Artist talk - Guy Sherwin
If you're into artists' film do NOT miss the opportunity to see one of the great film artists on his first Australian visit!...more

Metacafe and Microcinema International Launch MetaFest 2008...more

Thursday July 31 - The Balkan Beasts are going back to the source, or the sauce as some maysay for "The Good, The Bad & The Balkan lose a Horse". Countless shots have been consumed, new dance crazes created and laughter and tears were had...more

EXPERIMENTOPIA
Experimenta is calling for proposals from Australian artists to create media artworks for the2009 International Biennial of Media Art, EXPERIMENTOPIA...more

Japan Media Arts Festival is open for submissions...more

Intermission: Who is Miss Roder?
A narrative in three parts where Miss Roder may or may not be revealed...more

Experimental Melbourne
A new site for experimental music in Melbourne.
...http://exp-melb.blogspot.com/

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News Flash...The Good the Bad and the Balkan returns!! Thursday 31st July

For the past 2 1/2 years the Balkan Beasts (DJ Delay & Systa bb) havebeen setting the pace for Balkan Beats in Melbourne. Spawning andinspiring a whole bunch of DJs and bands to hold events featuring thesounds of Romania, Serbia, Macedonia, Hungary and beyond, the time hascome to farewell DJ Delay as he packs his crates to venture forth toBerlin with one last vodka shot and opa! at Horse Bazaar,

Thursday 31stJuly 9pm-very late.

The Balkan Beasts are going back to the source, or the sauce as some maysay for "The Good, The Bad & The Balkan lose a Horse" - a night of Gypsymayhem, Balkan Hotstep, Balkan dub, brass shenanigans and plentyother rhythms. They've held Balkan Balls, supported Paprika Balkanicus, Leo and presented [dunkelbunt], played out at the Bellingen Global Carnival,graced The Spiegeltent and SoCo plus Systa bb represented at High Vibes2007. On the local front Counterfeit Gypsies, Barons of Tang, Vardos,Transylvanian Gypsy Kings, Rebetiki and Mojo Juju & The Snake Oil Merchants amongst many others have played at their nights. They'velaunched films - "A Bend in the Road" , Tony Gatlif's "Transylvania", and albums -"Electric Gypsyland 2" , Fanfare Ciocarlia's "Queens And Kings"& The Amsterdam Klezmer Band Remixed.

Countless shots have been consumed, new dance crazes created and laughter and tears were had. Systa bb will continue to push Balkan sounds forward in Melbourne.

DJDelay will be composing and playing across Europe + will return to playat special events. Of course, the Systa insists on being invited overthere to play while he's at it.So it's one last campfire to rest the donkeys and raise our glasses tothe final "The Good, The Bad & The Balkan....Loses a Horse"

Thu July31st at Horse Bazaar, Little Lonsdale St, CBD and to send DJ Delay off on his relocation to Berlin in true Melbourne stylee.The Melburn Originators........

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Experimenta

Experimenta is calling for proposals from Australian artists to create media artworks for the2009 International Biennial of Media Art, titled EXPERIMENTOPIA.EXPERIMENTOPIA is the theme of Experimenta's next International Biennial of Media Arts in 2009.

Experimenta will be commissioning new works for up to $6,000 each to be included in our exhibition of exceptional Australian and international media artworks. Successful proposals for the commissions will respond to the exhibition theme, engage audiences, use technology creatively, and can be audio/visual, installation, or object-based. Preference will be given to proposals for interactive works. In the rapidly shifting context of the beginning of the 21st Century - amidst personal, technological, economic, environmental, and political change – there are many different ways to move, directions to take, and personal choices to make.

Located in the heart of this setting, Experimentopia asks: what matters to you? Looking closely at your surroundings, both local and global, what would you fight for? What would you fight to prevent? What are you willing to put yourself on the line to protect or create? What is that world, neighbourhood, landscape, or object? And how does it look, sound, and feel? Experimenta is inviting artists to create media artworks that allow audiences to engage with, act out, inhabit and experience utopic/dystopic scenarios and environments.

Read about Experimenta’s previous commissions at: www.experimenta.org/commissionedwork.htm Experimenta's previous international biennials of media art have thrilled an average of 60,000 visitors across Australia each year. Experimenta Playground is currently touring nationally. Visit: http://www.experimenta.org/playground-touring/ For more information please download the application form and guidelines from www.experimenta.org or request it to be sent by email from: kentia@experimenta.org

All proposals must be submitted using this form. NB: There is no cost to apply. Applicants need not be members of Experimenta Media Arts. Closing date: Friday 25 July, 2008.Works to be completed by: 1 May 2009. Experimenta gratefully acknowledges the support of the Australia Council, the Australian Government’s arts funding and advisory body, the Australian Film Commission, Film Victoria, Arts Victoria, The City of Melbourne, and the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian, State and Territory governments

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Join Stream at Horse Bazaar Tuesday July 29 at 7pm for a very special artist talk...

Like a blast of cinematic conceptual art, film artist Guy Sherwin's hand-crafted films explore the elements of film's grain, tone,
flicker, sound, light and space. Beautiful, enigmatic, and sensual, these experimental films question our perception of 'light moving in time.' Together with partner Lynn Loo, Guy creates cinematic environments of incredible purity and beauty. Guy's filming began in the famous London Filmmakers' Co-op.

If you're into artists' film do NOT miss the opportunity to see one of the great film artists on his first Australian visit!

Tuesday July 29, 7pm
Horse Bazaar
397 Little Lonsdale Street
Melbourne

Here's some background about Guy: http://www.luxonline.org.uk/artists/guy_sherwin/index.html
The MIFF screening:Link
The MIFF performance: Link

About Guy Sherwin:
I studied painting and began working with film in the 1970s. The radical work of the London Film-Makers Co-op had a formative influence on my practice. I’m interested in form, the ways we perceive visual phenomena and film's relationship with time.

Each work can be seen as investigating an aspect of time through form.
At various stages my work has explored:

1. mechanisms of camera and projector.
2. methods of printing film.
3. live interaction between performer and film.
4. live performance with two or more projectors (sometimes including musicians).
5. physical relationships between sound and image.
6. loop projection in gallery and other spaces.
7. digital re-working of film.

About Lynn Loo:
I made a transition from a music background to filmmaking in 1997. Learnt about the experimental film genre from my studies at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I describe my films as compositions of images and sound that suggest narratives or convey an event without text or words. Unfinished Symphony (2001) and Floating (2004) are examples of that.

In 2004, I was introduced to films made from makers involved in the London Filmmakers’ Co-op. Works specifically from the 70s. This has influenced me which took my exploration in filmmaking to an investigation of the celluloid and presenting works in a performance element with multiple projectors. My first film from this is Vowels (2005). Letterforms printed onto strips of film that would also produce the soundtrack. Vowels is expanded to Vowels and Consonants in collaboration with Guy Sherwin. Since 2005, I have been assisting and collaborating with Sherwin in numerous film performances and projects.
I support myself working as a Film Archivist.

Guy Sherwin is a guest of the Melbourne International Film Festival and Otherfilm.

Guy Sherwin's visit to Melbourne is supported by Stream, RMIT Media Arts (School of Art) and RMIT Union Arts.

MIFF: http://www.melbournefilmfestival.com.au
Intermission: http://greyspace.com.au/intermission2008
Otherfilm: http://www.otherfilm.org
Stream: http://www.streamcollective.org
RMIT Media Arts (School of Art): http://tinyurl.com/5ax4yu
RMIT Union Arts: http://www.launch.rmit.edu.au

And be sure to check out the MIFF events featuring these artists:

Wed July 30, 5.00pm @ ACMI MIFF retrospective screening
"Guy Sherwin: Cinema of Perception, Cinema of Performance"
http://tinyurl.com/5u7mms

Saturday August 2, 4.30pm @ 45downstairs Expanded cinema performance "Intermission Program 2: The sleight of hand"
http://www.melbournefilmfestival.com.au/2008/intermission
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=18593693566

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Japan Media Arts Festival is open for submissions!

JMAF are interested in Australian works especially as a result of theirexchange program with Electrofringe these past couple of years.Also, the Animation Division is open to all forms of short and longanimation not just CGI and digital forms.

http://plaza.bunka.go.jp/english/

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Metacafe and Microcinema International Launch MetaFest 2008

Juried Online-Offline Film Festival Presenting the Best in International Creative and Contemporary Short-Form Video Entertainment for call for entries and information www.metacafe.com/metafest

PRIZES

• Grand Jury Prize - US$5,000 cash and more
• Short-Short Award for outstanding work in a video of 3 minutes orless:$2,000 cash and more
• Online Audience-Choice Award, as selected by Metacafe.com viewers:$1,000cash and more
• Offline Audience-Choice Award, as selected by attendees of the San Francisco theatrical screening:$1,000 cash and more

Honorarium Pool
The creator of each film selected for the MetaFest offlineprogram will receive a cash honorarium of $50 presented by MicrocinemaInternational.

Producer Rewards R Earnings:
All filmmakers whose MetaFest submissions meet the eligibility criteria forthe Metacafe Producer RewardsR program are invited to submit their work tothe program. Those accepted will be paid for their work at the rate of$5/1,000 views, receiving the first payment after the video is viewed 20,000times.

Palo Alto, CA - July 12, 2008 - MetacafeR whose nearly 30 million unique viewers each month make it one of the world's largest video entertainment sites, and Microcinema International a leading international rights manager,exhibitor and specialty markets distributor of the "moving image arts," are teaming to create and curate MetaFest 2008. MetaFest is a juried online and offline film festival presenting the best in international creative and contemporary short-form video entertainment.

The MetaFest call for entries, which opens today, invites short video, filmand digital media submissions of 10 minutes or less that are narrative,humorous, artistic, dramatic, animated, documentary, mockumentary, music,experimental, alternative or avant-garde in any genre, format or style. Films that demonstrate engaging storytelling, innovative presentation,creative expression, and bridge the worlds of online and offlineentertainment in a unique and compelling way are preferred.

Additional details are available at www.metacafe.com/metafest where films can be uploaded for consideration through September 3rd, 2008.

The MetaFest jury includes Hillman Curtis, a filmmaker, designer and authorwhose books include "Creating Short Films for the Web," andGlenn R.Phillips, who is senior project specialist and consulting curator of contemporary programs for the Getty Research Institute and recently curated the "California Video" exhibition."Short-form video is a rapidly emerging entertainment genre, and contentcreators - independent filmmakers to boutique production firms and majormedia companies - are beginning to make highly entertaining, innovativeworks well-suited to the online medium," said Mark Poggi, senior manager ofcontent marketing for Metacafe. "We expect MetaFest to showcase some trulyoriginal short films that tell great stories, feature quality productionvalues and use technology creatively."

MetaFest combines the best of the interactive online video-viewingexperience with the best of the live-audience offline film festivalexperience. Selected films will have a theatrical premiere in San Franciscoin October 2008, will be showcased on Metacafe.com for six months, and bescreened at dozens of "microcinema" events across the U.S. and around theworld through the first half of 2009."This is an exciting time to be a filmmaker, as the Internet has opened up amuch greater distribution opportunity for short films and helped foster alarge and growing audience seeking out and enjoying this content," saidPatrick Kwiatkowski, co-founder and CEO of Microcinema International."MetaFest is designed to help talented creators gain additional exposure andbuild their fanbase worldwide by combining the best of both the online andoffline worlds."The jury will select a grand prize winner who will be awarded $5,000 cashand a "short-short" award winner for outstanding work in a video of threeminutes or less who will receive $2,000 cash. Two audience-choice awardwinners - one selected at the theatrical premiere and one selected byMetacafe viewers - will receive $1,000 each as well as DVD selections worth$250 from the Microcinema DVD catalog.

All award winners will be prominentlyfeatured on the Metacafe home page for 10 days and receive additionalexposure through marketing and publicity efforts. Additionally, the creatorof each film selected for the MetaFest offline program will receive a cashhonorarium of $50. Creators of MetaFest entries that meet the programrequirements for the Metacafe Producer RewardsR program are eligible to bepaid for their work at the rate of $5 per 1,000 views.

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Intermission: Who is Miss Roder?

A narrative in three parts where Miss Roder may or may not be revealed. Late at night in an old warehouse in Flinders Lane, Melbourne, a search will be conducted. Employing tactics of confusion, observation, surveillance, and confession, we look for the answers to the question; Who is Miss Roder?

Artists from London, Chicago, Brisbane and Melbourne chart the extremity of analogue and digital performance, with influences including expanded cinema, noise, video mixing, and contemporary performance. Each work explores performance within cinema through various means—from the prepared screens of Guy Sherwin, the responsive environment played by Jon Pak, to the ritualised actions of Ben Russell. Intermission: Who is Miss Roder? will leave a lasting memory of captured images in a woven narrative that brings gesture, intervention, and feedback to the fore of the cinematic experience.

Intermission: Who is Miss Roder? is presented by the Melbourne International Film Festival and Greyspace.
In association with OtherFilm.
Supported by Arts House.

Program 1: Signs in the debris
Stilted and banal, the consumed rituals of a cruel world
Vijay Thillaimuthu, SONE, Dirk de Bruyn, Ben Russell
Friday, August 1, 9.30 pm – 11.30 pm

Program 2: The sleight of hand
Illusionist constructions, light, and distorting lenses
Abject Leader, Guy Sherwin with Lynn Loo
Saturday, August 2, 4.30 pm – 6.30 pm

Program 3: And, is she here?
Codes and intrusions—tensions in public place and personal space
Jon Pak, Steven Ball, Botborg
Saturday, August 2, 9.30 pm – 11.30 pm

All programs can be enjoyed on their own or part of the on going narrative, Who is Miss Roder?

Location
45 Downstairs, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
Bar open 30 minutes before program commences