Arts & Culture

In Cambodia, a group of women have started a movement to save their homes from destruction. For the past two years, Boise State University Theater Arts Professor Phil Atlakson and his son Garret have been filming their story.

Atlakson is the producer of the short film “Eviction.” His son is the director. It features the ongoing fight in Cambodia between homeowners and government-backed corporations who are demolishing villager’s homes to create new developments.

Do you sometimes feel like you have too much stuff cluttering up your life?  Can 20 pairs of shoes really make you happy? Two Northwest authors say maybe not. 

Joshua Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus are childhood best friends who had normal, 20-something lives.  They had good jobs, homes, cars, clothes, and gadgets. But one day they figured out all that stuff wasn’t making them happy. So they got rid of it. Now they live simply in Montana, and travel the country spreading the word of Minimalism.

It’s hard not to be struck by how happy and normal the Frank family seems in the photos taken before they went into hiding in 1942 during World War II. There’s a black and white photo of Anne with her older sister Margot on the beach, another with all four of her family members dressed up and smiling in a courtyard.  

A new original play opens Saturday at Boise Contemporary Theater (BCT), and there’s a chance the actors might be handed new lines between now and then. I’ve been following the creation of The Uncanny Valley for nearly a year, ever since I had a chance run in with BCT’s Dwayne Blackaller last April. He told me about the new play he was writing with BCT artistic director Matthew Cameron Clark.

Parts of downtown Boise were once covered with stately homes and mansions full of history. Slowly, those homes have disappeared, and have been replaced with new development. One woman is working to save one of those remaining historic homes, the Fowler house at 5th and Myrtle, from demolition.

Boise Contemporary Theater's new original play, The Uncanny Valley opens in less than three weeks and the script isn't yet finished. The new original play is a work in progress we’ve been following for a few months.

Just last month actors gathered for their first table read.  This was the first time writers and co-directors Dwayne Blackaller and Matthew Cameron Clark showed all the actors the play. Clark is also acting in this show.

Idaho filmmaker Karen Day has a new documentary, featuring college students making a difference in the world. 

Dancers with the Trey McIntyre Project (TMP) will give their final bow on the Morrison Center stage Saturday evening. Many of the dancers have earned rockstar status in the six years they’ve called Boise home.

Trey McIntyre says when word spread last month that he was shifting focus from his Boise-based dance company to filmmaking, people generally met the news with sadness. 

“And that’s a great thing – to actually have something to mourn in this process, that makes me feel really proud that we achieved something great,” says the internationally-known choreographer who brought his dance company to Boise six years ago.

Boise filmmaker Zach Voss may be best known for his promotional videos for Boise's Treefort Music Festival. His 2013  Treefort work grabbed the attention of a northwest movie producer, and now Voss is preparing to make his feature-film directorial debut.

Pottery and porcelain expert David Rago says two things are certain when he sees someone pull out a dinner plate.

“I’m going to tell them it’s worth $3 and they’re going to be unhappy.”

That’s why, Rago says, appraising plates is the worst part of his 'Antiques Roadshow' gig. And he says he has to do it a lot. He’s been traveling with the popular PBS show for 18 years. Thousands of people bring antiques to Roadshow tapings, but only a few get to go on air to talk about their family treasures.

When a developer decided to build a new tower in downtown Boise, it was big news. It was especially newsworthy because of its location: the corner of 8th and Main streets. That spot had been empty for more than 20 years, earning it the nickname 'The Hole.'

So when word broke that Zions Bank would build its new Idaho headquarters there, Idaho Statesman photographer Darin Oswald decided to set out on an ambitious project. He wanted to document the building’s construction through time-lapse photography. 

April and Andy Davis don’t have many antiques. The couple doesn’t have much money to spend on collecting and they do have a 2-year-old, Hudson, who will pull down anything not nailed to the wall. But April Davis has been watching PBS' 'Antiques Roadshow' since she was a kid.

The popular public television show travels the country to appraise antiques people bring to the event. Some of the antiques, and their owners, end up on the program talking about their treasures and the stories behind them.