Unveiled

Opens this weekend in NYC
Originally “Unveiled” was titled “Fremde Haut” which means In Orbit — the term officially used by the UN to refer to asylum-seekers who find themselves orbiting around planet Earth because they canhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif actually find legal domicile nowhere at all.

Fariba, prosecuted in Iran because of her love for a woman, flees to Germany. But her application for asylum is turned down. Her desperate prospects are improved by the suicide of her fellow-inmate, a man named Siamak, who has received a temporary permit of sojourn just before his death. Assuming his identity, she is sent to a refugee camp near a small German village.

At first her survival seems to be assured, but the strain of upholding her male disguise in the cramped refugee quarters reveals the threat that a single mistake could blow her cover. In order to pay for forged documents, Fariba takes an illegal job in a sauerkraut factory, where she meets Anne. The two grow close - indeed dangerously close for Farbia as Anne begins to suspect her true identity.

http://www.unveiledthemovie.com
http://www.cinemavillage.com

Compass for Change

Last night I attended a great event hosted by Downtown Community Television, the New York City Grassroots Media Coalition, the Youth Activists Youth Allies network (YA YA network), and the North Star Fund. Together they have put together an activist resource website called Compass for Change. It's a really easy to use website designed to help community organizers connect and collaborate. The main feature is a calander where organizations can post their events and you can see all the amazing NYC-based activist and community events that are going on. In other technology news, the Grassroots Media Coalition has added skill sharing, bast-fax and a dispatch centers to their website, enabling users to keep up with news of the world related to indpendent media and culture, contact dozens of media outlet in a single step and share how-to's. It's also always nice to see organizations that, in addition to creating easy to use tech tools, they also connect it to on-the-ground organizing and having actual events, including the upcoming NYC Grassroots Media conference in February. The call for proposals for workshops is up on their website, so check it out and start thinking!

digital art registry

The Irving Sandler Artists File is a digitized image database and slide registry that is open to the public free-of-charge, and is regularly used by curators, artists, gallery owners, collectors, consultants, and students to discover the work of emerging and unaffiliated artists. It is one of the largest and most comprehensive artist registries in the country. Located in Artists Space, the Artists File is open Fridays and Saturdays from 10am to 6pm and is available to browse or search by appointment only.

The Artists File includes hard files and digital files for each participating artist. Hard files include slides, resumes, biographies, artist statements, reviews, and other supporting materials. Digital files located in a Macintosh database include two images, artists’ contact information, and numbered categories that artists’ choose to describe their work. Searches based on these descriptive categories allow File users to locate specific types of artwork. Users may also choose to browse through artists’ digital images on the database.

The Artists File has recently launched the Artists File Online which allows users to search and browse images from the database online at their convenience. There is no fee to join or view the Artists File, and users of the File contact the artists directly. Artists are encouraged to update their materials at least once every two years, and a file that has not been updated in four years will be removed and made inactive.

go to www.artistsspace.org and click on "The Artists File"

A Benefit Party for Critical Resistance: November 19

Restless Produxns and Critical Resistance NYC Present:

PARTY FOR YOUR RIGHT TO FIGHT III
A Benefit Party for Critical Resistance

Saturday, November 19th 2005
9:30 PM - 4:00 AM

Celebrating two years of community resistance and survival since the Nov. 15th 2003 attack on our peoples by the NYPD in Brooklyn.

Last chance to Dance with Critical Resistance's elusive Kai L. Barrow, who is leaving New York City for greener pastures.

Musical Interludes (upstairs) dj:ayden dj jason page Spinning select grooves all night long

Bands, Performances, Recognitions (downstairs) Stone Forest Ensemble Artists, Cultural Performances, and Special Guests TBA

your MC: Reverend Ashanti

$5-20 (slide high, y'all) - please give in the downstairs room.

The Delancey
168 Delancey (Between Clinton and Attorney)
J train to Essex St, F to Delancey. Walk 1.5 blocks east.

www.restlessproduxns.net
www.criticalresistance.org

Critical Resistance seeks to build an international movement to end the Prison Industrial Complex by challenging the belief that caging and controlling people makes us safe. We believe that basic necessities such as food, shelter, and freedom are what really make our communities secure. As such, our work is part of global struggles against inequality and powerlessness.

The success of the movement requires that it reflect communities most affected by the PIC. Because we seek to abolish the PIC, we cannot support any work that extends its life or scope.

SAVE THE DATE: Saturday November 19th, 7-9pm

Sandra Grace presents BEST LESBIAN SHORT FILMS Bluestockings Bookstore, 172 Allen St at Stanton $5-$10 sliding scale

Mix, mingle, and watch these award-winning lesbian short films:

-"Hide and Seek" by critically acclaimed director Su Friedrich (www.sufriedrich.com)
-The L.E.S. premiere of "Open" written & produced by Sandra Grace and Teale Failla (http://openmovie.tripod.com)
-"A Girl and a Goldfish" by Kelly Sebastian (ohtheladies.com)
-"Risk" by Melanie LaRosa (including two songs by Sandra Grace)!

Please help spread the word, and invite friends!!!

All the best,
Sandra Grace
http://sandragrace.tripod.com

riffRAG Issue 1 release- July 2005

click to view album

support this event

click for more info

Small Works for Big Change

Art Auction Benefiting the Work of the Sylvia
Rivera Law Project
Orchard Street Gallery
139 Orchard Street, NYC @ Delancey St.

Opening with DJ spinning: Saturday, December 3, 6-8pm
Auction: Sunday, December 4, 4-9pm
Pre-view and Silent Auction: 4-7pm
Live Auction: 7-8pm

This December the Sylvia Rivera Law Project will
be auctioning off exciting works of art to raise
funds to support the projects fight for gender self-
determination.

The Sylvia Rivera Law Project (SRLP) provides free
legal services to low-income transgender
communities and transgender communities of
color. They also educate the public about trans
oppression and support community organizing
work that fights for the rights of their community.
SRLP has assisted over 350 clients facing violence
and discrimination in prisons, juvenile justice
facilities, shelters, educational institutions and at
the hands of the police since its inception in 2003.
SRLP trains judges, health professionals, and
other community organizations on how to provide
respectful and affirming services. The most
pressing issue faced daily at SRLP is the vast
amount community members who are unable to
access the most basic of services to meet the
most vital of needs (such as shelter, health care,
and education) because of rampant discrimination
and violence.

The art auction will be held at the Orchard Street
Gallery at 139 Orchard Street on December 4,
2005. There will be a opening of the works from 6-
8pm on December 3 with a featured DJ spinning.
The main event on Sunday, December 4 will start
at 4pm with a preview and silent auction of over 30
small works from a variety of artists including local
artists, artwork by SRLP clients, and renowned
artists. At 7pm a live auction of other works will
commence. The live auction ends at 8pm and
silent auction closes at 8:30pm, so dont miss out
on the bidding action. Artists work to be featured
at this event include William Wegman, Patty
Chang, Deborah Edmeades, Annie Sprinkle, Glenn
Ligon, Andrea Geyer, Moyra Davey, Christy Gast,
Hank O'Neal, Mo Cassanova, Zoe Bissell, Sam
Gordon, Emily Riedman, Allen Frame, Valerie
Shaff, Yvonne Rainer, Klara Hobza, Sara
Saltzman, A.L. Steiner, Josh Faught, Leah DeVun,
Emily Roysdon, Felicia Murray, Matt Keegan, and
more! The event will also include small crafts, artist
books and limited edition silkscreen t-shirts for
sale. This is really amazing work for a great cause!

All proceeds will go towards supporting the work of
the Sylvia Rivera Law Project. For more information
about the event visit www.srlp.org or send a check to 822 8th Ave., 3rd
Floor, New York, NY 10001.

Find "Rid Off!"

After attending yet another boring session of my cinema history class, I went home and watched a DVD that had been sitting on my shelf for days. The DVD contained a short film by a Columbia film student, Huy Chau (www.sixteenshorts.com). His film is called "Rid Off!" and its plot concerns unrequited teenage fag love (mediated by a super hot punk rock Latina). It also features a beautiful soundtrack by Seattle experimental guitar band, Kinski. The film has played several queer film festivals already, but try to catch it if you can. Furthermore, director Chau is in need of production assistants for his next project, to be shot December 3-7. If interested in helping him out, email us back (riffrag@yahoo.com) and we'll put you in touch with him.

Actions by Sharon Hayes

This is a call from artist friend Sharon Hayes (www.shaze.info). (I'll be at the action taking place at Washington Square Park next Wednesday.)


Dear Friends,


In nine separate actions taking place November 1-9, 2006 at various locations throughout New York City, I will stand on the street with a sign.

I am emailing to ask you to please come and document one or all of these actions. The documentation will be shown in an informal presentation on November 9, 6-8 p.m. at Art in General, so please document in a medium that can be projected: slide photography, digital photography, or digital and/or analog video.


The schedule and locations of the actions are:


- Tuesday, November 1st, 3-4 p.m., Union Square

- Wednesday, November 2nd, 9-10 a.m., Broad St. (also Nassau St.), between Exchange Pl. & Wall St.

- Thursday, November 3rd, 12 -1p.m., Madison Square Garden, 7th Ave. & 33rd St.

- Friday, November 4th, 8-9 a.m., Times Square, 44th St. & Broadway

- Saturday, November 5th, 3-4 p.m., Central Park, 59th St. & Columbus Circle

- Sunday, November 6th, 11 a.m - 12 pm., St. Patrick¹s Cathedral, 5th Ave., between 50th & 51st St.

- Monday, November 7th, 11 a.m ­ 12pm., Adam Clayton Powell State Office Building, 125th St. & 7th Ave.

- Tuesday, November 8th, 8-9 a.m., City Hall, Chambers St. & Broadway

- Wednesday, November 9th, 10-11 a.m., Washington Square Park arch, Wash. Sq. North & 5th Ave.


You do need your own camera(s), but Art in General can provide complimentary 35mm slide film and DV-tape to use. To get a complimentary film/tape, please pick it up during office hours at Art in General¹s 6th floor front desk. Art in General is located at 79 Walker Street between Broadway and Lafayette, New York, NY 10013; office hours are Tuesday-Saturdays 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

After the documentation, you can leave the used film directly with me or deliver it to Art in General before November 9th. Art in General will take care of the film processing. If you shoot with a digital camera, you can email the images to artingeneral@gmail.com. If you¹d like to be credited for your work, please include your name in the email or with the used film.


If you don't have the desire or the equipment to document, please come and watch.


For questions, concerns, or more information, please call Anthony Marcellini at Art in General at 212- 219-0473, ext. 29 or email me directly.


Thank you,


Sharon Hayes

* These actions are part of an ongoing work called “In the Near Future,” commissioned by Art in General and presented as part of the Performa Biennial. For more information: www.artingeneral.org