Documentary films

Thursday, March 8th at 21.00, Klub Gromka

KAGENDO MURUNGI: SUNSHINE BOUTIQUE (2006, USA/Kenya, 30', English)

Sunshine Boutique follows the stories of four African women artists in New York, Philadelphia, Amsterdam and Cape Town. Their struggle for social change is accompanied by dance, visual art, original musical arrangements and the voices of poets, activists, singers, and filmmakers. Sunshine Boutique stands against homophobia, xenophobia, sexism and racism, while celebrating beauty, love and life. Sunshine Boutique features the poetry of Sonia Sanchez and Abena Busia, as well as original music by Faith Sangoma, Mama Kumba, and The 'Killa B' Tuffnstuff a.k.a Kali Boyce. Website: www.sunshineboutique.org

MAŠA HILČIŠIN DERVIŠEVIĆ, ĆAZIM DERVIŠEVIĆ: IT'S NOT THAT YOU CAN, YOU GOTTA (2006, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 27’, Bosnian with English subtitles)
The documentary about women living in the village Lukomir (at the heart of Bjelašnica Mountain) is a story about the struggle and the exceptional strength needed in order to survive the very challenging life in a very traditional village with the highest altitude in BiH.

DANIJELA MAJSTOROVIĆ: THE DREAM JOB (2005, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 51', Bosnian with English subtitles)

Dream Job follows the arrival of a young woman, Ilinka, who comes from the country to the town to work as a member of the VIKOM TV playback orchestra. Ilinka thinks the job will enable her independent living and a better future in a gloomy Bosnian postwar reality. Parallely to this, well-known Bosnian singers from the 80's, like Lepa Brena and Hanka Paldum, and their younger counterparts tell stories about showbiz now and then.

Dream Job opens issues of the position of women in showbiz, managers, career control, moneymaking and erotic appeal, given the more and more prominent desire of young women in the region to fulfil their dreams by becoming singers, TV anchors or models. It is a tragicomic social critique which raises many questions, but also leaves room for the audience to draw their own conclusions.

UTA BUSCH UND SANDRA ORTMANN: STEP UP AND BE VOCAL: Interviews zu queer punk und feminismus in San Francisco (1999, Germany, 60', English with German subtitles)

The film documents the lesbian and feminist music scene in San Francisco. Interviews with Lynn Breedlove [Tribe 8, writer], Matt Wobensmith [Outpunk Zine and Label, Queercorps Label], Jody Bleyle [Candy-Ass Records, Team Dresch, Hazel], The Psychic Sluts [Queer Performance Group], Wendy-O Matic [Spoken Word Artist], Laura Litter [Fabulous Disaster], Mia d´Bruzzi [Mudwimin, Fabulous Disaster] and Anna Joy [Blatz, Cyper in the Snow, The Gr´ups, writer].

BIOGRAPHIES

Kagendo Murungi is an independent feminist filmmaker/distributor and writer who lives to create and share beauty in the world. She has helped institute the position of Africa program officer at the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC). She works in community with PanAfrican immigrants on grassroots initiatives and in support of sexual and political dissidents. Kagendo received her BA in Women’s Studies from Rutgers University and her MA in Media Studies from the New School for Social Research.

Maša Hilčišin Dervišević and Ćazim Dervišević are experienced media workshop leaders working at the Sarajevo Mediacenter. It's not that you can, you gotta is their first documentary film work. It premiered at the PitchWise Week of Womens’ Films in Sarajevo in November 2006.

Danijela Majstorović majored in English literature and language, worked as a translator, and did several theatre jobs. In 2000 she started work as a teaching assistant at the University of Banja Luka's English Department, and a year later went to USA to do her MA in cultural studies and documentaries at Ohio University. As a student, she independently produced two shorter documentaries: Spinners-A San Francisco Drum and Bass Story and Behind the Tattoo, both of which played at the New York International and Independent Film Festival in September 2002.

She lives in Banja Luka and has just defended her PhD dissertation on discourses of new colonialism in Bosnia. She teaches English Culture and Syntax at the College of Philosophy and Business English at the College of Business Engineering and Management. In April 2004, she finished her first social documentary on sex trafficking in Bosnia and Herzegovina, counterpoint for her, and in December 2005, she finished a documentary on women in showbiz Dream Job, which premiered at Zagreb Dox in February 2006.

Red Dawns' festival hosts both documentaries. The author will be present and available for questions from the public at both screenings. counterpoint for her will be shown on Wednesday, March 7th at 20.00 in Menza pri koritu.