OCR Text |
Show THE FORUM 4 Jan. 26, 2005 Shes Not There: A life in Slam Dance Lures Independents Two Genders Thursday Kate D.Pappas Staff Writer Jenney A. Diamond The growing commercialism Staff Writer of the Sundance Film Festival proved that independent can only be independent for so long. In many ways, Sundance has become the lost cause in Utah as a catalyst of independent, uncommercialized Westminster College invites students, faculty, staff and community members to address an issue that affects all filmmaking. (Omaha the Movie) and Jon Fitzgerald had their films declined that same year and decided to not settle for rejec- x? JU A single individual. The lecture Shes Not I i -I j There: A Life in Two Genders will take place Thursday, Jan. 27, at 7:30 p.m. in the Vieve Gore Concert Hall, Emma Eccles Jones Conservatory. Jennifer Finney Boylan is a novelist, screenwriter, memoirist and professor. She is professor of English at Colby College, where she has taught writing and American literature since w (Self-Portrai- t) 'JxL & tion. The Sundance alternative they created was tagged in its first year, Slamdance 95: Anarchy in Utah The First Annual Guerrilla International Film Festival. - That years roster included 20 films, 12 of which were features, half of which were world premiers. Since then, Slamdance . receives about 3,000 submis- sions and is quickly being recognized as a rival to major film festivals. The main difference between the two Utah film festivals is that Slamdance involves filmmakers on a much lower budget. I dont expect that we will become as commercialized as Sundance has, said Katie Rochester, Slamdance employee at the Los Angeles headquarters. We take pride in being the alternative to Sundance, and although we admire their growth, we want to continue working with struggling filmmakers. The Slamdance Film Festival began Jan. 21 and is diversity. This years KeyBank Cultural Diversity Lecture Series focuses on identity, particularly the union of multiple identities within a In 1994, the Slamdance Film Festival stepped in as a replacement. It was created by filmmakers, for filmmakers to support each other in a grassroots environment. Filmmakers Shane Kuhn (Redneck), Dan Mirvish of us, 3 Able Raises Cane directed by Jenny Abie and Jeff Hockett will show at Slamdance on Friday Jan. 28 at 12:30 p.m. ing to Helen Langan, associ- currently running through Jan. 28. What also differentiates Slamdance from Sundance is that, although based in Park City, Slamdance offers additional Salt Lake City screenings at Brewvies and the Murray Theatre. For a complete list of screenings, visit www.slamdance.com. Although Slamdance may be the largest alternative film festival to Sundance, there are other local independent film screenings that introduce the public to local filmmakers. Last week, the J. Willard Marriott Librarys Utah Independent Film Archive presented Timecode, the first free public show of films from the archives collection. The film archive has been instilled for some time collecting films, but accord ate director of 1988. Boylan will be speaking about how she lived and communica- tions at Westminster, it was . not until this year, there were enough films to present to the public. Among the filmmakers whose documentaries, experimental films, narrative films and animations were shown, Westminster College professor David Baddley showed published as James Finney Boylan up until 2001. Boylan has written several novels, three years ago she wrote her memoir entitled Shes Not There. As she does in her memoir, Boylan will talk about her gender identity and how she eventually changed genders so that her. external physical identity matched her internal sense his experimental film pieces. Filmmakers who displayed their work had to be local or had to have their film pertain to Utah. I think its great that local filmmakers have the opportunity to show their work outside of the major film festival, of well-receiv- ed self. Boylan, who was born as a male physically, will recount her past in which she was a transgender. She was married and was the father of children; however, her whole life she told her said Racheal Kinney in attendance at Timecode. It kinda gives us a chance to see work that might soon become well known.C5 self that she was a woman. After years of therapy and reassignment surgery, Boylan is now telling her complicated story to others. Boylans story is being told around campuses to students and community members to enlighten her audiences about the issue of gender and this misunderstood form of diversity. We can no more choose our gender than we can choose our height, she said in an interview in her office, where she co-chai- rs Colbys English department. You dont decide to become female; its simply a matter of accepting a fact, she said in an interview on CNN.com. This years lecture series has featured four different lectures focusing on varied aspects of diversity. This is the fourth year that Westminster College has put on a series of lectures. Its all about diversity, this idea of who or how you identify yourself, said assistant professor of history Jeff ' Nichols. Westminster College is trying to expand and strengthen the diversity on campus. Just last week Westminster published a diversity electronic newsletter. The publishers of the newsletter are looking for peoples reaction; they have hopes of students, faculty and staff writing thoughts and comments. For those who are interested in attending Shes Not There: A Life in Two Genders please contact 2 or Nichols, at 832-239- jnihokwestminstercoUege.edu.e Blogging Is Latest Way to Communicate on the Web Nelson T. Emeric Staff Writer There is a new concept that is currently taking the Internet by storm. It is reshaping how we chat online and express our views and opinions. This new phenomenon is caUed blogging A blog is when a writer files a blog short for Web logs on Web sites about a subject the author feels passionately about Currently, you can find blogs (or respond to a blog) on - of political issues, a wide-rang- e date last night, pictures of your your cat or dog virtual societies and profiles of individuals. Blogs can be filed either daily, hourly or even every second in response to an event or issue. The majority of blogs include a place for readers to respond to the author by writing back a response(s). In an article written by James R. Carroll of The Courier-Journal (Kentucky) in which he interviewed Justin Walker, a Duke University senior, blogs are very democratic, and thats very healthy. Its the least hierarchical way for people to get information and share information. Blogging is an important part of the Internet, and popular part of the Internet, said Walker. In 2004 the concept of blogging bloomed. A study conducted by The Pew Internet & American Life Project made a strong case that blogs are becoming part of the daily Internet habits of millions of Internet users. Pew found that, only 1 1 percent of respondents knew ' of, or participated in, blogging. But the figure jumped to 17 , percent this past February and then jumped to 27 percent this past November. The growth in 2004 alone amounts to 58 per- cent Pews study also concluded, through their study, that 7 percent of the estimated 120 million U.S. adults who use the Internet create a blog or a d diary, which makes up more than 8 million individuals. At the same time, according to Pews study for all the excitement about blogs and the media coverage of them, blogs have not yet become recognized by the a majority of web-base- Internet users. Only 38 percent of all Internet users know what a blog is. The study concluded that the remaining individuals had no idea or heard of the term blogging. Blogging is becoming the newest way of communicating debating or sharing your opin- ions in a matter of seconds on a wide range of topics. Although it has been written about in several magazines such as Forbes and Business Week, and discussed on such news networks as CNN and MSNBC, this concept is new to me as well.C3J |