5th Cairo Video Festival
Video Art & Experimental films
Call for entries. Deadline: June 30, 2013

Medrar for Contemporary Art is sending out an open Call for Submission to the Fifth Cairo Video Festival hosted in Medrar’s space in September 2013.

Participation:

• Individuals, groups, curators or associations are invited to participate.
• The number of entries by one author is limited to three works only
• Documentary, feature or commercial videos will not be recognized for enrolment in the festival.
• Videos should be produced after January 2010, and no longer than 30 min of duration.
• Screening of the submitted videos should not have any specific recommended format of installation.
• The festival does not offer screening fees; neither requests any entry charges from the applicants
• A committee appointed by the organizers of the festival will do the selection of entries.
• Notification of the selection of a Video will be issued by 15 August  2012, by email only.
• The organizing crew has the right to use the participating data within all promotional means and publications, with reserved copyrights.

The 4th edition of (S8) Mostra de Cinema Periférico, to be held next June 5-8 in A Coruña, Spain, focuses this year on Argentinian experimental cinema: several programmes, curated by Pablo Marín and Magdalena Arau, will center on the history of Argentinian experimental film (Phanton Anthology, featuring the works of Narcisa Hirsch, Horacio Vallereggio, Jorge Honik & Laura Abel or Gabriel Romano); the work of Super8 filmmakers Pablo Mazzolo, Sergio Subero and Pablo Marín; and a selection of amateur and domestic cinema. Claudio Caldini, the legendary S8 filmmaker will be present to introduce a retrospective of his films both in single channel and expanded versions, including his latest works H R Z N T (2011), Fantasmas Cromáticos (2012) and Tamil Nadu View (2010); and also to conduct a workshop on multiple projection and expanded cinema. Fernando Martín Peña and Fabio Manes, directors of the TV programme “Filmoteca, Temas de Cine” will present a selection of rarely-seen films, from early silent movies to the work of the recently deceased filmmaker Leonardo Favio. Last but not least, the section Sinais will focus on the work of Galician artists Lois Patiño and Miguel Mariño.

The 19th edition of veteran film festival Media City begins next week (May 21-25, Windsor, Ontario) with an opening night featuring performances by CCMC (Michael Snow, John Oswald and Al Mattes) and avant-noise band Wolf Eyes. A selection of Super 8 and 16mm films by Saul Levine, who will also be part of the jury, and the Canadian premiere of James Benning's new film Stemple Pass are among its many highlights.

The core of the festival is its competition programme, that in this edition features nearly fifty films and videos by artists such as Bruce McClure, David Gatten, Jeannette Muñoz, Kevin Jerome Everson, Mary Helena Clark, Stephen Connolly, Johann Lurf, Robert Todd and Nick Collins, to name just a few.

Balagan presents... Mirror Stage
Monday, May 13 2013, 19:30h
Brattle Theatre
40 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

Much has been said about what is regarded as the quintessential cinematic experience: the darkened, softened, uterine surroundings, the hypnotic flicker ahead, the lulling whirr from the projection booth. It is a comfortable hiding place from which to observe others\' nightmares and desires. As much as we at Balagan embrace this fancy, we like to break the spell on occasion by channeling an earlier form of cinema, when projected images elicited bewilderment instead of reverie.

This time, we aim to shatter cinematic illusions by shifting our attention 180° away from the spectacle. As we ponder the screen, the stage and the curtains; as we gaze into the spectators\' faces and observe their body language -- entranced or impatient -- we see a reflection of ourselves. So we enter Lacan's "mirror stage": the anxious moment of catching sight of oneself for the first time and beginning to grasp the reality of one\'s existence.

Barbara Hammer:Incorporating ‘The Lesbian Museum’ and ‘The Hidden Hammer’
Friday, May 10 2013, 19h
Woodstock Artists Association & Museum
28 Tinker Street, Woodstock, NY 12498

Fresh from retrospectives at the Tate, MoMA and Jeu De Paume, the acclaimed pioneer of queer cinema Barbara Hammer will be talking/performing/showing slides and film clips on the body of work that has made her an internationally celebrated artist and feminist.

A key figure in American experimental film, she is credited with producing the earliest avant-garde films that openly address lesbian life and sexuality. Her work remainsfundamentally influential to contemporary artists exploring daring and experimental thought and film.

For a sneak peek of Barbara Hammer at the Jeu De Paume Gallery in Paris, click here.