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Wotever DIY Film Fest 2015 Opening Night Notes
FU377 dir. Neelu Bhuman, UK, 2014, 5:00
Stories of Our Lives dir, Jim Chuchu, Kenya, 2014 62:00
These two amazing films led off the festival and wow did they set a high bar for excellence and relevance. I’m thrilled I got to see them on a big screen, they are both absolutely compelling.
FU37 has wonderful animation and a lively story. I appreciated FU377 especially because it about a daughter and mother- and they are talking about their lives while world events are happening. I am very interested in figuring out ways to reach and politicize white working class people- and this movie is such an inspiration to me about how to be a daughter/filmmaker while staying a funny and beloved part of a community. I loved it.
“Stories Of Our Lives” is the reason to attend film festivals. Kenya is busy banning it, and I am so lucky I had a chance to see this powerful film. From the director Jim Chuchu “Created as part of the NEST Collective, Stories of our Lives is Jim Chuchu’s first feature film – consisting of five black-and-white vignettes: Duet, Run, Ask Me Nicely (Itisha Poa), Each Night I Dream, and Stop Running Away – that document the queer Kenyan experience.”
White people need to see this movie. And need to help get it widely distributed and give money to make more films like this.
After the screening, Tara Brown, a WDIYFF programmer and producer, led an insightful discussion with her guest Chardine Taylor-Stone. Their comments were BSL interpreted.
Tara Brown @tbirdFliesHigh is a queer poly black disabled fat femme cis feminist fangirl forever+ever. She is a director of Wotever DIY Film Festival and is co-runner of & Here Be Dragons (9Worlds) Film Festival.
Chardine Taylor-Stone is a writer, musician and activist. She was the program coordinator for Black British Feminism: Past, Present and Futures 2015 which attempted to trace black feminist legacies into the present and encourage a return to an activist centered movement.
Here is a link to the LondonLive spot they filmed at the opening night.
Thoughts on “1987, Summer”
A quick note on my movie “1987, Summer”
I wrote this movie in the spirit of hopefulness and healing. My collaborators know this- but now “1987” is being seen by people who don’t know anything about me. So I thought (for my own peace of mind) I’d share some thoughts. I didn’t intend this movie to just be a story about when I was young. It is part of my larger project to get working class white people to stop being tools of murderous power systems.
This movie shows where I started. I still struggle to identify and overcome my sexist, racist, classist, anti-immigrant lessons. I want people (like me) to see this and to notice where we still need to work, and how absurd those oppressive beliefs are. I want a social justice movement that includes and welcomes white working class people who can commit to healing. I want a movement that recognizes the misinformation they were taught, that recognizes the potential people have to heal, and can be open-hearted about ourselves and others. And also I’d prefer the movement to be fun and sexy.
White supremacy works because it limits the discussion. It teaches white working class people that if they aren’t saying the N-Word then they aren’t being racist. It leads my family to believe that “there is only so much justice to go around” and that having hard conversations about privilege, and committing to destroying privilege means that WE won’t be able to survive.
“Whether it’s a dystopic projection of curent attitudes or a picture of empowerment and survival, either way it is a reminder that the future belongs to not one voice but to those who dare to imagine the possibilities, despite humanity’s violent present.” – Samantha Power, Vue Weekly
2015 Wotever DIY Film Festival (notes #1)
I want my voice my dissent with joyfulness and creativity. I’ve been richly blessed to be part of transformative creative groups (Holding Our Own, ALLGO, The Austin Project, ASRC, SRLP, artists with whom I’ve collaborated, etc) and I’m thrilled to say that I’ve just returned from a film festival that has deepened my commitment to the arts as a site of resistance and disruption of the (murderous) status quo.
I am convinced that meaningful justice movements are built of individuals and small groups who organize around that which affirms their lives, who then respectfully join up their shared voices/strengths in the service of justice for even the most marginalized among us.
Why am I saying all this? Because the films at the Wotever DIY Film Festival 2015 were all individually strong statements, and when seen as a whole The Film Establishment and more generally, the white suprematist neo-liberal project has MUCH TO FEAR from queer filmmakers.
This weekend I hope to write more about the programs I attended and awe-inspiring people I met.
Wotever DIY FilmFest 2015
Full site with program and info here!
Here are the programs that include my movies:
Thursday, August 20, 2015 at the British Film Institute (yes, you read that right)
“The Wotever DIY Film Festival (WDIYFF) presents a selection of the most memorable low and no-budget queer film from the last three years. Hilarious, tragic, sexy, angry, serious or playful – these diverse shorts reflect a multitude of perspectives from within the LGBTQ community. Celebrating queer creativity, expression and innovation, the WDIYFF proves you don’t need a huge budget to produce a great film.”
The BFI Southbank printed schedule.
I am excited and happily terrified that Kayleigh O’Keefe will be in this program, I admire her so much. In a world where art is more a commodity that a site of public engagement and critique, O’Keefe ‘holds our feet to the fire’ (or wherever she’d like them to be) with brilliant humor. I love her. I hope the BFI is a little afraid of what we might concoct to disrupt “business as usual” at such an important cultural institution.
Saturday, August 22, 2015 1:30pm at the Cinema Museum
Space, Place, DIY: A Three-way Retrospective of Bev Zalcock and Sara Chambers, Val Phoenix and Krissy Mahan
Films and Q&A with filmmakers
“Ideas of community and place have rarely been as pertinent as they are now as we witness the turbo-gentrification of urban areas and rapid loss of queer spaces. In this retrospective, some of our favourite, DIY, lesbian or queer-identified filmmakers explore connections to space, place and time and depict the complex relationship between female or queer bodies and the urban or pastoral environments. In particular, these films embody an ultra-DIY ethic and experimentalism which forms an inspiring example of what can be achieved on little or no budget.”
(I’m not sure which films will be shown but I’m sure Faggotgirl will be scorching the screen at least once…)
Saturday August 22 7:30pm @ Cinema Museum
The Personal is Political
“The Personal is Political is a fact most queers live with every day, especially if facing intersecting oppressions such as race, gender or disability. These films are about a politics that is both individual and universal in how it isolates and unites us. It’s about queer people of all identities finding their own way in the world, whether it’s through dance (Private Dancer, He’s the Greatest Dancer), music (I’m Not Your Inspiration), sexual exploration (Push Me), telling your story (Bedding Andrew) and ultimately through each other; in friendship (MingMong – about coming of age and rejection), family (Guao) and loved ones. These films showcase queer people’s explorations within this.”
“Faggotgirl in Winter” is part of this program, in which Faggotgirl tries to walk down an icy sidewalk and board a bus on cold New York morning.
I hope I get to meet Sandra Alland, Curator / Disability Liason of “Cachin Cachan Cahunga!”
Cachín Cachán Cachunga! is an independent Scottish arts company that produces visual, recorded and live art by intersectional LGBTQ+ people.
CCC is dedicated to producing high-quality artistic works about and by trans*, intersex and queer people – with an added emphasis on people who also identify as migrant, minority ethnic, racialised, people of colour, working class, working poor, Deaf, ill, crip and/or disabled. We mentor and collaborate. We encourage risk-taking and experimentation.
Cachín Cachán Cachunga! is committed to producing accessible arts events for both audiences and artists. We aim to provide level access, Braille, large print, audio description, film subtitling, surtitling, BSL interpretation, and quiet space. We celebrate intersectional identities, and encourage both emerging and established artists from our communities to develop their practice in a safe yet artistically challenging environment.
Sunday August 23 1:30pm @ Cinema Museum
Act Up
My dear friends and apartment-mates, YaliniDream and JenDog Lonewolf, collaborating as DreamWolf, made a video of their performance poem “I Choose Peace.” This is included in this program. I helped with some camera work (on the roof of the building we live in).
Sunday, August 23rd 7:30pm @ Cinema Museum
INTERGEN
“Representing the different stages of queer life, and how generations relate to each other, these films look at what it is to grow up queer, to find your place in the world, to look back with regret, or forward with unexpected opportunity, to experience new adventures whatever your age. From childhood memories of Re(Trace) and teenage musical obsessions of A Melodrama in Four Parts to new beginnings between erstwhile friends (Milkshake & Memories) and the age-old lust of old-age (End of Season Sale), these stories span the time of your life.”
My video (the most ambitious I’ve attempted) “1987, Summer” will be screening in this program.
I am thrilled that I will be showing in this progam with Jac Nunns and Angie West – Looking At You Productions. They’ve been on the film festival circuit this year with their film “Female Masculinity Appreciation Society” and I’m eager to see their new work.
I am proud to write that my movies have been accepted into this festival. I am thrilled that the event is held at The Cinema Museum. This is an accessible space, and the building also functioned as a family shelter for Charlie Chaplin when his family was destitute. I admire his films.
I am also struggling with what is the appropriate response to the week’s events in the USA. I wonder if taking care of my mom and making movies is enough of a moral/ethical use of my time as a white American. Black women’s bodies have always been mutilated by the state and the people protected by the state, and these days no one can deny this historic and current fact (anymore).
Summer 2015 Update
Wow! The summer is heating up and I am so excited about jersey tomatoes, the women’s world cup, positive responses to my movies, and the beach.
Three of my movies have been accepted to be screened at the Wotever DIY Film Fest in London, UK. I’m super excited about that! Also I hear that something i made will also screen at the British Film Institute on August 20, 2015. I hope that my Irish ancestors will be getting a good laugh out of that, along with the audience. I’ll make a separate post about this great festival as the program is finalized, as well post links to the movies. I’m pleased to say that all 3 movies are captioned, and I hope to do a live descriptive narration if they let me– that was such fun last year.
My movie “Summer, 1987” has also been chosen as part of the touring “Gender Reel Festival.” I have been part of that film festival a few years now, I am proud to say. I am happy that the world seems to be understanding the difference between sexuality and gender expression. I think the movies are a great way to help people learn in a non-threatening environment. GenderReel will include a screening in Philadelphia, and at New York University again in the spring.
Now i just need to get a bar in Gloucester City that will let me take over the televisions…
My dear friend Paula Ioanide’s book The Emotional Politics of Racism: How Feelings Trump Facts in an Era of Colorblindness Is available now, and it’s been getting rave reviews. I am blessed that my cover art is part of such an important project.
All this success wouldn’t be possible without the support and nurturing of my mentors, and I remain deeping endebted to all of them. Of note most recently is Theatrical Jazz: Performance, Ase, and the Power of the Present Moment
by Omi Osun Joni L Jones.
Also, Sharon Bridgforth and Omi will be the IDEX Artists-In-Residence this year as well.
So many blessings, so much to be grateful for.
Spring 2015 Update
This year continues to be a litany of vulnerable people being killed by state powers. As a daughter of post-industrial, eastern seaboard Camden, NJ, i have experienced decades of economic neglect and active military occupation of my hometown. I am hopeful that this movement will build toward a more just and joyful world, and will destroy everything that dimishes the life chances of working and poor people everywhere.
In other news, i am playing softball again this summer. My softball glove is older than several of my teammates. I’ve been playing every summer for decades – my father is fond of saying that my “first steps were down the first base line!” 
My teammates are fun, reasonable people who like to play and drink beer. Happily, they already cultivate their sense of self-worth far from the game, so no one gets too upset about losing or mistakes. Yay women’s sports! Yay girls sports! i am always delighted when the girls’ league plays near us. There weren’t organized girls sports where i lived until 8th grade. My first coaches were two Mexican-American women. They remain probably the best players i ever knew, and instilled a pride and a love for the game that is probably one of the reasons i still play. Thank you Pam and Toni, wherever you are.
My artistic endeavors are also bearing spring fruit! The achievement i am most proud of is my new “permanent gallery show” in the bathroom at Gingers Bar in Park Slope, Brooklyn. It was a dream of my to get a a real dyke in there, and i finally did it. Here is what the other walls look like. 
RIP Lexington Club.
Also, RIP Michigan Women’s Music Festival. Although i never attended, it did represent a lot of work by a lot of lesbians. I cant even be bothered to throw a party for a few friends, so i respect how much labor went into it.
Another triumph is that i was asked (unsolicited!) by The New School if my video “…until justice rolls” could be used in their New School curated event to be held at Union Docs on Tuesday, May 5, 2015. I am of course totally flattered, and also a little curious about how they found my little movie, and why it was chosen. Quoting from the event’s program:
STREET
Who deserves to be the voice of New York City? NYC & Co., the city’s official marketitng and tourism organization, has dubbed Taylor Swift its “global welcome ambassador.” These pervasive advertisements cater to an elite consumer and reduce the city and its people to unrecognizable commodities. Is that all we are? STREET uses historical and contemporary films, situated on or below the city’s strets, to complicate the vision of a singularly representable New York City.
STREET is inspired by and responds to the 35th Annual Flaherty Seminar of 1989, programmed by Pearl Bowser and Grant Munro. The program addressed issues of Glasnost and the African Diaspora, and attempted to create a ‘grand narrative’ surrounding those issues. After initially trying to take a similar approach, we realized that imposing a singular definition on any subject is unrealistic. Further, though, and more detrimentally, such an imposition devalues the complexity of our city. With this in mind, we present STREET.
Featured films:
Solo, Piano – NYC (2013) dir. Anthony Sherin
In The Street (1948) dir. Helen Levitt (with James Agee & Janice Loeb)
Mulignans (2015) dir. Shaka King
…Until Justice Rolls (2014) dir. Krissy Mahan
Litefeet (2014) dir. Scott Carthy
And of course, i am busily working on a few new movies for Wotever Film Fest, my favorite event of the year. I really hope to attend August 21-23, 2015, but flights are so expensive.
Thanks for checking in on dykeumentary.
Where Is All My Social Media?
Although i consider myself a private person, this list indicates that i should revisit that idea.
I have a Tumblr blog of food with hats, hands (usually in gloves), shoes and usually whimsical expressions on their faces – as they entice someone to eat them. This Tumblr site also has things that make me happy. It is here
dykeumentary on tumblr
I tweet about Faggotgirl and film and fun at Faggotgirl on Twitter
I tweet about dykes, my life, and things i care about at Dykeumentary on Twitter
I am only on Facebook every now and then. It just aggravates me most days, for a variety of reasons. I do follow my softball team updates there.
Faggotgirl In Winter- first video of 2015
It’s here! The ball is rolling, and Faggorgrl only bowls strikes.
Early 2015 art/video extravaganzas
Howdy!
2015 is still new, but already things are fabulous.
One of my cut-paper works will be used as cover art for Dr. Paula Ioanide’s book coming out this spring. I’m thrilled and honored.
The Emotional Politics of Racism: How Feelings Trump Facts in an Era of Colorblindness
by Dr. Paula Ioanide.
Another amazing thing is that my Faggotgirl video “until justice rolls” will be screened as part of GenderReelNYU February 7, 2015 at 1:45pm.
GenderReelNYU Info here.
This screening would be intimidating, but my video is showing in a program with Pauline Park, a fierce and articulate opponent of Israeli apartheid! I’m hoping to raise awareness of Outside The Frame Fest Queers For Palestine, a festival that opposes Frameline’s pinkwashing. I hope that I’ll be able to show some of my work there, too.