"Goths! On the Bus" wins award at CIMM Fest

"Goths! On the Bus!" won the award for Best Music Video this past weekend at the 4th annual Chicago International Music & Movies Festival.

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 Magus" screens at the 36th Hong Kong International Film Festival

"The Magus" has been selected to screen at the 36th Hong Kong International Film Festival, which runs March 24 - April 5, 2012. It will screen as part of the Short Film Competition Programme II on Sunday, April 1st @ 1:00pm at the Hong Kong Science Museum Lecture Hall.

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 Journal of Experimental Media #3 (Launch + Screening)

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.

Creative Cutting: Advanced Digital Editing Workshop

Participants wishing to explore the more advanced features and capabilities of Final Cut Pro are encouraged to take this hands-on workshop. This open lab-style workshop will give participants in depth knowledge of colour correction, chroma keying, compositing, titles and motion graphics, keyframing, working with multiple formats and the tricks to make the best of your time while working on your projects. Participants will also be introduced to sister programs such as Soundtrack, Compressor and DVD Studio Pro. This lab will be delivered via video projector and participants will work at individual editing stations together as pairs. Participants are also encouraged to bring their laptops if they are running FCP version 6 or higher.

Dates: Sat Jan 7 (10am-4pm), Sun Jan 8 (10am-4pm), Mon Jan 9, 2012 (6pm-10pm)
Registration Fee: $125 members | $155 non-members
Participants: Maximum 10 participants - 5 spots available through Winnipeg Film Group (925-3456) + 5 spots available through Video Pool (949-9134)
Instructor: Jaimz Asmundson

"The Magus" screens at MIX New York

"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

"The Magus" screens at Antimatter

"The Magus" has been selected to screen at the Antimatter Film Festival, which runs October 14 - 22, 2011. It will screen as part of the "How to Explain It to My Parents" program on Wednesday, October 19, 2011 @ 9:00pm at Open Space. The Festival is currently in it's 14th year.

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.

"The Magus" screens at Gimme Some Truth

At long last, The Magus will have it's Winnipeg premiere at Gimme Some Truth in Manitoba, Canada, which runs October 13-16, 2011.

The Magus will screen alongside the feature film The Upsetter: The Life and Music of Lee Scratch Perry (Ethan Higbee and Adam Bhala-Lough ) on Saturday, October 15th at 7:00pm at Cinematheque (100 Arthur Street).

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.