November
10, Tuesday, 7:30PM
Disordered
and
Refigured
LOCATION:
Carpenter Center, Harvard University.
24
Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
Tickets: Suggested
donation $5
Balagan
is excited to present a program of
innovative works that explore the
delicate and complex nature of the
human mind and spirit. Films in this
program probe issues of mental illness
in our society, using provocative
formal strategies that strive towards
making sense of the trials and tribulations
of these remarkable individuals.
Fwd:
Update on My Life
directed
by Nicky Tavares
(2009,
30 minutes, Video)
A
hybrid live-action and animated documentary,
FWD: Update on My Life follows Dr. Deanie
French, a professor and pioneer of internet-based
learning and web accessibility, who
decides one day to take a holiday from
her heavy dosage of mood stabilizers
and go on the Atkins diet. With
newfound energy, she promptly leaves
her husband and sets out starting up
multiple businesses, making 10 new "special
friends," and directing a documentary
about her life.
In
this experimental biography, director
and "special friend" Nicky
Tavares pieces together the humorous
and tragic life story of Dr. Deanie
French through a collection of interviews,
personal emails, electronic greeting
cards, and machinima footage, exploring
Dr. French's complex psychological and
professional relationship with the internet
and technology. Alternating and
probing notions of the the virtual and
the real, FWD: Update on My Life reflects
upon our idea of reality as it nimbly
navigates Dr. French's fluctuating perceptions
of the universe.
Nicky
Tavares
is a multimedia artist whose work explores
digital culture and the presentation
of the self. She received
a B.A. in photocommunications from Saint
Edward's University and an MFA in Film
and Video from Massachusetts College
of Art. She currently teaches
in the Computer Animation program at
Mount Ida College.
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Estranhos
Poemas: Escritos de Claudina Pereira
Strange
Poems: Writings of Claudina Pereira
Directed by Jessica Gidal (2009, 9 minutes,
Video)
Estranhos
Poemas: Escritos de Claudina Pereira
(Strange Poems: Writings of Claudina
Pereira) is an experimental documentary
short about the life and poetry of Claudina,
a psychiatric
patient is southern Brazil.
Claudina's
writings mingle with the decaying environment
of Hospital São Pedro, reflecting not
only that her words are shaped by nearly
30 years in the hospital, but that the
hospital itself is transformed by her
presence.
Jessica
Meistrich Gidal is a filmmaker,
curator and editor based in Boston,
Massachusetts. She is currently editing
the Screening Room with Robert Gardner
DVD series, and has recently worked
on television and web-based productions
for WGBH, Frontline and the Discovery
Channel. In addition to working on her
own personal films and non-profit videos,
she has curated three presentations
of animated documentary films at Balagan
Film Series, the Brattle Theatre
and the DOXA Documentary Film Festival
in Vancouver. Prior to filmmaking, she
worked for community development organizations
in the San Francisco Bay Area and in
India.
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