The North of Nowhere (NoN) Expo:
A Multidisciplinary Festival of
Independent Media & Underground Art
Sept. 16-30, 2007

PRE-FESTIVAL SCREENINGS:



SEPT. 11 @ 7PM
@ Metro Cinema (Main Floor, Zeidler Hall, Citadel Theatre) 9828 101A Ave.
911 Press for Truth
Ray Nowosielski and John Duffy
(USA, 2006)

http://www.metrocinema.org/film_view?FILM_ID=1285

"We felt the country was at risk from terrorists and from incompetence… and maybe worse."
- Lorie Van Auken, September 11th Widow

Following the attacks of September 11th, a small group of grieving families waged a tenacious battle against those who sought to bury the truth about the event-including, to their amazement, President Bush. In '9/11 PRESS FOR TRUTH', six of them, including three of the famous "Jersey Girls", tell for the first time the powerful story of how they took on the greatest powers in Washington-and won!-compelling an investigation, only to subsequently watch the 9/11 Commission fail in answering most of their questions.

Adapting Paul Thompson's definitive Complete 9/11 Timeline (published by HarperCollins as 'The Terror Timeline'), the filmmakers collaborate with documentary veterans Globalvision ('WMD: Weapons of Mass Deception', 'Beyond JFK') to stitch together rare overlooked news clips, buried stories, and government press conferences, revealing a pattern of official lies, deception and spin. As a result, a very different picture of 9/11 emerges, one that raises new and more pressing questions.

What actions were taken by top government officials who received dozens of specific warnings before the attack? Was Osama Bin Laden and his top al Qaeda leadership allowed to escape U.S. forces in Afghanistan? And what has been the reason for the deliberate obscuring of evidence for state sponsorship? Perhaps the most important one of all: Why, five years later, are so many of the families' questions still unanswered?

This film screening is a partnership between the NoN Expo and Global Visions Film Festival (Nov. 1-4, 2007). Check 'em out at: www.globalvisionsfestival.com

SEPT. 11 @ 9PM
@ Metro Cinema (Main Floor, Zeidler Hall, Citadel Theatre) 9828 101A Ave.
911 Loose Change (2nd Edition)
Dylan Avery and Korey Rowe
(USA, 2005, 82 min)
http://www.metrocinema.org/film_view?FILM_ID=1286

The central premise of Loose Change is that the United States Government was, at the very least, criminally negligent in allowing the attacks of September 11th, 2001 to occur. However, when one looks deeper into the evidence, one might come to the startling conclusion that our own government might have been directly responsible for the attacks themselves.

Loose Change merely scratches the surface of information that points to a massive government cover-up regarding 9/11. We highly encourage you to take it upon yourself to research the events of 9/11 for yourself and come to your own conclusions.

This film was the brainchild of 23-year-old emerging filmmaker Dylan Avery, which in only a few short years has garnered over 6 million hits to the website, and since been viewed by untold millions more around the world. The 2nd Edition replaces the original's opening sequence with a timeline of events leading up to 9/11/2001, and elaborates more on certain topics.

* Loose Change 2nd Edition contains unlicensed footage including, without limitation, copyrighted footage owned by FOX, CNN, NBC, CSPAN and Camera Planet, as well as Gedeon and Jules Naudet and James Hanlon, directors of the documentary film entitled "9/11 - The Filmmakers' Commemorative Edition." The views expressed in Loose Change may not represent the views of the copyright owners or the individuals featured in such footage. With respect to the Naudet brothers and Mr. Hanlon, out of sensitivity to and respect for the victims' families, they have consistently refused to license any of their footage (with the sole exception of footage of the first plane striking Tower 1, which is thought to be the only footage of this event) to anyone for any purpose, regardless of the point of view expressed in any resulting film, program or other commentary. The Naudet brothers, Mr. Hanlon, the firefighters they interviewed for their film and Paramount (which distributes the Naudet/Hanlon film) do not endorse or support the views expressed in Loose Change.

This film screening is a partnership between the NoN Expo and Global Visions Film Festival (Nov. 1-4, 2007). Check 'em out at: www.globalvisionsfestival.com

DATES & LOCATIONS TBA
(Various Outdoor Projections)
Nothing to Fear But Fear Itself
Ivan Martinez
(USA, 2006, Varied Run Times)
http://www.martinezivan.com

Ivan received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Florida State University, where he began experimenting with the concept of public art conveying socially conscious ideas-basic subversions such as stickering, posters, and stencil graffiti-until he rented billboard space on a busy street in the vicinity of government buildings and truly realized the power of public art. His billboard installation was scheduled a few weeks after the Iraqi invasion, and within hours of hanging his anti-war imagery, the billboard was removed. Considering the attention that action received, Ivan knew public art interventions had to advance. Since returning to Miami he's experimented with outdoor mechanical sculptures, interventions on the street, and now projections and video. Nothing to Fear inspires people to think about poverty and class war in a post-9/11 world…

FESTIVAL SCREENINGS (SEPT. 16-30):




SEPT. 17 @ 2:30PM
* PLEASE NOTE Change of Location: Now at Humanities #1-7, University of Alberta Campus!
All About Darfur
Producer/Director: Taghreed Elsanhouri
(Sudan and United Kingdom, 2005, 82 min)
Arabic and English with English subtitles

http://www.allaboutdarfur.org/

* THIS PRESENTATION IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE SEPT. 16 GLOBAL DAY FOR DARFUR CAMPAIGN - SEE: www.globefordarfur.org and www.savedarfur.org
SIGN PETITION HERE: www.globefordarfur.org/act_now/index.php
and http://www.avaaz.org/en/darfur

THIS JUST IN! DIE-IN FOR DARFUR AT 12:30PM: Prior to the Film Screening, there will be a Die-In for Darfur held at the University of Alberta Quad (the field between Student's Union Building and Central Academic Building). For more info visit the STAND Canada website (www.standcanada.org), or email: uofa@standcanada.org.

A Sudanese immigrant to the UK returns to her homeland to understand why the seemingly racially harmonious country of her memories has become the scene of one of the worst instances of ethnic cleansing in recent history. What she discovers is that race may be too crude a concept to understand the crisis of Darfur.

Director Taghreed Elsanhouri says that she made this film "out of a passionate belief that I was uniquely qualified to tell a story of race because as a northerner in Sudan I know what it is to belong to a dominant group and as a black woman in Britain living with racism I know what it must be like to live marginalized as a minority in Sudan. It is this double consciousness that informs my story." She returns to Sudan, having emigrated to Britain as a child, to see how the seemingly racially harmonious country of her memories could have become the scene of not one but two of the worst instances of ethnic cleansing in recent African history.

Up until now the perilous situation in Sudan has been seen only from outside the country. All About Darfur offers an opportunity to hear it explained by eloquent, diverse even contradictory voices from within Sudan. The director talks to ordinary Sudanese in outdoor tea shops, markets, refugee camps and living rooms about how deeply rooted prejudices could suddenly burst into a wild fire of ethnic violence. She asks how only two months after peace accords were signed ending a twenty year long civil war between the Christian and animist South and an aggressive Islamic regime in the North, war broke out between the ethnic groups in the West, or Darfur, and the government in Khartoum.

At an elementary school the director hears repeated the lessons she learned about Sudan's creation as a nation state. It was originally a collection of small warring fiefdoms or tribes which were only unified in 1825 by the invasion of the Ottoman Turks eager for a new source of slaves and gold. Elsanhouri's family in fact were North African merchants who emigrated with the Turks and intermarried into the Arab Dangle tribe. Sudan assumed its present boundaries as the largest country in Africa when the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium took possession of it towards the end of the century. As a consequence, a unified Sudanese cultural and political identity never had a chance to emerge. One professor interviewed suggests that the Sudanese might form a multicultural state like Switzerland but there seems little possibility for such a compromise among the distrustful potential partners of such a confederation.

All About Darfur demonstrates how race is a floating signifier changing its meaning from context to context. For example, people from the north of the Sudan are regarded as Arabs in Sudan; in Egypt they would be seen as Africans; in Tanzania as Arabs. "Race" effects status in Sudanese society. Television features almost exclusively Arab stars and Arab story lines; government jobs are channeled primarily to Arabs who also form the officer corps in the army.

When Elsanhouri reaches Leaser, the hub of the Darfur region, she realizes that race may be too crude a concept for understanding the genocide there. The Western tribes rebelled over decades of cultural exclusion not only race or religion. The government's decision to fight a war by proxy by arming the Janjaweed militias, nomadic bandits hungry for the land of farmers in Darfur, is universally deplored. This tipped the delicate balance and started the ethnic cleansing of Darfur. The Janjaweed raided and drove hundreds of thousands of once prosperous farmers into arid refugee camps like the mammoth one at Abu Shoak which becomes the final destination of the director's journey back to Sudan. Most of the displaced people she speaks with there are looking beyond Sudan for their final rescue. They wish the world cared enough to send multilateral peace keeping forces to stop the war so they could return to their villages. Many support a Pan-African force while some would welcome U.S. intervention even while acknowledging that the U.S. would only act out of its own self-interest.

In the final sequence the director meets a man building a new mud brick house in Abu Shoak; it will take only two or three days he says. Is this then to be the future for more and more of Africa: temporary homes in impermanent, communities dependent on foreign aid? On the side of the house the man has written the word "book" because among all this inhumanity and violence his favorite activity remains reading.

"A sensitive and non-sensational portrayal of the war and destruction in Darfur that privileges the voice of the average Sudanese... A useful film for those interested in contemporary African politics of ethnicity and gender, civil wars and conflict resolution and development." - Salah Hassan, Cornell University
"A highly personal documentary that is touching and illuminating." - Jennie Punter, the Globe and Mail
"A provocative and intelligent film." - Henry Sheehan, President, Los Angeles Film Critics Assoc.
"Elsanhouri seems influenced by certain Iranian filmmakers in that she modestly acknowledges the documentarian as an influential interloper...a provocative and intelligent film." - John Tobin, East Midlands Media

SEPT. 17 @ 7PM
@ Metro Cinema (Main Floor, Zeidler Hall, Citadel Theatre) 9828 101A Ave.
"i" the Film
Raphael Lyon and Andres Ingoglia
(Argentina, 2006, 83 min)
http://www.metrocinema.org/film_view?JOINT_SCREENING_ID=1292

"i" is a meditation on the relationship between media and power as it is manifested by the worlds largest all volunteer network of media activists - Indymedia. The feature-length documentary follows the first year of a small collective in Buenos Aires as it struggles amidst assassinations, a collapsing economy, and a whirlwind of political upheaval.

"i"s non-linear structure mimics the network ideology it documents. The viewer encounters a series of interlocking events, parallel storylines, and related imagery that coalesce around a small group of individuals within Indymedia Argentina; who are themselves linked internally and externally to the forces that surround them. The film progresses through a series of "hyperlinked" excerpts from different media renderings of the upheaval, offering an exploration of the events themselves as well as the story-telling capabilities found in the embedded structure of information on the web.

This structure serves to illuminate the concepts of collective communication, horizontal organization and networked social action. The result is a fractal-like portrait, disclosing a repetition of form and phenomenon regardless of the scale at which it is examined. "i" uses the micro-scale of the individual collective to mirror and frame the macro-scale of the surrounding social movements, theoretical philosophies, organizations, and events.

In editing this film, Lyon and Ingoglia poured through hours of footage from several continents, looking for the resonant moments where these specific connections and intersections unfurled. This delicate process took four years and much meditation, as they sought to portray what at first glance might be a largely invisible phenomenon. What has emerged is not only a document of a particularly notable moment in history, but a profound testimony of the experience of unfolding network consciousness.

Film will be followed by a short presentation by Lyn Gorman, Regional Coordinator of the Council of Canadians, on the proposed North American Union (NAU) and Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP). Literature will be available in the lobby to provide audience members with the tools to fight it.

When the world turned briefly upside down, this film fell out. "i" positively vibrates with the energy and creativity of the movement it documents. Beautiful, intellectual, riotous, it fits in no box (and no blurb), just see it! - Naomi Klein, author No Logo/The Take

"i" is stunning, it manages to show the magic of a global network in ways that no other film has done before, and it does so with delicacy, elegance and a vibrancy that is irresistible. With its decentralized narrative, rich multitude of voices and characters - "i" is an example of how a film can tell a story without having to revert to spectacular specialists or charismatic singular individuals, a fallacy that most documentaries, even "radical" ones find impossible to resist. Like the networks of resistance that it explores, which attempt to merge means and ends, seeing rebellion in the present and the everyday, "i" is staying close to its roots and using the myriad alternative networks and DIY media outlets for distribution. "i" is not just about the swarm of resistance, but by the swarm and for the swarm. - John Jorden, author of WE ARE EVERYWHERE: THE IRRESISTIBLE RISE OF GLOBAL ANTICAPITALISM and an original member of the Reclaim the Streets movement.

SEPT. 17 @ 9PM
@ Metro Cinema (Main Floor, Zeidler Hall, Citadel Theatre) 9828 101A Ave.
The Miami Model
CrimethInc & the FTAA Miami IMC Video Working Group
(USA, 2004, 91 min)
English & Spanish with Spanish & Portuguese subtitles
http://www.metrocinema.org/film_view?FILM_ID=1293

ESPA's activists have seen hundreds of anti-globalization protest videos, and we can say with certainty that this is one of the best films we've ever seen on the subject.

Against the prescribed template of paramilitary oppression, information warfare, and profit above all values, activists converge in Miami to demonstrate grassroots resistance, creative action, and international solidarity - a clash between competing visions of globalization, soon to be
known as the Miami Model. Indymedia activists shot hundreds of hours documenting the 2003 FTAA protests in Miami and shaped it into a documentary that cuts through the mass media blackout to reveal the brutal repression and assault on civil liberties that took place, as well as the inspiring alternatives to capitalist globalization that were also in full effect in Miami.

This remarkable documentary demonstrates the correlation between past protests, international solidarity, threats to democracy, and why we, as 'perceived neutral' Canucks should be deeply concerned about the current federal government's move towards 'deep integration' with the U.S. and the proposed North American Union (NAU) and Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP).

SEPT. 19 @ 7PM
@ Metro Cinema (Main Floor, Zeidler Hall, Citadel Theatre) 9828 101A Ave.
Living Room Documentary: Info-shops and a Space-Based Culture of Resistance
Liz & Courtney
(USA, 2006)
http://www.metrocinema.org/film_view?FILM_ID=1294

We live in a society where public places that people feel like they are an active part of and can use for non-economic purposes are increasingly rare. Public spaces where people can go in order to feel like a part of a community and to participate in creating a transformational culture of resistance to the dominant society are even more rare. One exception to this general scarcity of alternative public spaces is the emergence of Infoshops in urban centers across the world. Infoshops are community spaces that facilitate access to traditionally marginalized information while providing a physical space for people to build creative projects of resistance to current forms of destruction and domination.

Six U.S. infoshops are featured in the film: the Lucy Parsons Center in Boston, Breakdown Book Collective & Community Space in Denver, Jane Doe Books in Brooklyn (RIP), the Long Haul Infoshop in Berkeley, The Back to Back Worker-run Cafe in Portland, OR, and the Wooden Shoe in Philadelphia. The film interrogates the importance of place and space in relation to daily life in urban areas, the creation of activist movements for social change, the decline of public, non-commercialized space, ways that privilege and oppression are manifest physically in space, and ways in which people participate in place-making exercises. A good primer for zine geeks and novices alike.

SEPT. 19 @ 8:30PM
@ Metro Cinema (Main Floor, Zeidler Hall, Citadel Theatre) 9828 101A Ave.
$100 and a T-Shirt: A Documentary About Zines in the Northwest US
Joe Biel
(USA, 2006)
http://www.metrocinema.org/film_view?FILM_ID=1295

The folks at Microcosm Publishing in Portland, Oregon bring us a much needed film on the underground culture of zines (pronounced "zeens"). This documentary is a cultural analysis of what causes zine makers to tick - what the hell zines are, why people make them, their origin, the resources and community available for zine makers, and the future of zines.

Interviews with about 70 zine makers, ex-zine makers, and readers from the northwest, and featuring footage of the Portland Zine Symposium bringing zine culture to life. An original documentary culled from over 64 hours of footage for people with a new interest in zines as well as pros and novices. The video sparks untapped creativity and new interest into zine making and reading. Artwork by Cristy Road and music by J Church and Defiance, OH! Collaborators include Rev. Phil Sano, Basil Shadid, Nickey Robo, and Joe Biel.

Valuable as a peek inside the subculture or as a guide of sorts, this video documents the Portland zine scene and its inhabitants. Zines are so readable because the subject matter isn't dumbed down for you, homogenized by the filters of a corporate culture or edited by anyone other than the creator herself. You're getting the info (or diary or opinion) straight from the horse's mouths. Except these horses are independent publishers who don't stand to make a dime on their efforts. Your first question might be "Why bother?" and that's what this documentary asks, both of the creators and of the cultural historians who are compiling a library/workshop by and for the zine scene. The closest thing to an answer may be the DIY aesthetic that launched the punk movement in the '70s: because they can, and without the interference, ass kissing, and frustration more conventional writers face to be heard. Why write obituaries and shit local interest stories for a newspaper for 5 years to earn a byline on a story you're passionate about? Sidestep the corporate red tape, write what you want, and publish it yourself. Most zines cost $1 to $2, and that covers labor, printing, construction, and distribution. Profit? Not likely, at least not in the traditional sense. There's some debate early on as to what constitutes "selling out". One creator draws the line at selling ads; another thinks that anything that can be done to facilitate the printing and distribution of a zine is perfectly OK. Regardless of where you stand on the issue, the passion and dedication of these folks is undeniable. Can most of us say that about our work? As hobbies go, zine creation is both fulfilling and grueling. Distribution is as a dicey proposition as creation, often yielding no cash but plenty of gratification. Like the most big-budget documentaries, $100 inspires curiosity and interest. Shot and edited in the same DIY spirit as the zines it covers, this DVD is a winner. - Chimpanzee

Early in this documentary about zine culture, Moe Bowstern of the zine Xtra Tuf describes the experience of bringing zines onboard a working boat. "My skipper said 'I could do a zine!'" says Bowstern. "You just write about what you did today and what you ate and put a recipe in there and then you write about your bike and then you write about stealing something!" Bowstern goes on to say that the skipper wrote something for the publication Pacific Fisherman which paid him $100 and a t-shirt. "And I said, 'Fred, if I give you a shirt and a hundred bucks, will you write for me too?'" The skipper argues that zines aren't real writing. He's the only nay sayer in this hour survey of zine culture in Portland, OR. As the documentary unfolded, I thought it would make perfect viewing for people like the skipper or my mom; people who don't understand the whole concept. But by the end I was questioning why it had been so long since I had made a zine myself. The DVD is organized into chapter headings that cover topics like Who Makes Zines? and How Are Zines Distributed? But this isn't really a how-to guide; more like a celebration. The filmmakers were smart to focus on the Portland scene. The point isn't to tell the comprehensive story of zines, even the story of zines in Portland. But by selecting such a slender piece of the pie, this [talkie] hasn't made me full but rather hungry for more pie. Surely the hunger is the point; to go out and create and search on my own, not just to be content with living vicariously by watching people on a DVD. Like a good zine, the documentary is high quality (the video and audio are top notch with smart music and graphics) without being slick. Mostly this is a film of talking heads talking about themselves, their work, and the bigger picture. It's good to see zines getting the same documentary treatment that music has long received. A few stories are illustrated by "dramatic recreations", that are surprisingly charming, not annoying. The credits note that this production was assembled using only borrowing materials - very cool indeed. - Punk Planet #73

SEPT. 24 @ 7PM
@ Metro Cinema (Main Floor, Zeidler Hall, Citadel Theatre) 9828 101A Ave.
Illegal Art*
(* Selected shorts)
Various Artists, Curated by Carrie McLaren
(Various - Compilation produced in USA, 2006, 60 min)
http://www.metrocinema.org/film_view?FILM_ID=1297

The laws governing "intellectual property" have grown so expansive in recent years that artists need legal experts to sort them all out. Borrowing from another artwork - as jazz musicians did in the 1930s and Looney Tunes illustrators did in 1940s - will now land you in court. If the current copyright laws had been in effect back in the day, whole genres such as collage, hip-hop, and Pop Art might have never have existed.

The irony here couldn't be more stark. Rooted in the U.S. Constitution, copyright was originally intended to facilitate the exchange of ideas but is now being used to stifle it. Loaded with gray areas, intellectual property law inevitably has a silencing effect, discouraging the creation of new works.

Filmmakers and videographers now have to get permission for just about every concert t-shirt, store sign, or other piece of intellectual property that happens to appear onscreen - not so with the Illegal Art project. This companion compilation to the Illegal Art exhibit by the creators of the Brooklyn-based Stay Free! Magazine presents a hilarious series of short films produced by artists who unapologetically infringe on copyright as their means of creative resistance to corporate culture. The ten short videos being presented appropriate intellectual property, whether through the use of found footage, unauthorized music, or shots of copyrighted or trademarked material. Some of the pieces in the show have eluded lawyers; others have had to appear in court. Illegal Art celebrates "degenerate art"
a corporate age. A must-see for lovers of culture jamming.

* Illegal Art Programme:

Keith Sanborn
"The Artwork in the Age of its Mechanical Reproducibility "
Video, 1996
An attempt to problematize ownership and authorship in the age of digital reproduction. Inspired by the Walter Benjamin essay of the same name and the activities of the Situationists.

Brian Boyce
"State of the Union"
Video, 2001, 2 min.
San Francisco-based artist Brian Boyce combines unauthorized CNN footage of George W. Bush with clips from The Teletubbies, also used without permission.

Michael Colton
"Puppy Love"
Digital video, 2002, 1 min.
This improvisational short, starring a bull terrier named Punchie, was created in the offices of Modern Humorist. The soundtrack, "Lapdance" by N.E.R.D., is used without permission "but with much respect."

Michal Levy
"Giant Steps"
Maya software, 2001, 2 min.
Levy translated John Coltrane's jazz standard into an animated visual--a geometric structure that stretches and careens to Coltrane's sax. In so doing, Levy illustrates the architectural thinking behind Coltrane's work, in which a musical theme defines a space. Levy, who lives in Israel, created this short as a school project and did not get permission for the music.

Negativland and Tim Maloney
"Gimme the Mermaid"
2002, 5 min.
A new short from the band Negativland, with help from Disney animator Tim Maloney, who created this using his employer's equipment after hours. "Mermaid" combines the sound of a music industry lawyer with the voice of the Little Mermaid and Negativland's helium-tinged cover of Black Flag's "Gimme Gimme Gimme."

Paul Harvey Oswald
 "A Natural Thing,"
2000, 4 min.
Paul Harvey Oswald, a collective based in Rockford, Illinois, has been creating video collages since 1994. "A Natural Thing," by Matt Conroy and Jenni Taggart, splices together clips from a plumbers' instructional guide and a sex-ed manual.

Bill Wasik, Eugene Mirman, and Brian Spinks
"Black Thunder"
2001, 2 min.
A series of three commercials parodying political advertising. Composed entirely of found footage, these shorts were created by the organizers of Block This Kick, a New York City comedy series.

Eric Fensler
"G.I.Joe PSAs"
Year Unknown, 2.30 min.

D. Jean Hester
"Buy Me"
2002, 4 min.
For this surreal meditation on consumer culture, D. Jean Hester recorded images from fast-food and automotive commercials that she then refilmed, hand-processed, filtered, and otherwise manipulated. "Buy Me" is the first in a series of videos by Hester, who is based in Los Angeles.

Eileen Maxson
"Untitled"
Year Unknown, 5 min.
Three shorts, with anonymous film text dubbed over clips from "Cinderella" and "The Lady & the Tramp"

Joe Gibbons
"Barbie's Audition"
Pixelvision, 1995, 12 min.
In Gibbons' darkly comic take on the Hollywood casting couch, Barbie becomes the victim of sexual harrassment and exploitation. Although "Barbie's Audition" was initially selected to appear at Sundance, festival lawyers were concerned about the doll's role and ultimately vetoed the short.

SEPT. 24 @ 8PM
@ Metro Cinema (Main Floor, Zeidler Hall, Citadel Theatre) 9828 101A Ave.
Pictoplasma*
(* Selected shorts)
Various Animators - See list below
(Various - Compilation produced in Germany, 2006, 70 min total)
http://www.pictoplasma.com
http://www.metrocinema.org/film_view?FILM_ID=1298
Pictoplasma is a prolific collective of international motion and character artists, coordinated out of Berlin. Tonight's programme is a compilation of dozens of cutting edge character-driven short animations by some of the most talented artists and designers you will ever have the pleasure of seeing. From hilarious to touching, these selected shorts are a must-see for aspiring animators and animation fans alike.

* Pictoplasma Programme:

CHARACTERS IN NARRATION: 20 min.

CHARACTERS IN RHYTHM: 30 min.

CHARACTERS IN MOTION: 20 min.


SEPT. 27 @ 7PM
@ Metro Cinema (Main Floor, Zeidler Hall, Citadel Theatre) 9828 101A Ave.
NEXT: A Primer on Urban Painting
Pablo Aravena
(Canada, 2006, 96 min)
Filmed in USA, Canada, France, Holland, Germany, England, Spain, Japan and Brazil
http://www.nextthemovie.com/
http://www.metrocinema.org/film_view?FILM_ID=1299

NEXT: A Primer on Urban Painting is a feature-length documentary exploration of graffiti-based visual art as a world culture.

Originating in the graffiti art of the 70s, urban painting has evolved to its current level of sophistication while retaining a vital connection to the streets. While most art movements were founded on manifestos and conceived as schools, Urban Painting evolved much like jazz and developed organically, a result of cultural miscegenation. Urban Painting is pushing the boundaries of Western culture while being born within it.

NEXT follows several artists while on tour, in their studio and most importantly in the streets, documenting their work and live painting performances. The film reveals the artists' process, from the conceptualization phase to the creation of the work. A combination of vérité moments and interviews with painters, "writers", designers, documentarians and other participants within the subculture, the film conveys the dynamism and creative energy of this significant emerging artistic movement and important cultural phenomenon.

WINNER 2006: Best Documentary, 5th ViewFinders Int'l Film Festival for Youth; Audience Award, Cultura Urbana Programme, Documenta Madrid.

Official Selections in 2006: Montreal Hip-Hop Film Festival; Rhythm of the Line, Berlin; NXNE Toronto; Melbourne Int'l Film Festival; Rotterdam Int'l Film Festival; Urban Stories, Brussels; UrbanWorld VIBE Film Festival NYC.

SEPT. 27 @ 9PM
@ Metro Cinema (Main Floor, Zeidler Hall, Citadel Theatre) 9828 101A Ave.
Quality of Life
(USA, 2004, 84 min)
Director, Benjamin Morgan
http://www.qualityoflife-themovie.com/
http://www.metrocinema.org/film_view?FILM_ID=1300

Meet Michael "Heir" Rosario and Curtis "Vain" Smith, the most prolific and talented graffiti writers from the Mission District in San Francisco. At age ten, in a desperate search for fame and identity, the young friends began writing their names on surrounding urban landscapes. More than a decade later, the duo have evolved into a brilliant team of street artists. The two have covertly decorated the canvases of concrete and steel throughout the Bay Area. However, when Heir and Vain are arrested for painting, their secret identities are revealed and creative outlets are abruptly severed. Faced with restitution and the prospect of serving hard time, Heir and Vain struggle to maintain their creative passion. The paths they choose threaten to unravel their lifelong friendship and, ultimately, their lives.

In making Quality of Life, Director Benjamin Morgan set out to make this film to expose the absurdity of so-called "quality of life" laws, which lump graffiti in with drugs, prostitution and general urban blight. The tough-on-crime political climate has become endemic in the United States. After working in the juvenile justice and mental health fields for over a decade, Morgan became frustrated with the systemic flaws inherent in youth programs, specifically the tendency to focus on symptoms (rather than causes).

The War on Drugs does not educate nor provide employment opportunities for low-income individuals who consistently show incredible motivation to achieve the American dream. Anti-gang task forces do not address the lack of community resources and opportunities commonly found in areas where gangs are prevalent. Likewise, painting walls blank does not eradicate the innate desire to express oneself and assert individuality, especially in a country that was founded upon rebellion and free speech. Americans spend over $15 billion annually to eradicate graffiti. Yet politicians and bureaucrats insist that we cannot afford education, prevention services, and the arts. These facts were the inspiration behind Quality of Life, which is not a documentary, but a narrative film. Quality of Life is a story about people trying to do the best they can with what they have. It reveals the story behind the writing on the walls.

Awarded Best Youth Film at the Stockholm Int'l Film Fest (2005), and Special Mention at the Berlin Int'l Film Fest (2004).

ALSO THIS MONTH CHECK OUT:

OPEN YOUR EYES TO THE WORD:
Rhythm of the Heart Youth Video Poem Project (Edmonton Poetry Fest)
Sept. 20 @ 7pm, Metro Cinema
Participants in this ongoing outreach project are youth who have experienced challenges and struggles in their lives. Working along side a poet, video artist and mentor, video poems have been produced. After many months of hard work the youth video project "Rhythm of the Heart" comes to completion. On September 20th we will be viewing the video poems of all the participants along with video poet artists from the community who will be airing their work during the evening as well.
INFO: Michelle Brandt, Coordinator:
terrian.mlb@hotmail.com or 240-5122 (Photo credit: Creedance Severeight)

STATE OF THE ART 2007
A series of workshops and a competition to create paintings for the exterior wall of the new East Jasper Ave. iHuman building. Develop skills with artists and compete creatively!

On location at the new iHuman Youth Society Building 10231 95 St.

Weekend Workshops
Techniques and Discussion
11 am - 4 pm
September 08 + 09 September 15 + 16
all materials supplied

Competition for 5 Murals
Submit sketches by September 16
Runs September 16 - October 06
$ 2500 available prize for leading concepts
Teams of 2 to 4 only
all materials supplied

OPEN TO ALL ARTISTS
Call ihuman at 780.421.8811 or email stateart.ihuman@gmail.com www.myspace.com/ihumanyouthsociety www.ihuman.org for further info on competition and workshops


FILM & VIDEO SOCIETY OF ALBERTA (FAVA)
We would be remiss to not at least mention FAVA, Edmonton's excellent local film and video cooperative: FAVA is a unique non-profit artist-run co-op and media arts society serving Albertans since 1982. Their mandate is to facilitate and encourage the production and exhibition of independent media works. With over 200 active members, FAVA serves artists with a wide range of backgrounds and levels of experience ranging from veteran artists to those with an emerging passion for video, film and other media. FAVA's recently launched Master Class series allows Canadian film and television industry professionals to share their experiences and insights on various aspects of film, television and multi-platform production. The Master Class series is part of FAVA¹s ongoing celebration for its 25th anniversary in October. Please contact FAVA¹s office at 429-1671 for more information about upcoming Master Classes, or visit www.fava.ca.