Saturday, May 21 — Stone Church, 210 Main St. Brattleboro
http://www.facebook.com/worldmasqueradeball
The Dates for Coffee team
The World Masquerade Ball promises to be a magical evening of entertainment, food, lively conversation highlighted by an auction of masks created by local artists. Guests are invited to don their own masks for the evening and an unmasking will end the evening’s festivities. The event is all to promote and raise funds to complete a new documentary film entitled Dates for Coffee. Guided by the scholastic insight of International Folklore Scholar Wolfgang Mieder and Conflict Resolution Scholar Mohammed Abu Nimer, Dates for Coffee, examines national narratives through the lens of Omani folklore and shares how their values are part of a larger Arab national narrative. The power embedded in these stories help form belief systems and expectations that often create conflict when misunderstood. The documentary was produced and created by a team of local residents and Vermont natives lead by Kiera Lewis. Lewis is a young, Brattleboro filmmaker. She shot Dates for Coffee while living and studying in Oman—an Arab Sultanate on the Persian Gulf that borders Saudi Arabia and Yemen to its west. A private screening of the film’s first edit was held last fall in Brattleboro and later in Washington D.C. at the Smithsonian Institute. More info at http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/dates-for-coffee–2 or email shantavns@gmail.com
