Category: Arts/Politics

February 2016 Update

Posted on by krissy

Hello all, and I hope you are enjoying this mild winter as much as I am.
Here’s Mom looking badass in 1955.(Click it and it rotates correctly, I don’t know why it is doing this.)
mom
As some of you know, I’ve moved home to take care of my mother as she battles PSP – Progressive Supranuclear Palsy. According to the CDC, this disease is rare. However, in South Jersey, it is so common in older women that almost everyone I talk with has a grandmother or aunt who has/had it. Infuriating and expected, in a post-industrial wasteland poisoned by thorium, mercury, lead and asbestos. Camden will never gentrify because no white middle-class family would move here. It is neurologic birth defect ground zero (I was also born with a neurological abnormality in my brain stem.) Our sister-city-in-murder-rates, Flint, MI is a sorrowful example that poor, Black-majority cities are just allowed to die.

So it is difficult to focus on making movies during this time of intense eldercare. I have been writing screenplays and fiddling around with a remake of “Carol” when I have a few moments to myself. I also signed up for Film Freeway and so have been sending my videos to festivals for consideration. I am most excited for a project about my childhood, when we learned my best friend’s sister was a lesbian.

It has been exciting to see all the action figures of women in the news lately. I am glad that Faggotgirl has some Super Friends. I hope they have superpowers, and are not just to be looked at and dressed up. More later!

Wotever DIY Film Festival 2015 Day 3

Posted on by krissy

I had been looking forward to the program Sunday afternoon featuring Digital Desperados called “The Best of GLITCH” since I heard about their film festival in the spring 2015 and i was so happy that I would get to see some of the films. And because I had the pleasure of spending the afternoon with Nosheen and Cloudberry the day before, I was even more excited to see the fruit of their labor. After the screening, Nosheen and Tara Brown led a discussion about the films and their work.
“Digital Desperados are a Glasgow-based charity which run free filmmaking courses for women (trans welcome) of colour and hold free film screenings of films by/about people of colour. Glitch was their first dedicated 10 day *QTIPoC film festival from the 19th – 28th March 2015 – the first of it’s kind in Europe!
All films were subtitled and all live events were BSL interpreted
*queer(& lgb)/trans /intersex people of colour”

Here is the program:

What I Love ABout Being Queer Dir. Vivek Shraya, Canada, 2012 | 18 mins 23
34 beautiful Queers. One big question.
Drone Dir. Sharlene Bamboat, Canada, 2012, 1:53 min
Drone: a remote controlled aerial vehicle or missile; a monotonous speech.

Drone: a reaction to the current United States government drone attacks in Northern Pakistan. 
Drone examines the shifting nature of the language of war in the redefinition of the terms “civilian” and “casualty.”
The Homecoming: A Short Film About Ajamu Dir. Topher Campbell, UK, 17 min
This film follows and interviews the warm and engaging photographer Ajamu. It highlights the important significance of his skilled photography and his nuanced representation of black, gay men.
Womb Child | Dirs Andra Simons, Joao Trinidade & Coralita Simons, UK & Bermuda, 2015, 3 mins 26
In The Ladies Lounge Dir. Fadia Abboud, Australia, 2007, 12 mins
Two contemporary Lebanese Australian dykes come across an old poster from Beirut in 1926 of two women dressed in suits… Some things may have changed, some things certainly haven’t. *contains brief nudity*
On the Road Again Dir. Azra K, UK, 2013, 9 min 37
A poetic look at movement, sex and the open road and how necessary it is in the filmmaker’s life.
Purging Dir. Nabeela Vega, USA, 2013, 1 min 32
Nabeela Vega uses a split screen to create tension between simultaneous actions as the artist adorns, effects and purges fluid from their body in a ritual of cleansing and sacrifice. The body is referenced and explored as a temple within Indo-islamic traditions.
1000 Cum Shots | Dir. Wayne Yung | Canada | 2003 | 1 min
A fast paced meditation on race and gay pornography.
Ashes | Dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul | Thailand | 2012 | 20mins
Ashes contemplates love, pleasure, and the destruction of memory. The surroundings of everyday life are shared with extreme intimacy. For Apichatpong, Thailand, while full of beauty, is slowly collapsing into darkness.

I recommend you watch “Purging” by Nabeela Vega – I keep seeing it in my mind. Also, that night I would have liked to attend the “Wot Sex II” program curated by Ingo I attended Wotever Sex last year and it was really hot.

Sunday evening, my fanciest video yet – “1987, Summer” screened. I am so proud of it, and I was happy to see it looking pretty good on the big screen (I used my phone to make it, and if I would have preferred to use a real camera, but wotever, I wanted to get it made.) I was also happy that the audience laughed at all the right places. I’m finding that humor is a subtle art, or rather, things I think are HILARIOUS aren’t always what makes people laugh. (See: “My Craxy Boxers“) I was happy that my fabulous hosts, Angie West and Jac Nunns of Looking At You Productions, also had a draft of their new, fun and smart film in this program. For both movies, we were directing people on locations and pushing our work to a more ambitious level of making films.
I was also excited to see the film “A Teenage Melodrama In Four Parts” by Olivia Sparrow. Olivia Sparrow had made the movie “The Very Last Plea From My Heart”, Olivia Sparrow, 2012, UK, 00:06:50 From the BFI screening program notes: “The term ‘Queer’ has enormous scope, encompassing not only LGBTQIA* relationships, but alternatively or non-normatively gendered bodies and different modes of eroticism. In this beautifully shot film, tenderness and longing meet Brutalist architecture as the director explores her love affair with Birmingham Library. Frank and frankly sexy, it fuses the urban space with queer desire and is one of the most compelling and beguiling films we’ve ever shown.”) This film is also one of the most compelling and beguiling films I’ve ever seen.

The last film in the program was set in Tel Aviv, Israel. It had very high production values. The end credits scrolled by so quickly and were so small, that I wasn’t able to read them. It certainly looked like it had some funding, although that might be unfair of me to say, because some films at the program had no funding and were gorgeous. Ok, so I don’t consider myself a Debbie Downer, I like to think of myself as a hopeful, fun and non-judgemental person who supports other artists. So it was with some hesitancy that during the post-screening Q & A that I brought up the cultural boycott of Israel. If i remember correctly, I think I said “I don’t know anything about who made that last film set in Tel Aviv, but I want to say here that I support the cultural boycott of the state of Israel.” The moderator, Stephanie Goldberg, graciously asked me if I would like to say more about that. I said (I think) something about how I reject Israels’ attempts at pinkwashing – the fact is that Israel murders Palestinians, so using the LGBTQIA+ film festivals to promote that Israel is a great/humane/welcoming place, is both creepy and plainly wrong. The festival programmers thanked me for addressing this important issue. I think the festival organizers honestly also don’t know the provenance of this film, and were glad to have the discussion about BDS at the festival.
WDIYFF
In this photo (l-r) Helen Wright of SQIFF and Lock Up Your Daughters, Jac Nuns of Looking At You Productions, krissy mahan, Olivia Sparrow, and Stephanie Goldberg at the Q & A after this Intergen program, August 23, 2015, The Cinema Museum, London.

August 23, 2015 was the last day of the Wotever DIY Film Festival, and I was sad to see it go. I went with Faith Taylor and her ladyfriend to Shoreditch for dinner, then on to Dalston for drinks, and didn’t get home until 4am. (Here’s a video I made a video for her song “Foolish Age.”)

Wotever DIY FIlm Festival 2015 – Day 2

Posted on by krissy

Saturday started with breakfast with (the Danish boi band) New Male Privilege so I knew it would be a good day. I traveled together with my gracious hosts Jac and Angie of Looking at You Productions to the filmmaker’s networking event that they sponsored. I met some great people and had a good lunch before heading downstairs to the smaller theatre at The Cinema Museum, where the program I was in was held.

The event description reads: “22nd August 13.30 Film and Q&A with filmmakers.
Space, Place, DIY: A Three-way Retrospective of Bev Zalcock and Sara Chambers, Val Phoenix and Krissy Mahan
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 was honored that my films got such attention, and preparing for the Q & A made me carefully consider what the heck I am doing with my movies. When I make them, they seem pretty immediate, and this was the first time I presented them as a “body of work” – the 4 films selected (by their programmers) were “Until Justice Rolls,” “The Genesis of Butch & Femme,” “Starlite Stays,” and “Memoir, My Dykeumentary.” I attended the screening dressed as Faggotgirl, and of course had her with me.
My favorite film of the program was Bev Zalcock and Sara Chambers are Barrelstout Productions (formerly Pitbull Productions)’s Dayglo (You Know You Know), shot on Super 8, UK, 2011, 03:00 “Made in memory of Poly Styrene singer & songwriter, once of the punk band X Ray Spex. Poly’s music has always inspired us for its spirit of feminism & liberation; we’re particularly fond of ‘Oh Bondage Up Yours!’ The film’s soundtrack features her biggest hit, and uses an abstract array of vivid colours, some of which are made by painting food dyes on to the film emulsion.” Beautiful and hilarious.
The discussion after the movies was interesting and fun. We filmmakers had great discussion and the audience asked us thoughtful questions. It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be, and i even enjoyed it.

After the program, we went outside and had some beers, and I had the chance to connect with Digital Desperados, who came to London for a screening of their “Best of Glitch” (more on that tomorrow). They are brilliant and friendly and we even went to dinner together before the evening program! I felt really cool.

That evening I attended the program “The Personal Is Political.”
22nd August 19.30 @ Cinema Museum
“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 made her World Premiere in “Faggotgirl In Winter,” and my favorite movie was “Private Dancer -Catwalk” dir. Henri H Hiltunen, Sweden. As soon as I saw it I wanted to watch it again. I also loved “A Rabbit’s Tale,” dir. Rachel Shenton, UK, 2015 4:04 WORLD PREMIERE – and that movie is going to friggin’ Cannes Short Film Festival! Respect. I met Rachel and Becky on Thursday night because their movie “Morgan” was part of the Wotever DIY Film Festival at The British Film Institute on Thursday. After that program, we all went upstairs to catch the performance of New Male Privilege and a group from I think Sweden but I can’t find the name just now.
Angie, Ingo and Naomi from Planet London and I all went out to dinner after the program and had a lovely time.
photo
(In this photo you can see Tanya Wol, Nosheen and Cloudberry of Digital Desperados, the other filmmakers in this program Barrelstout Productions, Val Phoenix and many of the kind people who attended. Thank you!
And here’s a photo from Saturday night, with the discussion led by festival programmer Stephanie Goldberg.
photo-2

Thoughts on “1987, Summer”

Posted on by krissy

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)

Posted on by krissy

WDIYFF at the BFI
WDIYFF at the BFI
WDIYFF at The Cinema Museum
WDIYFF at The Cinema Museum

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.
bfibfi2

Wotever DIY FilmFest 2015

Posted on by krissy

Wotever DIY Film Festival
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

Posted on by krissy

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.
Sharon bridgforth Omi Dr Jones

Spring 2015 Update

Posted on by krissy

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!” dive bar softball 2015
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. IMG_1333 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.

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