Tuesday November 10th at 7:30PM
LOCATION: Carpenter Center, Harvard University.
24 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
Tickets: Suggested donation $5
Balagan Film Series Presents:
DISORDERED & REFIGURED 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.
Program: (subject to change)
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.
Artist Biography
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.

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.
Artist Biography:
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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