I'm really excited to announce that my new film "Echoes" will have the first USA screening at the 22nd Chicago Underground Film Festival alongside "Ruined Heart: Another Lovestory Between a Criminal & A Whore" by Khavn de la Cruz (Philippines) at the opening night screening at 6 PM on Wednesday, May 13 at the Logan Theatre.
Founded in 1993, The Chicago Underground Film Festival (CUFF) is a year-round organization dedicated to the work of film and video makers with defiantly independent visions. Unlike many other “independent” film events their goal is not to imitate old guard, market-driven events such as Sundance but instead to focus on the artistic, aesthetic and fun side of independent filmmaking. CUFF promotes works that dissent radically in form, content and technique from both the tired conventions of Hollywood and the increasingly stagnant IndieWood mainstream.
My new film, "Echoes", will have it's world premiere at the núna (now) Iceland / Canada Art Convergence alongside Erika Macpherson's "Heimþrá (In Thrall to Home)" and Julia Ryckman's "Fleeting" a music video for her project Slattern. Original music by Christine Fellows and John K. Samson will be performed at the event.
The films will screen on the opening night of the festival on Friday, April 17, 2015, 7 pm at the Winnipeg Art Gallery's Muriel Richardson Auditorium and is free admission! More details here.
Structured around the recollection of a premonitory dream, fragmented memories from the period leading up to the death of my mother were projected on to natural textures and surfaces, re-photographed, composited and processed until the memories became abstracted representations of the evolution, degradation and disintegration of memory and the physical self. "Echoes" was shot in Iceland in 2011 during núna (now)’s 5th anniversary programming in Reykjavík.
During the second week of the festival, Ghost Twin, my electronic music project with my wife Karen will also perform alongside Slattern and Dj Flugvél Og Geimskip (Airplane & Spaceship) of Iceland, at the Good Will Social Club on Friday, April 24, 2015 at 10pm. More details on núna (now)'s website.
The films will screen Mon, Apr 29 6:00PM (TIFF Bell Lightbox 3),Tue, Apr 30 10:30AM (The ROM Theatre) and Sat, May 4 9:15PM (Innis Town Hall).
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is North America's largest documentary film festival, conference and market, held annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 2013 edition of the Festival runs from April 25 to May 5.
Shot in one take on a single roll of Super 8 and using found audio of answering machine messages, Citizens Against Basswood is an amusing record of a man’s dogged attempt to petition against the plan to plant trees in his neighbourhood. By voicing the sentiments of fellow residents, he offers multiple takes on his civic responsibility. - Jane Kim
The program curated by Brett Kashmere features videos, films and performances by Jaimz Asmundson (The Magus), Jeremy Bailey (The Future of Creativity), Jacob Ciocci and Ryder Ripps (Extreme Moments Sitting Down), Clint Enns (Self Improvement), Eliza Koch (Please), Jesse McLean (Magic for Beginners), Shana Moulton (Whispering Pines 4), Lillian Schwartz (Galaxies 3D), and Leslie Supnet (Sun Moon Stars Rain).
This is a new age (for New Age-ism). INCITE #3: NEW AGES focuses on the renewed fascination with New Age spirituality, philosophy and aesthetics among contemporary media artists, while seeking to address the generational shifts and divides brought on by the emergence of digital technology.
I was commissioned by to create a film for the Auroratone Project at the Film POP segment of the 2012 POP Montreal Festival in Quebec. The screening is 9pm on September 21st at the Film BOX (Quartiers POP – 3450 St-Urbain, 3rd Floor).
The Auroratone Project is a commission of original short films by experimental Canadian filmmakers set to the music of POP Montreal’s 2012 participants. ‘Auroratones’ were abstract musical films used in mental institutions and army hospitals after WWII as a means of soothing post-traumatic stress disorder and general mental disturbance, invented by film enthusiast Cecil Stokes who was continuing on nearly two centuries of previous pseudo-scientific attempts to correlate colour with musical notes. For POP Montreal, filmmakers Leslie Supnet (Manitoba), Emily Pelstring (Quebec), Jon Rafman (Quebec), Alex MacKenzie (BC), Walter Forsberg (Manitoba), Leslie Bell (Alberta), Jaimz Asmundson (Manitoba), Cheryl Hann (Nova Scotia), Tamara Scherbak (Quebec), Heather Rappard (Nova Scotia) and Sabrina Ratte (Quebec) were approached to create original abstract films guided by the principles of Cecil Stokes’ Auroratones. As an added bonus, project mentor Walter Forsberg will give historical context before screening the only surviving original Auroratone, as well as Auroratone-like videos by Schtuff and actress and animator Kate Dollenmayer (Mutual Appreciation, Funny Ha Ha). - Curator, Kier-La Janisse
My film titled Scintoma is a first person perspective of myself as I make my way home from work, while suffering from a wicked migraine, and then fall into a fever induced psychaedelic dream.
The film uses the track "Crystal Fortress Over the Sea of Trees" by the band Yamantaka // Sonic Titan.
"The Magus" has been selected to screen at Queer City Cinema, the 9th Biennial International Queer Film & Video Festival, in Regina, Saskatchewan, which runs June 7 - 9, 2012. It will screen as part of the Short Film Program 3 on Friday, June 8th @ 7:00pm at the Neutral Ground Gallery (1856 Scarth Street).
Queer City Cinema (based in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada - The Queen City) is the largest and oldest ongoing queer arts festival between British Columbia and Ontario. This biennial festival was initiated in 1996, and saw its 8th installment in June 2010. A total of 77 artworks were exhibited, screened and performed at QCC 8, representing 97 artists from twelve countries. Upcoming festivals include Performing Out Festival 3 (October 5-8, 2011); Media Arts Festival (June 6-9, 2012), and Audibly Out Festival 3 (January 30-February 2, 2013).
"Goths! On the Bus!" has been selected to be screened as part of Telefilm
Canada's Canada: Not Short On Talent at the Cannes Film Market. Other
Manitobans with films in the festival include Caroline Monnet and Deco Dawson.
For the seventh edition of Perspective Canada at the Cannes Film
Market, Telefilm Canada is pleased to announce that Canada: Not Short on
Talent is back for a second year. The program of 25 Canadian shorts was
curated by Danny Lennon, the founder of Prends ça court! and a renowned programmer on the international festival circuit.
The films were selected to represent the diversity of Canadian
talent, with directors from all across the country. Emerging talent is
featured in both Herd Leader (Chef de meute) by Chloé Robichaud,
competing in the Official Selection for the Short Film Palme d’or, and
With Jeff (Avec Jeff, à moto) by Marie-Ève Juste screening at the
Directors’ Fortnight. The selection also includes well-known directors
such as Robin Aubert, Deco Dawson and Diane Obomsawin, as well as
award-winning creations such as Doubles With Slight Pepper by Ian
Harnarine, winner of best Canadian short at the Toronto International
Film Festival and the Genie Awards, and financed by the Spike Lee
Production Fund.
The program will premiere on May 22 and a promotional video created by Danny Lennon is available here:
Canada: Not Short on Talent program
A River In The Woods by Christian Sparkes, produced by Away Films
Amelia by Andrew Silke, produced by Silke Productions
Anata O Korosu by Philippe David Gagné and Jean-Marc E. Roy, produced by Jean-Marc E. Roy
With Jeff (Avec Jeff, à moto) by Marie-Ève Juste, produced by Voyous Films
Barefoot by Danis Goulet, produced by Treeline Pictures
Bydlo by Patrick Bouchard, produced by the National Film Board of Canada
Herd Leader (Chef de meute) by Chloé Robichaud, produced by La Boîte à Fanny and Les Films de la meute
Doubles With Slight Pepper by Ian Harnarine, produced by Ian Harnarine, Jason Harnarine and Ryan Silbert
Gephyrophobia by Caroline Monnet, produced by Caroline Monnet
Goths! On The Bus! by Karen Asmundson and Jaimz Asmundson, produced by Jaimz Asmundson
Joanna Makes a Friend by Jeremy Lutter, produced by Broken Mirror Films and Like Minded Media
Kaspar by Diane Obomsawin, produced by the National Film Board of Canada
Late by Jason Goode, produced by Jenkinson / Goode Productions
The Near Future (Le futur proche) by Sophie Goyette, produced by Sophie Goyette
Margo Lily by Dane Clark and Linsey Stewart, produced by Lithium Studios Productions and Dark Hope Entertainment
Keep A Modest Head (Ne crâne pas sois modeste) by Deco Dawson, produced by Endstop and Elsewhere, and Microclimat Films
Ne pas reculer by Dominique Laurence, produced by Kino
Not Far From The Abattoir by Kyle Thomas, produced by North Country Cinema
Board (Planche à l'œil) by Ian Lagarde, produced by Annick Blanc and Ian Lagarde
The Horse Latitudes by Duncan McDowall, produced by Antler Films
The Tape by Matt Austin Sadowski, produced by Spontaneously Combusted Films
Throat Song by Miranda de Pencier, produced by Northwood Productions
Everything Is All Right (Tout va mieux) by Robin Aubert, produced by Lynx Films
We Refuse To Be Cold by Alexander Carson, produced by North Country Cinema
When You Sleep by Ashley McKenzie, produced by Grassfire Films
The shorts are also entered in the Short Film Corner, a section of
the Cannes Film Market dedicated to short films, with viewing stations
for buyers and accredited professionals.
Canada in Cannes on the web
Telefilm Canada's microsite (www.canada-cannes2012.ca) offers information about the Canadian presence in Cannes, including schedules and details about the films presented at the Festival, Perspective Canada and the Canada: Not Short on Talent program. Profiles of Canadian producers and other Canadian companies
registered at the Canadian Pavilion are also available.
Juror John McNaughton called it “A really fun, funny and original vision done for no bucks. I loved the juxtaposition of exotic goth characters with the otherwise mundane activities of riding the bus to the mall and a trip to Sears. The music is great as are the visuals. Context is everything.”
CIMMfest, the Chicago International Movies & Music Festival—a four-day showcase of outstanding films, energetic concerts, visually stunning VJ/DJ sets, lively Q&A’s, daring live score performances…anything to show just what movies and music mean to each other.
The Hong Kong International Film Festival is a platform for filmmakers, film professionals and filmgoers from all over the world to launch and experience new film work. There are seminars, conferences, exhibitions, and parties celebrating the festival community. The festival is committed to discovering talent, and it is also a major platform to launch films to the Greater China region and Asian market.
INCITE will be launching Issue #3: New Ages, which includes a piece I wrote, called "Capturing Chaos: Reflections on The Magus". The launch will feature a screening of works by artists in the new issue, including my film, "The Magus".
Wednesday (2/22) in Oberlin: New Ages screening + launch of INCITE Journal of Experimental Media #3. 8pm, Mudd 443. Presented by Wundercloset.
Featuring work by: Jaimz Asmundson, Jacob Ciocci, Clint Enns, Eliza Koch, Jesse McLean, Shana Moulton, Lillian Schwartz, and Leslie Supnet
Curated by Brett Kashmere
This is a new age (for New Age-ism). Although it may be in vogue now, New Age subculture was once the subject of widespread ridicule and scorn. Combining quasi-religious mysticism with self-help philosophy and environmental concern, the New Age movement gained mainstream awareness during the height of self-absorbed Reaganomics and the rise of corporate power (i.e. "Greed is good."). This duality—of alternative spirituality based in holistic health, environmentalism, meditation, and simple living, and its pop commercialization (i.e. whale music CDs sold in strip malls)—produced a values-based sociopolitical phenomenon that was hard to take seriously. So how do we account for the current fascination with New Age concepts and aesthetics among many of today’s emergent media practitioners? As ironic appropriation? As a desire to reconnect with non-Western medicine, environmental causes, organic farming, etc? As '80s-era nostalgia? The Web 2.0, via services such as YouTube, has made it possible to instantly re-experience the media memories of our recent past or stoke a younger generation's enchantment with a past not their own. In an era marked by both religious and political fervor and cynicism, it's hard not to see the positive in reclaiming an inclusive, optimistic, if naive, spiritual movement.
"The Magus" has been selected to screen at MIX NYC, the 24th New York Queer Experimental Film Festival, which runs November 15 - 02, 2011. It will screen as part of the "Fantastic Magik" program on Thursday, November 17, 2011 @ 9:00pm at The MIX Factory.
The ecstatic, the fantastic, the dark and the strange converge in Fantastic Magick for a new edition of homoerotic love spells, witches and devilish art. Here you will find tricksters conjuring spirits of the past as well as blazing trails for all that is to come through sex, inversion, the occult, and other forms of ritual behavior. In Sorciéres, Mes Soeurs, we find women living in defiance of social expectations, and in WHOEVER WHATEVER, we find a more obscure yet equally magical take on a defiant woman. In Aquarius, a love spell is cast, where in The Magus and Jerk the Circle, we observe rituals with more obscure ends. From the directly subversive to the obscurely strange, queer magic and ritual infuse the screen with delight. This program delves into the roots of its own creation only to tear asunder your assumptions from the start. - MIX NYC Programming Committee
Also screening in the program: Deus Ex Boltanski (Robert Gardner | USA), Four Cubic Feet of Space (Tony Gault | USA), How to Explain It to My Parents: Arno Coenen (Lernert & Sander | Netherlands), My Film Festival Entry (Neil Needleman | USA), Albumleaf (Paul Turano | USA), Tony Conrad: DreaMinimalist (Marie Losier | USA).
Dedicated to the exhibition and nurturing of film and video as art, Antimatter has grown into the premier showcase of experimental cinema in the west. Encompassing screenings, installations, performances and media hybrids, Antimatter provides a noncompetitive festival setting in Victoria, British Columbia, free from commercial and industry agendas.
Since 1998, the quality and creativity of its programming, commitment to audience development, and respect for filmmakers and their work have made Antimatter one of the most important media arts events in Canada, and the world.
Gimme Some Truth is a unique, four day documentary forum that includes panel discussions, master lectures, workshops and special screenings – all intended to provide filmmakers and audiences alike the opportunity to discuss creative, ethical and technical issues related to the documentary form. Gimme Some Truth is produced by the Winnipeg Film Group, in partnership with DOC Winnipeg.
The Magus will screen at the Incubate Festival in Tilburg, Netherlands, which runs September 12 - 18, 2011.
Screening alongside The Magus are the films: Invertebrate (James McAleer), Lazarov (Nietov) and The Ill Mannered Milk Man (Wayne Horse). The films will screen at the Film Foyer (Louis Bouwmeesterplein 1) on Saturday, September 17th at 10:00pm.
Incubate is the annual celebration of independent culture in Tilburg, the Netherlands. It is a festival exhibiting a diverse view on indie culture as a whole, including music, contemporary dance, film and visual arts. It brings more than 200 cutting edge artists in an intimate context to an international audience. Black metal next to free jazz. Refreshing art next to inspiring debate.
Founded in 2009, the Festival of (In)appropriation is a yearly showcase of contemporary short (20 minutes or less) audiovisual works that appropriate film or video footage and repurpose it in “inappropriate” and inventive ways. In this program, we bring together a selection of 14 recent films that appropriate footage from diverse sources with vastly different results, demonstrating the range of approaches contemporary filmmakers are taking in repurposing found materials. Indeed, these films push the boundaries of the “found footage” film, raising questions about how we define “found footage” filmmaking in an era in which ever more materials are available for reuse in ever more complex ways. We believe that together, these films reveal how (in)appropriation is flourishing at this social and historical moment. - Jaimie Baron, Andrew Hall, and Lauren Berliner, Curators
The program includes: Lucky Strike (Shashwati Talukar | Taiwan), Interdimensional Headphase (Dillon Rickman | USA), Camp (Peter Freund | USA), Jive (Steve Cossman | USA), The Homogenics (Gerard Freixes Ribera | Spain), Ceibas Epilogue: The Well of Representation (Evan Meaney | USA), The Voyagers (Penny Lane | USA), February 2008 & June 1967 (Mark Toscano | USA), Tusslemuscle (Steve Cossman | USA), Avo (Muidumbe)/Granny (Muidumbe) (Raquel Schefer | Portugal), Kanye West Apologizes to George W. Bush (Jaimz Asmundson | Canada), Self-Destruction for Eternity (Wei-Ming Ho | Taiwan), Palindromia (Lab Collective | France/Greece/Spain), A Reasonable Man (Brian L. Frye | USA).
The performance will take place 9:30pm on September 2nd, 2011 at the Iðnó Theatre as part of a program of other artists from Winnipeg, which is being presented in partnership with nuna(now). The festival runs September 1st to 4th, 2011 at various venues.
The program includes the premiere of the production of "Sargent and Victor" by Deb Patterson, a screening of short films by Matt Holm and a Collage Party facilitated by Paul Butler and Caelum Vatnsdal.
"The Magus" will have it's international premiere at the first annual Lume International Film Festival, which runs July 15 to 23, 2011 in São Luís, Brazil and is run by Lume Filmes.
The film is part of the Short Film Competition and will screen before the feature WHITE AS SNOW (Selim Gunes | Turkey) with the short film, THE FOAL (Josh Tanner | Australia) on Wednesday, July 20 at 9pm.
Every year since 2006, Fantasia has devoted a programming block to audacious, boundary-breaking short films. Allow yourself to be overwhelmed by this fever dream that defies traditional cinematic laws of time and narrative structure. See the sounds, hear the images! It’s like a symphony of the imagination. We’ve assembled for you over 20 singular works that together make up a voyage to the heart of the mind’s eye, a dreamlike mélange of tones and colours. Though CELLULOID EXPERIMENTS has always reserved an important place for international films, this year’s edition is dominated by a selection of creators from Quebec and Canada.
Direct from Spain comes Kote Camacho’s LA GRAN CARRERA, in which a documentarian revisits a morbid incident at the Lasarte Hippodrome in 1914. American Ben Ridgway returns with the world premiere of his bewitching animated short TRIBOLUMINESCENCE. Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski offer L'ANNÉE DE L'OR, a delirious creation accompanied by the music of Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Syl Disjonk presents a work in progress, the nightmarish ETHEREAL CHRYSALIS, which already earned a Special Jury Prize at the most recent edition of Vitesse Lumière. Richard Vézina shares a slice of eternity with the world premiere of MEMENTO MORI. Andrew Milne experiments in 35mm with PHANTASM, a Quebec premiere. Among the NFB’s newest gems is LES JOURNAUX DE LIPSETT by Theodore Ushev. Masterful! Jaimz Asmundson captures a visual performance impeccably with THE MAGUS, a Montreal premiere. Rhayne Vermette breaks apart all the eye captures in R SEYMORE GOES NORTH, a Montreal premiere. Fans of Burton Cummings and the Guess Who will love the hilarious NEGATIVIPEG, a poetic recreation of an awful event, by Matthew Rankin. As we do each year, we’ve reserved time for the finest moments of Dérapage, an event of audio-visual exploration founded by the students of UQÀM’s graphic design department. This year we’ve selected the intriguing CATS by Jocelyn Leduc, the architectural vision of foulmalade.org’s OHM, the apocalyptic ÉLÉMENTS by SIM Éric Mc Guire et the reverie THE PAGE’S WING by Federico Campanale. A must! TIND (this is not design), a well-known Montreal collective, present BLITZ and NORD’EST. From the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema come Emma Michelle Owen with INSIDE A FORT MADE OF SHEETS, Jenni Tannahill with JUMP, Tina Nawrocky’s DESERTED, Yoshino Aoki’s THE DOOR, and David Martineau Lachance and Chelsea Owen, each directing a double shot with L'AUTOPORTRAIT/PYROMANTEIA and MOTEL/BEAR AND THE CAPTAIN. And finally, Lawrence Côté-Collins knows what buttons to push with FUCK THAT.
—Marc Lamothe (translated by Rupert Bottenberg)
Here is a trailer of the program, featuring clips from "The Magus":
"The Magus" has been selected to screen at the Gimli Film Festival, which runs July 20 - 24, 2011. It will close the "Life is Heavy" program on Friday, July 22 @ 3:30pm at the Aspire Theatre. The Festival is currently in it's 11th year.
Also screening in the program: "Deeper Than Yesterday" (Ariel Kleiman | Australia), "Lucky Girl" (Alexandra Grimanis | Canada), "The Hollow Man's Tragedy" (Jorge De Guillae | Spain), "Infinite Struggles" (Corey King | Manitoba), "[Punctuated]" (Dermot Daly | UK).
Goths! On the Bus! will screen at Cinema Spectacular in Edinburgh, Scotland at An Exercise in Bad Taste, a two-day event devoted to the devilishly delightful world of Bad Taste Cinema.
It will screen as part of a special program of short films curated by Edinburgh's Horror Festival, Dead by Dawn, alongside the feature film, Rubber, by Quentin Dupieux and a series of live performances.
