Friday 10 December 2010

european alternative press fair

from my inbox...

The European Alternative Press Fair – Friday 27 May 2011 to Sunday 29 May 2011

Thank you for everyone who took part in last week's Alternative Press Fair, all the people who attended, who exhibited, who put on workshops and demonstrations, who helped promote and facilitate... in short to all who were part of a lovely day.

But wait..... You are all cordially invited to The European Alternative Press Fair! Starting on Friday 27th May 2011, continuing the next 2 days with a Fair at the Conway Hall in Holborn, London, with stalls, workshops, talks, etc. It's going to have artists from abroad showing the work they're doing over there, and they can see what we do over here! We'll be sending out details of table prices and so on soon, but at this stage we'd like to ask you to join in, to get in contact and help create the event.

As well as the 3 days we'll be running, for which we'll be looking for ideas or offers for running workshops and so forth, we would like to encourage others to put on their own events around the time, maybe gallery shows, music, etc., etc., so that both the European Artists and us will have a bunch of stuff to go to and enjoy, help promote each other, and put self-publishing on the map!

So come along and get involved and help try to put something good on for next May.

Email: jimigherkin@yahoo.co.uk or peterally@gmail.com

queer modes of belonging reading group‏

Interrogating Queer Modes of Belonging
A Manchester Queer Reading Group Series

In collaboration with Race Revolt ‘zine

6pm Mondays January 17th, 31st & February 14th 2011
LGBT Community Centre, 49-51 Sidney Street, Manchester, Behind 8th Day Co-op/opposite All Saints Park.

Culminating in an all-day workshop; with various discussions, Jin Haritaworn in conversation with Adi Kuntsman, and Q&A 12-7pm, Friday February 25th 2011, Manchester
Check http://racerevolt.org.uk/events/home.html for updates

This reading series considers texts that address the ways in which gay rights are being used in nationalist, anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric by racist organisations such as the English Defence League, politicians like Geert Wilders and even increasingly by gay activists.
Is it possible to show solidarity without patronising LGBTQI struggles elsewhere? How do we resist justifications for war on the basis of appeals to women’s and queer rights? Is secularism compulsory for LGBTQI people, and what does this mean for those who profess a faith? Does the focus on legal rights such as joining the army or gay marriage represent your idea of liberation?

All welcome, refreshments provided.

Let us know you’re coming and access readings by sending an email to manchesterreading@racerevolt.org.uk

Find a group near you or tell your friends!

As well as Manchester, the series is running in the following cities:
Brighton (brightonreading@racerevolt.org.uk),
Bristol (bristolreading@racerevolt.org.uk),
Coventry (coventryreading@racerevolt.org.uk),
Lancaster (lancasterreading@racerevolt.org.uk),
Leeds (leedsreading@racerevolt.org.uk)
London (londonreading@racerevolt.org.uk).

Email for details of dates and venues.

Tuesday 7 December 2010

sounds of

Bildwechsel Glasgow presents: 'Sounds Of...'

16 December · 19:00 - 20:30

At: CCA, 350 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow
http://www.cca-glasgow.com/

A short-film programme of feminist, lesbian and queer music- and sound-related videos from the bildwechsel archives. Crossing genres, times and places, the programme is both a subjective selection of favourites and a look at the different techniques, themes and aesthetics of the times in which they were made (1979 – 2010).

More info

FREE

Full programme coming soon

Sunday 5 December 2010

aorta funding drive via indiegogo

Aorta Magazine need to raise $3,500 to directly fund the printing costs for our upcoming 4th issue, and have set up a IndieGoGo page which is accepting (tax deductable) funding donations - all donations empower Aorta to keep recording queer art history.

The page is up at: www.indiegogo.com/Aorta-Magazine and there's all sorts of perks and incentives for those donating!

G. B. Jones at Lexander in Los Angeles December 13th

The quite amazing G. B. Jones just emailed me to tell me about her amazing looking show in LA. Again, why am I this side of the Ocean?!?...


PAST PRESENT FUTURE G. B. JONES
1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s

OPENING DECEMBER 13 2010 / 6-9PM

Lexander is proud to present, for the first time anywhere in the world, the most comprehensive exhibition of the work of G. B. Jones, spanning over three decades of representational resistance. The opening reception will be held on December 13th from 6 to 9PM.

G. B. Jones is a multitalented artist working in the areas of drawing, design, film, music, and publishing. She has been producing drawings since 1985 and her work has been extensively exhibited in both group and solo exhibitions throughout both North and South America, Europe, and Australia. Her work has previously been featured in group exhibitions in Los Angeles at Stuart Regen Gallery in 1992 and at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE) in the 1990s and 2000s.

The current exhibition includes selections from a number of series of her drawings, including the Tom Girls (1985-2002), Crash (2003-2004), Symbols (2004-2007), and Excesses and Extremes (2007). The full series of drawings from Fonthill Abbey (2005), The Farm (2005), and Tribute to Felicien Rops (2005) are being exhibited. The current exhibition also marks the debut presentation of the Svastia series, which explores new territory in drawings such as That Dark in September and Monotheism.

LEXANDER 215 W 6TH ST UNIT 113 LOS ANGELES CA 90014

For more information, visit the gallery website at www.lexander.co.

Saturday 4 December 2010

Jane Arden Season at the Star & Shadow Cinema, Newcastle, UK

From my inbox, from the wonderful Charlotte Procter (season programmer of the following):


* JANE ARDEN SEASON AT THE STAR AND SHADOW CINEMA * 8TH- 16TH DECEMBER 2010
www.janeardenproject.blogspot.com


Jane Arden (1927- 1982) was a film director, actor, screenwriter, playwright, songwriter and poet. Her films are seldom seen, but her relevance in the history of Feminist cinema and British culture has received renewed interest.

At the Star & Shadow Cinema, we bring you three of her feature films and a rare short. This is a viewing opportunity not to be missed! This program is a continuation of the effort of the Jane Arden Project with the purpose that these works of art gain the greater recognition they deserve.




Wednesday 8th December, 7.30pmSeparation(Directed by Jack Bond, 1967, 89 mins)Scripted by and starring Jane Arden, Separation portrays the fragile complexity of its protagonist during a marital breakdown, through fragmented scenes, experimental, fragmented sequences. Set against the backdrop of 'swinging' 60s London. The soundtrack is by Procul Harum and light shows by artist Mark Boyle.

Sunday 12th December, 7.30pmThe Other Side of Underneath(Directed by Jane Arden, 1972, 106 mins)Jane Arden's violent and powerful film is an exploration into the mind of a woman labeled schizophrenic, whilst challenging the taboos of society. It is the only British feature film of the 1970s with a solo female direction credit and features a soundtrack by cellist Sally Pullinger.

Thursday 16th December, 7.30pmVibration + Anti-Clock(Directed by Jane Arden & Jack Bond, 1975 & 1979, 36mins & 92mins)Vibration is "an exercise in meditation utilising experimental film and video techniques" (Geoff Brown & Robert Murphy) “A complex and fascinating experimental exploration of time and identity. Anti-Clock is a film of authentic, startling originality. Filled with high tension and high intelligence, Anti-Clock is mysterious, disturbing, fascinating and exciting.” (Jack Kroll, Newsweek)

The Star And Shadow Cinema CIC, Stepney Bank
Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 2NP
info@starandshadow.org.uk
http://www.starandshadow.org.uk/on/season/83

Doors open at 7pm and the films start at 7.30pm on the dot. Please note that there are no adverts or trailers before the screenings.
Entry for all films is £4/£3 concessions, unless otherwise stated. Everyone who comes to the Star and Shadow must become a member: this is only £1 for the calendar year. The Star and Shadow will not turn anyone away through a lack of funds and entry for Asylum Seekers is free.
The Star and Shadow is run entirely by volunteer members, with all members having a say in what we do and how we do it.

///////////////////


A LITTLE MORE ABOUT JANE ARDEN
In the late 1940s, after studying at RADA, Arden’s career started to form as she began to play parts on television and in London theatres. As the 1950s progressed, Arden concentrated on writing for stage and television, working with some of the key figures of British theatre and cinema such as Sheila Allen, Joan Simms, Jack Bond, David de Keyser, Alan Bates, Victor Spinetti, Albert Finney, Charles Laughton, Harold Pinter, and Philip Saville (whom she married).
In the 1960s her work became increasingly radical as her interest and involvement in feminism and the anti-psychiatry movement grew. This is particularly evident from 1965 onwards, when Jane began tracing female oppression and wrote a script for the BBC drama 'The Logic Game'. It was described as a "surrealist puzzle" which attempted to locate the isolation of women in the context of a bourgeois marriage.
Arden’s cinematic career begins with her original script and her performance in Separation (1967), which was directed by Arden’s collaborator Jack Bond.
In 1969 she produced the play Vagina Rex and the Gas Oven, which ran to a packed house for six weeks at Arts Lab in London. From this she formed the radical feminist theatre group Holocaust and then wrote the play A New Communion for Freaks Prophets and Witches, which was to become the film The Other Side of the Underneath. The film premiered at the London Film Festival in 1972.
In the early 1970s Jane spent time in Morocco. Upon her return she made two more films, both co-directed with Jack Bond, the experimental Vibration in 1974, and Anti-Clock, which opened the 1979 London Film Festival. Both films incorporated experimental video techniques, Arden's vision was seminal in creating the 'multi-channel' film art form.

Arden died in 1982 and, after an initial tribute at the National Film Theatre in 1983, the films were suppressed; her name consequently fading from the public realm. After nearly three decades, in 2009, the BFI re-released Separation (1967), The Other Side of the Underneath (1972) and Anti-Clock (1979), creating a previously unavailable platform for a new generation to see her work.
However, the depth and social relevance of this work commands that Arden’s output receive greater recognition and award her deserved status amongst her contemporaries.

call for submissions: London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival 2011‏

from my inbox...

Please forward...

It is that time of year again...

Submissions are open for the 25th London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival! Link to form below. The festival will take place 31st March - 6th April. Please get work to us before Christmas.

http://www.bfi.org.uk/llgff/news/430

As many of you will have heard by now, the festival is sadly only a week long next year due to funding cuts. But this does mean more fun packed into one week, half the hangovers and no time to get festival flu... so that's not so bad. Of course this also means there are less screening slots so please please get your work in as soon as possible.

As ever please mark feminist, activist, music related and POC work for my attention - I would really like at least one film involving a labrys this year if at all possible please!

Hope you are all warm, well and safe.

x Naz

PS please note that I have moved so if you have sent films to me at home in the past I won't get them in time as my post is being redirected to Wales. Please send to;

Nazmia Jamal, LLGFF, Festivals Office, BFI Southbank, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XT.