Arts and Humanities

Filmmaker Debra Granik -- best known for directing the 2010 film "Winter's Bone," which starred Lousiville native Jennifer Lawrence --  will speak Tuesday evening at Spalding University's Festival of Contemporary Writing. 

Granik talked Tuesday afternoon with WFPL's Jonathan Bastian about her craft, including what informs her projects.

""There are a lot of untold stories," Granik said. "The big thing is to have people that want to actually work with you to tell it."

The Slant Culture Theatre Festival opened over the weekend with a full slate of productions, workshops, special guests and events (read the overview). Five Louisville theater companies joined together to produce a repertory festival featuring five mainstage plays and about a dozen special events.

Given the sheer numbers every Christmas movie is up against, it's a wonder any of them end up in the holiday canon. We know and love "It's a Wonderful Life" and "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation," and it seems as though "Love, Actually" has inched its way into new holiday classic territory, but what of "The Star Wars Holiday Special" or, indeed, most of the fourth quarter content on the Hallmark Channel? There's a lot of noise to cut through, but if a holiday movie makes it to the top with "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" and "Miracle on 34th Street," it stays there. 

The Speed Art Museum has closed its doors for a$50 million renovation and expansion project, but that doesn’t mean the institution will go to sleep for the next three years. One community outreach initiative launches this month. The "Art & Dialogues" series will bring influential curators, collectors and critics from the modern and contemporary art world to Louisville for public lectures and university visits.

Actors Theatre of Louisville has announced the lineup for the 37th annual Humana Festival of New American Plays. The festival opens February 27 and runs through April 7. With the exception of the commissioned apprentice anthology, the full-length world premieres are all written by playwrights making their Humana Festival debuts. 

For a live interview with Actors Theatre literary manager Sarah Lunnie on this year's Humana Festival selections, tune in to 89.3 FM Monday at 1:30 p.m.