This week on(line): Lee Hardcastle and Mitch Jenkins on short films / Sina Sparrow and David Shenton on gay comics
Alex Fitch
I'm ready for my close-up: Reinventing the portmanteau film
More info: www.leehardcastle.com / www.mitchjenkins.com
5pm Friday 12th July, repeated 8am Tuesday 16th July, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / podcast at www.electricsheepmagazine.com/events
Panel Borders: Small press gay comics and zines
Continuing a month of shows about gay and lesbian comics, Alex Fitch talks to cartoonists David Shenton and Sina Sparrow about their work. Shenton discusses his plans for new cartoon work and his current exhibition "Those Foolish Things", on display at Space Station Sixty-Five gallery in Kennington, South London; and Sparrow talks about his zine Art Fag and contributing to the forthcoming anthology QU33R.
More info: www.davidshenton.com / www.boycrazyboy.com
8.30am Monday 15th July, repeated 3pm Thursday 18th July, Resonance 104.4 FM / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / podcast at www.panelborders.wordpress.com
Panel Borders: Homogeneity in Gay educational comics
Continuing a month of shows about gay and lesbian comics, Panel Borders presents a lecture by post doctoral researcher Doctor Jordana Greenblatt on the similarity in content of gay comics about safe practices and HIV, concentrating on Safer Sex Comix (by Alexander and Gregg, publ. 1987 by Gay Men’s Health Crisis of New York) and Alex et la vie d’apres (by Thierry Robberecht and Fabrice Neaud, publ. 2008 by Ex Aequo), recorded at “Ethics under cover – the 4th international Conference on Comics and Medicine”, Brighton and Sussex Medical School. Jordana discusses the similarity of sexual expression found in graphic narratives published 20 years apart – one designed as an educational pamphlet and the other a modern graphic novella based on the experiences of young gay men in Belgium – and talks to Alex Fitch about how the talk fits into her ongoing research and interests.
http://panelborders.wordpress.com/2013/07/08/panel-borders-homogeneity-in-gay-educational-comics/
Panel Borders: Bulldogs and an itinerant Shirtlifter
Starting a month of shows about Lesbian and Gay comics and graphic novels, Alex Fitch talks to a British illustrator and a couple of Canadian cartoonists about their work in the field. Steve MacIsaac discusses his Xeric Award-winning comic Shirtlifter which collects autobiographical tales of his experience of moving from Canada to Japan and back to North America, with shorter fictional stories of modern gay life by himself and other creators including Ilya and Justin Hall. Also, artists Chas Hunter (from Toronto) and Si Arden (from Plymouth) discuss their collaboration on the art for a new digital wordless erotic comic called Bulldogs written by Dale Lazarov
http://panelborders.wordpress.com/2013/07/01/panel-borders-bulldogs-and-an-itinerant-shirtlifter/
The Pod Delusion episode 192
This week we talk DNA patents, apps that claim to cure homosexuality, and whether Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks has a valid opinion about atheism. Plus we speak to Girl With A One Track Mind Zoe Margolis, singer / songwriter Shelley Segal, and Alex Fitch looks at religious themes in Zack Snyder's Man of Steel and other recent Superman comic books.
http://panelborders.wordpress.com/2013/06/21/the-pod-delusion-episode-192/
Three fabulous black-and-white films hit UK screens this July, starting with Ben Wheatley’s surreal A Field in England, set during the English Civil War, along with the wonderful Spanish silent fantasy fairytale Blancanieves and Noah Baumbach’s infectiously witty NYC broken-dreams-fable Frances Ha, starring Greta Gerwig as the feisty lead.
Austrian cinema proves strong, with the resonant one-woman drama The Wall and Ulrich Seidl’s Paradise: Faith also arriving in theatres this month. We revisit Ciaran Foy’s dystopian shocker Citadel, finally getting a UK release, while Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s Cleopatra returns as well as The Enigma of Kasper Hauser and its star, Bruno the Black. Also making a long-awaited comeback are Hitchcock’s Dial M for Murder 3D, reviewed in comic strip form by Paul O'Connell, and the groundbreaking cyberpunk anime classic Akira.
Out on Blu-ray/DVD, more brilliant classics are unleashed, including David Cronenberg’s The Brood, Jack Hill’s Spider Baby, Andrzej Żuławski’s Possession, and the original French zombie horror The Returned. Also Alex Fich reviews a new collection of children’s film classics titled Weird Adventures.
In features, we report on Punchdrunk’s cinematic production of The Drowned Man and follow Robert Redford adrift at sea in All Is Lost. The Jukebox comes from Scott and Charlene’s Wedding, while Daisy Hildyard’s alter ego is Werner Herzog. This month's Reel Sounds is on Dementia, and festival reports come from Cannes and Edinburgh.David Shenton Exhibition
These Foolish Things: Shenton’s cartoons are often camp but they’re not just camp, and they’re not that awful apolitical offensive camp, but a light, knowing, meaningful camp; their first task is to entertain and to make the audience laugh – and often they do much more because the liberation politics that informs his work means that with the laugh there is an acerbic point – a wry observation on how we live or a satirical comment about society and a wider political context, contained in the lives and musings of plausible and likeable characters. Or sometimes it’s just a silly joke.
1 June to 27 July 2013
Space Station 65 Gallery, Building One, 373 Kennington Road, London SE11 4PS
More info: www.spacestationsixtyfive.com
Cats and comics
Some
at Orbital claim this forthcoming exhibition is a combination of two of
the best things ever (cats and comics!). The exhibition features some
of the top names in alternative comics with a whole lot of kitties too.
The show includes work by: Jeffrey Brown, Lucy Knisley, James
Kochalka, Liz Prince, Sara McHenry, Gemma Correll, John Porcellino, Lizz
Lunney, Dan Berry, Rus Hudda, Sara Lindo, Yasmine Surovec, Seo Kim, and
Martin Tomsky.
July 13th - August 12th 2013
Orbital Comics, 8 Great Newport Street, London WC2H 7JA
More info: www.orbitalcomics.com
Steadman @77 exhibition
The Cartoon Museum is proud to present a selection of Ralp Steadman's iconic cartoons to celebrate his 77th birthday. To accompany the exhibition there is a programme of events and talks, these include:
Brian Sibley talks about steadman's adaptations of classic texts such as Alice in Wonderland - 27th June, 6.30pm
Anita O'Brien discusses the use of the weird in Steadman's work - 4th July / 3rd September, 6.30pm
Exhibition continues until Autumn 2013, more info at http://cartoonmuseum.org
The Cartoon Museum, 35 Little Russell Street, London WC1A 2HH
This is Scalarama!
In September, Scalarama will fill the land with cinemas.
More than a festival, Scalarama is an inclusive film season, a movement for movie lovers and a celebration of cinema in all its forms.
We invite you to join a community of enthusiasts from across the UK; a range of film organisations, programmers, curators, collectives, academics, journalists and film fans – all will come together for one month to share their belief that watching a film as part of an audience is something important, valuable and worth championing. Scalarama is not just about film, it’s about the experience, and the people and the passion behind the projector.
We are seeking public support this year to help further the message, reach out to new partners and make it as easy as possible for audiences to find events and organisations near them. Because we have decided to not take a cut of the box office nor charge an entry fee, and as we do not receive public money, we are looking to crowdfund the season.
Incentices include postcards, books, DVDs and much more...
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/729405182/scalarama (Ends July 29th)
Tripwire 21 now available to order
TRIPWIRE 21 is a must-buy for all fans and aficionados of comics and genre. Clocking in at 180 pages and oversized trade paperback format, the book includes classic TRIPWIRE interviews with creators like Mike (Hellboy) Mignola, Alan (Watchmen, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) Moore, Frank Quitely (All-Star Superman, Batman & Robin), Grant Morrison (Batman Inc., Joe The Barbarian), Peter Milligan (Hellblazer, Justice League Dark), James (Starman, The Shade) Robinson and more. It also includes an introduction from renowned writer Mark Verheiden (Battlestar Galactica, Falling Skies). It also includes a gallery of images, a selection of rarely seen and new for the book, from a stellar line-up of the best comic artists and illustrators in the business including: Tim Bradstreet, Howard Chaykin, Dave Dorman, Garen Ewing, Duncan Fegredo, Henry Flint, Phil Hale, Michael Kaluta, Joe Kubert, Roger Langridge, Mike (Hellboy) Mignola, Mike Perkins, Sean Phillips, Frank Quitely, Walter Simonson, Drew Struzan (Indiana Jones, Shawshank Redemption posters), Ben Templesmith and Chris Weston
TRIPWIRE 21 is available to order through the direct market to comic shops through Previews June 2013 on page 378 in the book section, item number JUN131448.
More info at https://www.facebook.com/TripwireMag
Alex
Programme maker, Resonance 104.4 FM (Arts Council) - www.resonancefm.com
Assistant editor, Electric Sheep Magazine - www.electricsheepmagazine.com