^ ^ Uyk Fi
(ilenda Wharton,
right, and Amy
Garland stand
outside of the
5ive and 40rty
art gallery.
5 &
40RTM
Big Screen Dream
5ive & 40rty to screen hand drawn film
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE
Winston-Salem residents
will have the chance to pre
view a film that is bound for
the Sundance Film Festival
Beginning today, 5ive and
40rty gallery will preview
artist Glenda Wharton's mas
terpiece- in-progress. "The
Zo."
With funding from organi
zations such as the Blessings
Project Foundation, an organ
ization that supports grass
roots non-profit organizations
in their efforts to improve the
quality of life for local resi
dents and across the world.
Wharton is creating the hand
drawn film to present a unique
portrayal of abuse and domes
tic violence.
"For me as a gallery
owner, it's putting something
up on the walls that not only
speaks to me artistically, but
has a great human appeal as
well," said 5ive and 40rty
Owner Amy Garland. "It's a
beautiful film."
"The Zo" was inspired by
a dream Wharton had more
than two decades ago.
"It's the story of a child
who is trapped in a nightmar
ish house by a monster,"
Wharton explained. "It's an
allegory for child abuse or
domestic violence."
In the dream, Wharton
said she took the form of a lit
tle girl who was pursued by a
dark, shadowy figure with the
whiskers of a catfish and the
tail of a rat. The imagery of
her nightmare remained with
her even into the light of day.
In the midst of a relationship
she feared w as on a dangerous
course, Wharton, a Winston
Salem native, immediately
interpreted the dream as a
warning.
But the dream would stay
One of Wharton 's drawings of the girl from the film.
with her long after the rela
tionship had ended, and
Wharton says she felt com
pelled to open the nightmarish
world of her imaginings up to
others so that they too Could
understand the horrors of
abuse.
She created a short story
about the little girl in the
house who was haunted by a
beast she calls the Zo. Feeling
that words were not enough to
adequately portray the vivid
imagery in her mind. Wharton
began sketching the girl and
the beast. What started as a
relatively small project grew
into a mammoth undertaking
that has consumed much of
her life for the past five years:
the creation of "The Zo."
"I guess I see the film as
having a social voice to advo
cate for children who have
been abused." she said. "I
was a grown woman at that
time (of the dream) so I think
it speaks to people of all lev
els."
In the film, the girl
encounters a group of people
known as "The Other Ones."
The Other Ones have been
harmed by the Zo and carry
the markings of their experi
ences with them, much as
abuse victims carry the nega
tive feelings from their
assaults, Wharton revealed.
"Trauma has affected
them in such a way that they
can never become what the,y
should have become." she
related. "They are all dam
aged."
The work is deri ved from
thousands of drawings
Wharton has painstakingly
created over the course of the
last five years.
"1 was a fine artist first."
she said when asked what
motivated her to take on such
an ardurous chore. "I love
hand drawn animation
because it's very close to the
feel of fine art. The doWn side
is it's very labor intensive.. . It
requires a great amount of dis
cipline and focus."
A typical day for Wharton
starts around 8 a.m. and .
extends long into the evening
hours. It is not unusual for her
to spend 12, even 16 hours in
solitude at her desk, sketching
away One second of motion
on film can take 12-24 sketch
es to animate, she says.
"There's not too many
people in the world that do as
1 do it, as an art form with just
one person (drawing)," she
remarked. "(But) I fell in love
with the hand drawn anima
tion ... so I guess I'm willing
to endure just how much is
involved for the experience of
creating the art."
Wharton has sent clips of
the films to gurus in the inde
pendent film industry, and
Sundance Film Festival has
asked to screen "The Zo"
upon its completion. Wharton
hopes to have it finished in
time for the 2010 festival,
slated for January. The film,
which she describes as having
the feel of a horror film, is
intended to jar the audience,
and inspire them to take
action against the evils it por
trays.
"I believe art, and film
especially, should change the
world; it should make it better.
It should make us better," she
related. "Art is the transfor
mation of the soul. It is not
just to entertain us. It's there
to provoke us to become bet
ter human beings."
Wharton's "The Zo" will
he on display at 5ive <& 40rty,
which is on Trade Street in the
Arts District, through April
25, For more information,
call (336) 724-2474 or visit
www.5iveand40rty.com. For
more information about "The
Zo," visit
www. zoplay room .com .
WSSU Photo hv GaiTett Garms
The author told students that her books contain bits about her own life.
McMillan
from pa g? AJ
with your life," McMillan
said of her motivation to cre
ate the sequel to her most
popular book.
McMillan's WSSU visit
was in conjunction . with
Women's History Month
(March 1-31). She spoke at
Wake Forest University
hours before her evening
appearance at WSSU.
McMillan, who first
became fascinated with
books when she worked at a
library as a teenager,
described the writing process
for her as an introspective
journey. Much of the sub
stance for her novels arises
from her own experiences
and trials.
"I like to tell stories. You
tell many truths by lying on
paper and probably have
more of an impact on peo
ple's lives," she remarked.
"Every book is a question;
it's an inquiry about what
makes us do the things that ?
we do ... Normally, whatever
my characters' road has been.
I feel it too."
McMillan's first novel.
"Mama," is loosely based on
the trails and tribulations of
her own mother, the late
Madeline Tillman, who
divorced McMillan's father
when the writer was a pre
teen. The bittersweet
romance between the couple
in "Disappearing Acts." her
first bestseller, so closely
mirrored McMillan's rela
tionship with "Leonard Welch
(the father of her only child
Solomon), that Welch filed a
defamation lawsuit, which
McMillan eventually won.
Her 1996 bestseller, "How
Stella Got Her Groove
Back," is based on
McMillan's own experience
of falling in love with a much
younger man while on vaca
tion in Jamaica.
McMillan married that
man. Jonathan Plummer, in
1998. She was 47 and he was
in his early 20s. Six years
later, their marriage would
become tabloid fodder when
Plummer revealed that he
was gay. McMillan, who is
now 57, filed for divorce in
2005.
Contrary to the attitudes
of most novelists, McMillan
says she often does not care
for her characters initially.
Sfie intentionally gives them
traits she dislikes in an effort
to increase her tolerance and
understanding of people who
think and act differently than
her.
"I have to step out of my
own, self-absorbed shoes and
jump into someone else's ...
it helps me learn," she said.
"I give a lot of my characters
my flaws, my shortcomings
... it's one way to acknowl
edge them."
A slow trickle of audience
members kept McMillan at
the podium long after her talk
had ended, asking her for
everything from tips for
aspiring writers to pearls of
wisdom for the younger gen
erations.
"Respect who you are.
Take yourself seriously but
not too seriously ... live your
life like it's an adventure,"
she advised. "Everything
you do. give it all you've
got."
t
Rep. Larry Womble
NC House of Representatives
71st District
Tel (336) 784-9373
Fax (336) 784-1626
E-Mail: LWistm@aol.com
Home Address
1294 Salem Lake Road "
Winston-Salem, NC 27107
Tuesday, March 31
11 OOam ? 2 00pm
Lawrence Joel Veterans Colisc^
Education Building
Deacon Bfvd Gil
Over 55 Exhibitors
Fitness Centers
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Comae: Ttry a A so" a: ^
0" a: m 'srtyt" ccipoO
Oocr p'-^t re
S20 gifts cards
THE POVERTY II
ft : Mito| toe* ? S r -Mrta * !?;?.?
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'JaMNMW'ir * N* i w? " ?r<? ?
te-tooo "?? M*?* . ? 3* ??* , ??> >? -
GIVE IT UP FOR
TOM JOYNER
ANDWSSU!
Winston-Salem State is thrilled to announce that the
Tom Joynor Foundation has selected our university as the
foundation's School of the Month for March 2009!
Being chosen School of the Month means that WSSU will be featured during the
entire month of March on the nationally syndicated Tom Joyner Morning Show -
which reaches 8 million listeners - as Mr Joyner personally lends his support to
help raise $ 1 25,000 in new scholarship funds for WSSU.
^^Jhunhttn
PLEASE HELP DESERVING
STUDENTS CONTINUE THEIR
STUDIES AND REACH THEIR DREAMS
TO MAKE YOUR SCHOLARSHIP
FUND DONATION VISIT
www.wssu.edu.
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