Answer Print Winter 2011

answer print Winter 2011

- housedemonlotionproject; Curated by Caitlind Brown, Photo Credit: Caitlind Brown & Wayne Garrett housedemolitionproject.wordpress.com

THE ARCHITECTURE OF ART Our Quarterly Manifesto Members’ Missives Archiving Media Art Red Workflow

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GIRAF 2011 NUTV 20th Anniversary!

Review: The Skin I Live In CSIF News

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The Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers (CSIF) December 2011, Vol. 20, #3 Suite 103 - 223 12 Avenue SW Calgary, Alberta T2R 0G9 Telephone: 403-205-4747 E-Mail: operations@csif.org Website: www.csif.org Submissions, or to volunteer for Answer Print: email programming@csif.org Editor: Melanie Wilmink Designer: Melanie Wilmink Copy Editor: Yvonne Abusow Contributors: Kevin Allen, Craig Bowman, Caitlind Brown, Deanna Cameron Dubuque, Melody Jacobson, Katrina Olson-Mottahed, aAron Munson, Erin Sneath.

CSIF Board of Directors Melody Jacobson (President) David Jones (VP) Erin Sneath (Secretary) Keely Bruce (Treasurer) Directors: Caitlind Brown, Brendan French, Barry Leggett, David Ratzlaff CSIF Staff: Yvonne Abusow, Production Coordinator; Murray Smith, Communications Coordinator; Bobbie Todd, Operations Coordinator; Melanie Wilmink, Programming Coordinator.

CSIF is grateful for the involvement of its members, the network of artist-run cooperatives throughout Canada and for the financial assistance of its funders— The Alberta Foundation for the Arts; The Canada Council for the Arts; Calgary Arts Development, —and from its donors—members and individuals.

Quarterly Manifesto After a decade of being surrounded by fields of scampering gophers and frolicking mice (some of whom commandeered J2 during the infamous summer of 2007), CSIF is leaving barracks and moving downtown. The CSIF Staff and Board are pleased to announce that we will be moving to the Old Y Centre for Community Organizations at 223 – 12 Ave. SW, in December 2011.

The Old Y Centre (oldycentre.com) is a vibrant community, which houses progressive organizations such as the Arusha Centre, the Sierra Club, YouthInk Publications Society, Calgary Underground Film Festival and the Calgary Cinematheque Society.

We are excited to have a secure, accessible and affordable space within a building that offers many opportunities to increase our visibility for production and programming. It will also allow us to collaborate and be involved in downtown life again.

When we made our decision to move to this location we also weighed the potential challenges that a move to a smaller space in the downtown core will mean for the organization and our members. Much

deliberation went into the decision and although every change brings a certain learning curve to the organization, we are confident that it’s the best decision for CSIF and its members.

The CSIF has been through many changes over the past 10 years and this new location will allow it to realize its full potential and attract more people to its events and workshops.

CSIF moved from its 4th St. SW location to the old Currie Barracks in 2001 after the army base had been decommissioned; at this time there was a lot of activity in film and television production centering in the area. When CSIF took up residence in J2, there was a buzz in the city that the barracks was poised to become a hub of cultural activity: the TV series “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” was in production; the warehouses were frequently used to shoot movies; William F. White, ACTRA, IATSE 212 and the Directors’ Guild were neighbours. The Farmers’ Market and Wild Rose Brewery attracted a new group of people to the area, and CSIF members enjoyed accessible ground level space for taking out equipment, attending

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our members could congregate and socialize, and while J2 had its share of parties and social events—the “tent city” of CSIF’s 25th Anniversary, for example—it lost that hang-out vibe that it had downtown and became more of a service destination.

CSIF has had three major homes so far, beginning in the basement of the United Church on 16th Ave. NW where the $100 Film Festival was born; moving to 4th St. SW where the Calgary Public Library’s 16mm film collection was donated to the CSIF and the visiting artist program began; and Building J2 where the organization finally had three full-time staff devoted to production, programming and administration and the “Sofa Cinema” was created. Each location allowed CSIF to evolve as the production environment changed, never losing its focus on film as video rose and fell, and digital production created new opportunities for synergies with film. With this move to the Old Y Centre, CSIF is poised to evolve further, leaving the country mice in their fields and taking on a more urban approach to the art of filmmaking.

On behalf of the Staff and Board, I invite you to be involved with the new location and contribute your positive suggestions to how it can make the most of this new transition.

by Melody Jacobson

workshops, screenings and renting burgeoning editing facilities.

Over the years the barracks has become Garrison Green, and Building J2’s days are numbered as buildings are cleared to make way for residential and commercial development. At this point there is little film and television production on the base, the unions have moved, the Farmer’s Market is gone, and slowly but surely plans for demolishing J2— the one-time communication centre for the army — are becoming reality.

I worked at CSIF from 2002 – 09 and Building J2, which I affectionately referred to as “the bunker”, was an exciting place to be for many years, but it was always a temporary location. It always had its limitations, which have become more apparent over the past few years.

If you don’t have a car, it’s difficult to get to, and even with a car, the lack of signage makes it difficult to find. When CSIF was downtown, it was a place where

(CSIF President)

Sweet Dreams, J2!

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Members’ Missives

by Craig Bowman These stills are from “Toyfa” - an independent full length feature film being produced in the Okanagan Valley. It is a Horror film written and being directed by local actor and filmmaker Stacy Williamson. DP’d by Craig Bowman. https://www.facebook.com/pages/TOYFAThe-Movie/133553537291?sk=info

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Building a house with many rooms - saving Al

By Kevin Allen; Alberta Media Arts Alliance (AMAAS) Executive Director

knows where to begin. Let me assure you that the responsibility is shared. Individual artists, media arts organizations like CSIF and AMAAS, as well as public institutions, all have work to do. Baby steps now, from everyone, will create real future benefits for the heritage of our art form.

This summer, AMAAS published a report on the state of media arts collections in Alberta, in partnership with the Calgary Cinematheque and Metro Cinema (Edmonton). Researcher, Michele Wozny, surveyed the province looking at the state of Alberta media art collections. Her extensive report is downloadable from the AMAAS website and contains dozens of useful hyperlinks to further resources.1 One of the report’s most urgent recommendations is that we have to get our tapes and films under physical control. At the most basic, this means storage for our media art has to be cool, dark, clean and dry.

Temperature and humidity fluctuations = bad.

Storage shelving keeping collections off the floor, in proper cases and canisters = good.

Each media art format has its own perfect storage temperature, which is generally quite cold. Even colour and B&W film stocks differ in ideal storage temperatures. Although it is unlikely that one has a room in a home or office that is kept below 10°C, finding a spot that stays a constant temperature is even more important. In addition, high humidity can cause mold and fungus damage to both film and video. A vinegar-like smell coming from tapes or films indicates you have a problem, and you may have to quaran-

Filmmaking can be a daunting task with so much of the artist’s resources going into production that there is often little left over for distribution and promotion.

What then of preservation? Are these artworks likely to survive a generation, or several?

We consider filmmaking, either the celluloid medium itself or the practice of telling stories in moving images, media art. A further definition of the term is: independent artist initiated and controlled use of film, video, new media, audio art and related media. Media art is a relatively new art form, with motion picture film just over a century old, and video art practice only emerging in the 1980s. Due to its youth there has only been preliminary work on issues of acquisition and preservation of this kind of art.

There is a tragedy unfolding today as media arts treasures from our recent past are disappearing as the formats they were recorded on erode. All across Alberta - in artists’ basements, film co-ops, and various libraries - there are collections of media art that are aging poorly and in some cases becoming irretrievable.

Media art is mediated by technology, and as such creates complications for artists in keeping their work alive as well as for public institutions considering beginning or maintaining a collection. Ideal formats for acquisition, preservation, and exhibition may be different. Moreover, technological innovation has the potential to make video and digital formats obsolete over relatively short timeframes.

For many the thought of saving media art from aging badly seems like a good 1 - www.amaas.ca/publications/collecidea, but the task is so daunting that no one- 6 - tions-study

lberta’s media arts heritage. tine your sick ones to prevent potential contagion.

Not all formats are created equally for longevity. Celluloid tends to be a much more durable medium then video. And as for video, currently Betacam SP or Digital Betacam is thought to be the best preservation format. If you have work sitting on MiniDV or ¾” Umatic tapes, you might want to consider transferring them to a more stable format. Transferring work to preserve it is called “migration” and involves creating a new master copy in the format you are migrating to. The best possible transfer, in terms of image and audio quality, should try to be attained.

Vtape,2 a video distributor and artistrun centre located in Toronto, is a leader in tape restoration and migration services, and for a fee can work with historic formats as varied as: 1/2” open reel, 1” open reel, 3/4” Umatic, VHS, SVHS, Betamax, video 8, Hi 8 or Digital 8.

With advances in computer technology, and the widespread digital delivery of film and video, many believe that the ultimate migration strategy is to keep media art on hard drives. However, just as tape formats changed frequently in the last 30 years, digital playback formats change even faster. Furthermore, hard drives likely have a shorter lifespan than many tapes. Consequently, cautious artists will still have their work saved as an object. If considering, digital storage solutions for your work, make sure you transfer materials as uncompressed as possible – DVDs are a problem here - and always have a back up.

You may also want to consider partnering with a public or non-profit organi2 - www.vtape.org

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zation. Videopool,3 a media artist run distributor, has a climate controlled storage vault for video. Winnipeg Film Group, which distributes both film and video, is planning to build its own vault in the future.

The Provincial Archives of Alberta also has a vault with the appropriate conditions for media art storage. Currently they house part of the collection of Edmonton’s film co-op, FAVA. Perhaps there is an opportunity to house past CSIF works that are not in high circulation in the same manner.

Lastly, AMAAS has been talking with the Alberta Foundation for the Art (AFA) to advocate for adding media art to the Provincial Art Collection. One part of the Collection’s mandate is to collect and preserve Alberta art in perpetuity for future generations. At present, the Collection is almost entirely visual art based, however AFA staff have recently acknowledged its media arts deficiency.

When the AFA posts its annual call to purchase art for the collection, I encourage you as filmmakers to apply.4 The challenge for media artists is the need to determine a value for your work. Being a reproducible medium makes this tricky (compared to attributing a dollar value to a unique artwork like a painting), but not impossible. Talk to the staff at CSIF for tips and direction.

Ultimately there is not one perfect home to collect and house all of the media arts treasures of Alberta. However, we all need to create some space in our art practice or work to keep our cultural legacy alive. Keep informed, stay connected and make films that deserve to be collected.

3 - videopool.typepad.com 4 - www.affta.ab.ca/art-collection.asp

a RED workflow by aAron Munson

Thinking back to 2007, I remember hearing rumors about RED cam and what the company was trying to do with a “digital cinema” workflow. At first I cringed at the thought of another so called “film killer” on the market, this one priced well within the reaches of independent filmmakers. The day (and it was only a 24 hour window) came when you could place a $1000 deposit on the camera, which at that point wasn’t a very tangible object, having only seen a few digital renditions of it on their website. It was a bit of a gamble, but as an employee and member of the Film & Video Arts Society, I felt it was one worth taking for a chance at putting a high quality production tool into the hands of our membership. At the time, other cameras of similar quality were far beyond the reaches of a not-for-profit arts co-op, and I recognized what RED was attempting to do and the potential that was there. So we put our deposit down on my credit card, and after a very long wait, and the wiring of some funds to California, the camera finally arrived.

The RED One camera was unlike anything I had seen before. It looked like more of a futuristic space weapon than a cinema tool. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when we first powered it on. Much to my surprise, it felt quite similar to shooting with FAVA’s Arri 3 35mm camera. Heavy, noisy and awkward.That said, I really appreciated the ability to use the lenses and accessories that I was accustomed to using for film and the camera delivered exceptional image quality for the price.

Previous to the arrival of RED, I had worked exclusively with film, mostly Super 8 and 16mm. For me, the thought of shooting video for experimental films was something that would make an inspiration like Stan Brakhage turnover in his grave.

Dare I venture into the dark realm of video art? Although I never thought of myself as a purist, I was reluctant to incorporate digital capture as a primary production medium for a project. I had my bolex and really enjoyed the process of working with film.

As an independent experimental filmmaker committed to working with film, I was probably not the target market for a camera that was focused on making waves in the commercial film industry. For me, -8-

it wasn’t about how many pixels I could shoot, or that I could get the “look” of 35mm using digital. RED was a simply a new medium to explore, and I had access to it. The workflow of any medium is an integral part of the creative process, and it is that process that should determine what format(s) to use for a project.

The RED workflow provides a lot of creative potential for filmmakers. With the option to shoot in RAW mode, the flexibility in post allows for the fine-tuning of and experimentation with specific looks. Shooting at 4k resolution allows for pan and zoom movements within a 2K or 1080P post frame and provides a stunning level of detail, which makes for great film transfers.

In the summer of 2009, I shot my first digital short film “AurA” using RED One.

When I had finished shooting and went to watch the footage back, everything shot was black. I panicked, assuming it meant disaster as with film. I swore I’d never use the damn thing again. After a few phone calls and a bit of fiddling with the software, I realized it was just a menu setting on the camera that I had misinterpreted. Everything was there, somewhere in all those ones and zeros. Turns out, the camera was great to experiment with, and I found myself trying things I wouldn’t attempt with film, given the cost involved with every foot. And although it is nice to shoot with unbridled enthusiasm, shooting RED has in no way replaced film for me. It is just another medium, with its own quirks, strengths and weaknesses. And like any medium, its attributes can be manipulated and exploited in unconventional ways.

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GIRAF 2011

by Erin Sneath EXT. PARKING LOT – NIGHT It is Wednesday, November 2nd. Dark. The only vehicle parked in the lot is the TRUCK camper, with a video projector on its roof.

This projector sits only 10 feet away from a bird’s nest in a nearby tree. There are donuts from Jelly and coffee from Tim’s, and the band Caveaged playing in a white tent lit with Christmas lights. On the side of a big white wall are birds and fish, horses and bears, moving through colours and psychedelic shapes by Calgary animator Joe Kelly.

Despite the cold, many animation fans are here for this event, including a little white dog. Some more wander in when they hear the music.

INT. MEET – NIGHT The opening night party for 2011’s Giant Incandescent Resonating Animation Festival, Quickdraw’s annual five day event.The place is packed. There is vegetarian food, lots of drinks, some deejays and more animations projected toward the door and onto anyone who walks in. There is much in the mirth department.

INT. THE PLAZA - NIGHT Thursday evening in the popcorn scented film temple that is The Plaza. A presentation of Czech Surrealism and Magic Realism in an anthology called “Dreams of the Blind Watchmaker”. Eleven Czech animations of different styles, but each with healthy sense of trippiness.

Certainly an outgoing personality compared to what I’ve come to expect of animators! Both his animation talks were fantastic - especially the way he talked about mistakes as being an integral part of his animation process.

What a cheeky devil! He was very entertaining.”

EXT. OLYMPIC PLAZA - NIGHT An unlikely connection is made between wealthy restaurant patrons and Occupy Calgary as Lydia Karpenko’s Soft City is projected onto the side of Teatro.

INT. THE PLAZA – NIGHT Stop-Motion Spectacular; a duo of beautiful and psychedelic stop-motion shorts to end the evening. The first film is by the Brothers Quay, called Maska. It is based on a story by the author of Solaris, Stanislaw Lem and it is a tale told from the point of view of an undercover sleeper agent in a dark, magical world. The next is Mati Kutt’s Sky Song, a moving and often funny look at the information age, at the mind, and at travelling through space.

FADE TO: INT. THE PLAZA - NIGHT Friday. There is a Spotlight on David O’Reilly’s edgy and eye-popping work.

EXT. ENOCH HOUSE, STAMPEDE GROUNDS - NIGHT Mohammad Sharar shows his QuickTrack piece, Lacrimosa, on the side of the building.

INT. GLENBOW MUSEUM - NIGHT a talk with controversial Irish animator The audience braves extreme cold for this David O’Reilly in the Conoco Phillips experience.

Theatre.

INT. THE PLAZA -NIGHT An audience warming up from the cold PAN TO CAITLIND BROWN: “David O’Reilly was an amazing speaker. - 10 -watches Death By Short, a collection of

twelve death-themed short animations.

Some are hilarious like Will Anderson’s Making of Longbird and others are moving and sad, such as Alois Di Leo’s The Boy who Who Wanted To Be A Lion, and others still are poetic and experimental like Hannes Vartiainen’s Death of an Insect. There is also an Intermission Time in the middle of the screening, although this is Michael Degg’s fun cartoon on the plight of anthropomorphized theatre snacks, to the enjoyment of most and the horror of anyone whose bladder was counting on an actual intermission.

INT. QUICKDRAW/EM SCREENING ROOM - DAY Saturday. There is the Live Animation Visuals workshop with Calgary artist Joe Kelly.

Free.

INT. THE PLAZA - NIGHT Here are the Answers To All Of Life’s Questions, from the identity of the Employee of the Month by Clemant Comu, to the argument In Conclusion, We Should Fuck: A Story About Love, Sex and Clay by Tess Sibthorpe.

Those seeking animated enlightenment do so Saturday night at The Plaza.

EXT. JUBILLEE AUDITORIUM – NIGHT Outside, on the wall of the Jube, Sitji Chou projected his short animation titled Bloom, and Martin Warsawski presented his monster toon called MonstroCity.

INT. JUBILEE AUDITORIUM – NIGHT The Log Driver’s Waltz Gala and Plaid Party.

I would vote for the Plaid Party. It saddens me that I missed out on this event, and for two reasons: 1) I wouldn’t have broken my elbow rollerskating at a birthday party and 2) I hear the night was pretty epic. Re-

member The Log Driver’s Waltz? So catchy and lovable that despite its sweetness, even the school bully sang it out loud?

PAN TO CAITLIND BROWN: “The Log DriversWaltz Plaid Party was a dazzling success! So many people came out - all sorts of different people too. Hipsters brought their parents! People saw giant projections from the C-train and wandered over to check it out.

The band brought their friends.

Everyone was wearing plaid, though.

It was pretty amazing! The next day I heard the coolest thing apparently John Weldon, the animator of the Log DriversWaltz had got wind of a Plaid Party celebrating his NFB short from all the way across the country! That was amazing news.”

There is a presentation of Canadian animations used in Sesame Street, There is music by The Bitterweed Draw, then a ninety minute screening of classic National Film Board animations, featuring Log Driver’s Waltz, Black Fly, and the experimental shorts of the great Norman McLaren.

INT. QUICKDRAW/EM SCREENING ROOM – DAY Sunday afternoon and some animation fans brave through post-gala recovery to watch C’est La Vie; local animator and cancer victim Chris J. Melnychuk’s final and unfinished film as completed by nineteen animators to raise money for a Memorial Scholarship in his name. This presentation was followed by The Florenstine Collection, the tale of a hundred discarded dresses, started by Helen Hill and completed by her husband Paul Gailiunas after her death and hurricane Katrina.

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INT. PLAZA – DAY The National Film Board Family Program, followed by New Releases!

INT. QUICKDRAW – DAY A workshop by Richard Reeves called Animation on Film: Oxberry Camera Stands and Hand Processing. I wanted in on this workshop but sign-up was first come first serve and it had been filled up since at least Thursday. I pass the workshop participants huddled together around an Oxberry on my way to the screening room.

INT. QUICKDRAW/EM SCREENING ROOM – DAY Martin Warsawski, Mohammad Sharar, Sitji Chou and Lydia Karpenko sit at the front in a panel discussion led by audience development coordinator Caitlind Brown.

There are slightly fewer people sitting in

the audience but the discussion is a good one. The panellists are the participants of the inaugural QuickTrack Project. They are each of them mentioned in previous scenes, projecting their work onto the sides of buildings in exciting free screenings. These people worked full time as animators all summer, funded by the project as part of the Animated City installations.

They had to take their respective venues into considerations when planning and creating their pieces.

FADE OUT And there it is, animation fans, another GIRAF here and gone, off to nibble more leaves from the animated trees. Those of you who missed it should definitely try to catch this excellent festival next year when the GIRAF wanders back, tall and proud.

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Experimenting in the Twenties By: Deanna Cameron Dubuque Celebrating it’s 20th birthday in 2011, the New University Television (NUTV) is well established at the University of Calgary.

The organization has grown from a oneperson office with a handful of members to a hub of activity on campus, with four fulltime staff members serving the community.

Over the years the staff developed a comprehensive training program for station volunteers to learn about editing, shooting and reporting. The result can be seen in NUTV’s news magazine show Full Frontal, which airs regularly on SHAW and is broadcast around campus on a network of television monitors.

NUTV continues to expand its ranks through the number of participating volunteers and by offering an increasingly wide range of productions.

“My vision has always been to create new opportunities for the organization which will engage our membership in new and interesting ways,” says Dominique Keller, NUTV Executive Director. Under her leadership the station has experienced significant growth including a large scale renovation, an expansion of the NUTV-owned campus television network, and an environmentally-themed film festival.

NUTV’s first Greenlite Festival was held in March 2011 and included a photography competition and a 48-hour film challenge all free of charge. This year, the programme will expand to include skill development workshops in the weeks leading up to the challenge. One of the goals of the festival is to inspire grassroots work in the community.

Similar to NUTV’s television production, the film festival aims at putting cameras in the hands of new and emerging talent by offering a full support system to ensure success.

Five years ago NUTV moved into its new offices on the third floor of the MacEwan Student Centre. This new space has allowed

the organization to room it needed to expand its physical operations and its overall scope. “The extraordinary leadership of all of the past Executive Directors was not only critical in the initial establishment of NUTV but for its continued growth over the last 20 years,” says Keller.

For example, NUTV’s closed-circuit campus broadcast began in 1999 with the first system improvement in 2006.Thanks to a generous grant from the Students’ Union in 2011 the system has been upgraded and expanded to give complete coverage of the student centre.This grant also included funds to purchase equipment making it possible for NUTV to caption all its production for campus broadcast. Deanna Cameron Dubuque, NUTV’s Director of Publicity & Promotions, notes “Our largest audience comprises of the 30,000+ members of the campus community that engage with our material everyday so it is important we are able to communicate with them effectively through captioned programming.”

With an influx of new ideas NUTV is experimenting with delivery and content models and finding what works best will be a process of trial and error. What links the organization’s lasting initiatives such as DocSchool (established in 2003) and Movies That Matter (established in 2002) is a not only a good idea but solid groundwork to carry it through the years. Keeping this in mind a five year strategic plan is being constructed and the organization is consulting with its membership to revise its core mission and values.

“Currently we are working on our top ten list of things to do before NUTV turns 30” says Cameron Dubuque, “like all 20-year olds we want to have fun but we also want to be moving towards an established future”.

If you are a member NUTV wants to hear from you! If you are interested in joining NUTV or participating in the 2012 Greenlite Festival go to nutv.ca.

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The Thrilling Discomfort of The Skin I Live In

by Katrina Olson-Mottahed

Most brilliant people have quirks, and Pedro Almodovar’s direction in The Skin I Live In is no exception. A film about a plastic surgeon, obsessed with the memory of his wife who commited suicide. Written and directed by Almodovar, it makes you wonder where these twisted ideas of brilliance are born. Almodovar adapted the story and wrote The Skin I Live In based on the novel Tarantula by Thierry Jonquet.

In many of Almodovar’s films, the director attempts to relate in some ways with the female perspective, but none deal with this perspective quite the same way as this work. This film was nominated for the Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival this year (2011), screened at TIFF and also here in Calgary at CIFF. The film stars Antonio Banderas who is a veteran actor in Almodovar films, having worked together 21 years prior in the film Tie Me Up Tie Me Down (1990). In The Skin I Live In Banderas plays Doctor Robert Ledgard, the limitless plastic surgeon lamenting over the death of his deceased wife and tries to replicate her on the surface of another person’s body for revenge of the rape of his daughter. Genius and experimental in his work, his approach at creation, or rather recreation of human

flesh, exposes his power driven god-like approach to modern medicine.

This film deals with contemporary issues of gender identification, which have never been addressed in Almodovar’s previous works. Gender identity is a current topic in popular culture and has become increasing popular because of the plight for equality of LGBT people in Western society. Aside from gender identity as a social issue, the character of Vincente played

by Jan Cornet, was a boy who worked in his mother’s consignment store and loved to work with textiles. He rode a motorcycle and experimented with pills. He wasn’t eluded as being the most masculine of characters. Vincente’s transformation into Vera Cruz, this ultra feminine and delicate character seemed so well embraced by the character after the sexual reassignment surgery he under went. The transformation of genders by the character emphasizes the power shift from male to female, and the subsequent domination of the masculine gender by Dr. Ledgard, Banderas’ character who confines, penetrates and admires Vera Cruz as a woman in a possessive sexual nature.

The complex narrative of this film, which Almodovar is infamous for, is sorted out through the many beautiful flashbacks, which help the audience empathsize with the Psychopath character Banderas play as Dr. Ledgard. But however beautiful, the discomfort is inevitable as you watch many uncomfortable situations dealing with rape from a boy to a girl, a man to a boy and over again.

Although this film would be classified in the genres of horror or psychological thrillers, it deals with gender, power, tragedy and love, which makes it so much more than you expect from a Festival Film.

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On the Slate: CSIF News CSIF Events

Workshops: How To Make A Film

CSIF X-mas Party - December 10 @ 6:30pm Old Y Common Room Main floor - 223, 12th Ave. SW Another year has rushed by for the CSIF, but we’re incredibly excited—as you can imagine—to get settled in our fantastic new space at the Old Y. The occasion marks a major shift for us: away with the Currie Barracks’ no-arts-zone and head first into the thick of things on the belt-line. And we’d like to take this chance to welcome you and your friends to our annual Christmas party, which will be held in the spacious Common Room at our new digs.

As usual, there will be live-DJ’d music, plenty of drinks at the cash bar, and light refreshments to keep things buzzing. Hopefully even some local celluloid flickering on the walls. To top it off, with such a central location, you can bet taxis will be a whole lot easier to come by, too.

The Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers is offering nine filmmakers the opportunity to participate in an intensive five month, hands-on filmmaking workshop. Throughout this workshop Participants will develop, write, shoot, direct and edit their own 5-6 minute 16mm film.

The workshop will be taught in a Student/Mentor style where students have direct access to professional Artist/Filmmakers as they progress through the filmmaking process.

Mentor/Instructors Sandi Somers - Sandi is an award winning filmmaker whose films have been screened across the globe. Her eclectic work covers dance films, documentary, music videos, video poems and narrative shorts.

Corey Lee - Corey has written, directed, produced and co-edited the feature film, Defining Edward, and has crafted music videos and several short films, including the award winning Kilter Trilogy, adapted from kilter: 55 fictions, by John Gould. He is currently writing and directing for television and in post-production on, Warrior Legend, his feature documentary, co-produced by the National Film Board.

Hope to see you there—Happy Holidays, CSIF ACTRA Mixer - Feb 2, 2011 Old Y Common Room Main floor - 223, 12th Ave. SW CSIF and ACTRA are pleased to offer members this informational mixer. Learn how to work with ACTRA as indie producers, ask questions, and mingle with ACTRA staff and actors.

James Reckseidler - James is an award winning filmmaker whose works have screened both nationally and internationally over the past 8 years.

His work is primarily focussed on using silent era filmmaking techniques and vocabulary to create new modernist works. He an active member of the Calgary Film Community.

$100 Film Festival - March 1-3, 2011 Mark your calendars, we are celebrating our 20th anniversary this year. The $100 Film Festival is the longest running film festival in Calgary, and continues to celebrate the spirit of celluloid with film screenings, artist talks and other events.

Keep an eye on the website for more details: www.100dollarfilmfestival.org Classic Film Screenings - please note the screenings have been postponed until 2012.

ARTiCAL - Meetings on the 4th Tuesday of every month. 6pm @ at the EMMEDIA. Join a collective of writers to discuss critical writing and increase your own skill through workshops. E-mail programming@csif.org for more information or to RSVP to the next meeting.

Registration includes all workshops and seminar fees, equipment rentals, film stock (700’ of Kodak colour Negative film), lab costs and transfer fees as well as editing and post production facility rentals.

Members $1,600 Non-members $1,900 Bursaries Available to Aboriginal Students contact CSIF for Inquiries 403-205-4748 or email production@csif.org CSIF Spring Workshop Schedule Will be announced in March/ April 2012.

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