the kiln.
The next development, "Famille verte" (康熙五彩, "Kangxi wucai", also 素三彩, "Susancai"), adopted in the Kangxi period (1662–1722), uses green and iron red with other overglaze colours developed from "wucai", normally without any use of underglaze blue.
In Japan it is pronounced "gosai" and was initially imported. "Kinrande" is a form that developed out of this during the time of the Ming dynasty.


Los Angeles City Council District 5

Los Angeles City Council District 5 is one of the 15 districts of the Los Angeles City Council. Paul Koretz is the current council member.
District 5 represents Los Angeles communities in the Westside, central-eastern Santa Monica Mountains, and central-southern San Fernando Valley.
Geography.
Present day district.
The district covers all or a portion of the following communities and neighborhoods:
Westside.
Bel Air, Beverly Crest, Beverly Grove, Beverlywood, California Country Club, Carthay Circle, Century City, Cheviot Hills, Comstock Hills, western Fairfax District, Holmby Hills, Melrose, Palms, Pico-Robertson, Roscomare, Westwood, UCLA, and Westside Village.
Valley.
Encino and Oak Forest Canyon.
For all the neighborhoods within the 5th District, see the official City of Los Angeles map of District 5.
Historical locations.
The 5th District was mapped at its origin in 1925 in the West Adams District of Los Angeles, but over the years its boundaries have been shifted west and north in keeping with the city's population changes.
A new city charter effective in 1925 replaced the former "at large" voting system for a nine-member council with a district system with a 15-member council. Each district was to be approximately equal in population, based upon the voting in the previous gubernatorial election; thus redistricting was done every four years. (At present, redistricting is done every ten years, based upon the preceding U.S. census results.) The numbering system established in 1925 for City Council districts began with No. 1 in the north of the city, the San Fernando Valley, and ended with No. 15 in the south, the Harbor area.
The 5th District originally encompassed the West Adams area, bounded on the north by Washington Boulevard, on the south by Exposition Boulevard, on the west by Robertson Boulevard and on the east approximately by Vermont Avenue.
The district has followed the increase in the population in Los Angeles from the west-of-Vermont area westward and northward toward the San Fernando Valley. Rough boundaries or descriptions of the 5th District have been as follows:
1926: West Adams and Jefferson Street area, with district headquarters at 2646 South Normandie Avenue.
1928: "The east boundary of the Fifth District remains as Vermont avenue and the south boundary remains as Exposition Boulevard. The north boundary runs from Vermont avenue west on Washington street to Western avenue and then the line turns north on Western avenue to Eighth street and west on Eighth street to West Boulevard, which constitutes the western boundary."
1932–33. "Bounded on the east by Vermont avenue, on the north by Wilshire Boulevard, on the west by La Brea avenue and on the south by Exposition Boulevard."
1937: ". . . on the east by Western to Pico, by Hobart to Washington, and by Vermont to Exposition and on the west by Crenshaw and Rimpau."
1940: On the north by Wilshire Boulevard, on the east by Western or Vermont, on the south by Exposition Boulevard, on the west by Arlington, Crenshaw and minor streets.
1949: ". . . part of the general Wilshire area."
1957: Part of the Wilshire Boulevard area, extending to Westwood and West Los Angeles.
1965. From Fairfax Avenue to the San Diego Freeway and from Bel-Air and Beverly Hills south to Washington Boulevard.
Population.
According to the official website, the district has approximately 260,000 residents. The population is 74% White non-Hispanic, 10% Asian, 8% Latino, 4% mixed race, and 3% Black. The district is composed of approximately 46% homeowners and 54% renters.
Officeholders.
District 5 has been represented by eleven council members, who are:


Bare-Fisted Gallagher

Bare-Fisted Gallagher is a lost 1919 silent western feature directed by Joseph J. Franz and starring William Desmond. It was produced by Jesse D. Hampton and released through Robertson-Cole soon to amalgamate into Film Booking Offices of America (FBO).


Kirsty Ogg

Kirsty Ogg (born 11 April 1967 Glasgow, Scotland) is currently Director of New Contemporaries and Lecturer in Curating at Goldsmiths, University of London. Previously, Ogg was a curator at the Whitechapel Gallery and Director of The Showroom. After studying Sculpture at Edinburgh College of Art, Ogg became involved with Transmission Gallery, Glasgow as part of the organising committee in the mid-1990s. Ogg is listed in the Artlyst Power 100 List for the art world.


List of libraries by country

This is a list of lists of libraries by country.


Canente (Dauvergne)

Canente (English: "Canens") is an opera by the French composer Antoine Dauvergne, first performed at the Académie Royale de Musique (the Paris Opéra) on 11 November 1760. It takes the form of a "tragédie lyrique" in five acts. It was Dauvergne's second work in the genre, following "Énée et Lavinie" (1758). "Canente" enjoyed 22 performances between its premiere and 11 January 1761.
The text is a revision, by Bay de Cury, of a libretto by Antoine Houdar de la Motte, which was originally set by Pascal Collasse in 1700.
Synopsis.
The enchantress Circe has helped Picus become King of Latium because she is in love with him. But Picus is in love with the nymph Canens. However, the River Tiber is also in love with Canens and threatens to flood Latium if she marries Picus. Circe abducts the nymph and orders her demons to torment Canens, but she manages to win them over and is rescued by a group of Cupids. Circe tells Picus that Canens is going to marry Tiber, but all her magic cannot alter his love for the nymph. Circe resorts to revenge and sends the Furies to destroy the wedding of Picus and Canens. But the Furies are thwarted by Cupid, Circe admits defeat and the lovers are finally married.


Galloping Hoofs

Galloping Hoofs is a 1924 American Western film serial directed by George B. Seitz. The film is now considered to be lost.


Five Boroughs of the Danelaw

The Five Boroughs or The Five Boroughs of the Danelaw were the five main towns of Danish Mercia (what is now the East Midlands). These were Derby, Leicester, Lincoln, Nottingham and Stamford. The first four later became county towns.
Establishment and rule.
Viking raids began in England in the late 8th century, and were largely of the 'hit and run' sort. However, in 865 various Viking armies combined and landed in East Anglia, not to raid but to conquer the four Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England. The annals described the combined force as the Great Heathen Army. In 871, the campaign was reinforced when the Great Summer Army arrived from Scandinavia.
In 874, following their winter stay in Repton, the Great Heathen Army drove the Mercian king into exile and conquered Mercia; the exiled Mercian king was replaced by Ceolwulf II of Mercia. According to Alfred the Great's biographer, Asser, the Vikings then split into two bands. Halfdan led one band north to Northumbria. Ceolwulf II was installed as the Mercian king by the Vikings, who returned in 877 to partition Mercia. The west of the kingdom went to Ceolwulf II, whilst in the east the Five Boroughs began as the fortified burhs of five Danish armies who settled the area and introduced Danelaw, their native law and customs.
Each of the Five Boroughs was ruled as a Danish Jarldom, controlling lands around a fortified burh, which served as the centre of political power. These rulers were probably initially subject to their overlords in the Viking Kingdom of Jorvik (or York) and operated their armies sometimes independently but often in alliance with rulers of their neighbours. In addition to the Five Boroughs there were also a number of very large Danish settlements to the south, including Northampton and Bedford which existed in a similar fashion.
Derby.
Old Norse: "Djúra-bý". Although the area was settled by Danes from 877, it was not under English threat until 913 when Lady Aethelflaed of Mercia campaigned deep into Danish territory and established a burh at nearby Tamworth. In 917 Aethelflaed launched her first offensive foray and selected the fortress at Derby as her target. At that time the local ruler had probably joined with the armies from Northampton and Leicester in a number of raids to attack Mercia. Aethelflaed took advantage of the weakened burh, and successfully assaulted the town in July 917; the whole region subsequently being annexed into English Mercia.
The Danes might well have established their military headquarters on the former Roman fort of Derventio. This rectangular fort would have given the burh the equivalent of "c." 500 hides. The Vikings had camped at nearby Repton in 874, and had abandoned it a year later after suffering significantly from disease during their stay (leading to the discovery of a grave containing 245 bodies).
Leicester.
One of the more formidable Danish burhs, the local ruler combined his army with that of Northampton and raided the West Saxon territories of Bedfordshire and Oxfordshire in 913, and defied King Edward the Elder to besiege the West Saxon burh of Hertford. This provoked Aethelflaed to move her armies up to the fringes of Danish occupied territory around Leicester in 914 and to construct a burh at Warwick. In July 917, as part of a three-pronged assault, the combined forces of Leicester and Northampton, and possibly Derby, laid siege to the Mercian burh at Towcester. Isolated by the loss of Derby and Northampton later that year, the Mercian army returned in early 918 to ravage the local countryside, and as a result the fortress surrendered peacefully to Aethelflaed's troops.
Relieved of English rule by King Olaf of York in 941, King Edmund I besieged the Viking army at Leicester the same year. Olaf and his advisor Wulfstan I, Archbishop of York, both escaped and the siege was lifted after a peace negotiation ceded the Five Boroughs to the Kingdom of York. Jarl Orm, the likely ruler of Leicester at the time (and who attested charters between 930 and 958) married his daughter to King Olaf later that year to cement the alliance. The burh might have made use of the walls of the Roman Leicester (Ratae Corieltauvorum), of approx ("c." 1900 hides).
Lincoln.
The burh at Lincoln guarded the route between Wessex and York, and was protected from much of the Anglo-Danish fighting due to its isolated location. The Lincoln Danes settled the area formerly occupied by the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Lindsey, where the Vikings had previously overwintered in the nearby fortress of Torksey in Lindsey from 873 to 874. Lincoln probably surrendered in 918 following the capitulation of all the Danish territories on the border of Mercia and Wessex. As a former Roman legionary town, the burh probably based its walls on the old fortress of 41 acres ("c."1300 hides).
Nottingham.
The Viking army under Ivar the Boneless and Halfdan Ragnarsson first occupied Nottingham in 868 and subsequently set up winter quarters there. Burgred and his West Saxon allies laid siege, but made peace and allowed the Vikings to retreat after little serious fighting in 869. Danish reoccupation and settlement began in 877, and lasted until the assault by Edward of Wessex in the summer of 918. Edward constructed a second burh on the opposite side of the Trent in 920 to further fortify the area from Danish attack. Saxon Nottingham was known to have covered about 39 acres, which may have put the burh at "c." 1300 hides.
Stamford.
The area around Stamford was invaded by West Saxon Ealdorman Aethelnoth in the summer of 894, but the town was not besieged and Danish rule was unaffected. The end came when King Edward assaulted Stamford in late May 918 which soon fell to the army of Wessex. Later that year Edward built a second burh on the south side of the River Welland. From Roffe, the ramparts of the northern burh might have been of approx 3100 ft ("c." 750 hides), and the Edwardian burh of around 2700 ft ("c." 650 hides).
The Danish burhs to the south.
The following burhs were not part of the Five Boroughs, but were Danish settled towns with large armies and ruled in a similar manner. These Danes often acted in alliance with those of the Five Boroughs and the Danish King of East Anglia.
Northampton.
First recorded invading newly ceded Mercian territories with their allies in 913, the Northampton Danes were initially very successful. However, on their return they were defeated by local Mercian forces near Luton, losing many horses and weapons. In December 914, their strength was further depleted when a number of Northampton Danes submitted to Edward at Bedford. With the loss of Derby and East Anglia and the advance of King Edward, their ruler, Jarl Thurferth, and the men of Northampton and Cambridge submitted to the West Saxons in 917. Thurferth remained the client ruler, and attested four charters of King Æthelstan dated between 930 and 934.
Northampton was later incorporated in the enlarged Earldom of East Anglia under Æthelstan Half-King in the 930s. In 941, then in the hands of the Mercians, Northampton faced an unsuccessful siege by King Olaf of York. The 'army' of Northampton was still in existence in 984 when they were recorded witnessing the sale of land. The size of the Anglo-Danish burh at Northampton has been estimated to have ramparts in length (equivalent to "c." 700 hides), making it one of the smaller Danish burhs.
Bedford.
The Danish burh was first under threat from the advance of the West Saxon army in 914. In November that year Bedford was surrounded in a pincer movement by Edward, and the ruling Jarl Thurketel submitted with all of his followers. Edward returned in November 915 to the Danish-held fortress, this time taking direct control of it and building a second burh on the south bank of the River Ouse. Thurketel then became Edward's client, until he permitted the Danish ruler to leave with his followers for France in the summer of 916. In July 917 the Danish East Anglian army advanced to Tempsford and launched an attack to recover Bedford. The Danish army was defeated and put to flight. It was later incorporated into the enlarged Earldom of East Anglia in the early 10th century.
Huntingdon.
The Danes of Huntingdon were allies with the East Anglian Danes when they advanced to Tempsford and built a new fortress in July 917. From here, the joint army attempted to recover the recently fallen burh at Bedford, but were severely defeated and put to flight by the English garrison. The burh was occupied by the Edward's West Saxon army shortly afterwards.
Cambridge.
Cambridge was first occupied by the Danes under kings Guthrum, Osketel and Anwend in 875, whose armies took up quarters there over the winter. In 911 it was first threatened by Edward, who built an opposing burh at Hertford. With the fall of Huntingdon, it left Cambridge the last independent host on which Danish East Anglia could rely, however the tide had turned and the Danes of Cambridge submitted to Edward in late 917.
Anglo-Saxon and Danish reconquest.
Danish rule of the Five Boroughs was lost following the English reconquests under Æthelflæd of Mercia and Edward the Elder of Wessex during 916 and 917. The area was subsequently ruled by the Earls of Mercia until King Olaf of York reoccupied the five former Danish burhs following a major offensive in 941, perhaps assisted by local Danish leaders. Danish rule was not restored for long before King Edmund recovered the Five Boroughs in 942.
It is at this time the Five Boroughs are first recorded in an English poem known as the "Capture of the Five Boroughs". For many years afterwards the Five Boroughs were a separate and well defined area of the country where rulers sought support from its leaders, including Swein Forkbeard who gained the submission of the Five Boroughs in 1013, before going on to attack London.
In 1015 there is a unique reference to the 'Seven Boroughs', which might have been included Torksey and York.
Earldom of the Five Boroughs.
Following Danish conquest in 1016, Earl Sired succeeded to the newly created Earldom of the Five Boroughs under King Canute in 1019. By 1035 the Earldom had been subsumed into that of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and it was to form a formal administrative unit long into the future.


The Best People

The Best People is a lost 1925 American silent film produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed by Paramount. It was directed by Sidney Olcott with Warner Baxter in the leading role.
The film was remade in 1930 as "Fast and Loose" starring Miriam Hopkins.


Her Summer Hero

Her Summer Hero is a lost 1928 silent film comedy-drama directed by James Dugan and starring Sally Blane, Hugh Trevor and Harold Goodwin.


Pudhiya Mugam

Pudhiya Mugam () is a 1993 Indian Tamil-language thriller film directed by Suresh Chandra Menon. It stars Revathi, Suresh Chandra Menon, Vineeth and Kasthuri and as prime characters. The film featured music by A. R. Rahman.
"Pudhiya Mugam" is an adaptation of the television miniseries "Twist of Fate" (1989), which tells the story of an assassin who undergoes plastic surgery and becomes a member of the army, and a hero for them while revisiting his past.
Plot.
Raja (Vineeth) and his fiancée (Kasthuri) while romancing in Sri Lanka witnesses a murder which results in the death of his fiancée. He avenges her death by killing the people responsible, and becomes an assassin, and is on the run from the police. He undergoes extensive plastic surgery on his face and leaves for Chennai, India to start a new life with a new face and identity.
When the assassin (now played by Suresh Chandra Menon) reaches Chennai Airport, he foils a terrorist attempt and saves the lives of a group of children. Later, he meets Anjali (Revathi), falls in love and gets married. Thanks to his heroism, the assassin gets into the Indian Army and rises in rank as the years go by.
A few years later, the couple's grown up son, Hari (Vineeth), now resembles his father's pre-surgery days. The son meets the dad's old terrorist accomplices in the airport by chance on his return from the US. The bad guys identify him and, curious, they follow Hari and find the truth about the assassin and his new life. As they learn that the assassin is now a very high ranked officer who has access to the army's secrets, they blackmail him into handing some over to them.
Meanwhile, the son goes for a vacation to Sri Lanka with his girlfriend. There he comes to know about the past life of his father, and hates him. On return to his homeland he tries to file a case on him, which is stopped by his family friend ACP Shekar (Nassar).
The assassin, now a changed man, and realising that his son has discovered his past life, writes a letter to his friend Shekar revealing everything, and goes to meet the terrorists alone. But instead of army secrets, he brings an explosive device which detonates killing the terrorists and himself. With only his wife not knowing the truth about a man who changed his ways and repented for it, the assassin is hailed as a hero who died killing the terrorists. His wife is not informed about his past life by his son as advised by Shekar.
Production.
Suresh Menon revealed that he had to portray the lead role as no actors were willing to do it. This was the first film of cinematographer Muthu Ganesh. Aravind Swamy and Vikram lent their voices for Suresh and Vineeth respectively.
Soundtrack.
The soundtrack composed by A.R Rahman had six songs and an instrumental theme (which was only included in the cassettes), with lyrics by Vairamuthu. The songs were later reused in the Hindi movie "Vishwavidhaata", Rahman was upset with the producers since the music was re-used in the film without his permission. The soundtrack was also released in Telugu as "Padmavyuham", with lyrics were by Rajashree. Famous guitarist R. Prasanna started his career with this film with the song "July Maadham", it was also marked the singing debut of Annupamma.
Reception.
"The Indian Express" wrote "What could have developed into a fast-paced, edge-of-the-seat thriller fizzles out".


Leaskdale Manse

The Leaskdale Manse, located in Uxbridge, Ontario, was the home of Lucy Maud Montgomery, author of the "Anne of Green Gables" series, and her husband Reverend Ewan Macdonald from 1911 to 1926. Montgomery wrote 11 of the 22 works published in her lifetime in the manse, as well as a series of journals that were published posthumously. The manse, constructed in 1886, was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1994 and is now a historic house museum.
History.
The manse was constructed in 1886, by carpenter William Gordon and bricklayer Valentine Brooks, to serve as a residence for the pastor of St. Paul's Presbyterian Church. In 1911, Montgomery and Macdonald, newly married, moved to the town of Leaskdale, Ontario (now part of Uxbridge). As Macdonald was the pastor of St. Paul's Church, they took up residence in the manse. In her journals, Montgomery wrote that she enjoyed the rural environment of Leaskdale, but complained of the house's "ugly" design and its lack of a bathroom and toilet.
Montgomery's three children, Chester, Hugh and Stuart, were born in the Leaskdale Manse between 1912 and 1915. Montgomery wrote 11 of the 22 works published in her lifetime in the manse, and "Rainbow Valley", one of the books in the "Anne of Green Gables" series which tells the story of a Presbyterian minister and his children, draws heavily on Montgomery's life in Leaskdale. In her posthumously published journals, Montgomery wrote extensively of the manse and its surroundings. A 2010 restoration project used Montgomery's writings about the house's architecture and furnishings as a reference.
In 1926, the couple moved from Leaskdale to Norval, Ontario, when Macdonald became minister of two churches in Halton County. When Montgomery left the manse, she wrote of "The beautiful woods behind Mr. Leask's, the leaf-hung corner of the side road, the lovely hill field beyond with the elms on their crest. I love these things and grieve to leave them".
In 1965, the Ontario Historic Sites board commemorated the manse with a plaque. The Leaskdale Manse was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1994 for its significance in Lucy Maud Montgomery's life.
The Township of Uxbridge purchased the manse in 1992. In 2010, the Lucy Maud Montgomery Society of Ontario undertook a restoration project, and in 2013 they assumed ownership of the property. The manse is now operated as a museum.
Building.
The manse is located at 11,909 Durham Regional Road 1, north of St. Paul's Church and south of Leaskdale Creek. It is a two-storey house with a T-shaped layout, typical of middle-class residences of the time. The exterior is yellow brick; it was covered with white stucco in the 1970s, but the stucco was removed in 2001. The roof is cross-gabled, and the manse has a wooden porch decorated with simple gingerbread-style bracketing. The interior layout of the house has been preserved. Few original furnishings survive, as most were sold or donated by Montgomery's children, but the house does hold some artifacts and letters from Montgomery's time in the manse. In 2010, the manse received a large donation of antique furniture from Parks Canada.


Alexie Glass-Kantor

Alexie Glass-Kantor (née Glass, born in Sydney) is the Executive Director of Artspace [Sydney] and the Curator of Encounters for Art Basel Hong Kong.
Education and early career.
Glass-Kantor received a Bachelor of Art Theory (Hons) degree in 1999 from the University of New South Wales.
Selected professional.
In 2006, Glass-Kantor was appointed director and senior curator of Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces in Melbourne.
With Natasha Bullock, Glass-Kantor co-curated "Parallel" "Collisions", the 12th Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art at the Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA) in Adelaide, in 2012.
In November 2013, Glass-Kantor was appointed Executive Director of Artspace Sydney.
In 2014, Glass-Kantor was invited to curate Encounters at Art Basel Hong Kong.
Since 2015, Alexie has been the chair of Contemporary Art Organisations Australia (CAOA) and was previously a director on the board of the National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA) (2010–2014).
As of 2015 she is currently a member of the Academic Board of the National Art School, Sydney; and she serves on the MCAD Advisory Board for De La Salle College of Saint Benilde, Manila.
Alexie Glass-Kantor announced as Curator for Australia’s representation at the 59th International Art Exhibition of la Biennale di Venezia (Biennale Arte 2021). Artist to be presented is Marco Fusinato.


Sankofa (film)

Sankofa Amharic (ሳንኮፋ), is a 1993 Ethiopian-produced drama film directed by Haile Gerima centered on the Atlantic slave trade. The storyline features Oyafunmike Ogunlano, Kofi Ghanaba, Mutabaruka, Alexandra Duah, and Afemo Omilami. The word Sankofa derives its meaning from the Ghanaian Akan language which means to "go back, look for, and gain wisdom, power and hope," according to Dr. Anna Julia Cooper. The word Sankofa stresses the importance of one not drifting too far away from one's past in order to progress in the future. In the film, Sankofa is depicted by a bird and the chants and drumming of a Divine Drummer. Gerima's film showed the importance of not having people of African descent drift far away from their African roots. Gerima used the journey of the character Mona to show how the African perception of identity included recognizing one's roots and "returning to one’s source" (Gerima).
Plot.
The film starts off with an elderly Divine Drummer, Sankofa (played by Kofi Ghanaba), beating on African drums chanting the phrase "Lingering spirit of the dead, rise up." This is his form of communication with the ancestors of the African land, specifically Ghana. He believes that his drumming is essential in bringing the spirit of his ancestors who were killed in the African diaspora back home. The story then goes on to show Mona (Oyafunmike Ogunlano), a contemporary African-American model on a film shoot in Ghana. She has a session at Cape Coast Castle, which she does not know was historically used for the Atlantic slave trade because she has been disconnected from her African roots for so long. While Mona is on the beach modeling, she encounters the mysterious old man Sankofa who was playing the drums at the beginning of the film. Sankofa persistently reminds Mona to return to her past and is very belligerent when it comes to keeping the place of his ancestors’ sacred, so he attempts to kick white tourists out of the slave castle. When Mona decides to go take a look inside the castle herself, she gets trapped inside and enters a sort of trance in which she is surrounded by chained slaves who appear to have risen from the dead. Mona attempts to run out of the slave castle and is met by white slave masters who she tries to reason with by claiming that she is of American descent and not of African descent. The slave masters pay no attention to Mona's claim and push her to a fire, strip off her clothing, and put a hot iron on her back.
Mona is then transported into the body of a house servant named Shola "to live the life of her enslaved ancestors." She is taken to the Lafayette plantation in the Southern United States where she suffers abuse by her slave masters and is often a victim of rape. On the plantation, Shola encounters many characters including Nunu (Alexandra Duah), an African-born field hand who went about her day-to-day life with Africa still living in her heart and was characterized as a "strong motherly slave with a rebel mindset"; Noble Ali (Afemo Omilami), a headman with split loyalty between his masters and fellow slaves and who deeply loved Nunu and refused to let anything happen to her; and Shango (Mutabaruka), a rebellious West Indian slave who was sold to the Lafeyettes' after being deemed a trouble-maker and who soon became the lover of Shola. Shango is named after a Yoruba god and displays loyalty to his fellow slaves to the extent that he would risk his own life. There are many instances where Shango gets himself in trouble for attempting to fight on behalf of another slave. Shango often performs rebellious acts such as trying to get Shola to poison the overseer or even cutting down sugar canes out of anger. When asked about why he will not simply run away from the plantation, he says it is because he can not leave his fellow slaves behind. Both Nunu and Shango resist and rebel against the slave system by doing everything in their power to gain freedom. Shola witnesses Nunu and Shango being actively involved in a secret society that had meetings at night and had memberships consisting of slaves from the Lafayette plantation as well as other plantations. At first, Shola claims that she can not get herself to join the secret society due to the Christian in her. The slaves of the society altogether decide to execute a revolt which leaves a bunch of sugar cane land in ashes.
Nunu comes into conflict with her own mixed-race son, Joe, who is fathered by a white man who raped Nunu on a slave ship. Joe (Nick Medley) has been made a head slave and often has to discipline other slaves in order to keep his master happy. Joe completely neglects his African identity and considers himself a white Christian male. He is brainwashed by Father Raphel () who teaches Joe that the Africans on the plantation, including his own mother, are devil worshippers and that Joe could not identify with them. Joe ends up killing his mother, Nunu, because he believes that she is possessed. He later realizes that his action was demoralizing and that he had no reason to forgive himself. After Nunu's death, some believe that she was metaphorically able to return home on the wings of a bird, meaning that her deep desire to return to Africa was finally fulfilled.
Throughout the film, Shola gradually transforms from being a compliant slave to one that gains rebellious instincts after being given the Sankofa bird by Shango. The bird once belonged to Shango's father and Shango decided to pass it on to Shola after she was flogged for attempting to run away. Inspired by Nunu and Shango's determination to defy the system, Shola joins them in fighting back against her masters in a rebellion where she retaliates at her white rapist and kills him. After her trials, Shola returns to the present as Mona, deeply aware of her African roots. She is greeted by a woman who says "My child, welcome back" and walks past the photographer who symbolizes colonialism and westernization. Mona is now enlightened and is captivated by the sound of Sankofa's chants and his African drum. She joins a group of black people who have also learned what Sankofa really means and are reconnecting to their roots. Nunu comes out of the slave castle while Mona was in a trance and sheds tears of joy. Meanwhile, Sankofa the Divine Drummer plays his drums, chanting: "Lingering spirit of the dead, rise up and possess the stolen spirit of those stolen in Africa." The film ends with a bird soaring high in the sky signifying the final liberation of those who had found the true meaning of the word "Sankofa" and had reconnected to their past.
Critical reception.
Sankofa won the grand prize at the African Cinema Festival in Italy and Best Cinematography at the FESPACO Pan-African Film Festival in Burkina Faso.
The film is also listed as one of the 500 Utterly Essential Movies to Cultivate Great Taste in Cinema by professors of Film Studies at Harvard University, under the heading "the most essential films in the history of world cinema, 1980-2000."
"The film was met with great approval by the audience, which was as deeply moved as I was by this epic two-hour drama." (William Beik, July 1994)
"Haile Gerima's poetic and precisely detailed film takes its audience into its heroine's life and mind as her moral sense is challenged and changed. No viewer can avoid the discomforting questions the film so eloquently raises." (Caryn James, April 1994)
"The Ethiopian-born Gerima, best known for "Bush Mama"—his 1976 portrait of an impoverished woman living in Watts—has brought a distinctive style and an often raw but always authoritative command of his medium to confront the horrors of slavery and its persisting significance, perhaps as no other filmmaker has." (Kevin Thomas, 12 May 1995)
"Sankofa (1993) is a compelling historical account of the Maafa, the African Holocaust. This rich film illustrates slavery from the view that many Blacks have been denied, their history. It explores the themes of loss of identity and racial consciousness; respecting and returning to our ancestral roots; and recognizing the connections that exist between people of African descent who live throughout the world." (Michelle L. McClure, "Black Camera", Vol. 15, No. 1, 2000, p. 9)
"Clearly, Gerima intends for Sankofa to expand the boundaries of Black representation in ways that include more diverse, realistic, and empowering images and, in turn, enable Black audiences to see themselves in new ways that are divorced from dominant images." (Assata E. Wright, Black Film Review, 08875723, 1994, Vol. 8, Issue 1)
Nominations.
The film was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 43rd Berlin International Film Festival.


Marvin Heiferman

Marvin Heiferman (born 1948) is an American curator and writer, who originates projects about the impact of photographic images on art, visual culture, and science for museums, art galleries, publishers and corporations.
Biography.
As Assistant Director of LIGHT Gallery, New York (1971–1974), Director of Castelli Graphics and Photographs, New York (1975–1982), an artist representative (1982–1988) and an independent curator (1989–present), Heiferman has organized influential thematic exhibitions and worked with a wide range of artists and photographers including Eve Arnold, Garry Winogrand, Robert Mapplethorpe, Stephen Shore, Lewis Baltz, William Eggleston, Robert Adams, Nan Goldin, John Waters, and Richard Prince. Known as an early champion of color, narrative and appropriation (art) photography, Heiferman shifted the focus of his work in the mid-1980s to develop projects explored the impact of mediated and vernacular images on history, society, culture and everyday life. In 1991, Heiferman became a founding partner (with Carole Kismaric) of Lookout, a company that, for a dozen years, produced innovative exhibitions and cultural projects for major museums (including Fame After Photography, Museum of Modern Art, 1999), humanitarian organizations, publishers, and imaging and media corporations.
Since 2002, Heiferman has conceived and produced exhibitions and online content for clients including the New Museum, International Center of Photography, and the Smithsonian Photography Initiative and the Smithsonian Institution Archives. His book, Photography Changes Everything (2012), with features approximately 80 interdisciplinary texts on photography's active role in shaping memory, history, and experience was based on an encyclopedic online project (2008–2011) he organized for the Smithsonian. A contributing editor to Art in America, Heiferman has also written for publications including "Artforum", "Bomb Magazine", "Bookforum", "Photoworks", and "ArtNews". He is a core faculty member in the International Center of Photography/Bard College MFA Program in Advanced Photographic Studies, and teaches in the School of Visual Art's MFA Program in Photography, Video and Related Media.


The Fourteenth Man

The Fourteenth Man is a lost 1920 silent film comedy starring Robert Warwick and Bebe Daniels. It was directed by Joseph Henabery and produced and distributed by Paramount Pictures.
This film is an adaption of F. Anstey's play, "The Man from Blankley's". It was remade a decade later as a talkie, "The Man from Blankley's", at Warner's with John Barrymore.
This film had several alternate titles ie: "The Romantic Meddler", "The Trouble Hunter", "Hunting Trouble"


Brooks McNamara

Brooks Barry McNamara (1937–2009) was an American theater historian, professor, and editor of "The Drama Review".
Life.
McNamara was born in Peoria, Illinois. Upon graduation from Knox College, he pursued a Master of Arts degree at the University of Iowa. Following military service, McNamara earned his PhD in theater arts at Tulane University, where he became an academic colleague of Richard Schechner and an active contributor to the "Tulane Drama Review" (TDR). McNamara served as an associate editor of TDR while he taught theater history in the Drama Department at the University of Delaware, between 1966 and 1968. At Tulane, Schechner had crystallized a set of principles to describe environmental theater. McNamara illustrated many of them in his set design for Delaware academic colleague, William Bruehl's production of "Faustus".
Meanwhile, Schechner and Tulane Drama Review's editorial offices moved to NYU, where TDR was renamed "The Drama Review". On relocation to NYU, Schechner played a leading role in forming The Performance Group, which, in the fall of 1968, began presenting "Dionysus in '69," a contemporary revisitation of Euripides' "The Bacchae" as Environmental Theater. For "Dionysus in '69," McNamara had designed a revolutionary set, which transformed the audience into citizens of the Greek city of Thebes and flowed the play's action over, through, and among them. In September 1968, just before the play opened, McNamara joined Schechner in teaching at NYU's Graduate Drama Department.
McNamara was instrumental in the transformation of that NYU Department into the Performance Studies Department, which was officially launched in 1980. He founded the archives of Shubert Theatre in 1976 and served as director for 20 years. McNamara's research, writing, and curatorial pursuits resulted in numerous publications, exhibitions, productions, and archival collections. His life work spans the areas of theatre history, popular entertainments, public celebrations, and New York performance history. After retiring in 1996, McNamara remained professor emeritus of performance studies and director emeritus of the Shubert Archive.
In later life, McNamara was diagnosed with sporadic cerebellar ataxia. He died in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, of pneumonia on 8 May 2009.


Foley (surname)

Foley is a surname which originated in Ireland, in the southeast Munster region. The name is derived from the original modern Irish "Ó Foghlú" and older Irish "Ó Foghladha", meaning "plunderer". The Lord of the Decies (the Waterford area of Munster) was a title attributed to some early Foleys.


Chantal Kreviazuk production discography

Canadian singer-songwriter, producer and pianist Chantal Kreviazuk has written, produced and performed on albums and tracks for a wide range recording artists, spanning from adult contemporary, pop, rock, to indie and hip-hop music. Initially, she began writing her own pop songs, especially after a 1994 motorcycle accident in Italy left her immobile for several months, and was signed by Sony Canada, where she released her debut album in June 1997. Kreviazuk later released another album in 1999, before being featured in a range of soundtracks to films and TV series. Kreviazuk began writing for other artists in 2001, where she co-wrote the song "Always and Forever" for Eleanor McCain. However, it was only in 2004 that Kreviazuk started writing for more artists and received recognition as a songwriter. In the summer of 2003, Kreviazuk met Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne, they formed a relationship of mutual respect and sisterhood, and eventually became songwriting partners. They co-wrote six songs for Lavigne's sophomore album, "Under My Skin" (2004): "Slipped Away", "Forgotten", "Together", "How Does It Feel", "He Wasn't" and "Who Knows". Kreviazuk described "He Wasn't" as "a super-fun, punk, screw-you-to-boys song," while "Forgotten" is a driving rock song inspired by similarly vibed music Lavigne was consumed with at the time. Also in 2004, Kreviazuk co-wrote "Rich Girl", for Gwen Stefani's solo debut album, "Love. Angel. Music. Baby.", along with Dr. Dre, Jerry Bock, Mark Batson, Kara DioGuardi, Mike Elizondo, Sheldon Harnick and Eve. The song became a chart success, reaching the top-ten in over fifteen countries. Kreviazuk also wrote for Kelly Clarkson's breakthrough album "Breakaway" in the end of 2004, sharing writing credits for the tracks "Where Is Your Heart" and "Walk Away". In 2005, Kreviazuk's co-writing song "He Wasn't" was released as Lavigne's final single from "Under My Skin", receiving a moderate impact on the charts and reaching only the top-forty in some countries. While in 2006, Clarkson's "Walk Away" was released as "Breakaway"'s final single, reaching the top-twenty in some countries.
In 2005, Kreviazuk wrote the song "13 Days" with Marion Raven and Raine Maida for Raven's debut album "Here I Am". Later, the song also appeared on Raven's "Heads Will Roll EP" (2006) and on her U.S. debut album "Set Me Free" (2007). In 2006, Kreviazuk continued to co-write songs for artists with her husband Raine Maida, including The Veronicas' "Revolution" (a top-twenty hit), Canadian Idol winner Eva Avila's debut single "Meant to Fly" (a number-one hit in Canada) and others. Kreviazuk also co-wrote songs for her husband, including Maida's debut album "The Hunters Lullaby" (2007), while also writing for famous artists, such as Mandy Moore for her fifth studio album "Wild Hope" (2007), on the track "Gardenia", and Kelly Clarkson's third studio album "My December" (2007), on the track "One Minute", which became a top-forty hit in Australia. In 2008, Kreviazuk wrote for American Idol winner David Cook's eponymous debut album, co-writing a track called "Permanent", which became a success in Canada and the U.S.. In 2009, Kreviazuk co-wrote a country-rock song for Carrie Underwood's third studio album "Play On", called "Unapologize", while in 2010 she co-wrote for Esmée Denters, Joe Cocker and others. In 2011, Kreviazuk co-wrote, co-produced and also provided additional vocals for Drake's track "Over My Dead Body", while also co-writing "Wonder Woman" for Japanese R&B singer Namie Amuro.
Kreviazuk was also among the ten writers on Pitbull's track "Feel This Moment", for his seventh studio album, "Global Warming" (2012). Released in 2013, "Feel This Moment" was a worldwide success, reaching the top-ten in over seventeen countries. In 2014, Kreviazuk co-wrote "No Miracles" for American rapper Kid Ink's second studio album, "My Own Lane", while also co-writing "Born to Run" for the debut studio album by Dutch music producer and DJ Afrojack. She also returned to write for famous female singers, such as Shakira's "You Don't Care About Me" (co-written with Nasri and Adam Messinger), for her eponymous tenth album, Lea Michelle's "Burn with You", for her debut album "Louder", and Jennifer Lopez's "Emotions" (with Lopez, Chris Brown, Shama Joseph and Cory Rooney), for her eighth studio album "A.K.A.".


Zuigan-ji

 is a Rinzai Zen Buddhist temple in located in the town of Matsushima, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. Belonging to the Myōshin-ji-branch of Rinzai Zen, it was founded in 828 during the Heian period by Jikaku Daishi.
History.
The temple was founded as a Tendai sect temple by order of Emperor Junna. However, written records from this time are scarce. During the late Nara period and early Heian period, after the establishment of a centralized government under the "Ritsuryō" system, the Yamato court sent a number of military expeditions to what is now the Tōhoku region of northern Japan to bring the local Emishi tribes under its control. Numerous temples were built in the region at this time, many of which are attributed to Jikaku Daishi. The temple was patronised by the Northern Fujiwara clan, and priests from Zuigan-ji met with Minamoto no Yoshitsune, and also with Minamoto no Yoritomo during his campaign to destroy the Northern Fujiwara at Hiraizumi.
During the Kamakura period, under the sponsorship of Hōjō Tokimune, the temple changed from Tendai to Zen, with Rankei Dōryū has its head priest and came to a patronised by the samurai class. During the Edo period, it was rebuilt by Date Masamune from 1604 onwards using lumber brought from Mount Kumano in what is now Wakayama Prefecture and skilled workmen from Kyoto and Kii Province. The haiku poet Matsuo Bashō wrote a tribute to the golden walls inside the temple. The Date clan of Sendai Domain continued to support the temple until the Meiji Restoration.
Hondō (Hōjō), the main building, which was completed in 1609, measures 39 meters by 25.2 meters and houses the principal Buddhist image. Many parts of the temple have been designated as natural treasures and important cultural assets.
Due to its protected location in Matsushima Bay, the temple escaped severe damage during the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, although there was some damage to the gardens.
Zuigan-ji also features a number of caves carved into the rock. These caves were used for memorial services and as a cinerarium to house the ashes of the deceased. The caves were constructed in the Kamakura period and remained in use until the Edo period.
The temple grounds also contain the Zuigan-ji Art Museum established on October 1, 1995, to display various artifacts, including calligraphy by former head monks, "fusuma" paintings, tea cups and portraits.


Across the Dead-Line

Across the Dead-Line is a lost 1922 American silent northwoods drama film directed by Jack Conway and starring Frank Mayo.
Plot.
As described in a film magazine, after Enoch Kidder (Simpson) discovers his son John (Mayo) in his brother Aaron's (Lucas) saloon, he lays a line down the center of the main street of the rough mining town and separating the brothers' houses, and tells Aaron that he will kill him if he ever steps across it. John later finds a young woman in the wood wearing a wedding gown who does not remember how she got there or her name, and John befriends her against his father's wishes. Aaron wants to discredit John's honesty and attempts to blackmail him and kidnap the woman, now known as Ruth (Malone). Aaron obtains a warrant to arrest the woman by a man posing as her husband. Warned of Aaron's plan, John takes Ruth to a lodge high in the mountains. Abel (Swickard), an old man with a grievance against Aaron, follows him. Enoch also goes, determined to find his son. When Aaron attempts to arrest John, a fight breaks out between them. When Aaron is killed, the mystery of who shot him is cleared up when Abel confesses. Ruth's memory is restored, and there is a happy ending when her bogus husband is exposed.


Oregon lunar sample displays

The Oregon lunar sample displays are two commemorative plaques consisting of small fragments of Moon specimen brought back with the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 lunar missions and given in the 1970s to the people of Oregon by United States President Richard Nixon as goodwill gifts.
Description.
Apollo 11.
The Oregon Apollo 11 lunar sample display consists of four "Moon rock" rice-size particle specimens that were collected by Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in 1969 and a small Oregon state flag that was taken to the Moon and back on Apollo 11.
The four "Moon rocks" weigh about 0.05 grams in total. They are encased in a clear plastic button the size of a coin which is mounted to a wooden board approximately one foot square on a small podium pedestal display. The small podium plaque display also has mounted on it a small Oregon state flag that had been taken to the Moon and back, which lies directly below the "goodwill Moon rocks". The small podium plaque display was given to the people of the state of Oregon as a gift by President Richard Nixon. Similar lunar sample displays were also distributed to all the other states of the United States and all the countries (at the time) of the world.
Apollo 17.
The Oregon Apollo 17 lunar sample display commemorative style plaque, measuring 10 by 14 inches, consists of one "Moon rock" particle specimen that was cut from lunar basalt 70017 and an Oregon state flag. The basalt 70017 was collected by Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt on the Moon in 1972. Once lunar basalt 70017 was brought back to Earth from the Moon, the basalt Moon rock was cut up into small fragments of approximately 1 gram. The specimen was encased in a plastic ball and mounted on the wooden plaque along with the Oregon state flag which had been taken to the Moon and back by the crew of Apollo 17. The plaque was then distributed in 1973 by President Richard Nixon to the state of Oregon as he did that year to the other 49 states (the same as for the Apollo 11 plaque gifts). This was done as a goodwill gesture to promote peace and harmony.
History.
Oregon Governor Tom McCall received the Oregon "goodwill Moon rocks" plaque displays on behalf of the people of the state of Oregon. The Oregon Apollo 11 lunar sample display is exhibited in the governor's ceremonial office at the Oregon State Capitol in the reception area. According to a tour leader, it is a popular stopping-point at the Capitol building during a typical tour. Children who visit the Capitol building have a great interest in the Apollo 11 display.
The Oregon Apollo 17 "goodwill Moon rock" commemorative plaque display was thought to be missing. There were rumors that a professor (now deceased) at the University of Oregon had the display in his possession at one time, but lost the display or kept it for himself. This rumor has never been confirmed. In 2009 a professor in the Oregon University geological sciences department said that the rumor actually referred to Moon specimens loaned by NASA to three Oregon scientists for their analysis, and did not refer to the gifted Oregon Apollo 17 "goodwill Moon rock" commemorative plaque display. According to Moon rocks researcher Robert Pearlman, the Oregon Apollo 17 "goodwill Moon rock" plaque display is on permanent exhibit in the Earth Science Hall of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in Portland.


Chronicon Ambrosianum

The Chronicon Ambrosianum () or Chronica parva Ambrosianum ("short Ambrosian chronicle") is a set of exceedingly terse Latin annals that, together with the "Annales Compostellani" and the "Chronicon Burgense", forms a group of related histories first called the "Efemérides riojanas" by Manuel Gómez-Moreno because they may have been compiled in La Rioja. The "Chronicon" is named after the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan, where the "Chronicon" was first discovered in manuscript and published by Ludovico Antonio Muratori.
The "Chronicon" contains a list of ten feast days with the names of their saints and seventeen years, each described by one event. The first event, in Era 38, is the nativity of Jesus. Besides deaths, the only events mentioned are the Massacre of the Innocents (Era 47), the passion of Jesus (Era 69), the assumption of John the Evangelist (Era 108), and the prophesying of Mohammed (Era 656). The final year (Era 1208, that is, AD 1170), though it is placed out of chronological order, is the death of Thomas Becket. The last event in the list is the death of Juan de Ortega ("Johannes de Urteca", Era 1201, that is, 1163).


The Cruise of the Make-Believes

The Cruise of the Make-Believes is a lost 1918 American silent dramatic feature film starring Lila Lee in her first motion picture. It was directed by George Melford and is based on a 1907 novel by Tom Gallon. Famous Players-Lasky produced and Paramount Pictures released.
The film was released at the height of the 1918 flu pandemic.
Plot.
As described in a film magazine, Bessie Meggison (Lee) lives in the slums with her drunken father Daniel Meggison (Hacket) and presides over a boarding house. Gilbert Byfield, a wealthy youth who is writing a book, lives nearby in a cheap room. He becomes acquainted with Bessie and together they sail on many imaginary voyages on an improvised yacht in her back yard. Gilbert gives her father permission to take Bessie to his estate in the country for a month's vacation. Daniel Meggison invites his slum friends and drinks to his heart's content while Bessie entertains dozens of urchins. Gilbert returns and learns that Meggison has told Bessie that the estate belongs to him. Gilbert is also confronted by his fiance, and Bessie realizes that all of her family wealth is a sham. Heartbroken, she returns to her slum home. Gilbert finds her on the make believe ship and promises her that her dream of riches will come true.


Cherry Tree Lane

Cherry Tree Lane is a 2010 British urban dramatic real-time horror-thriller film, written and directed by Paul Andrew Williams.
Plot.
In a house at Cherry Tree Lane, distant couple Christine (Rachael Blake) and Mike (Tom Butcher) are eating dinner while their son, Sebastian, is out at football practice. When the doorbell rings and Christine goes to answer it, the couple is attacked by Rian (Jumayn Hunter), Asad (Ashley Chin), and Teddy (Sonny Muslim), who hold them both hostage and tie them up in their front room. Knowing Sebastian will be returning at 9pm, the group waits for his return so that they can get revenge on him for grassing on Rian's cousin and getting him sent to prison; Teddy leaves with Mike's credit cards to find a cash machine.
Rian suddenly drags Christine into another room to presumably rape her, leaving Asad to guard a frustrated Mike. Asad allows Mike to have a drink and explains that he is not as violent as Rian, and tells Mike details about his life. Rian's school friends, Beth (Jennie Jacques) and Charman (Corinne Douglas), and Beth's younger brother Oscar, then arrive with an axe for Rian to use on Sebastian. Oscar gets sent into the kitchen, while Teddy returns with Mike's money for Rian to send to his cousin.
Sebastian returns home and is dragged upstairs to his room by the teenagers, who begin to torture and beat him. Hearing his son's screams, Mike desperately struggles to free himself, and is able to knock a knife off the dinner table so that he can cut his wrists free. He goes into the next room to find a traumatised Christine tied up and naked underneath a blanket. Arming himself with a candlestick, he attempts to sneak upstairs, but his presence is alerted by Charman who was exiting the bathroom. Asad, Teddy, Charman, and Beth flee from the house, while Mike grapples with Rian, before finally beating him down with the candlestick and then his fists. Christine comes upstairs to comfort a bloodied, finger-less Sebastian who slowly loses consciousness in her arms, while she hysterically screams for Mike to do something. Mike goes downstairs to call 999, then goes into the kitchen to drink from the tap, when he senses someone behind him and turns around to see Oscar standing there. The film ends with Mike, knife in hand, and Oscar both staring at each other, unsure of what to do next.
Production.
Based on a specially written script template, the film was made for Steel Mill Pictures. The director Paul Andrew Williams began the shooting of the psychological thriller on 16 July 2009 in North London. Ken Marshall produced the film for UK Film Council and Steel Mill Pictures.
Release.
The film premiered on 23 June 2010 as part of the Edinburgh International Film Festival 2010. Cherry Tree Lane is part of the Film4 Frightfest on 29 August 2010. Metrodome Distribution holds the rights for the sales in England.
Critical reception.
The film received mixed reviews from critics. "The Film Blogger" dubbed it a "moderately tense thriller", that was "accentuated by a well-developed class commentary and some solid performances".
Anthony Quinn of the Independent wrote that "Like Haneke, the director creates a mood of violence while holding off from graphic depiction – this is no torture porn. Its suggestion of a conscienceless underclass will be as a red rag to more conservative souls, but you suspect Williams won't care. He's becoming a real player in the cinema of ordeal".
Damon Wise, in his review for Empireonline.com, gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and claimed that "After the histrionic Harry Brown and gory Eden Lake, you could be forgiven for thinking the hoodie-horror subgenre had run its course. But while this sparse, ingenious thriller might seem to cover familiar ground, Cherry Tree Lane delves deeper into the hoodie psyche with a degree of black comedy lacking from its forebears". Wise added that "The tense siege takes up most of the film’s running time, but this is not so much torture porn as a dry, existential drama".
Daniel Stephens described Cherry Tree Lane as "...more than just a workmanlike thriller. Like other recent British films that have looked at urban decay in the country, and in light of the recent riots in London and elsewhere, it feels uncomfortably current" and argued that "...you can’t help but feel this is a dog eat dog world and what comes around will keep on coming around – generation to generation".
While other critics criticised the film for its lack of social context "A middle-class couple (Rachael Blake and Tom Butcher) are terrorised in their home by a gang of youths and though the violence happens off-screen, it still feels exploitative. Williams is able to create an unsettling atmosphere with simple sound effects, but he fails to provide a convincing context for the extreme antisocial behaviour (including rape)." "Williams has nothing to suggest either as a possible solution to the social problem or a resolution to his drama".
Title.
The film’s name is an ironic reminder of the address of the idealised suburban Banks family in the popular 1964 film "Mary Poppins", as well as in the series of books on which the film is based.