Chloe Philip in Bond

Directed by Calum Nielsen and Helen Wright; shot by Laura Clapperton and Louise Cowley; produced by Kat Hughes; sound by Susan Bear; starring Helen Wright and Chloe Philip.

Festivals:

In Glasgow Short Film Festival’s Scottish Competition, Feb 2013

We’ve had a sneaky peak at some of the films in competition at Glasgow Short Film Festival, taking place 7th to 10th February, and picked a few of the best ones with queer themes.

TRANS is an exploration of mtf experiences with an experimental form. A series of still shots with blurry moving images of character Kali are accompanied by her voiceover describing how she feels about transitioning. Mark Chapman’s film offers thought-provoking nuances as Kali comments with wisdom on gender nonconformism: “The transition is the destination rather than the transition being the way to the destination.”

Surreal drama The Buried is inspired by the homophobic murder of eighteen year old Scotty Joe Weaver in Alabama in 2004. A man is killed off screen – we hear but don’t see – and buried by the perpetrator. The camera mostly keeps a conspicuous distance from the killer, showing him wondering around his home after the deed and coldly cleaning up after his savage act. A flashback reveals a double meaning to the film’s title as sex with his victim sparks a guilt-inflected psychotic response from the murderer.

LUYD are particular fans of depictions of childhood and the shakiness of identities and selfhood involved in growing up. Menino do Cinco is a brilliant short about Ricardo, a young boy in Brazil, who steals a puppy from a street kid and refuses to give it back. Ricardo is emotionally neglected by his father and his new pet is a cure for loneliness, which is movingly shown through close-ups of child and dog playing together. However, reality creeps in and Ricardo’s actions lead to a dark showdown with his new friend’s former owner. In the Scottish Competition, Rabbit Punch depicts two kids in Edinburgh who join a boxing club after being beaten up. They end up having to fight each other in the ring, which is filmed in a refreshingly naturalistic, low-budget way. Apparently, the short took two and a half years to make and it feels like a pretty intense labour of filmmaking love, of which we approve!

TRANS is screening in International Competition 1: Mutations on Thurs 7th Feb at 13:15 and Sat 9th at 17:15. The Buried is in International Competition 2: Bottled Up on Thurs 7th at 15.15 and Sat 9th at 21:15. Menino do Cinco is in International Competition 3: Citizens on Thurs 7th at 17:15 and Sun 10th at 16:00. Rabbit Punch is in Scottish Competition 4: Why We Fight on Sun 10th at 15:00. All screenings are at the CCA, Glasgow.

Check out the full programme for the festival by clicking here.

“The Queer Window Project” is an exploration and celebration of queer Scottish identity formed from a series of illustrations based on photographs.

Lucy Asten Holmes-Elliott will carry out a series of photo-shoots, some studio based and some in locations yet to be determined. Some of these photos will form the basis of large-scale illustrations, created in Lucy’s distinctive minimalist line-drawing style (Click HERE for examples)

These illustrations will then be exhibited in the windows of different venues around the city of Glasgow. The remaining photos will be exhibited within a gallery as part of a larger exhibition.

Lucy is looking for volunteers who would be willing to be photographed for the exhibition. These will take place at a time and place that is convenient to the participant. Unfortunately, there is no payment for participation although it is a unique opportunity to become immortalized in the canon of LGBT History!

The project aims to raise queer visibility whist representing and celebrating the diversity within our community. There are no criteria in terms of looks, status, gender or background.

If you are interested, or would like more information please get in touch with Lucy on: info@astenholmeselliott.com

Important: participants are under no obligation if they agree to take part and may withdraw at any stage of the project.

www.astenholmeselliott.com

This project is possible thanks to the support from:

LGBT History Month Cultural Commissions

Creative Scotland

Flip

Macrobert Arts Centre, Stirling

LGBT Youth Scotland

LUYD are taking to the floor once more for a dandies dance party. Look sharp, don your bowtie, or cravat and come suitably milliner-ed bowlers, trilbies and flat caps -  acceptable; top hats – even better.

With live performances from the sublime HER ROYAL HIGHNESS and DJ sets from LOCK UP YOUR DJ’s, KALEIDOSCOPE GIRL and PEARL NECKLACE this is one royal bloody show that you definitely do not want to miss!

Saturday 9^th February

11pm – 3am

The Flying Duck

142, Renfield Street, Glasgow (opposite cineworld)

$4 entry for students and GSFF ticket stub holders

$5 entry for all da others

Producing her first short film in 1968 at the age of eighteen, director Chantal Akerman has made a copious contribution to the history of cinema. Her most well-known work is Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975), which had the (disputable) honour of being included recently as one of only two movies directed by a female person in Sight & Sound’s top hundred “Greatest Films of All Time.”

In Jeanne Dielman, a mother, kitchen-slave, and part-time prostitute gradually loses her sanity in a three hour long studied descend. Akerman pushes cinematic form in new directions in order to explore characters who are trapped by their existence. Actor Delphine Seyrig is shot square-on for long takes in which she prepares her son’s meals and serves them to his ingratitude. Never-ending routine sees the camera move systematically around their claustrophobic flat and rarely take in the outside world.

Meetings with Anna (1978) uses the same style to track its filmmaker protagonist whilst she journeys around anonymous hotels promoting her latest work. Anna invites several male lovers to her room but fails to have sex with them. She has a girlfriend, whom we only experience as an answer phone message towards the end of the film. Again, a theatrical, circular composition is used to express alienation. We feel the monotony as endless hotel receptions are repeatedly screened. So compelling in Akerman’s films, though, is an empathy which is always distinguishable despite the unhappiness being depicted. Anna surreally spends a night in a hotel with her mother, barely explained as their family home is in the same city. As redress to the Hollywood convention of keeping female characters apart or making their only contact consist of arguing over a male (see the infamous ‘Bechdel Test’), a scene shows the two snuggling in bed together with an unspoken affection passing between them.

The Captive (2000) features a woman trapped in a relationship with a rich male, who is jealous of her romantic attachment to another female; American Stories (1989) is a series of direct to camera addresses by mid-twentieth century Jewish immigrants to the US, including females who arrived alone and were sexually harassed as a result. Her Golden Eighties (1986) is a musical comedy, whose participants are once more physical and metaphorical prisoners, this time of the shopping mall where they work. Two employees of a beauty salon compete over the son of clothing store owners, whilst a chorus of down-and-outs who have nothing better to do translate their every move into song. The action never leaves the mall, except for brief excursions round its back, where a cinema is evidently located, displaying giant posters of American movies. Here is a literal visualisation of Akerman’s repeated obsession with using films to explore the sticky accord between fantasy and reality. Her message is very much that cinema provides a theoretical escape from the latter but is always subservient to the bitter-sweetness of life.

Akerman’s 1991 film Night and Day is screening at Filmhouse in Edinburgh on Thursday 29th November at 18:15. A Couch in New York (1996) is on Saturday 1st December at 15:40 and her Tomorrow We Move is on Sunday 2nd December at 13:20. Check them out!

“We use acoustic guitars because it is easier to tour and it puts more focus on the lyrics and on establishing a dialogue with the audience,” says Nathan about Osind.

They feel inspired by pop music like the Kinks, the Beatles, but also by other bands from their US label Plan-it-X records like Spoonboy, Operation: Cliff Clavin, Max Levine Ensemble and Delay. Nathan: “We share a lot in common (ethically, if not aesthetically) with heavier vegan DIY bands like Fall of Efrafa, Punch, Raein and Greyskull, although we don’t really sound much like them. One of our favourite bands at the minute is a queer punk band from Leeds called ‘Jesus and his Judgemental Father’.”

And although they didn’t really set out with an agenda or to be an overtly political band, most of their songs have some sort of political message.

Nathan: “I think we are both very politically minded, and we spend a lot of time thinking and talking about the things that we observe in the world that we think are fucked up. I guess it’s only natural that it filters into our creative endeavours too. We tend to think that the personal is the political, and so regardless of what you write about, be it romance or war, there will be political elements. You can either ignore it or acknowledge and embrace it, and I guess we do the latter.”

Some of their songs deal directly with what may technically fall under the politically exploited (and undoubtedly naff) term “women’s issues”.  When asked whether they get flack from those who might not feel they have license to sing about these themes Nathan responds:

“Firstly, I should say that the vast majority of feminists have been entirely supportive of us, and that’s really amazing and keeps us going. But we have also had criticism from feminists, and that is great too and we fully welcome it. One reason we were criticised was because some people felt we had become figureheads for ‘feminist’ issues within certain parts of the DIY punk scene- and that this was indicative of sexism in the scene more broadly and a result of our male privilege. And that’s 100% true, it’s much easier for us to claim to be feminist without fear of being ridiculed or dismissed because we don’t fit into the narrow stereotype about ‘feminists’. I think that criticism is really important. It can be a bit jarring sometimes when, within a small, heavily politicised scene, you feel like you’re coming under a lot more scrutiny than you would if you were just another apolitical band, but that’s par for the course. No one should be above criticism and when it happens it’s important to engage in a process of self-reflection and improvement and not be defensive or react badly when you come under fire. It’s really easy to let criticism push you away from feminism, and to feel like you’re not welcome, but you have to resist that temptation, and try and maturely engage with what people are saying and take it on board. Opening a dialogue and talking about these issues is great! That’s how we progress as individuals and collectively. We never really set out to be labelled as a single-issue ‘feminist’ band, it’s just one of the things we sing/care about, but I guess we’re distinctive because we’re both cis-men. I’ve always felt that feminism is an issue for everyone, and that it’s important for ‘men’ to be allies too, and we try our best to do that.”

Fancy catching a One Night Stand in North Dakota? Look out for gig near you!

http://onsind.bandcamp.com/

Thanks from Tina to Nathan to take the time to respond to LUYD’s questions.

Friday 26th October

After a break from the disco scene, LOCK UP YOUR DAUGHTERS are back and badder than ever. Most exciting of all is that the return heralds the launch of issue #6!

With a banquet of dance floor delights our royal and wily resident PRINCE MOG (badass beats) will be cooking up a set fit for a queen, and with LOCK UP YOUR DJ’s (electroclash, pop), this dance party will make your hips go BOOM!
The Flying Duck, 142 Renfield Street (opposite cineworld)
11 – 3am
£5/4 – FREE MAGAZINE WITH COVER CHARGE

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You can buy tickets at the GFT cinema webside.

2 – 3 November

CCA, 350 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow

£5 each – or free with £10 shorts programme writsband (see CCA).

Local Talent

Friday, 2^nd November / CCA 4, 7:30-9pm

Lock Up Your Daughters (LUYD), in association with Fyne Ales, present a showcase of queer shorts by home grown, up-and-coming talent from Scotland. Taking the best shorts from Scotland’s thriving underground filmmaking scene and a selection of shorts mady by Lock Up Your Daughters filmmaking group.

The screening will be followed by a drinks reception in the Saramango Café in the foyer of the CCA so that young filmmakers can get merry and mingle. All attendees are also warmly invited to come join the LUYD Filmmaking group. With music provided by the LUYD’s DJ’s and complimentary drinks for all attendees kindly supplied by Fyne Ales.

 Short Film Panel

Saturday, 3^rd November / CCA 4, 4:30-6:30pm

Lock Up Your Daughters present the rare opportunity to hear from two multiple award winning short filmmakers Abbe Robinson (UK) and Magnus Mork (Norway).

The panel, chaired by Lucy Holmes-Elliott, will be preceded by a film from each director, “Private Life” (16min) by Abbe Robinson and “The Samaritan” (29min) by Magnus Mork. Both films were awarded prizes from the Iris Prize Film Festival held annually in Cardiff.

Abbe and Magnus will be taking your questions on a variety of filmmaking topics such as writing a successful short film or getting your films funded, produced and distributed.

International Shorts

Saturday, 3^rd November / CCA 4, 7:30-9pm

The final session of the Lock Up Your Daughters Queer Shorts Weekend, brings you a choice selection of shorts from around the world.
Innovative and powerful these films showcase the fantastic range and diversity of young talent emerging from this genre.

Please join us again in the Saramango Café for some celebratory drinks!

Every event costs £5

Please note it is possible to purchase a £10 wristband which entitles you to entry into all three LUYD events (Local Talent, Panel & Screening and Best International). Tickets are available from the CCA.  

The Lock Up Your Daughters Queer Short Film Weekend is part of this year’s Glasgay!

Featuring an unforgettable performance by Huffman, Transamerica won countless awards for its warm humour and positive depiction of transsexuals. A queer classic.

For tickets and more info: http://www.glasgowfilm.org/theatre/whats_on/4244_transamerica