The Ventura Film Festival, which was started in 2004 by Jordan Older and his father, has recently concluded its first event of 2009 at the Majestic Ventura Theater in Ventura, California with the Ventura Film Festival "Fun Day" on February 16, 2009 at 2pm. The Ventura Film Festival is a combination online and traditional film festival requiring all submissions to be uploaded online and submitted via traditional means. The Ventura Film Festival has maintained that one of it's main goals is to give a large part of any proceeds to forest and ocean preservation efforts. The Ventura Film Festival features independent films from around the world and from local film makers focusing on environmental issues such as forest and ocean preservation, humanitarian issues, surf, skate, extreme/action sports, sports, martial arts, and music films. read more or visit http://venturafilmfestival.org for more details

The 4th annual Carnival of e-Creativity (CeC 2009) is scheduled to be held February 27 to March 1, 2009, in the sylvan spaces of Sattal Estate, just above Bhimtal, near Nainital, in the Lower Kumaon of the new Himalayan Indian state of Uttarakhand.

As always, this will be about Presentations, Performances, Exhibits, Meetings, and Screenings, involving direct and indirect participation of e-Creative Practitioners of all description from around India and the world, spread over 3 days of intense private, and also public, creative interaction.

read more or visit http://www.theaea.org/cec%5Fcac/cec09/ for more details

Organizers :
The Academy of Electronic Arts (The AeA) is a Private Trust that serves as a learning, sharing, mentoring, networking, benchmarking, empowering and broadly inclusive, but non-educational, institution.

Managing Trustee of The AeA & Incident Director for CeC 2009: Shankar Barua

Co-Curator: Ima Pico (Spain)
Co-Curator: Wilfried Agricola de Cologne (Germany)
Co-Curator: Moritz Neumuller (Spain)

SCANZ 2009: Raranga tangata
The Weaving Together of People

Solar Circuit Aotearoa New Zealand (SCANZ) is the interCreate Research Centre's major project, a two week residency for artists, producers, writers, theorists and curators will be held in New Plymouth New Zealand from January 26th to February 8th 2009. Project partners are the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery and Puke Ariki integrated library and museum.

Raranga tangata refers to the weaving together of people, a phrase used to describe the internet and adopted by Sally Jane Norman and Sylvia Nagl in their work. The aim for SCANZ 2009 is to weave an enduring fabric of people and technology, located in this place: Taranaki, Aotearoa New Zealand, Pacific Ocean.

Residency
January 26th–February 8th

Symposium
February 7th–8th

Tim Gruchy is a prolific Australian video art, music & installation artist who has performed since the 1980s. his website has examples & listings of his video works, exhibitions, fashion events, parties, corporate events, theatre & opera works, and academic lectures & courses. http://www.grup.tv

Expanded Cinema is an online platform for experimental film, early video, and sound-based, durational work. All of the material is being curated from available media online, emphasizing an overlooked facet of the archival function of new media. The site has collated videos of Derek Bailey, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Mark Leckey's "Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore (1999)" - a video exploration of subcultures, iconography and dancing with footage from 70s-90s in UK. plus many more. visit http://expandedcinema.blogspot.com for more details

Senthil Kumar posted a video on WADI facebook group called "Arjuna the Archer : AD 2008"

he's also posted it to youtube :
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=h-UPtfEkl_o

there's now a facebook page for Patta Chitra Katha

I wanted to find out more about this artform and technique, so I googled (without much luck, due to googling the wrong things) and asked the Sarai Reader list and received lots of helpful information from many people. after reading about it, it reminds me a bit of an equivalent to multi-media, or even video blogging from a few hundred years ago. multiple paintings / panels on scrolls (equating to video frames?) are read and music played whilst they're read, so there's a mixture of images, music, text, written / spoken word. the artists travel to different villages - equivalent to the communication methods / networks of today transmitting the multimedia messages & works. originally the works were made on cloth using vegetable based paints but these days modern paints are used and most works are done on paper. I hope the traditional methods are not lost completely! the style of painting comes from Orissa, West Bengal & Bangladesh. modern artists use both traditional, classical topics as well as current topics & stories - they are trying out new variations of the art too, to keep the method alive and to learn new techniques & skills.

I made a video for VloMo08 day16 explaining how I found out information about Patta Chitra Katha :

VloMo08 : day16 - Patta Chitra Katha - traditional folk art of storytelling using visual language from kath on Vimeo.

read more for information about this special artform ...

OPEN FRAME is room40's annual festival of sound and media. This year it is being held at Brisbane Powerhouse's Rooftop Terrace over two evenings 2nd-3rd October.

Thursday 2 October 2008
* oren ambarchi
* domenico sciajno
* kim myhr
* antony milton

Friday 3 October 2008
* kk null
* lucky dragons
* birchville cat motel
* spartak

Also the works of experimental film maker Makino Takashi will be screened each night - featuring beautiful soundtracks by Jim O'Rourke
Tickets are available from http://www.brisbanepowerhouse.org/events/view/open-frame-1 or visit http://www.room40.org/events.shtml for more details

Australia's largest festival of experimental electronic arts and culture, "Electrofringe", will burst through the cracks of Newcastle from October 2 – 6, 2008, for its eleventh year as part of "This Is Not Art". More than 100 emerging and established artists from Australia and overseas will take part in 80 events over five days including workshops, gigs, screenings, performance and public intervention.

Electrofringe in 2008 brims with new ventures. These include an artists-in-residence program and a three-week interactive media exhibition. New program gems include a hybrid media/dance performance, an all-girls soldering workshop, a chorus composed for Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones, an audiovisual "love-in", and a chamber recital for robots.

Special international guests include Birchville Cat Motel (NZ), Domenico Sciajno (Italy), xtine (US), The League of Imaginary Scientists (everywhere) and The Green Eyl & Sengewald (Germany). Japan is well represented by elongated harshcore musician Maruosa, noise artists Pig & Machine, and experimental multi-instrumentalist KK NULL.

Electrofringe 2008 features an impressive screening program including award-winning highlights from the Japan Media Arts Festival and SIGGRAPH 2008, surround-sound selections from New York's Harvestworks Digital Media Arts Centre and eclectic works from France’s Arcadi festival. There are also two specially curated screening reels called ElectroEtre and ElectroProjections compiled from open, international call-outs.

Head to: www.electrofringe.net for more details, and see you in Newcastle!

Electrofringe 2008 is directed by Alex White, Elmar Trefz and Somaya Langley.

-- electrofringe & the other festivals as part of This is Not Art are my favourite festivals in the world - very grassroots. Newcastle becomes abuzz with creativity and people at this time of year. I hope you can all check them out this year!

GPS Film is new media artwork from filmmaker Scott Hessels that invents a new way of watching movies based on the viewer's location and movement. Using a GPS-enabled PDA or mobile phone, the audience creates a new type of film experience that reveals the story through their journey. Released as a free, open-source application, the project will premiere on 4 September 2008 along with the first film made specifically for the system, Singaporean filmmaker Kenny Tan's chase comedy "Nine Lives".

The GPS Film application, source code, and "Nine Lives" are available for free download on the project website www.gpsfilm.com. The application allows for a developer to create story spaces of any size. The movies are also interchangeable and easily matched to any place. The software default is currently "Nine Lives"—a prototype film comedy that can unfold in nine directions depending on the viewer's journey around downtown Singapore.

Scott Hessels is an internationally recognised media artist and filmmaker who merges cinema with new technologies to create innovative media experiences. For GPS Film, he collaborated with film and engineering students at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University.

The project uses emerging technologies to bring story into real space; neighborhoods, architecture, and landscapes become part of the cinema experience. Movies can be personalized and localized. Storytelling becomes a physical, viewer-controlled experience; a journey of fiction ties directly to a journey of fact.

A press conference will be held Thursday, 4 September at Kay Ngee Tan Architects Gallery with the artist, filmmakers, and programmers present as well as handheld devices for demonstration. The presentation starts at 2pm, but the device will be available for trial and demonstration till 4pm.

read more for details

OtherFilm, Brisbane Australia based film art collective presents UK artists Guy Sherwin and Lynn Loo's Australian / NZ tour 2008, and from the USA and UK, Ben Russell and Ben Rivers' Australian / NZ tour 2008. read more for details

Like a blast of cinematic conceptual art, film artist Guy Sherwin's hand-crafted films explore the elements of film's grain, tone, flicker, sound, light and space. Beautiful, enigmatic, and sensual, these experimental films question our perception of 'light moving in time.' Together with partner Lynn Loo, Guy creates cinematic environments of incredible purity and beauty. OtherFilm regulars will be familiar with the awesomeness of the London Filmmakers' Co-op, where Guy's filming began.

The Ben's will present visionary cinematic dispatches encompassing stark Cinemascope documentary, jungle surrealism, stroboscopic flicker psychedelia, children in frightening pseudo-tribal headgear, and More! Their shows in Australia include the incredible screening program 'We Can Not Exist In This World Alone' plus Ben Russell's expanded cinema extravaganza. http://www.dimeshow.com/

Black Metal was originally a term that described the music of Venom, so it is only fitting that Cronos, the great forefather of this style, speaks his mind.

Frightening attitudes clash as the truth is sought. Determine what is real and what is mere fabrication with the help of Gorgoroth, Immortal, Darkthrone, Celtic Frost, Gloomy Grim, King Diamond, Dark Funeral, Enslaved, Mortiis, and myriad others who have shaped the music.

Location Mu-Meson Archives, Crn Parramatta Rd & Trafalgar St, Annandale

Time Doors 7.30 for 8pm start

Cost $10 with supper

http://www.mumeson.org

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=21374126302

The Dust Palace is home to Sam Hamilton and Eve Gordon, experimental film and music artists who've performed and been based in Brisbane and Auckland. The site highlights their past and future projects and festival works.

http://www.thedustpalace.co.nz

so I don't forget ... here's the events coming up at Uganda & Sira. I went to Music House today and bought some more Israeli / Jerusalem based music. the guy in the store told me about Uganda and Sira, a couple of places in Jerusalem where you can see / hear live electronic & experimental music.

Uganda myspace page

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Sira events :

Tending Networks: The 5th Aotearoa Digital Arts Symposium will address new developments, connections, and opportunities in digital, new media and electronic art practice in New Zealand and internationally.

The symposium will feature presentations by major international artists Young Hae Chang Heavy Industries of Korea, and Adam Hyde, a New Zealander based in Amsterdam. A wide range of artists and researchers from Christchurch and around New Zealand will present current projects, and panel discussions will focus on the creation of new work, including the role of community networks, the value of collaboration, and the challenges posed by exhibiting digital art.

** NEW THURSDAY CLUBS: CHANGES and UPDATES **

Supported by the Goldsmiths DIGITAL STUDIOS and the Goldsmiths GRADUATE
SCHOOL

6pm until 8pm, Seminar Rooms at Ben Pimlott Building (Ground Floor,
right), Goldsmiths, University of London, New Cross, SE14 6NW

FREE, ALL ARE WELCOME

** PLEASE NOTE THAT THE DATE FOR ELENA COLOGNI'S CLUB SESSION HAS BEEN
CHANGED FROM THE 28th of FEBRUARY TO THE 6th of MARCH **

--

*28 FEBRUARY with RAYMOND HARMON
:
Painting in Light: Experimental Film and the Advent of Improvisational
Cinema*

The traditional model for cinematic expression is as a controlled
environment moving forward in a linear direction. From its inception the
art of filmmaking has been dominated by a single form of chronological
development. Each film exists as a series of frames that are static at the
start of the film.

Improvisation, a language largely defined within the practice of music, is

Watch the video

I saw "South Coast" a documentary about Brighton (UK)'s hip hop community by Will Jewell last saturday night at the Jerusalem Cinematheque as part of the British Film Festival. I thought the film was a great balance of original roots of hip hop, respecting the US origins, whilst highlighting the original crews from the local Brighton community and featuring some of the up & coming artists also. a great snap shot into Brighton hip hop. it feels similar to Australian hip hop in some ways.

I wrote some names during the film so I could find out about them later. (hard to read my writing so hopefully I have these right!)

- poets vs MC night / battle
- young joe
- koaste - great beats and words about local issues / life
- cassiah (?) and danny - the park scene in the film
- deliverance
- brighton graf jam
- monkey sons
- remark
- slip jam - regular venue for around 5.5 years
- mc jam
- buzz
- brighton hip hop festival
- req 1

from what I can gather, their community is really healthy. they seem to have a few crews / people who are organising regular gigs & festivals. having a regular venue helps build a community I think, so they're lucky in that regard. and it seemed like a friendlier atmosphere as compared to london - people in the film commented on this as well. more laid back / beach town and being a smaller city I suppose.

after the film I asked Will if he could say something to the Australians as I'd upload it to show some of them so there's a message from him (the director) at the end.

there's a couple of minutes of the film shot whilst viewing it - sorry about the quality & fact this is pirated. there's hebrew subtitles overlayed.

mp4 video file : http://blip.tv/file/get/AliaK-SouthCoastBrightonUKHipHopDocumentaryByWil...

flash video file : http://blip.tv/file/get/AliaK-SouthCoastBrightonUKHipHopDocumentaryByWil...

or the blip post to play in a webpage : http://blip.tv/file/622825

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http://southcoastthemovie.co.uk is the film's website - they have videos/articles etc there.

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I recorded the directors talk after the film also - sorry about the audio quality - this is recorded on my phone camera. I recorded video but the zoom/quality is pretty bad so I just extracted the audio.

http://blip.tv/file/get/AliaK-WillJewellDirectorsTalkAfterSouthCoastShow...
or to play in a webpage : http://blip.tv/file/622851

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19/08/2008

Jerusalem Cinematheque - British Film Festival screening of Will Jewell's documentary on Brighton (UK) hip hop community - South Coast

News and events from ANDREW LEAVOLD of Trash Video, Vulture St West End - _the_ place to buy / access all those hard to get cult films. read more to find out the newest trash video finds, what's coming up on the Bris 31 tv show SCHLOCK TREATMENT: Drive-In Double and Triple Features, recommended film events not to miss and more. read more or visit www.trashvideo.com.au for details

The Other Film Festival is on again this November 16th - 24th in Brisbane, Australia. Illuminating the Process - the OFF workshops are happening this week, and include : Lightstruck - A workshop for moving photogram creations delivered by Kerry Laitala (San Francisco). Pull the Trigger! - Shooting and developing Super8 today delivered by Richard Tuohy (Nano Lab). An Artist Talk with Kerry Laitala. read more for details or visit the website @ http://www.otherfilm.org

Exclusive to Brisbane, Australia's first major Andy Warhol retrospective brings together more than 300 works spanning all areas of his practice from the 1950s until his death in 1987 — paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures, photographs, films, videos and installations.

One of the most influential and important artists of the late twentieth century and the figurehead of Pop art, Andy Warhol created some of the most recognisable images of modern culture. The exhibition includes his important 'Death in America' works; iconic images of Marilyn Monroe, Jackie Onassis, Mao Zedong and Elvis Presley; and his Campbell's soup cans. The exhibition will show for the first time in Australia Warhol's early commercial work, Interview magazine as well as his late monumental paintings. 'Andy Warhol' will also investigate how the artist represented himself through his art practice, including his Self-Portrait paintings, Time Capsules, drawings, films and videos.

In addition to works from The Andy Warhol Museum, the exhibition includes loans from the National Gallery of Australia; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo; the National Gallery of Victoria; and private collections.

The Australian Cinémathèque will present one of the largest and most complete surveys of Andy Warhol's film work to date. This major program of 53 films and 279 Screen Tests from the Museum of Modern Art, New York, includes many never before seen in Australia. Programs of documentaries, American independent cinema, and films for children will also be screened. Selected film and video works will also be shown within the exhibition. Screening details to be announced.

http://www.qag.qld.gov.au/exhibitions/coming_soon/andy_warhol for more details
(info via QAG website)

for more information on Andy Warhol, visit the http://www.warholstars.org/ website

Delhi Film Archive is a space that supports the freedom of expression and fearless listening. It is an archive of documentaries, short films, images and all other material that stimulate a collective response to censorship and the control of ideas. DFA is the Delhi chapter of Films For Freedom, an all India collective of filmmakers that emerged in 2003 to protest against censorship at the Mumbai International Film Festival and in different public spaces across India.

tonight I saw a documentary called "Recognized" at the Jerusalem Cinematheque by director Ori Kleiner which shows some bedouins who live in the Negev desert & have been displaced by the Israeli government and who have had their homes demolished and property confiscated. I'm afraid I still don't really know why. the film mentioned the people were not counted as Israeli citizens, despite them and their ancestors being born in Israel and having lived in the region for longer than the State of Israel has existed. and also that in some cases the land has been claimed by the military and national parks.

it's a good film to see though as I wasn't aware this was happening. to be honest, some of what was mentioned reminded me of India and it's relocation of villages (though some people I've spoken to say this doesn't exist, despite me seeing video footage, photos and reports via the Sarai i-fellows of it occurring)

the film mentions support from Regional Council of the Unrecognized Villages in the Negev - http://www.idealist.org/en/org/160469-22 has some information

dukium.org has some info - time to read up on this..

links page on dukium.org : http://dukium.org/modules.php?name=RefLinks

some other work by the director Ori Kleiner can be found @ :

http://www.holyfly.com/POA/
http://www.wac.ucla.edu/extensionsjournal/v2/kleiner.htm
http://www.oznik.com/art/040613.html

the film blurb :

Recognized
A documentary film by Ori Kleiner
Israel/USA 2007
61min
Hebrew and Arabic w/English subtitles
Additional Camera: Natasha Dudinski
Original Music and Sound Editing: Grundik Kasyansky

"Bedouin usually appear in the Israeli collective consciousness as
either "ethnographic" or "demographic"issues. Their representation by
means of various objects—coffee, camels, tents, carpets—keeps most
Israelis from grasping Bedouin as subjects with wishes and wills,
frustrations and fears; as possessing not only a past, but also a
future. The film Recognized is made up of documentary moments that
trace the uprooted experiences of Nuri al-Ukbi, Salman Abu Jlidan, Eid
Al-Athamin, Ibrahim Abu Afash, and Samaher Abu Jlidan whom history has
cast in the roles of protagonists antagonized by a State that
established itself up on their ancestral lands. Recognized is not a
film about Bedouin, but about people forced into the role of
Bedouin—the only identity theState of Israel allows them, the very
identity it systematically denies them. Substandard citizenship,
coupled with daily existential obstacles posed by the State, are what
this film is about. Recognized was filmed entirely on
location in the Negev desert in the summer of 2006. "

Drishti Media are a group of media professionals working on issues of gender justice, human rights and development. They use video, theatre, radio, other media and the arts to contribute to struggles for a just, humane and peaceful society.

The second edition of the Streaming Festival ended on the 28th of October 2007.

The festival broadcasted four programs; documentary, fiction, animation and art plus three special programs.
Composed by the KAN festival was a special program presenting a select number of films including films from Agnieszka Smoczynska, Anna Maszczynska and Anna Pankiewicz.

CultureTV brought a special program with selected international video art works. Including works from Pipilotti Rist, Grimanesa Amoros, Gaelle Denis and Bathtime in Clerkenwell by Alex Budovsky.
Visit : www.culturetv.tv

Isfth broadcasted in a special program films from James Harvey, The City of Photographers by Sebastian Moreno and four recent works from Dré Didderiëns www dredidderiens nl. This program was curated by Mak Kapetanovic.

We screened 18 hours of independent films from more than 100 filmmakers from over 20 different countries. The Festival was proud to present these films and their makers to you.

gps data - sound walk @ Other Film Festival

http://otherfilm.org

24 March 2006

Brisbane, Australia

more photos @ http://flickr.com/photos/aliak_com/tags/otherfilmfestival/

The screening of the documentary film, The Last Valley will take place at the Capitol Theatre Melbourne, 113 Swanston St (Opposite Melbourne Town Hall) on Tuesday 14th November 2006 from 8pm. This is the only opportunity to see the film prior to the Victorian state election. ABC have yet to announce a screening date.

The film is about the collapse of the East Gippsland logging industry after 50 years of unsustainable logging and the consequences of that for the local communities and environment. The film includes the controversial attempt by the Victorian government to log the iconic Goolengook valley.

http://www.waitawhilefilms.com.au