In my previous post, I highlighted a group of women active in the Montreal art and technology field. I enjoy sharing about people Bis Films has worked with and who are important to us. Writing that post, I realized how many more amazing women surround us but just didn’t fit into the narrow field of “art and technology.” That is why I want to take advantage of a recently released short video, Be Peace, featuring Jo Willers and Janie Pelletier, to share my experience in making the video.

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Today is International Women’s Day and we would like to celebrate it by giving a little shout-out to some of the women in our community who we think are doing remarkable work and who impress us on a regular basis. May their passion and hard work be a source of inspiration and pride to us all. Here are just a few:

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It all started on a cold December night. A small group of friends gathered around a small kitchen table and attempted to wow each other with their favorite pasta recipe. Eight unique dishes were served, grades were allotted, a winner was proclaimed. Thus, The Foodie Collective was born.

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Finally, the sketch comedy group known as Uncalled For has decided to bridge the great divide. No more will their improvisations and comedic shenanigans be forgotten due to the fickleness of  live performances. It was this last Tuesday, at MainLine Theatre, that Dan and Anders hosted the launch of weareuncalledfor.com. This web portal will be displaying a new video every Tuesday, presenting Uncalled For’s crazy and twisted perception of reality.

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Even though the earthquake that struck Japan seems so far removed from our everyday reality – notice the few and far apart newspaper articles these days – a group of Montrealers led by Joe Allen have organized a fundraiser to help in “picking up the pieces.”

This Saturday, the 14th of May, will see a full day of art related activities happening at OFF Interarts, 5143 St-Laurent, with the humble goal of raising money for the Japanese Red Cross. There will be a mix-match of  art, film (I will be showing my film, Circle Haiku), craft sales and traditional Japanese performances from noon to 5pm. The night will then change gears around 7:30pm as local musicians will be taking the stage: Steve Cohen, Alex Robshaw, Melina Soochan and Shaking Judy.

Check out the Art for Japan website for more information.

The summer is arriving quickly and with it, events, unveilings, and local artists’ work will be inundating good old Montreal.

Something I am definitely looking forward to this week is the opening of a new performance piece at the M.A.I. Bird Messengers is the new performance piece from aboriginal artists Moe Clark (whom I worked with on the film Circle Haiku) and Emilie Monnet. The performance combines storytelling and song that celebrate ancestral ways of prayer, peacemaking, and healing from Indigenous peoples across the Americas. Check out their Facebook page.
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This morning, a friend of ours, Chris Zacchia at www.forgetthebox.net released a video he directed in response to the CRTC’s decision to meter Internet usage. Gratefully, the government has overturned this decision forcing the CRTC to rethink they’re plans and motives. But will they? Thanks to OpenMedia.ca and thousands of pissed off Internet users, the battle to keep the internet accessible to all has, so far, been successful.

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This week, we’re taking a look into Bideshi Films, a young collaborative between two filmmakers and friends of ours, Aude Leroux-Lévesque and Sebastian Rist. Having studied with Aude and Seb in Communication Studies at Concordia, we’ve had the opportunity to work together on several projects.
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This week has found me assailed with documentary films. Two events contributed to this. 1) I have spent the last 2 weeks editing videos for Aldo. This has given me plenty of time to peruse the web in search of distractions while waiting for my project to render. 2) The Rencontres Internationales  du Documentaire de Montréal (RIDM) is going on till the 21st of November.

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Around this time in 2005, Katherine was teaming up with Chris Taylor with one goal in mind: to create the best Film II horror film ever to come out of the Concordia Communications Studies department. Shot on 16mm film in Taylor’s redecorated apartment (I especially remember the blood/rot stain on the ceiling over the bed) with Constantine Kourtidis as main character, the Asian inspired horror film tells of a paranoid-schizophrenic man who discovers he has a winning lottery ticket and thinks this evil spirit has come to claim it. Check it out for yourself!

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