I’ll try to keep up with links to reviews about my work at festivals here.
Here’s a good one to start with! GUM – Glasgow University Student Magazine
“My Aunt Mame’ is a short film conducted solely through Fischer-Price toys. Time is woven between various pasts and the present: the present is a woman sitting at her ailing mother’s bedside; the past experiences of growing up queer in the 1970s and 1980s. Mame exists solely in flashbacks as a forgotten lesbian aunt, ostracized from her family for being queer. Each visit marks a different holiday and a different girlfriend to introduce to the family. The film’s playfulness in its composition juxtaposes its seriousness in content, mirroring the director’s experience of caring for a family member while filming the piece.”
Here’s a video review of the Defiant Dykes program at SQIFF LGBTQ Review (UK)
The Women Over 50 Film Festival was held on 14 – 17 September, 2017 at The Sallis Benney Theatre in the University of Brighton, and I was honored to be selected for it. My new movie “My Aunt Mame” (trailer here) screened in the Anchor program on 17 Sept 2017.
The festival had its origins in a screening in 2015, arranged by Nuala O’Sullivan and some friends, who programmed a day of films by/about older women. And now having watched the high quality, fascinating WOFFF’s selections, I am even more perplexed about why movies featuring older women are not very widely seen and celebrated.
I really enjoyed Brighton. My hosts were lovely, the cute city is right on the sea and I had nice weather, and it is a manageable size for walking and being new.
The festivals selections were very excellent. Here are some notes I took.
Saturday noon 16 Sept 2017
Hearts On Fire program
Loved the two animated films, both excellent; “Lying Women” (Deborah Kelly, 2016) and “A Woman Apart” (Mary k. Omelina, 2017), this one was a standout for script and the animation. I’d like to see that be even bigger. “Girls Of A Feather” (Dina And Elsalam, 2016) made me want to visit Alexandria, Egypt, and I liked the slow pace.
Saturday 1:45pm 16 Sept 2017
Power/Balance
“Brand New Day” (Patricia Beckman Wells, 2017) was frigging amazing, and Patricia herself was so friendly and generous with animation advice. See this movie if you can. “Hear Me Now” (Maria Viola Craig, 2017) was about the survivors of the sanatariums for TB, super sad. I’d like to find out more about the supporting the program, that was shown in the “Girls And Glaciers” (Annette Frahm, 2017) documentary.
Saturday 4:45 16 Sept 2017
Conflict
“Get Riel” (Will Barnard, 2017) is a short doc that i hope will be expanded about Elsa Perez, a dancer raised in South Africa, and the apartheid that she overcame. I went to her dance workshop later that night — she still has MOVES at what like 80? “Mary Mother” (Sadam Wahidi, 2016) should be required viewing for everyone, i mean it. The lead actor, Zubaida Sahar, was FIERCE. This film takes you inside not only inside an Afghanistan village, but inside a family and a relationship. In my films I am also trying to disentangle people’s preconceived ideas (often negative) from the bodies of the real live people living in them. This script and story were educational for me. I would like to watch this again if i can somehow.
Saturday 6:30 16 Sept 2017
Resolution
I was a little tired/hungry by this point, so i didn’t see the whole program. I watched “Cherry Colour Buttonholes” (Brenda Miller, 2016). The film only had voices off screen and the visuals were only women’s hands sewing. I so appreciate textiles, sewing and other skills traditionally associated with women’s work. I’m glad to see them celebrated in film.
Sunday 12:00 17 Sept 2017
Anchor
(This is the program where “My Aunt Mame” was included)
The production values and straight-up star power in this program was very high. Well-known older women actors were in three of the eight films. My movie was different then the others, but it was the first time I saw it on the big screen and i thought it looked great. The audience laughed at all the right places, too! What a relief. Everyone was enchanted by “Oor Wally” (Martin Lennon, 2016) about an older woman who has been a soccer team mascot for years. The most important one for me was “MUM” (Meriem Adib, 2016). The film just plops you into a domestic scene with a child, but the mother-figure is a blow up (sex) doll. Right off the bat you start asking questions and feel a little weird and sad. In the three minutes of the film, you really understand that something is very wrong. Turns out this is about austerity cuts to programs that support sex workers. “MUM” is powerful film, AND Merriem Adib, who made it, was so nice to me at the Q & A! She said “When i go to festivals, I always find a gem or two. I really liked your movie.” YAAAAYYYY!!!!
Sunday 1:45 17 Sept 2017
Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll
Another excellent animation! “Espressivo: A Love Song To Coffee” (Deb Ether, 2017) delighted me visually and also made me want to improve my stop-motion range. I was giggling the whole way through.
A good documentary film in this program was “Rebel Menopause” (Adele Tulli, 2014). The subject, Therese Clerc, is fascinating, and the project the film centered on the Baba Yagas in Paris, France, is brilliant. The production quality was high and it made everybody feel inspired.
Sunday 4:45 17 Sept 2017
Home
Holy cow another smart and well-produced animation!!?? “A Short History of Indians in Canada” ((Nancy Beiman, 2017) looked so very good! And the story of Canada’s history with indigenous people is one of genocide, as we know. So to turn that into a compelling animation is a creative puzzle like the ones I try to solve — how to use animation in the service of justice, while knowing the audience might have strongly held opinions on the topics. “The Hide” (Gaynor Macfarlane, 2017) also tackled a loaded subject – current policies on immigration. I like that she used little (if any?) dialogue. The editing was just right, and it tells a strong and good story. I hope this film gets seen in more places. “Days Of Awe” (Rehana Rose, 2012) is a technical triumph and tells an important family story. It was interesting to linger in a person’s living space while just hearing people close to the person (who is not in her apartment) talk to her over recording devices.
Sunday 6:35 17 Sept 2017
Beyond I love Fay Presto! “Fay Presto” (Hanna Aqvilin, 2017) made a 17 minute doc about this groundbreaking magician that was smart and tackled sexism head on. I hadn’t heard about her but now hope to see her tour the US when the tour comes to the USA. OMG i just looked it up and it was LAST WEEK. I’m so disappointed. Dammit. Anyway. “Real Artists” (Cameo Wood, 2017) makes the audience think. It was terrifying and also (embarassingly) gratifying to see a movie about how movies are made. I got to feel smug like “ha ha I don’t care what hollywood or chinese audiences think!” but at the same time I know that this movie could be about any market or group of consumers that want to be fed entertainment.
The awards went to deserving films, and I won a bottle of wine in the raffle.
I am very glad that I went to this festival. I was going to go regardless of if my movie was shown, but considering how strong the program was, I am so glad and proud that my film was included. Well done and THANK YOU, Nuala, Hilary, Pricilla, Helen and Natalie Dr. Patricia McManus
Wow! So i’m not sure if anyone even reads this, but if you know me, you know that i am very happy to just amuse myself by making movies that sometimes even screen at accessible, friendly, feminist and often queer festivals. My first paparazzi photo!
So IMAGINE MY SUPRISE that my movie about my great aunt will be gracing the silver screen across the WORLD, or at least across an ocean. I will add more later, but here’s what i can share so far:
Here are the festivals and dates:
Leeds Queer Film Festival
50 Years of Queer Cinema
Saturday 16th September 2017 at Live Art Bistro
More details coming soon…
Scottish Queer International Film Festival
We are super pleased to announce that SQIFF 2017 will take place 27th September to 1st October in Glasgow. We return with our packed programme of screenings, workshops, discussions, and parties creating community and pushing boundaries in LGBTIQ+ film and art. This year SQIFF will be bigger and better, taking place across 5 days! Our main venue will once again be the CCA with events at other venues around the city.
Look closely at this photo of Faggotgirl heralding a small sign near the exit from the NYC subway. She is heralding it with a Damning ARM DOWN. Say you heard of “The Oculus” at the World Trade Center in New York City, and would like to visit it. NYC is one of the richest building-boom cities on the planet. Surely new memorial buildings with billion-dollar budgets will be fully accessible, right? WRONG.
After traveling godknowshowfar and arriving on the E train at the World Trade Center, this tiny MTA sign (if you can find it, also no announcements or Braille) directs people who don’t use stairs to: Take the E train to 14th street.
Then to “Take Bus Service” whatever that means.
Say you decide to fight through this ABLEIST BULLCRAP AS USUAL, and decide to try again to get back to EXACTLY WHERE YOU ALREADY ARE, just 20 ft higher.
Here are the google directions for this 30 minute journey to get back to the place you were standing:
Take the E (you just got out of) to 14th Street. Proceed east 0.2 miles to 7th Ave
The directions on Google Maps say “walk” which could be insulting to some but let’s continue:
Then find a bus map (lol lol LMFAO) and figure out which bus you’ll need to take to World Trade Center. Board an M20 bus(hopefully the lift is working). Ride the M20 for 21 minutes if there’s no traffic. Exit the bus and proceed 0.4 miles (8 minutes)
And here’s what you’ll find: A high-end MALL. Also, people who don’t use stairs will have a wildly different experience of the space. This is Unexcusable. Universal Design must be mandatory and enforced. Universal Design means that THE WAY YOU MOVE IN THE WORLD DOES NOT MEAN YOU HAVE A BETTER OR WORSE EXPERIENCE OF IT. Period.
Federal ADA standards just say “disabled people” (hate that term) have to be “accommodated.” That is FAR TOO LOW a standard. We need to insist that any public money, and also private money, used to build anything respects all kinds of bodies and techniques for experiencing the world. Let’s make it so.
It is NOT that deep — Accessibility is a design and management issue, for COLLECTIVE SOLUTIONS, not for individual isolation, exclusion or pity.
Dear Krissy,
I’m writing on behalf of Leeds Queer Film Festival to thank you for allowing us to show your film. The festival was a resounding success and we received especially good feedback for the programme this year. We were so pleased to be able to show a very strong selection of films and had some difficult decisions about which films we had to leave out.
You will find attached our laurel, which we hope you can use in promoting your film.
We wish you the best of luck for all your creative endeavours and look forward to receiving submissions from you to future festivals.
Twin Cities Pride and Gender Reel Minnesota present three amazing nights of free film screenings and Q&A’s – 4/5, 4/12 and 4/26. All films will be shown at Sateren Auditorium on the Augsburg College campus in Minneapolis.
4/26/17: Film Shorts.
7:00 PM -8:00 PM — From dating calamities and bathroom mishaps, join us for a fun filled hour of film shorts featuring some of the funniest flicks to premiere at Gender Reel in the past 6 years. Films include: Dating Sucks: A Genderqueer Misadventure (12 min), Crazy Hot (10 min), The Heartbreak of VD (13 min), Cover Up (11 min) and Faggotgirl Gets Busy In the Bathroom (4 min).
8:15 PM to 8:45 PM — Coming Full Circle: The Journey of a Transgender Korean Adoptee (29 min).
HuffPostUK article: It Is Important That People With A Learning Disability Are Seen On Screen And Stage Simply Because We Exist
(from the article linked above) “When I first started acting, I faced a lot of negativity. There was a lot of misconceptions from casting directors that I wouldn’t be able to act a part, or that I would hold up the filming or production schedule because of my disability. They were also worried about how to direct me as they didn’t know how to communicate with me or didn’t think that I would be able to understand what they wanted me to do.”
My movie “Like A Riot” (subtitled) will be leading off the Leeds Queer Film Festival next week. I am super proud to be part of a this festival and appreciate their commitment to accessibility. I was just at the New York Feminist Film Week and so many of us talked about the value of collaboration as filmmakers. It’s so exciting to see curators joining forces, too! Well done. I wish I could be there.
This week I’ve had the pleasure and honor of being included in the New York Feminist Film Week, a festival with a lineup of incredible films and filmmakers. The event is at Anthology Film Archives in NYC.
I am part of: Program 2: BODIES (International Women’s Day Wednesday March 8, 2017 at 6:30.
Joey Carducci (formerly known as Gina Carducci), Nona Faustine, Sasha Just, krissy Mahan, Patricia Silva and Mila Zou
