Radical film makers converge on Glasgow for a unique arts event.
Glasgow is to play host to a unique cultural event which will act as a platform for radical voices in the arts and across civil society,
The Radical Film Network Festival will bring together the collective efforts of activists, academics and cultural workers from over thirty organisations engaged with radical film cultures.
Taking place over the May Day holiday weekend (29 April to 2 May), the event comprises an ‘unconference’ – a radical re-working of the conventional academic conference hosted by the University of Glasgow.
There will also be a major festival will showcase a diverse range of work in alternative exhibition spaces across Glasgow and will be supplemented by satellite screenings in venues throughout Scotland.
The festival has been coordinated by David Archibald, a lecturer in film at Glasgow University, who has written extensively on radical film practice in both academic journals and the press, and Frances Higson, an award winning filmmaker who has produced films for Peter Mullen (including Orphans and The Magdalene Sisters), helped set up Camcorder Guerrillas, and directed United We Will Swim…Again, a film about Govanhill Baths.
Radical Film Festival: some highlights
Moving Parts and Revolutions – agroup cycle leaving from The Bike Station will precede a presentation atCaledonia Road Church on radical cycling culture and its relationship to themoving image.
Blacklisting Event at the STUC –Fighting the Blacklist, bringing together union and video activism, withspeakers and films. With Dave Smith who led the recent successfulanti-blacklisting campaign speaking
Life Mosaic – GalGael and Life Mosaicinvite you to share the experience of how the Misak indigenous people ofColumbia reclaimed their land and took over their collective futures, and tothink together on how this approach could apply to Govan, Glasgow and Scotland.
Feminist Films, Feminist Histories atGlasgow Women’s Library – An event exploring the making of feminist filmmakingand archiving since the beginning of the women’s liberation movement.
LUX Scotland present ‘Pain Is’ at theGFT – a public screening and discussion of Stephen Dwoskin’s controversial filmthat examines the role of pain within society – in terms of healthcare,pleasure and administration.
Love Music Hate Racism gig at the QMU - with Machinesin Heaven and special guests
Unconference at the University of Glasgow involving an internationalgathering of academics and activists discussing issues surrounding radical filmcultures in Scotland and beyond.
Archibald said: “The 2016 Radical Film Network festival and unconference is a unique event and the first radical film event ever organised on this scale in Scotland. The planned events will bring artists and activists in radical film culture into contact with an international community of world-class thinkers in the field to explore the current state of alternative film culture.
“We’ll screen films by artists and by trade unionists, we’ll organise talks and debates on many aspects of film culture, we’ll cycle across the city to outdoor screenings, and through it all we’ll demonstrate that there is life beyond the multiplex. That another cinema is not only possible, but that it’s here and it’s now, and it’s thriving.”
As the first radical film event ever organised on this scale in Scotland, RFN will bring many exciting and innovative events to unconventional spaces, from Radical Home Cinema, where Glasgow personalities and film lovers invite you into their homes and studios to watch radical films, to Bitter Rose, a nomadic installation on the streets of Glasgow exploring migration.
The festival will also incorporate a strong social element, allowing delegates and festival goers the opportunity to meet and discuss aspects of radical film culture over a coffee at the Scottish mental health charity Flourish House, or over a beer at the nightly Fail Better social events at the STUC headquarters.
Most of the events are free and the festival is being supported by Creative Scotland, Film Hub Scotland, the STUC and the University of Glasgow.
To find out more, visit here.
