Arts & Culture
Tomoaki Hata: “The Night Is Still Young”
“The Night Is Still Young” is the title of a photo book by Los Angeles-based, Japanese photographer Tomoaki Hata. The book, which was published in November 2010 and is unfortunately sold out, documents the gay scene of Osaka and especially its drag culture. Here’s a collection of the photographs, I especially like the very intimate and sexy photo series “Ichi and Mi-kun” at the bottom of this post. All pictures courtesy Miyako Yoshinaga art prospects.
A Tribute To David Kato / “Call Me Kuchu” Premieres At Berlinale
On January 26 2011 Ugandan human rights activist David Kato, co-founder and advocacy officer of the organisation Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), was murdered in his home – shortly after he had won a lawsuit against a tabloid newspaper called Also, a new documentary entitled “Call Me Kuchu” pays tribute to the live and work of Kato and other Ugandan activists. The film project by US filmmakers Katherine Fairfax Wright & Malika Zouhali-Worrall was started in 2010, shortly after the Anti-Homosexuality Bill had been introduced in Uganda’s Parliament. “Call Me Kuchu” will premiere at the Berlin Film Festival on Saturday, February 11 and will have two more screening dates, which you find on the films website. The directors are currently seeking for support on Kickstarter to professionally finish the movie before the premiere and start a campaign for it. The donations will also cover the flights and visas for one of the Ugandan LGBT activists featured in the film, so that he or she can join the film team in Berlin. In conjunction with the anniversary of Kato’s death the filmmakers have also just released a short film, which gives a first insight on their recordings of Kato. You can watch “The Will Say We Are Not Here” on the New York Times website. Here’s the trailer for “Call Me Kuchu”: Great blog about the African LGTB rights movement: http://www.mask.org.za/
“Rolling Stone”. The magazine had published his name and photograph amongst the ones of another 99 supposedly gay people under the headline “Hang them”. Its makers were sentenced to pay 1.5 million Ugandan shillings plus court costs to Kato and the other injured persons in this case.
The activist, who had left Uganda in 1992 and after spending 6 years in South Africa came back to fight for sexual equality, was amongst the most visible opponents of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, a draconian legislative proposal brought to Uganda’s parliament in 2009. 22-year-old Nsubuga Sydney, who was the prime suspect in the murder case, was sentenced to 30 years in jail in February 2011.
On Thursday, one year after his murder, more than 100 activists have paid tribute to Kato in his hometown Kampala. In honor and remembrance of his live and his achievements Jamaican LGBT and human rights activist Maurice Tomlinson will be the first person to receive the David Kato Vision & Voice award in London tomorrow.
Querelle photographed by Roger Fritz @ VeneKlasen/Werner, Berlin
Since April 12 Gallery VeneKlasen/Werner is showing production photographs shot during the shooting of Fassbinder’s last film “Querelle” in 1982. The pictures were taken by Roger Fritz, a photographer, producer and performer, who worked on the film set as an actor and production documentarian. They were published in a book called “Querelle – The Film Book”, which was put out in conjunction with the film release, the exhibition is the first time they are publicly shown in a gallery space. The 119 photographs are presented in three long “hanging blocks”, each consisting of three lines of photographs – an egalitarianism that makes it kind of difficult to focus on a single picture and doesn’t really take account of the different qualities of the pictures and their compositions. At the same time the show as a whole is a nice reminder of the beauty of this movie and its wonderful color compositions, so stopping by when you’re around the area of Checkpoint Charlie is definitely worth it. The exhibition runs until February 25 and gives visitors also the possibility to see “Querelle” in a little cinema space, where it is shown daily at 14:00. The film is followed by the rare Fassbinder documentary “The Wizard of Babylon”, which not only includes behind-the-scenes footage from the Querelle set, but also Fassbinder’s final interview (he died in Paris in 1982, a few month before the film was released).
Here are some more of the presented photographs, you find more of them on the gallery’s website. All of them are courtesy VeneKlasen/Werner.
Wakefield Poole Revisited: New Documentary, Re-release of his Films and Memoirs
There are good reasons to believe that 2012 could become the year in which Wakefield Poole, one of the pioneers of (post-)porn cinema and the sexual revolution of the seventies, is celebrating another well-deserved comeback. The revival is due to filmmaker Jim Tushinski, who since 2007 has been working on a documentary about the ex-Broadway dancer and choreographer Poole, who in 1971 decided to start over and shot “Boys in the Sand”, a low-budget gay hardcore feature, which became an instant porn classic. Tushinski’s “Dirty Poole” is completely financed through private donations and according to the movie’s website and will premiere at a couple of festivals this spring. Here’s a teaser for the movie (which I liked a little more than the official trailer): For a little taste of Poole’s work I recommend the “Clips” section on the “Dirty Poole” website, which contains remastered scenes from legendary Pooley films such as “Boys In The Sand” and the beautiful “Bijou” (see picture on top via Flickr/mixnycqueerfilm), as well as the trailer and some clips from his beautiful bible adaptation.
Soul Jazz Records presents: Voguing and the House Ballroom Scene of New York 1989-92
For my generation, Ball Culture is something known and experienced through “Paris is Burning”. The famous price winning documentary film portrays the people involved in the scene in the late 80s, the rules of it, but keeps the distance of the anthropologist’s eye. In addition to the pictures, interviews with protagonists done for the purpose of the book in the last two years gives an often nostalgic look backward. But most interesting is the introduction text by Tim Lawrence, who describes the late 80s Harlem ball scene as part of a 150 years old tradition. “Voguing” is currently on discount, you can order it via Soul Jazz’ website, you also find more information about it there. Here are some more preview pictures (via Dummy, (c) Chantal Regnault)
By starting chronologically where the film ends, the picture book “Voguing and the House Ballroom Scene of New York City 1989-1992″, offers a different look on the phenomenon, by being temporally set when balls and voguing gains the attention of the mainstream. Madonna’s single “Vogue” hits the charts in 1990.
The book offers three types of photos: the formal studio portraits by Chantal Regnault in a papier glacé look can be seen today as documents for the relativ fame the protagonists of “Paris is Burning” reached, after they confessed in the film they wanted it so much. Journalistic photos taken at balls and casual-but-posed outdoor snapshots portraits gives a conterpoint, a more spontaneous mise-en-scène of the selves.
Slava Mogutin/ Brian Kenny: “Entropy Parade”
The artist duo (“SUPERM”) has contributed these beautiful collages to the 13th Anniversary Issue of Flaunt magazine. Check out the complete series on Brian Kenny’s website. Via Grateful Grapefruit,
Watch It Online: “Shake Off” by Hans Beenhakker
The French-German tv channel arte has shown a really beautiful dance short film by choreographer and director Hans Beenhakker yesterday. Bennhakker who used to be a member of Pina Bausch’s Tanztheater Wuppertal ensemble. “Shake Off” premiered in 2007, it was recorded in one shot and shows dancer Prince Credell moving through different times and spaces. You can stream it for free within the next 7 days, I hope the video works outside of France and Germany. It can also be found on the “Essential Dance Film” collection, a selection of award-winning dance movies that can be streamed and bought on Amazon (US only).
Michel Groisman: “Weaveair/Tear” (2000 – 2001)
In his performances Brazilian artist Michel Groisman extends his body with self-constructed machines, which intensify the movements of his body. About “Weaveair / Tear” from 2000/01 (duration: 1h 30 min) he writes: “The laser beam that comes out of my mouth is reflected in the mirrors on my body, producing geometric forms. The intensity of the ambient lighting slowly oscillates between clarity and darkness. In the apex of clarity the public sees only my body and in darkness, only the geometric forms.”
All pictures and videos via the artist’s website and his YouTube channel. I especially love his performance “Transference” from 1999. More about Groisman on culturebase.net.
Support the Queer Film Archive Berlin!
Since 2009 my friend Todd and I have worked together on a couple of film projects in Berlin and have noticed that especially alternative and experimental queer films are hard to find in the city. We decided that we want to fill this gap by initiating a Queer Film Archive Berlin (QFAB) where hard-to-find queer films will be collected and available for people to borrow. We’ve now finally brought the idea to kickstarter, hoping that we will get together sufficient donations buy a collection of films, which we want make available for rent at QFAB with payment on a voluntary basis. The money we receive from renters will allow us to buy new films so that the size of the archive is constantly growing. Please check out our kickstarter site and the handmade little video below for more information, and support our project, especially when you’re from Berlin. Donations, re-postings and new films for the archive are highly appreciated!
Adrain Chesser: “Gay Campground”
“When I discovered that the Baptist Campground where I had camped as a boy scout was now a gay campground I was in awe. As a boy growing up in the backwoods of Florida I felt that I was the only person in the world afflicted with same sex attraction. I didn’t even have words for my feelings and I was terrified of being found out and cast out. As an adult, I was giddy with the realization that my childhood fantasies and prayers for a safe zone had manifested in the very space that was once a source of torment. The fact that this haven exists in what is still a hostile redneck environment gave me hope and gave me pause. Returning to the campground, I discovered a group of “good ole boys” who, despite the dangers outside the gates, were ready to play and willing to be subjects in my photographs.” “In this body of work I am intentionally revisiting childhood memories, restaging and reclaiming the stories that make up my formative years. Owning the stories in a new way, in the physical realm as a photograph, transforms how I experience these memories. Through the process of illuminating my past I have nullified a constant source of fear and a nagging sense of unease that has impacted my life. These little rituals, made with friends and strangers alike, aim to do more than just reclaim a lost childhood; they strive to show the humanity in all of us, outcasts or not.”
“24 DAYS OF MATTER PRINTED” Curated by J.Morrison @ Printed Matter, NYC
Artist J.Morrison, the designer of our amazing Catch Fire shirt, is the curator of “24 DAYS OF MATTER PRINTED”, a live screenprinting project presented by NYC’s Printed Matter, a bookshop and non-profit organization dedicated to arts publications. By tomorrow until the December 24th there will be daily screenprinting sessions with a rotating cast of 20 (collaborating) artists in the Printed Matter storefront in support of the project – prints on various materials and objects will be sold for affordable prices between $10 and $100. On the long list of contributors are artists such as AA Bronson, Michael Magnan and Grant Worth, as well as Brian Kenny and Slava Mogutin, who have already published their contributions to the leitmotiv “Self-Portrait” in advance on Brian’s blog. For more detailed information check out the press release below the jump or join the event on Facebook. Brian Kenny, Self Portrait Slava Mogutin, “Lizard Boy”
American Horror Story (2011-)
American Horror Story is a pretty interesting new horror/drama series that premiered few months ago on cable channel FX in the States. The show centers on the Harmon family who moves into a restored mansion in Los Angeles, unaware that the house is haunted by it’s previous owners. Sounds campy, yes, but it is also sexy and scary at the same time. I hadn’t really thought about writing about the show, until I watched the episode “Rubber Man” (S01E08). In previous episodes we have seen glimpses of the houses previous owners; a gay couple played by Zachary Quinto (who recently came out in the New York Magazine) and Teddy Sears, but in this episode we learn to know more about their history. The show also features magnificent Jessica Lange and Frances Conroy from HBO’s Six Feet Under, of which American Horror Story slightly resembles.
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