By Maria Esteves – March 3, 2012 If only one life is spared, my existence has been justified, is the way humanitarian, celebrity artist Zelda Kaplan (1916-2012) lived her life. An artist who collects rare African ritual carvings from West Africa, a Golf champion, a professional dancer, and trainer in Ballroom International and Cuban style. Zelda’s findings of rare African ritual carvings in West Africa inspired her humanitarian efforts on marital violence, FGM (Female Genital Mutilation),...

The 34th edition of the M. Mead Film Festival presented 38 selections from November 11 to 14 at the American Museum of Natural History, its principal sponsor. This festival is the oldest documentary film festival in the United States and includes outstanding and innovative productions covering animation, experimental approaches, in addition to archival material and restored films with a large number not shown before in the New York metropolitan area. Transcending the strict ethnographic film a...