Posted by Lashings of Ginger Beer
Via Rooster Tails: An adorable video ad for the New Zealand 'WTF Campaign' against discrimination towards LGBT and takatapui people. (Content note: Video contains a *lot* of swearing!)
The F Watch on the Cannes Film Festival, sexism, and the problematics of auteurism:
If film were to be structured in a more collective sense, particularly financially and especially in terms of public awareness, perhaps there would be a shift in consciousness as to the worth of each artist – because each person working on that film is creating a piece of art, not simply the director. This inward focus on directors as ventured by La Barbe is harming not only the chances of future female directors but also the women working in all areas of film right now.Amanda Schaffer on Rebecca Jordan-Young's thirteen years of research into the often-spurious findings on pre-natal hormones, neurology, and gender.
Stavvers on Sheila Jeffries and RadFem2012
I am not alone in thinking that transphobia and feminism are diametrically opposed ideologies. The shift in feminist thinking is firmly on this side. Jeffreys and her ilk are anachronistic curiosities, though loud and dangerous. The trans conspiracy Jeffreys fights is non-existent: in fact, she is attacking a foe far bigger than she can possibly imagine.
Minsk 2011 showing this weekend in Oxford
A Fringe First winner at Edinburgh 2011, Minsk 2011 is a fast paced and witty portrayal of the daily oppression that many of the cast have experienced in Belarus. Extraordinary stories come to light in this gripping piece of theatre: the communist factory where illegal parties for the gay community are held in secret at night, the government inspector of strippers and police cars disguised as ambulances who arrive to arrest rather than help.
Belarus Free Theatre was founded in 2005 under the Lukashenko dictatorship. Many company members have served time in prison, lost their jobs, gone into hiding or been exiled. Yet the company continues to develop award-winning work with the support of artists around the world, including Tom Stoppard, Steven Spielberg, Kevin Spacey and Vaclav Havel.