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December 2002
Haida Gwaii Dear curators and film /video artists, We are hoping that you can help us by sending us your video work or articles, putting us in contact with women video/filmmakers directly, adding this letter to your newsletter or bulletin board or broadcasting\exhibiting our own work in one of your programs( all of our tapes, bio etc are made available upon request) We live in probably one of the last sanctuaries left on Earth. It is a wild place! We are blessed by the ancestors who once lived here, the Spirit of the land and its wildlife. There is no polution here, you can eat fresh fish and pick berries and some wlld greens. Haida Gwaii ( Queen Charlotte Islands) is many things and hard to put in a nutshell. One thing is for sure it attracts the excentrics, like us and it sometimes feels like the last frontier.We are located 40 miles South of Alaska in the most Western part of Canada on a remote First Nation island. Karin is born in Montreal and lived in NYC, France and Amsterdam. Dafne is origanlly from Mexico, lived in Russia, Lebannon and Montreal before coming to Haida Gwaii.We are both into art,film and food so we married our experience\talents and dedicated ourselves to promoting independent films from around the Globe,cater gourmet international meals and serve as some sort of "multi-cultural ambassadors". We have been doing this for the last year now and are happy to be, our own free agents. We show films weekly, have 2 festivals( Women and Indigeneous) and produce experimental and narrative films, video installations and wildlife and cultural oriented documentaries. In the new year we will inaugurate a new cinema magazine which we plan to print once a month and distribute to the 6000 people who live on the island. We are self-produced "well nourished by life" artists. We don't have money nor are we funded, but we have alot of ressources and talents between the two of us which we are passionate about sharing. We transform community spaces into miniature movie theaters.We rent out community halls, churches and people have donated their homes for us to go around the island and project videos. The response is incredible up to now, the people are so thankful. Our mission is to promote non- commercial films from around the World, here and serve as a sort of window to the world outside. In March we are presenting our second Women on the Verge Film and Video Festival.Last year we inaugurated the first Women on the Verge which thrilled many women. Most people here would never have a chance to see films produced by independent filmmakers , much less video artists.We are about the only ones here producing videos. Last month, Karin had a solo exhibition of a single channel video installation at the Haida Gwaii Museum, that was the first ever on the island. There are so few women film festivals left in Canada that we felt compelled as video/filmmakers to showcase works made by women. The only criteria for submitting work is that a woman made it. As a video/film artist to another, we promise you that this venue is very gratifying and enriching. Someone wrote to us a card, to thank us for bringing films here. She said: we need more World contact here, at times we forget the rest of the planet! GUIDELINES: Name:Women on the Verge Film and Video Festival Location: Haida Gwaii (40 miles South of Alaska) Canada Preview tape: VHS-NTSC or DVD Screening Tape: VHS, MINI DV or DVD - NTSC Length: no restrictions Fees: NO ENTRY FEES Deadline: February 14th , 2003 English , No dialogue or Subtitled All genres accepted Send a VHS or DVD preview copy labeled NO COMMERCIAL VALUE, a short description, a jpeg still (to:[EMAIL PROTECTED]) and a self addressed stamped envelop IF you want your preview tape returned to you: Happy Holidays, we look forward to seeing your work and hope to meet you someday. Hasta pronto! Karin Haz� & Dafne Salazar Feast for your Eyes productions � P.O Box 951 Haida Gwaii, B.C V0T 1S0 Canada [EMAIL PROTECTED] t:(250) 559-9023 |
