Thursday 10/21
4:00 pm – 5:30 pm
UW Madison Union South Marquee Theater
1308 W. Dayton Street
Madison, WI 53715 United States
608-890-3000
https://union.wisc.edu/visit/union-south/the-marquee/
Cicada is a Sci-Fi short film adapted from the stage play “Cicada”, created by James D. Gavins & Karl Michael Iglesias. Through storytelling, music, movement, and comedy, we follow James as he goes through the process to receive his reparations.
“In a parallel universe, they have decided to give out Reparations. We follow James, who has been chosen to beta test a psychotherapy simulator that will ease the trauma from black history in America called Cicada.”
Written, Performed & Directed by James D. Gavins
Also Starring the Voices of Jill Huguet & Dom Ricks
Filmed & Post Prod: by Mind-You-Mental Production
Original Score by Kevin Macleod
In Partnership with the Wisconsin Institute of Discovery’s Science to Script & Virtual Environments Lab @wid_ve
This film was created as a part of the Fill in the Blank Residency – James Gavins Creator in Residence.
Panelist Bios:
James Gavins: James Gavins is an interdisciplinary artist, born and raised in Chicago, IL. He attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he attained a B.A. in Theater & Drama. In 2008, James was granted the First Wave Hip Hop & Urban Arts Scholarship. James was also a Practicing Professional Teaching Artist with the Wallace Foundation/Youth Arts Initiatives/Boys & Girls Club of America. James is now the Creative Director of the Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives/ First Wave Hip Hop & Urban Arts Scholarship Program at University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Karen Schloss: Karen Schloss is an Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin – Madison in the Department of Psychology and Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, Virtual Environments Group. She received her BA in Psychology from Barnard College, Columbia University in 2005, and her PhD in Psychology from UC Berkeley in 2011. After a postdoc position at Berkeley and a research faculty position at Brown University, she joined the UW-Madison faculty in 2016. Her lab studies how to make visual communication more effective and efficient. They also develop virtual reality (VR) tools to make science education more enjoyable and engaging.
Kudirat: Kudirat Alimi is currently a senior at the University of Wisconsin Madison majoring in Computer Science with a certificate in Game Design. She is a Posse Foundation Scholar, born in Lagos Nigeria and raised in the Bronx, New York. She is an undergraduate student in the Schloss Visual Reasoning Lab, exploring user experience design in virtual reality. Kudirat designed some visual effects showcased in CICADA by intertwining art and technology.
James McGee: James McGee aka “Knowshun” is an American indie film director, producer, cinematographer, actor, editor and camera operator. Chicago born, the young creative’s media company, Mind-You-Mental, has been a part of more than 20 media projects since 2017. From short films, to music videos and performance arts pieces, the rapper/producer is becoming more versatile with every project.
Moderator: Dom ricks
Dom Ricks is middle school principal in the Middleton Cross Plains Area School District and University of Wisconsin-Madison Alum with a B.A. in Sociology and a M.A. in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis with a Focus on Social Justice. He was born and raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and moved to Madison Wisconsin in 2010 after receiving a full ride scholarship to UW Madison’s First Wave Program. He is the youngest and first Black principal in his district’s history and serves on the board of directors for Middleton Outreach Ministery (MOM).
