fromthebackoftheroom1

WFMU Record Fair is coming soon, 'From The Back Of The Room' doc screening tonight (and other dates)

by BBG

From The Back Of The Room

Many people have the impression that the Riot Grrrl movement in the mid-90s was the end-all, be-all of female involvement in DIY punk. This is definitely not the case! Plenty of amazing ladies prior to this era paved the way for it, and plenty of amazing ladies continue to help keep DIY together today. [From The Back Of The Room] chronicles the past 30 years of female involvement in DIY punk, and has interviews with over 30 women from across the country, ages 17 to 40. Race, gender, sexuality, motherhood, class, and activism are all addressed in this film, giving a more complete picture of how these women participate in the DIY community, and how it affects their daily lives.

The film, which plays at ABC No Rio TONIGHT (10/14), features interviews from Laura of Kylesa (who plays NYC next Saturday, 10/22), Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill/Le Tigre, BV contributor Chris Boarts-Larson of Slug and Lettuce, members of Witch Hunt (who play Knitting Factory with Zounds as part of the Royal Flush Festival tomorrow, 10/15), Tobia from Look Back and Laugh, Michelle from Sick Fix, Renata from Samothrace, and contributors to Profane Existence, Crimethinc, and many more. Check out a trailer for the documentary below, which ALSO plays at the WFMU Record Fair on 10/30.

Speaking of the WFMU Record Fair, I hope you’ve finally paid off all of your prior year debts to make way for this year’s extravaganza. The WFMU Record Fair goes down from 10/28 – 10/30 at Manhattan’s Metropolitan Pavilion (125 w18th St), and will feature performances from CSC Funk Band, Prince Rama, Black Hollies, and Sediment Club in addition to films, Q&As, and did I mention oodles of VINYL. Admission is $7 or “earlybirds can enter beginning at 4pm on Friday for $25” so they can snatch up all the good shit before everyone else gets there.

From the Back of the Room trailer and a list of showings for the documentary are below.


From the Back of the Room Trailer

WFMU RECORD FAIR – 10/28 – 10/30, 2011

Throughout the weekend:

Episodes of JAMES BROWN FUTURE SHOCK: James Brown’s rarely seen Atlanta-region TV dance show!
AV LOUNGE

Saturday, October 29:

10am: Bedazzled.tv presents French Pop Rarities 1962-1968
AV LOUNGE

11:30am: LET’S MAKE A RECORD! + Q&A with Russell Scholl
Film/video archivist Russell Scholl presents a program dedicated to records (as in the shellac and vinyl varieties), the recording process, and the results thereof. The first commercial disc recording was released in 1894, and despite the popularity of that whole digital mess, LPs (descendants of that first disc) are still going strong today. You’ll THRILL to historical film footage of the recording process, pressing plants, advances in audio production, and music, music, music! You’ll practically be able to SMELL the sweet, deep, rich black vinyl, as you FLIP to the MAD, MAD SOUNDS bursting from the grooves! We celebrate recorded discs, small and large, that have provided so much for so many, for so long. Mono! Hi-Fi! Stereo! They’re all here! Experience the world of recorded sound in all of its UNCOMPRESSED GLORY!
AV LOUNGE

12:45pm: live performance by PRINCE RAMA
BROADCAST SPACE

1pm: Celestial Navigations: The Short Films of Al Jarnow + Q&A with Michael Slaboch & Al Jarnow
The short films of Al Jarnow captured life’s scientific minutia and boiled it down for easy consumption between cookie eating monsters and counting vampires. The screening will consist of 60 minutes of shorts from his independent work and films featured on public television, followed by a 30 minute documentary that deconstructs his creative process.
AV LOUNGE

3:15pm: Staring Into the Sun + Q&A with director Olivia Wyatt
Staring into the Sun is the latest ethno-folk cinema classic from Sublime Frequencies. Ethiopia is known to be one of the oldest areas inhabited by humans and presently has over 80 diverse ethnic groups. In 2009, photographer/filmmaker Olivia Wyatt explored 13 different tribes throughout Ethiopia in this visually stunning film on DVD with accompanying 136 page book of Polaroid photographs and audio CD of field recordings. Traveling from the northern highlands to the lower Omo Valley via bush taxi, Isuzu cargo trucks, and by any means possible, Wyatt brings together the worlds of Zar spirit possession; Hamertribal wedding ceremonies; Borena water well polyphonic singing; wild hyena feedings; and bizarre Ethiopian TV segments; presenting an enchanting look at these otherworldly images, stark landscapes and captivating sounds from the horn of Africa. The featured tribes are captured with an unflinching sense of realism and poetic admiration resulting in a visual and aural feast of the senses.
AV LOUNGE

3:30pm: live performance by SEDIMENT CLUB
BROADCAST SPACE

4:30pm: live performance by BLACK HOLLIES
BROADCAST SPACE

5:45pm: The Other Side of the Water
The Other Side of the Water follows a group of young immigrants who take an ancient music from the hills of Haiti and reinvent it on the streets of Brooklyn. This documentary follows the journey of DJARARA – the only sustained rara band in America – through a hidden New York landscape of vodou temples, underground economies, violent politics, and ground-shaking music. Combining archival footage and vérité narratives, this documentary focuses on the journey of the poetic visionary Pé Yves. Yves has led a Rara movement in New York for 20 years, through an era when the media accusing Haitians of bringing AIDS to America, to times of civil chaos in Haiti, to police brutality riots in New York – each time re-imagining Rara as a voice for an evolving Diaspora. The documentary tells the story of one man who learns to hold true to a vision; a motley band that comes to speak for a larger community; and a music that manages to create a new meaning of home in the Diaspora.
AV LOUNGE

Sunday, October 30:

1pm: Desperate Man Blues screening with live commentary from Joe Bussard
Plus a John Fahey discussion panel with Charlie Schmidt, Glenn Jones & Joe Bussard followed by a Fahey-style jam session featuring Glenn Jones, Charlie Schmidt and Ragtime Ralph at 3pm in the Broadcast Space
AV LOUNGE

1pm: live performance by CSC FUNK BAND
BROADCAST SPACE

3pm: John Fahey tribute with performance from Glenn Jones, Charlie Schmidt and Ragtime Ralph
In conjunction with the screening of Desperate Man Blues and panel discussion at 1pm in the AV Lounge(see above).
BROADCAST SPACE

3:15pm: People Like Us Presents The Magical Misery Tour + Q&A with Vicki Bennett
This 45 minute concert was created between June and September 2011 and premiered at “The Sound of Fear” at London’s Southbank Centre on 3rd September 2011, under the working title of “Horror Collage”. Now that the full length live set has been completed we have changed the name to something more fitting with the content.The source material is 95% from horror movies, with the content portraying not so much a scary nightmare but a journey through the underworld of everyday human experiences. It is not true to say you do not relate to this kind of horror movie. Truth is stranger than fiction. Having said this, People Like Us, as ever, see the positive and sometimes humorous side of the most ghastly scenarios, and by accompanying the edited found feature film footage with new sample collage pop songs, elevate you from the swamp.
AV LOUNGE

4:45pm: From the Back of the Room + Q&A with producer Amy Oden
Many people have the impression that the Riot Grrrl movement in the mid-90s was the end-all, be-all of female involvement in DIY punk. This is definitely not the case! Plenty of amazing ladies prior to this era paved the way for it, and plenty of amazing ladies continue to help keep DIY together today. This documentary chronicles the past 30 years of female involvement in DIY punk, and has interviews with over 30 women from across the country, ages 17 to 40. Race, gender, sexuality, motherhood, class, and activism are all addressed in this film, giving a more complete picture of how these women participate in the DIY community, and how it affects their daily lives.
AV LOUNGE

FROM THE BACK OF THE ROOM SCREENINGS
October 14th: New York, NY @ ABC No Rio
October 19th: Washington, DC @ American University
October 21st: Philly, PA @ Grindcore House
October 30th: New York, NY @ WFMU Record Fair: 4:30pm
November 4th: Charlottesville, VA @ The Virginia Film Festival (venue TBA)
November 5th: Birmingham, AL @ the Firehouse
November 6th: Athens, GA @ Cine!
November 7th: NOLA @ TBA
November 8th and 9th: Austin, TX @ TBA
November 11th: Atlanta, GA @ In-Tune Studio
November 12th: Washington, DC @ Reel Fest DC
November 12th: Nashville, TN @ Little Hamilton
November 13th: Ashville, NC @ the Get Down
November 14th: Wilmington, NC @ TBA
November 15th: Charlotte, NC @ TBA
Nov 20th: Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Roboto Project