Latest news with #UNCChapelHill
CNET
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- CNET
My Favorite Film Is a Historical Drama Packed With Modern Themes. It's Now Free to Stream
I can count on one hand the number of times I've finished watching a film for the first time and immediately turned around to rewatch it. And there's only one film that I wish I could erase from my memory simply to watch it again for the first time. That film is Céline Sciamma's 2019 film Portrait of a Lady on Fire. A visually stunning film that reimagines a timeless love story, Portrait of a Lady on Fire is brimming with slow-burn passion, classical references, relevant and modern themes with breathtaking cinematography to boot. I first saw the movie as an undergraduate film student at UNC Chapel Hill and have since watched the film at least a dozen times, each resonating as strongly as the first watch. So I can't help but evangelize the film -- especially when it's free to watch on Kanopy. The movie is also available on Max -- one of CNET's picks for best streaming service -- with a paid subscription or available to rent on Prime Video, but the easiest option is to watch free right now on Kanopy with your public library login or university ID credentials. Almost every scene in Portrait of a Lady on Fire looks like a masterpiece painting. Lilies Films/Hold-Up Films/Arte France Cinéma Set in 1770 Brittany, in northern France, Portrait of a Lady on Fire tells the story of Marianne, a middle-class painter commissioned by a countess to paint the wedding portrait of her daughter, Héloïse, a young woman forced to leave the convent to enter an arranged marriage with a Milanese nobleman. Opposing the marriage, Héloïse refuses to sit for any portrait, which would guarantee her marriage, so Marianne must produce the portrait in secret. Having already exhausted other painters, the Countess instructs Marianne to act as Héloïse's companion, accompanying her day to day while silently memorizing her features to paint in secret. Through these meetings, the two women form a friendship and eventually a romance that transcends boundaries of class and sexuality. Tragically, Marianne is forced to create the one object that will ensure the end of her blossoming relationship with Héloïse. Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel deliver engrossing and elegant performances. Lilies Films/Hold-Up Films/Arte France Cinéma Starring Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel, accompanied by an almost entirely female cast, the film is a powerfully acted LGBTQ+ romance that studies power, memory, passion and desire through the eyes of women. Despite its 18th century setting, the film unflinchingly examines modern themes of gender, class, sexuality and reproductive rights -- all of which suffocate under a repressive patriarchal society, yet flourish when those strict confines are removed. Noted as a feminist film that banishes the male gaze, reinterprets the classic Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, and subverts expectations of the master/muse relationship, Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a rare feminist triumph. With its nuanced themes, exquisite cinematography and emotionally resonant performances, it's a beautifully moving film and you're sure to have a profound and unforgettable cinematic experience. Or, if you're like me, you'll just sob in front of a theater full of strangers and not even care. Either way, you're in for a treat. (And while you're at it, I will probably be watching it for the umpteenth time.) Portrait of a Lady on Fire won the Queer Palm at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. Lilies Films/Hold-Up Films/Arte France Cinéma Portrait of a Lady on Fire was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. The film lost that top honor to Bong Joon-ho's Parasite, but won the Queer Palm, becoming the first film directed by a woman to win the award. Sciamma also won the award for Best Screenplay at Cannes in 2019. Portrait of a Lady on Fire is just one of our CNET experts' favorite movies that's available to stream now. You should also explore our full rundown of the best movies on Max, Netflix and Amazon Prime. Plus, stream our favorite horror double feature on Netflix. More movie recommendations:
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
250 years later: New Charlotte Museum of History exhibit celebrates Meck Dec day, Charlotte history
Mecklenburg County landowners gathered to sign their own declaration of independence from Great Britain 250 years ago on May 20. The Charlotte Museum of History is celebrating the 'Meck Dec' with a new exhibit. The diorama exhibit shows Uptown as it once was in 1775. Historian Nolan Dahm said where the Bank of America tower and halal cart sit today at the corner of Trade and Tryon Streets, history was made. 'They gathered together on the night of May 19, and on May 20, they allegedly signed a declaration that was the first declaration of independence in all of the American colonies,' Dahm said. Dahm is the historian behind the exhibit. He said it doesn't only celebrate Meck Dec day. It also highlights the culture that Queen City has built around it. 'Here is the 1774 rock house that was home to Hezekiah Alexander,' Dahm said. 'He was a signer of the Meck Dec, and that home is the only remaining structure that we have associated with the document. And so we decided that we are going to create an exhibit to help celebrate and commemorate for the 250th anniversary.' But there are some skeptics of the story behind Meck Dec day. The story says that Captain James Jack brought one of the two copies of the Meck Dec to the constitutional convention in Philadelphia. But the other one was in the possession of John McNitt Alexander. 'His house burned down in April of 1800, and the story goes that the Meck Dec burned with his house,' Dahm said. 'And so in September of 1800 he met with the founder of UNC Chapel Hill, William R. Davey, and dictated what he remembered from his notes and from his memories of that night.' And that is known as the Davey Copy. 'They looked at the Davey copy, they looked at all sorts of other testimony, and they decided this is what the Meck Dec, said, and they printed it in the Raleigh register,' Dahm said. 'They printed it in all sorts of other newspapers. And they eventually printed it by itself in 1826.″ One of the seven copies can be seen in the museum's exhibit. For the skeptics and non-believers of the Meck Dec day story, Dahm had one message. 'What I say is that I'm not a believer in the Meck Dec,' he said. 'And I'm also not a skeptic of the Meck Dec. What I think is really important to remember is we now call the Meck Dec has a life of its own. And I think that's the really interesting part of the story.' WATCH: Lancaster County scrambles to secure millions for Highway 521 Expansion
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
UNC-Chapel Hill announces site for first new dorm in almost 20 years
UNC-Chapel Hill plans to open a new residence hall in 2028, its first new dorm since 2006. The UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees announced the site for what it's calling New Residence Hall 1 in a meeting on Wednesday. It will be located between Stacy Residence Hall and Cobb Residence Hall on the north end of the campus, on the current site of Jackson Hall. In order to begin the project, the 83-year-old Jackson Hall, which houses the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, will be demolished. The new dorm is expected to house anywhere from 600 to 700 students and is anticipated to cost $93 million. The university plans to begin construction in 2026. 'It's going to be in a terrific location right there in the heart of North Campus,' UNC Chancellor Lee Roberts said Thursday. 'We're excited about it.' This project is just one of many housing improvements in the university's 'decade-long plan to expand and renew Carolina's undergraduate and graduate student housing portfolio,' according to a statement to The News & Observer from UNC Media Relations. Roberts also told reporters Thursday that the renovation in Avery Residence Hall, which has been ongoing since late 2024, is nearing completion. Roberts said he wants more of UNC's students to live in the dorms. Twenty-nine percent of UNC students live in the residence halls, according to a report to the Board of Governors in January detailing the housing rate of each institution in the UNC System. However, roughly half of all undergraduate students live in UNC's residence halls. 'But as everyone who goes to school here knows, some of our housing is pretty old,' Roberts told reporters. 'Because housing is always aging out and requiring renovation, we also have an obligation to look at building new housing.' The university is still looking for a new location for the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, according to its statement to The N&O. 'On behalf of students, thank you. I think it's the beginning of a new plan to modernize our housing, and finally lets us catch up to our peer institutions,' said UNC Student Body President Aldolfo Alvarez, who also serves as a member on the Board of Trustees. The announcement comes as UNC's admissions rise. The latest class to enter the university had a record 73,192 applicants, and 5,624 of them were accepted and enrolled, contributing to the university's 7.7% enrollment increase since 2020. UNC has not yet released the number of new students enrolled for the 2025-2026 academic year. Roberts wants the university to continue growing. He announced in a January Board of Trustees committee meeting that UNC would open 500 additional slots for students for admission in 2025. The N&O reported that Roberts intends for the university's undergraduate enrollment to increase by 5,000 students in the next decade. With the increase in enrollment, some UNC students have expressed concerns about housing availability for students after their first year, the Daily Tar Heel reported. Freshmen are required to live on campus, with some exceptions. Because students with a higher amount of credits receive second priority, sophomores often are least likely to get a housing assignment, the newspaper reported. One student wrote a column in the Daily Tar Heel and likened the housing process at UNC to the game show 'Survivor.' Last June, the university asked some students to voluntarily opt out of their housing assignments for the upcoming year to make more rooms available for incoming freshmen, the Daily Tar Heel reported. If enough students did not volunteer to move to another residence hall, the newspaper reported, the university said it would use a lottery system to reassign housing. Enough students volunteered, so the lottery system was not used. UNC will also continue demolishing the remaining buildings in Odum Village, its long out-of-commission undergraduate, graduate and family housing built in the 1960s. Demolition of Odum Village's 47 buildings began in 2016 due to their inability to meet fire safety standards. Evan Yassky, UNC's executive director of facilities planning and design, said that it was more cost effective to demolish the unusable dorms rather than renovate them, UNC Media Hub reported. However, the project was not completed due to insufficient funding, Yassky said at Wednesday's Board of Trustees meeting. More than 20 buildings remain. Just three buildings in Odum Village are still used by the university, one of which is the Carolina Veterans Resource Center, according to UNC Media Hub. The university is 'actively working to relocate' the center, UNC Media Relations said in a statement to The N&O. The other two buildings are being used by UNC Police and contractors for the construction of Steven D. Bell Hall, which is set to finish by the end of this year, the university said. Yassky hopes to demolish 20 more buildings 'roughly by the end of 2025.'
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
More than $95K in scholarships awarded to local students by Crown Jewels Links chapter
More than 20 local students cashed in on money for college thanks to an organization of women dedicated to community service. The Crown Jewels Chapter of the Links awarded more than $95,000 to area high school seniors. From education to employment, Charlotte program offers jobs, benefits Scholarship recipients completed applications and interviews to compete for the funds to continue their education. Jade Smith plans to attend UNC Chapel Hill and received $20,000. 'I'm really passionate about community service, leadership,' Smith said. 'I'm so excited to be honored here by the Links. It's an incredible honor and opportunity and I'm so grateful for this experience.' The students were recognized at the 10th Annual Crowning Achievements Program, along with some important community partners. The Crown Jewels Links is a group of ladies committed to friendship and service. VIDEO: CMS seniors awarded scholarships to join college marching band
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
UNC law students help Helene survivors during spring break
Some students at UNC Chapel Hill spent their spring break in western North Carolina helping Helene survivors with legal support. Law students went to Boone and Burnsville last month to help families navigate the Federal Emergency Management Agency's appeals process. Students said FEMA looks for specific wording in applications for its grant assistance, and they wanted to make sure everyone they saw got the help they needed. ALSO READ: Community helps rebuild food truck swept away in Hurricane Helene 'What we were trying to do was really comb through the applications and find little ways we could tweak the application,' student Miranda Papes said. She added, 'For us, I think it was important to help in any way we could.' Before heading to help, students received disaster-related legal training and trauma sensitivity training to prepare them for the devastation they would see. WATCH BELOW: 'We need help': Western N.C. family struggles to rebuild months after Helene
