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biracial

Mixed Character Takes On Comic Books

 

Miles Morales

Have you heard? Miles Morales (African American and Puerto Rican) takes over for Spider Man in the Marvel comic series. He currently has appeared in 90 issues. It will be interesting to track how they portray Miles’ mixed story with an extra layer of super hero.

You can read more about his character, here on Comic Vine: http://www.comicvine.com/miles-morales/4005-79420/

And here in an article written by mixed author Marcia Dawkins: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marcia-alesan-dawkins/marvels-mixed-race-ultima_b_917442.html

MIT Documentary Workshop DEADLINE

MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) is hosting a workshop for emerging filmmakers and film students. Here’s a chance to learn how to take those Mixed experience stories floating around in your head and get them into a visual medium. The deadline to apply is September 12 – so get those applications IN!

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

Workshop “In a single shot” for emerging filmmakers and film students October 9 – 22, 2013

Instructors: Harun Farocki and Antje Ehmann

Application deadline: September 12, 2013

The Goethe Institute Boston in close collaboration with MIT’s OpenDocLab and HyperStudio offers this unique workshop for emerging filmmakers, to be held at the Goethe Institute Boston and MIT from October 9 to October 22, 2013. Application deadline: September 12, 2013.

“The task at hand is to present the topic “work” by means of a single video sequence; in other words, you will produce videos consisting of only one sequence. The topic is work: paid, unpaid, material or immaterial, traditional or entirely new work. This assignment formally introduces the foundations of filming, as you need to find out: When can we find a beginning and an end even if a repetitive process is being shown? Should the camera be moved or stand still? What is the best way to capture the choreography of a work process in a single sequence? Early films told us: Every detail of the mobile world is worth being documented and considered. And they had a fixed point of view, whereas today’s documentary film only too often presents sequence upon sequence because it is undecided.”

H. Farocki/Antje Ehmann

OBJECTIVES

Workshops

The workshop in Boston/Cambridge is part of a series of workshops held by German artists Harun Farocki and Antje Ehmann in 15 cities worldwide. Workshops already took place in Sligo (Ireland), Lisbon, Bangalore (India), Geneva (Switzerland), Tel Aviv, Berlin, Cairo (Egypt), Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Lodz (Poland), Moscow, and Hanoi (Vietnam). Besides Boston, additional workshops will be held in Mexico City, Johannesburg, and Tsingtao (China).

Web Catalogue

Selected films from the workshops can be accessed at the following sites:

http://www.labour-in-a-single-shot.net http://www.eine-einstellung-zur-arbeit.net

Exhibits

Selected films will be shown in museums and galleries in seven international locations. Initial exhibits took place in Tel Aviv and Lisbon.
Exhibits are currently being planned for Lodz (Poland), Bangalore (India), Mexico City, and Montreal. Final exhibits are being planned for Boston (October 2014) and Berlin (January 2015). A number of completed films have been selected for the Venice Biennale, where they are currently being shown in the Latin America Pavilion.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 25 film students or filmmakers will be selected from all applicants to participate in the workshop. All age groups are welcome – students, independent film makers, professors dedicated to documentary film making, and alumni. Selection criteria are: creativity in film-making, ideas, engagement, and outstanding film results. The Boston workshop will have a special focus on the representation of intellectual work. Several workshop spots are reserved for MIT and Harvard students.

LOCATIONS

Goethe Institute Boston, 170 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02116 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Building E15-3rd floor) – Cambridge

WORKSHOP SCHEDULE Wednesday, Oct. 9, 5 p.m.: (Goethe-Institut) Thursday, Oct. 10, 7 p.m.: (MIT) Sunday, Oct. 13, 1 p.m.:(MIT) Wednesday, Oct. 16, 5 p.m.: (Goethe-Institut Saturday, Oct. 19, 1 p.m.: (MIT)` Monday, Oct. 21, 1 p.m.,5:pm: (MIT and Goethe-Institut)

Tuesday, Oct. 22, 6 p.m.: ( Final public screening of workshop films) Goethe-Institut

METHODOLOGY

At the beginning of the workshop, each participant will present a proposal based on advance research and comprising the specific type of work to be filmed, the manner of filming in a single sequence, the protagonist and/or the location. The workshop will include theory as well as practical work. Days without scheduled sessions are reserved for research and filming in groups. Exact schedules will be decided during the workshop. Participants will take on various assignments.

Application DEADLINE: September 12, 2013

REQUIREMENTS

a) Fluency in English (the workshop will be held in English)

b) US Visa or U.S. citizenship

c) The applicant has either participated in a short film or a movie (as an actor or in the production process) or is a film student at a film school.

d) Workshop attendance is free of charge. Participants will cover their own cost for travel, accommodations and meals.

e) The participant agrees to attend all workshop sessions. Upon completion,
participants will receive a certificate of attendance, and their film will be posted on the project’s website.

f) Only individual applications will be accepted – no group applications, please. g) The applicant may bring his/her own camera and equipment.

h) The application form should be completed in full and submitted online.
It can be found athttps://docs.google.com/forms/d/1758Oze0UWvxKIKiBULn32hIApuBQpX67TeBgcoa9NbQ/viewform. If you are selected, your name will be published on the organizers’ website.

i) Along with the application, a film (excerpt) of no more than 2 minutes should be submitted on DVD or as a live stream link. (Selection criteria are the creativity combined with the expressive power of the images in a one-minute time span.)

j) Selected participants will be notified by email on September 20, 2013. On the same day, the list of selected participants will be published.

3MW Collective

We are really excited about 3MW Collective –  created by three Canadian women (Jordan Clarke, Ilene Sova and Rema Tavares) whose mission is to use “visual art to deconstruct mixed-race identity.”  They’re located in Toronto Ontario, but we expect their beautiful and thought-provoking art will soon be seen elsewhere.

Upcoming showings:

  • Location: Brockton Collective Inc, 442a Dufferin St., Toronto, Canada
  • Dates:
    • October 3rd, 2013, 7pm – 11pm (Opening Reception)
    • Open October 4th & October 6th, 2013 by appointment only

Check their website frequently for more events: 3MWCollective.org

Toasted Marshmallows

I love the story of how Marcelitte Failla and Anoushka Ratnarajah met: both were Fellows at the Hemispheric Institute for Performance and Politics’ Emerging Artist Program. In many ways it parallels my own journey in creating more comfortable spaces for Mixed-identified people: through sharing stories I forged relationships that would lead to wonderful projects like Mixed Chicks Chat, the Mixed Roots Film & Literary Festival and now, Mixed Roots Stories!

Marcelitte and Anoushka have teamed up to produce Toasted Marshmallows – a documentary exploring the experiences of Mixed-identified North American women. They’ve already completed a successful Indiegogo campaign (raising well-over their initial goal) and are now participating in a project with the Brooklyn Museum. Check them out and support them and the film in any way you can!

Website: www.ToastedMarshmallowProject.com

A Lot Like You

I had the pleasure of meeting Eliaichi Kimaro when she submitted her feature film, A Lot Like You, to the 2012 Mixed Roots Film & Literary Festival. We unfortunately were  unable to fit this terrific documentary into our lineup that year, but Eliaichi lead a workshop on documentary filmmaking that was very well received.

Synopsis for the www.alotlikeyoumovie.com:

Eliaichi Kimaro is a mixed-race, first-generation American with a Tanzanian father and Korean mother. When her parents retire and move back to Tanzania, Eliaichi begins a project that evocatively examines the intricate fabric of multiracial identity, and grapples with the complex ties that children have to the cultures of their parents.

Kimaro decides to document her father’s path back to his family and Chagga culture. In the process, she struggles with her own relationship to Tanzania, and learns more about the heritage that she took for granted as a child. Yet as she talks to more family members, especially her aunts, she uncovers a cycle of violence that resonates with her work and life in the United States. When Kimaro speaks with her parents about the oppression her aunts face, she faces a jarring disconnect between immigrant generations on questions of patriarchy and violence.

Here are some upcoming 2013 performance dates (check the website frequently for more!):

October 23:  ALLY screening/lecture events with filmmaker at University of New England(Maine).

October 17 @ 7pm: Director Eliaichi Kimaro will be speaking at Knox College (Galesburg, IL).  Event sponsored by the Center for Intercultural Life.

October 15-16:  ALLY screening/panel/lecture events with filmmaker at DePaul University(Chicago), including Laura Kina‘s class on Mixed Race Art and Identity.

October 14:  ALLY screening/lecture at Lincoln Land Community College (Springfield, IL)

October 8 @ 6:30pm:  Vancouver Asian Film Festival presents A Lot Like You screening + discussion w/Director Eliaichi Kimaro.  Alice MacKay room, Vancouver Public Library.

October 2:  A Lot Like You screening & discussion w/filmmaker at California State University–San Marcos.  Sponsored by Gender Equity Center and LGBTQA Pride Center.

October 1@ 7pm:  A Lot Like You screening & discussion w/filmmaker at University of Redlands (Orton Center).

September 19 @ 7:30pm:  Director Eliaichi Kimaro will be presenting at the 2013 Critical Ethnic Studies Conference, sponsored by The Institute For Research on Race and Public Policy at The University of Illinois At Chicago.

September 18 @ 7:30pm:  Director Eliaichi Kimaro will speak at Venango College (PA) at the Rhoades Center (following ALLY campus screening on 9/16).

Actor breaks silence about being Mixed!

How much are multiracial stories influenced by family/extended family?

Obviously family has influence…but to the point of silence? This story left me with so many questions! I would love to read the script…and better yet sit down and have coffee with Tom Sizemore. Sizemore chose to “modern day pass” as White after his grandfather, who did not like “white folk” told him to “never reveal his mixed-race heritage to anyone in Hollywood if he wanted to become a bona fide movie star.”  Well, now he has chosen to break his silence by telling his grandfather’s story, and in turn part of his own through the storytelling vehicle of theater. How have your family/extended family shaped your mixed race story?

 

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2011/02/tom-sizemore-one-man-show-geffen.html

Congrats Mixed Up Clothing!

Congratulations to Sonia Kang founder of Mixed Up clothing.  Her children’s clothing line that focuses on “building friendships through fabrics” has been nominated for a Red Tricycle 2013 Totally Awesome Award. Winners will be announced Sept 1st.  Sonia and Mixed Up clothing has been featured on the Today show and has a new collaboration with Chocolate Me (written by Taye Diggs). Tia Mowry-Hardict clothes her son in Mixed Up clothing, you can find out more about where to get Mixed Up clothing at http://www.mixedupclothing.com/.  Mixed Nation http://mixednation.com/ has teamed up with Mixed Up clothing for a giveaway.  Click here to enter to win:  https://www.wf-site.com/microsite/pages/cca80757deead6e8

Sonia and Mixed Up Clothing: Keep up the good work, sharing the mixed race story through your creative design of apparel for children.

Exhibit of Bi/Multicultural-Identified Los Angelenos at PMCA

Somewhere in Between: Los Angeles

August 11, 2013 – January 5, 2014

In this video installation, Los Angeles artist Bia Gayotto investigates how people respond to navigating and inhabiting two or more places and cultures. Through an open call, she invited Los Angeles-area residents living along Route 66 who identify as bi- or multicultural to participate in an interview and video shoot that examines life in fourteen neighborhoods along the route from Pasadena to Santa Monica, including Chinatown, Little Armenia, Echo Park, and Thai Town.Somewhere in Between: Los Angeles is the third iteration in a series that previously centered on Silicon Valley and Chicago. The questions Gayotto asked of the participants were designed to stimulate a dialogue reflecting the pluralities of place, identity, and belonging. By juxtaposing cityscapes, architecture, and domestic settings with images of the participants performing simple, everyday actions and a soundtrack that consists of abstract music and ambient sound, Gayotto explores the experiences of those who live in an intercultural space and offers a broader, multilayered portrait of the greater Los Angeles area.

This exhibition is made possible in part by the Pasadena Arts & Culture Commission and the City of Pasadena Cultural Affairs Division, and is supported by the Board of Directors of the Pasadena Museum of California Art. Bia Gayotto is a recipient of an ARC Grant from the Center for Cultural Innovation.

Bia Gayotto, still from Somewhere in Between: Los Angeles, 2013. Two-screen video installation with sound. TRT 20 min. Courtesy of the Artist.

‘Mixed’ Visual Artists Laura Kina & Wei Ming Dariotis – Opening Reception

War Baby / Love Child: Mixed Race Asian American Art

curated by Laura Kina and Wei Ming Dariotis

Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience

August 9, 2013 – January 19, 2014
719 S. King Street Seattle, WA 98104
206-623-5124
http://www.wingluke.org/

Opening Reception: Thursday, August 8, 2013 @ 6-8pm
6-7pm: Special preview for Museum members and invited guests. Light refreshments will be served
7-8pm: Open to the public, free admission, no RSVP required
Read more about the exhibition – http://www.warbabylovechild.com/exhibition/

Curators Laura Kina and Wei Ming Dariotis will be in attendance, as well as featured artists Stuart Gaffney, Louie Gong, Lori Kay, Richard Lou and Jenifer Wofford.

If you’d like to attend the special preview from 6-7pm, please contactmmartinez@wingluke.org or 206.623.5124 ext 107.

This exhibition brings together works by 19 artists, highlighting different approaches to the identities and experiences of mixed Asian Americans, mixed Pacific Islander Americans and Asian transracial adoptees. While their biographies are varied and often diverge from the dominant stereotypes of mixed Asian identities, their lives are shaped by the specific histories of Asian Pacific-U.S. collisions: narratives of war, economic and political migration and colonization. As an ethnically ambiguous Asian American generation comes of age in a world fixated on post-racial politics and moving beyond issues of identity, War Baby | Love Child: Mixed Race Asian American Art examines how artists engage various facets of hybridity in their artwork.

Artists: Mequitta Ahuja, Albert Chong, Serene Ford, Kip Fulbeck, Stuart Gaffney, Louie Gong, Jane Jin Kaisen, Lori Kay, Li-lan, Richard Lou, Samia Mirza, Chris Naka, Laurel Nakadate, Gina Osterloh, Adrienne Pao, Cristina Lei Rodriguez, Amanda Ross-Ho, Jenifer Wofford, Debra Yepa-Pappan.

Image: Jenifer Wofford, MacArthur Nurses VI, 2013