Screen Bandita is extremely excited to announce details of our next venture! 'Reels From Life' is to be a excursion into the world of (previously abandoned) Super 8 film reels and will incorporate a suitably antiquated live Grammophone soundtrack!
Collating a program from Super 8 film reels found in junk shops and dusty attics, Reels from Life intend to celebrate the Super 8 medium in all its folksy and amateur glory. Join us to relive spontaneous moments, family holidays and forgotten episodes!
Date: Thursday May 14th, 2009. Venue: Stills Gallery, Cockburn Street, Edinburgh. (http://www.stills.org) Time: 7.30. (An hour long programme with a short intermission) Entry free.
Screen Bandita has co- curated the film sector of the programme for the Feminist Freeschool Festival that is taking place in Edinburgh between the 17th- 24th April. The festival plans to offer a week of free workshops, discussion spaces, film screenings and music that celebrate and empower women. Details of the other cool events can be found here: www.edifeministfreeschool.wordpress.com
There are three diverse and exciting screenings which are all to be held at the A.C.E Centre in Leith (see link on main page for directions). The screenings aim to show some politically engaged pieces, work by a range of contemporary underground filmmakers as well as a showcase of two pioneering female practitioners: cultural adventurer Maya Deren and shadow animator Lotte Reineger. Most screenings will also incorporate discussions and / or live music.
Here is a sneak preview of the programme :
17th April. Feminist Freeschool presents: two Roma Documentaries. A.C.E/ 8 pm.
Trial of a Child Denied. Michelle Coomber. England/Czech Republic 2008 / 25 Mins.
Through the poignant and unnerving stories of various Roma women, this film explores the controversial practice of forced sterilization that still persists in contemporary Romania.
I Have Dreamt Of Working As A Hairdresser. Lidija Mirkovic. Serbia. 2007 / 85 Mins.
The story of Iva, a young Roma hairdresser from Serbia, who hopes to remain in Germany to make a life for herself and her family but who is> under the constant threat of deportation.
The Angelmakers. Astrid Bussink. Hungary/ Holland. 2005 / 35 mins.
The Angelmakers focuses on the sleepy village of Nagyrev in rural Hungary> and explores the 'arsenic murders' which took place in 1929, when a large> group of women were held responsible for poisoning their husbands with the so-called 'flypaper' method!
Soon after her ‘big break’, Italian actress Nadya Cazan disappeared. Ottica Zero follows Nadya in her search for an alternative way of life outside of the capitalist system.
The Unbearable Whiteness Of Being. Faisel Aziz. Scotland. 2007. 10 mins.
A documentary following two young British Asians trying to set up a distribution chain for their skin - lightening product.
Various. Jack Waters. (ABC NoRio New York) c1990's. 7 mins.
Intelligent, politically engaged video- montage material from this underground, New York queer filmmaker.
Divide and Conquer. Nosheen Khwaja. Scotland. 2009. Approx 10 mins.
An immediate reaction to the most masterful act of racism and propaganda - the Oscars... in 2001 it was black actors sweeping the boards whilst Iraq was invaded and now in 2009 the Indians win while Pakistan is bombed...
Smart image edits to text adapted from the poem "slip of the tongue" written and performed by Adriel Luis.
24th April. Feminist Freeschool presents: experimental film and music. A.C.E/ 8pm.
Maya Deren. Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods Of Haiti. (Footage captured throughout the 1940's and edited in 1981 by Teiji and Cherel Ito) 60 mins.
Maya Deren takes us on a journey into the fascinating world of the Haitian Voudoun religion, whose devotees commune with the cosmic powers through invocation, offerings, song and dance.
Balkan Erotic Epic. Marina Abramovic. 2007.
Performance art legend Marina Abramovic delves into Balkan folklore to create a series of mise-en-scenes that explore the magical and> mysterious folk-law rituals surrounding fertility and virility.
Groundbreaking shadow animation from the 1920s with a live musical> soundtrack. The evening will conclude with Music For One playing solo resonator guitar. (See http://www.musicforone.com for more details).
Keep an eye on our website as details will soon emerge regarding our next events, these include: an evening of newly created Super 8 Films, a documentary programme and further Avant Garde screenings!
The aim of this programme was to draw attention to female directors and practitioners whose work remains relatively undiscovered and obscure, or criminally underrated, either within popular culture or film history and to create a lively space to view and discuss these works.
This Screening profiled Maya Deren and Margaret Tait.
Meshes Of The Afternoon. Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid, 1943 (USA, 15mins)
At Land. Maya Deren, 1944 (USA, 15mins)
A Study In Choreography For Camera. Maya Deren, 1945 (USA, 4mins)
Meditation On Violence. Maya Deren, 1948 (USA, 12mins)
The Very Eye Of The Night. Maya Deren, 1958 (USA, 15mins)
(Short Intermission)
Hugh MacDiarmid, A Portrait. Margaret Tait, 1964. (UK, 9mins)
Aerial. Margaret Tait, 1974 (UK, 4mins)
Portrait Of Ga. Margaret Tait, 1952. (UK, 4mins)
Ask No Questions. Violet Anderson, 1936 (UK, 5mins)
Painted Eightsome. Margaret Tait, 1970 (UK, 6mins)
Colour Poems. Margaret Tait, 1974 (uk, 11mins)
Thanks to A.C.E for hosting the event and the Scottish Screen Archives.
Thanks to everybody who came along to all of our screenings, and for all of the positive feedback!
Screen Bandita Shorts. (In order of screening)
1. La Tuerca / Melissa Martinez.
This is the story of a little girl and a nut. It is also the story of a middle aged woman who has lost all contact with dreams. La Tuerca is about magic, memories and the significance of small things that we sometimes forget when we become adults.
2. My Grandfather and Florchen Gordon / Grace Schwindt.
Says Schwindt: "My work inhabits a space between photography, video, sound and drawing. From there, it discusses experiences that relate to different perspectives. My Grandfather meets Florchen Gordon depicts my experiences as part of the second- generation post Nazi Germany. It discribes in two parts my grandfather meeting a Jewish friend in 1936 in Berlin. The work aims to position history writing as a process that is situated in the present rather than being an unchangeable fact in the past".
3. Apart of me / Alex De Campi.
Alex De Campi makes offbeat, handcrafted music videos which are wildly ambitious in scope yet brought to life on tiny budgets. Apart from me was concieved at 3am in a nightclub as a challenge by musician Stephen Coates (aka The Real Tuesday Weld) to make a complete narrative story for a 90 second song.
4.r1 Reiteration to Resistance / Amanda Egbe.
r1 Reiteration to Resistance is a short experimental video that explores themes of representation and otherness. A hybrid of documentary and performance video, participants used a selection of dynamic texts to comment on racism, sexism and difference. r1 mixes Super 8 footage with extreme close ups to create an unsettling enviroment of gesture and commentary on the state of difference in the world today.
5. A Bad Day / Hlin Davidsdottir.
Hlin Davidsdottir is a small girl from Iceland who graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 2007 with a degree in animation. She is currently working for Ink Animations in Dundee.
6. F to M / Sarah Claudon.
F to M is a video based on the testimony of a female to male transsexual and a reflection on the social, domestic and corporeal aspects of the gender and sexual identity matters. Beyond time and enviroment, transsexualism is not a fashion phenomenon but something that affects people across society/ gender and class.
7.Story of a Bird Woman / Kate MacKay.
Spun from the fragments that build a personal mythology; storybooks, cinema, childhood TV and old family photos. This film is a celebration of the child's imagination that animates all objects. This is the first collaberation between artist Kate MacKay and musician Poppy Ackroyd. Both live and work in Edinburgh.
8.Big Falls / Alexia Dickinson.
Through interviews with first-hand witnesses this film tries to make sense of a case of spirit possession that occured in a school in Belieze, Central America. This film is open-ended, as it does not seek to impose a particular reading of spirit possession. It is an alternative view in that it does not 'show' a trance, rather it 'tells' it.
9. We don't play guitars / Chicks On Speed / Directed by Deborah Schamoni.
Chicks on Speed are (anti) musicians and art terrorists. Their message is: "We may take of our skirts, but we won't put on any pants!" http://www.chicksonspeed.com
10. She Wanted To Be Burn't / Ruth Paxton.
A girl wakes up, into reality, a nightmare? a memory? Terrified at what she may have done, she runs. Ruth's films are bold and powerful and she has a unique way of visualising, stylising and capturing the intimacy and complexity of deeply human tales.
11. Guest / Catalina Niculescu.
Catalina Niculescu works with performance and performance based film, video and photography. Mostly taking place in public spaces. The film Guest depicts a repeated climbing of public fences in an urban enviroment.
12. Wasp / Andrea Arnold.
The Screen Bandita's are delighted to add Andrea Arnold's Oscar winning short to our stellar programme of new talent. Wasp atmospherically presents a day in the life of single mum Zoe. Broke, hungry and alarmingly human, Zoe is asked out by a boy from her past called Dave. What Dave doesn't know is that the four children at her feet are her own. What lengths will Zoe go to in order to hide this truth from Dave, and what repercussions might this have for them all? A tense and wonderfully realised gem.
With special thanks to Andrea Arnold for her permission to show this film.
Sunday 25th May Film Double Bill “Ratcatcher” (Lynne Ramsay, 1998) & “Red Road”(Andrea Arnold, 2005) Venue: The Cameo Cinema, Home Street, Edinburgh. Time: 1:30 pm. Cost: Full price £6.50/ Concessions £4.90.
Tuesday 27th May Ladyfest Shorts Venue: The Cameo Cinema, Home Street, Edinburgh. Time: 7pm. Cost: Full price £6.50/ Concessions £4.90/ Members £4.60.
Screen Bandita New Shorts brings together an eclectic mix of documentary, fiction and experimental works made in the UK and further a field by female directors, fine artists, animators and practitioners; their common link being that film is their creative medium of choice. To this potent mix, we are delighted to add the academy award winning short ‘Wasp’ by Andrea Arnold. All are invited to join the Screen Banditas for an informal post- screening chat in the Cameo Bar!
Sunday 1st June Avant garde film afternoon Venue: The Autonomous Centre of Edinburgh (A.C.E), 17 West Montgomery Place, Edinburgh 0131 557 6242. Time: From 12 noon onwards. Donation welcome.
The Screen Banditas, in conjunction with Ladyfest Edinburgh, invite you attend an afternoon of avant garde short films! This specially curated programme aims to draw attention to the work of female directors and practitioners whose work remains relatively undiscovered and obscure, or criminally underrated, either within popular culture or film history. The Screen Bandita mischief makers set out to readdress this balance and spark off some heated discussions through the screening of, amongst others, the dreamlike meditations of Maya Deren, work by Edinburgh/ Orkadian artist and poet Margaret Tait and even early shorts by some of our favorite current female filmmakers; Lynne Ramsay and Jane Campion.
Come and join us for a thought provoking and visually arresting afternoon of films, discussion, music and refreshments. Remember to keep an eye on the blog as we have further exciting additions to this programme in the pipeline!
"I'm not interested in seeing a film just made by a woman - not unless she is looking for new images.". Agnes Varda.
"If you think about things, you become radicalised" Helke Sander.
Screen Bandita is a new enterprise created in association with Ladyfest Edinburgh to encourage and showcase the endlessly broad spectrum of films made by, about and with women, from both the winding canals of cinema history and in the present world of contemporary practice. The Banditas aim to bring entertainment, celebration and discussion to the fore without the need for neat definitions regarding what it may mean to be ‘a woman in film’, or, for that matter, what it may mean to be a woman in general.
Keep an eye on the blog for details of our events and ways to get involved!
