MOVIES | Eight documentary short finalists announced for 83rd Academy Awards

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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced last week that the field of Documentary Short Subject contenders for the 83rd Academy Awards has been narrowed to eight films, of which three to five will earn Oscar nominations. Voters from the Academy’s Documentary Branch viewed this year’s 30 eligible entries and submitted their ballots to PricewaterhouseCoopers for tabulation. The eight films are listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their production company. * Born Sweet, Cynthia Wade Productions
* Killing in the Name, Moxie Firecracker Films
* Living for 32, Cuomo Cole Productions
* One Thousand Pictures: RFK’s Last Journey, Lichen Films
* Poster Girl, Portrayal Films
* Strangers No More, Simon & Goodman Picture Company
* Sun Come Up, Sun Come Up, LLC
* The Warriors of Qiugang, Thomas Lennon Films, Inc.

Born Sweet profiles a boy in rural Cambodia while struggling with arsenic poisoning and dreams of becoming a karaoke star. (Born Sweet received Honorable Mention at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival). Continue Reading

Farming and stiletto heels: FarmGirl Sisterhood enjoys farmgirl time

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Frank Sinatra was singing on an outdoor PA system while adults sipped Farm Girl Saison beer. A campfire crackled and dozens of aprons fluttered on a clothesline. Picnic tables were converted into open-air masterpieces. 

A large group had gathered at April and Josh Choate’s Prior Lake home Saturday evening waiting for a superstar. Paparazzi-like cameras stood ready and waiting. Diane VanHorn drove from Janesville, Wis. Continue Reading

Minnesota State Fair Champion horse rescued from slaughter

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“Heaven Can Wait,” or Buster as he is affectionately called, was two weeks away from, well, meeting heaven. In a kill pen on the east coast in 2006, the American Saddlebred horse was scheduled for slaughter. 

Kris Brutoco of Manahan Stables in St. Francis, Minnesota was looking for a lesson horse to train. She received an urgent call from Saddlebred Rescue: “Can you adopt him?” Brutoco agreed to give a rescue horse a try. Continue Reading

Mexican tradition of the Charro comes to the Minnesota State Fair

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Gerardo “Jerry” Diaz is treated like a celebrity at the Minnesota State Fair. Diaz, a fourth-generation internationally famous charro, produces his own Mexican rodeo extravaganza and tours across America, Mexico and Canada bringing the Mexican tradition of the charro to audiences. He performs twice daily through the run of the State Fair. Charros devote years teaching their horses maneuvers that “transcend mere mechanics and become magic for the crowd to witness,” says the State Fair horseshow guide. Indeed, Diaz is the “cover man” of the show guide and it promotes his performance on just about every page. Continue Reading

2010 Princess Kay Katie Miron is the newest “butter head”

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Katie Miron’s down-filled jacket was a far cry from the evening gown she wore just hours earlier when she was named the 57th Princess Kay of the Milky Way. Sitting in a rotating glass cooler for eight hours in the Dairy Building at the Minnesota State Fair, Katie was having her likeness carved into a 90-pound block of butter. Her nose was red and she clasped her mitten hands together in the 40-degree temperature, but Katie was having fun greeting the crowd of fans watching sculptor Linda Christensen shape her head in butter. Christensen, who has been carving princesses for 39 years, said the refrigerated cooler rotates for a reason. “It’s to get all the views of the ‘butter heads,'” she said. Continue Reading