Culture Flash

PeopleFund is hosting a film screening and artist gathering to get more East Austin artists involved in its efforts to boost branding and marketing efforts on the Eastside.ÊFor six months, PeopleFund and the Austin Independent Business Alliance have been holding monthly meetings of East Austin business owners and artists, but they want to expand artist participation, particularly from the African-American and Hispanic communities.ÊThis month will feature a screening of the short films "Community, Commerce and Change: East Austin Business" and the short "Flatstock: Hotrock," both produced by Walkie Talkie Productions. The event takes place Thursday, Nov. 10, 5:30-7pm, at Cafe Mundi, 1704 E. Fifth (between Chicon and Comal).

This weekend, the Russians are coming, and VSA Arts of Texas is responsible. The organization serving artists with disabilities is sponsoring a local appearance of the Nedoslov Theatre Company, a troupe of 13 deaf actors and dancers from Russia, performing Wings Are Given to All, a play in mime and dance based on work by Richard Bach. VSA arts director Celia Hughes worked with six partners across the U.S. and Canada to bring Nedoslov back to this country after seeing the company at the VSA Arts International Festival in June 2004. Wings Are Given to All will be performed Friday, Nov. 11, 8pm, at the Texas School for the Deaf Auditorium, 1102 S. Congress. For more information, call 454-9912.

Women & Their Work presents Taking Up Residence, a discussion of artists' residency programs, on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 6:30-8:30pm, at Women & Their Work Gallery, 1710 Lavaca. Panelists include: Jill Bedgood, Jesús Pantel, Beverly Penn, and Sydney Yeager. For more information, call 477-1064.

The UT Department of Theatre & Dance has hired noted playwright Steven Dietz as professor of playwriting and screenwriting. Dietz has written more than 20 plays, including Lonely Planet (PEN USA Award in Drama), Fiction, Still Life With Iris (Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays Award), and The Rememberer (Lila Wallace/Reader's Digest Award). He will join the department in August 2006 and will share his position with the Department of Radio-Television-Film and the Michener Center for Creative Writing.