SCREENING: JSF at the Detroit Film Center, 11/24

The next installment of the JSF screening at the esteemed DFC is happening this Saturday. Along with are special musical guests The Space Band. It should be a smashing show (film #11 is actually called “Demolition 7,” by Richie Sherman). Rumor has it the publisher will be in attendance. Feel free to hand him screeners if you’d like to submit to the Journal. For a list of the films, check out the listing in the left frame for Volume 2.

SCREENING(S): JSF at the Detroit Film Center, 10/27, 11/24, etc.

Brandon Walley up at the Detroit Film Center has programmed the Journal into the DFC’s A/V Club, resulting in a series of screenings to happen on the last Saturday of each month. The first installment will happen on Sat., Oct.27th, and will feature the screening of the full-length Volume 1 of the Journal PLUS live music and projection from local renegade noisemakers, The Eagles Club. If you haven’t seen Vol.1 yet, navigate leftward and read the listing of films and filmmakers that got the Journal off the ground back in 2005. If you have seen it, trust us that the films really deserve a theater screen.

EVENT!: Unusual Animals, Portland, OR, 10/20

We’re excited to finally have an event on the left coast. On 10/20, we’re joining up with Asthmatic Kitty Records to take part in their Unusual Animals series. You may know AKR best for Sufjan Stevens, but the label is stacked with countless other amazing talent, as well.
See all the event details below, and if you’re in the area be sure and say hi.

WHAT: The “Unusual Animals” show, presented by The Journal of Short Film, Meow Meow Presents, and Asthmatic Kitty Records. All ages. Free show.
WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 20th, 3pm
WHERE: Urbangrind Coffee Eastside, 2214 NE Oregon, Portland, OR

Featuring music of Half-handed Cloud, Lake, The Beauty, Upsidedown Cat, and Kelli Schaffer; films by Vanessa Renwick, Karl Lind, Chel White, Jeremy Bird, Uli Beutter, Stephen Slappe, Ryan Jeffery, and Matt McCormick.

Here is some backstory from AKR:
“Unusual Animals, an imprint of the internationally celebrated music
label Asthmatic Kitty, was created as a side-project aimed to expose
more conceptual and experimental projects not fitting squarely into
any one genre of music. Originally, Unusual Animals explored these
sounds through vinyl-only releases, pairing its own artists with
friends and sometimes-unlikely bedfellows.

“During this year's SXSW music festival, however, Asthmatic Kitty took
the Unusual Animals' series one step farther by hosting a live event
that forced the Unusual Animals' artists from the dash of car stereos
and into live performances. The combination of local art, music,
piñatas, food, and culture brought about the second evolution in the
series and a shift in focus. No longer strictly highlighting
underexposed artists, the series now explores the contribution of all
community members, urging the planet to recognize the variety of
activities that make up the cultural being that defines a given city.”

So in stepped the JSF to line up some films, with the help of Karl Lind. Oh, and there will also be puppetry. The all-Portland-artist event should be a great, weird time. The venue is in a nice, warehouse-y section of NE PDX near 22nd and Oregon. Join us!
For more info:
Asthmatic Kitty Records
Meow Meow Presents

Screenings: Neil Ira Needleman (fall) and Daniel King (10/5)

Before we start sending press releases for some big upcoming JSF events, we want to share the news of various screenings by Journal alums and acolytes.

1) Neil Ira Needleman (JSF, Vol.2) is involved in a slew of screenings this fall. His films A Trip to Prague, Meditation, and TANZ!, among others, are being shown in no less than ten film festivals across the U.S., Europe, and South America. Fests include the Berkeley Film & Video Festival, the Boston Jewish Film Festival, the Atlanta Underground Film Festival, and the Thin Line Film Festival. Meditation can also be seen online at the Independent Film Channel website---www.ifc.com, at the top menu bar go to “Short Films,” then down to “Rooftop Films,” in the June listings.

2) Daniel King, our virtuosic graphic designer, is included in San Francisco’s Studio 27’s Impure Cinema: Hybrid Works Rupturing Media Boundaries fest this Friday, Oct.5th, at 9pm. Check out Authority Head Exorcism, his multi-layered visual expression of time spent as a propagandist. His excellent film is not kidding around, for sure.

And stay tuned over the next two weeks for many exciting updates, or at least two or three.

Article in KAMERA.CO.UK

The Journal’s sojourns S.W.-ward are over and it’s time to return to our planning for world domination. Or at least to clean out the Inbox, send out some orders, and go see Sunshine and Rescue Dawn.

But today we mostly want to draw attention to a new article in the online Brit film mag KAMERA.CO.UK. Antonio Pasolini wrote a small piece on “How to get seen.” Our esteemed publisher has a quote or two that divulge the JSF’s secret formula for marketing and make what appear to be at least one or two passive-aggressive admonitions. To whom, we’re not sure, but we recognize the tone.

KAMERA is a fine film site. Recently this writer benefited from its review of a new book by Mike Figgis. "Digital Filmmaking" is a short, accessible near-manifesto on moviemaking today. Very short. Unencumbered by depth, really, which was fine by me, at the time. The book’s optimism and lack of pretension were refreshing.

Anyway, read Antonio's article HERE.

Screening: Matt Meindl, Columbus, OH, 8/15

As mentioned below (7/31 post), Matt Meindl (JSF, Vol.7) will be part of the CineMUSEica show in Columbus on 8/15. If you’re anywhere nearby, don’t miss it!

UFVA Conference

To reconnect with our colleagues, friends, and fans in Academia, we are attending the UFVA conference next week. We’ll be screening films, accepting submissions, meeting new people, and eating as many tacos as legally allowed by the TX state legislature. If you’re attending, drop by and see us!