Zoo, a film co-written by The Stranger's associate editor Charles Mudede (pictured), has been accepted to the Directors' Fortnight segment of the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. The film about bestiality, loosely based on an incident in Washington two years ago, opened in New York this week and hits L.A. in May. The Village Voice's Nathan Lee says it "moves the mind to reflect on fundamental questions of culture and psyche: the relation of man to animal, the limits of sexuality, the contours of community." The New York Times also weighs in on Zoo, saying it "wraps its sensationalistic core in a seductive mantle, an approach that appeals to viewers already predisposed to art and the Enlightenment, Sesame Street and all things not Rush Limbaugh."
The Observer's spelling team edged out the Dallas Morning News yesterday at the Literacy Instruction for Texas spelling bee. Writer Andrea Grimes says the win is "sweet, sweet verbal revenge" for the "ass-kicking" the News gave the Observer in last year's softball league. She tells the News not to take the loss too hard: "We're sure those excellent batting averages are very helpful when it comes to putting out the daily paper."
The newly minted Pulitzer-winning LA Weekly food critic talks process with On the Media's Brooke Gladstone, saying he doesn't take notes and shies away from fancy food vocabulary and Latinate synonyms. "It must be said that there is only one word that means 'salty,' and if you try to get beyond something being salty -- you know, briny or oceanic -- you're overwriting, and the prose suffers," Gold says. Noting Gold's "intense" devotion to meat, Gladstone asks the critic if he receives letters from vegans demanding equal time. "Yeah, I get letters from vegans, usually more in sorrow than in anger," he says, adding that he also gets a lot of letters from Jewish people complaining that he writes "an awful lot about pork." Over a meal of huaraches with a succulent beef brain and more, Gold tells the Washington Post's William Booth he's eaten at somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 restaurants in LA, and that he finds new haunts by scouring ethnic newspapers. "I don't understand a word of it, but they list an address and I go," he says.
The Society of Professional Journalists named their finalists yesterday, and AAN papers received seven nominations, including clean sweeps of the weekly news and features categories. Miami New Times and New Times Broward-Palm Beach lead the pack with two nominations, while Creative Loafing (Charlotte), the Memphis Flyer and the Nashville Scene each garnered one. The awards, which honor journalistic excellence in 11 southeastern states, will be announced May 5 in Nashville.
Last week, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) gave the Oklahoma Gazette its Outstanding Media Award for contributions to the goals of NAMI Oklahoma. According to NAMI Oklahama member Jo Rogers, the alt-weekly "provides information for those of us interested in legislative issues which may involve mental health and associated funding."
Co-host Michele Norris praises the Pulitzer-winning LA Weekly food critic for having "a very expansive view" of what being a restaurant critic is all about. "You wouldn't believe how many bad meals I eat in order to find the ones I review every week," Gold says. He visited a particular Taiwanese restaurant 17 times -- "until I figured out what the aesthetic was," he says -- even though he despised the food. "I described one dish there as being bitter -- not bitter like coffee, but bitter like cancer medicine," Gold says. "But I meant it in a good way."
Jason Sheehan's story on a semi-secret, unlicensed eatery catering to Denver's tight-knit community of Ghanaian immigrants has been named a 2007 Bert Greene Award winner by the International Association of Culinary Professionals. The awards, announced Saturday in Chicago, recognize excellence in food journalism. This marks the second year in a row Westword has won. Last year, Adam Cayton-Holland's "Word of Mouth" took top honors.
"The Pulitzer Prize is something that, when you're a food writer, you don't even dream about," the LA Weekly food critic says. The AP says Gold's win boosted morale at the paper, which has "weathered several layoffs" since the Village Voice Media merger with New Times. "Maybe this means they won't fire me this year," Gold jokes. His wife and Weekly editor Laurie Ochoa says the Pulitzer is "especially sweet" and adds: "Now it's official: There is no conflict of interest when I say he's a great critic." VVM executive editor Michael Lacey tells the AP the Pulitzer win shows "alternative papers are beginning to get the respect they've earned."
The Lafayette, La., alt-weekly was given the Freedom of Information award by the Louisiana Press Association "for its exposure of a questionable land swap deal being proposed by the University of Louisiana in Lafayette," according to a press release (PDF file). Judges of the award called senior editor Leslie Turk's coverage "passionate and vigorous," the Weekly reports. The paper won a total of 20 first place honors in the Association's annual awards -- in categories ranging from investigative reporting to best advertising idea to best website.
Jonathan Gold was awarded this year's prize for criticism, becoming the first food critic ever to win a Pulitzer. The judges praised Gold's "zestful, wide ranging restaurant reviews, expressing the delight of an erudite eater." Gold finished in first place for Food Writing in 2005's AltWeekly Awards and is a four-time James Beard winner. This marks the sixth Pulitzer awarded to an AAN member: The Village Voice's Teresa Carpenter won for feature writing (1981); the Voice's Jules Feiffer won for cartooning (1986); the Boston Phoenix's Lloyd Schwartz won for criticism (1994); the Voice's Mark Schoofs won for international reporting (2000); and Willamette Week's Nigel Jaquiss won for investigative reporting (2005). UPDATE: See scenes from LA Weekly's celebration of Gold's win. Read AAN News' Feb. 2006 interview with Gold.
