Many thanks to John for sharing this: Academy Award winner Meryl Streep and Pulitzer Prize winner N. Scott Momaday have contributed their considerable talents to Sky Island, a new film on Bandelier National Monument and the Jemez Mountains. The film was written, produced and directed by environmental filmmaker John Grabowska. Participation in the film production was, in a way, a health issue for Streep, relating to open spaces and wild places: “Our personal health depends on the health of the environment,” she said. “Preserving national parks and wildlands is an exercise in long-term thinking about the sustainability of the planet, and it directly impacts each one of us. I hope viewers are inspired by the mood and method of Sky Island. I know I was which is why I wanted to be a part of it.” “It’s such a pleasure to work with artists who are the best in their field,” Grabowska said. “Meryl is charming and down to earth but very dedicated to getting the performance exactly right, even for – or perhaps especially for – a project like this, which addresses dramatic climate change effects in Bandelier and the Jemez. Sky Island is currently on the film festival circuit and will air on PBS in 2011.

Scans from 12 magazines have been added to the Image Library, with many thanks to the great Alvaro! They range from a very early article in 1977’s After Dark magazine through the 1980s to the most recent. A list of all new uploads can be found below the previews. Happy reading!

Image Library > Magazine Scans > 1977 > After Dark Magagazine (USA, May 1977)
Image Library > Magazine Scans > 1980 > Photoplay (Spain, March 1980)
Image Library > Magazine Scans > 1980 > Sight and Sound (UK, December 1980)
Image Library > Magazine Scans > 1982 > Dunia Magazine (Spain, May 1982)
Image Library > Magazine Scans > 1983 > Correio de Domingo (Portugal, April 1983)
Image Library > Magazine Scans > 1984 > Veronica (Netherlands, November 1984)
Image Library > Magazine Scans > 1990 > Imagenes de Actualidad (Spain, March 1990)
Image Library > Magazine Scans > 1991 > Dunia Magazine (Spain, February 1991)
Image Library > Magazine Scans > 1993 > Video World (UK, August 1993)
Image Library > Magazine Scans > 2009 > Vanity Fair (Italy, October 2009)
Image Library > Magazine Scans > 2009 > Gioia Magazine (Italy, October 2009)
Image Library > Magazine Scans > 2010 > Gioia Magazine (Italy, February 2010)

Four new video clips have been added to the video archive – all collected by my friend and video expert Tina :-) They include a real treasure – Meryl’s first ever public voice work in the 1976 “Everybody Rides the Carousel” (very 1970s!), an interview Meryl gave PBS’ “To the Contrary” after speaking at the National Women’s Museum Dinner – and a making of for the 2007 mini-musical “Music of Regret”. Enjoy the new clips!

A couple of new production stills from various 1980s productions have been added to the Image Library, including some rare behind-the-scenes shots and promotional images. Have a look at the latest additions for all new pictures.

Here are some new additions to the archives, some recent documentary appearances as well as blasts from the past. High qualuty captures of Meryl in the 2010 documentary “America: The Story of Us” (with thanks to Tina), captures and video of the remarkable documentary “Faces of America”, tracing the roots of Meryl’s ancestors. Behind the scenes captures of Meryl voicing Mrs. Fox in “The Fantastic Mr. Fox”, captures and video of a special called “Arts & Children: A Success Story” that Meryl hosted in 1996 (again, thanks Tina ;-) and captures of Meryl’s public service announcement for Amnesty International in 1986. The previews below will guide you to each gallery. Enjoy!

With many thanks to Simona, scans from three Italian magazines have been added to the Image Library. The most recent addition is an interview with Grazia magazine (September 2010, try English translation here). Then, two 2009 articles from Tu Style (October) and Marie Claire (August). Thanks very much, Simona! Also, stay tuned for more article additions, inclunding many new scans from the 1970s and 1980s, coming up!

Image Library > Magazine Scans > 2010 > Grazia (Italy, September 2010)
Image Library > Magazine Scans > 2009 > Tu Style (Italy, October 2009)
Image Library > Magazine Scans > 2009 > Marie Claire (Italy, August 2009)

With many thanks to the great Alvaro, combined with a couple of pictures from my personal collection, a variety of rare theatre pictures have been added to the Image Library. Included are some early shots from her years at the Yale Repertory Theater, her performances in A Memory of Two Mondays, The Cherry Orchard, Henry V, and Taken in Marriage, among others. All pictures can be accessed by clicking the previews below. Additionally, the theater pages have been updated with background information and reviews on the plays. Enjoy!

With many thanks to Tina, here comes another great video from the “Directors” series. In this episode (which was apparently shot on the same day as her interview segment on Wes Craven), Meryl talks about Clint Eastwood. Enjoy!

With many thanks to dvdguy2011, here comes another great find from the past. In 1986, Meryl hosted a public service announcement for “Amnesty International”. The clip can be watched in the video archive, a transcript of her speech is below the preview.

All dictators have fantasies that they can suffocate and divide people in their own country. We know that what they’re afraid of most is world opinion and criticism of their tyranny. Your efforts and prayers saved my life. And thanks to your support I can have an opportunity to live as a human being. A letter sent to us at Amnesty International by a released prisoner of conscience, the republic of Korea. Join us, you’ll never forget the first prisoner you free.

August 17 marks the 30th anniversary of Azaria Chamberlain’s disappearance, a case that has taken Australia – its people and its media – by storm and was eventually made into one of Meryl’s 1988’s drama “A Cry in the Dark” – a performance I personally consider her best. In its latest issue, Lindy Chamberlain talks to Woman’s Day, an excerpt can be found online, the whole interview has hit Australian newsstands yesterday.

The red blanket of parched earth is endless, each kilometre stretching out the same as the last. Yet to Lindy Chamberlain, a certain patch stands out like a beacon, even 30 years on. “Stop here,” Lindy says suddenly, causing a convoy of four-wheel-drives to come to an abrupt halt. “It’s over there,” she says without hesitation. All heads turn in the direction of her pointing finger. All that’s visible is yet another dry, dusty patch of desert. But not to Lindy. For her, this is a sacred place, a site redolent with memories both terrifying and touching. This place, she says, is where her baby Azaria’s clothes were found. It’s hard to believe it’s 30 years since a distraught Lindy clambered desperately from a dishevelled tent, screaming into the night, “The dingo’s got my baby”. For Lindy, 62, the horror of that evening and the nightmare that followed burns more intensely than ever. “You can’t turn it off,” says a pensive Lindy, who is returning to The Rock with Woman’s Day to mark the anniversary of the disappearance of her baby daughter. More at Woman’s Day and the Daily Mail.