Leeds International Film Festival - 4th till 16th November ― Wednesday 29, 2009
My favourite time of year is when the International Film Festival comes to Leeds. Now in its 23rd year, the festival is the place to be if you want to see the latest Japanese Zombie flick or the most underground Music documentary. Tickets are now onsale for £70 for a full all access pass, £20 for the awesome Fanomenon Night of the Dead event, £8 for Thought Bubble Comic Convention (yes!!) and various other prices for Short Films and one off showings. No films have been announced yet but we’ll be sure to tell you when they are.
Above is the poster for Wesley Willis Joyrides, which showed at last years festival along with: Sonic Youth: Sleeping Nights Awake, Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell and may other excellent films.
I cannot wait!
www.leedsfilm.com/default.aspx www.thoughtbubblefestival.com/
EVERYTHING EVERYTHING announce UK tour and play Nation of Shopkeepers ― Wednesday 29, 2009
EVERYTHING EVERYTHING (LIVE)
Monday 19th October / Doors 7.30pm / Free Entry
“Quirky” and “complex” are qualities you either value in pop, or you despise. Everything Everything, four musicians who released their debut single Suffragette Suffragette at the tail end of 2008 and operate from Manchester but hail as individuals from Newcastle and Kent, make shamelessly quirky, complex pop. We say “shamelessly” because they openly admit to being a fan of such an underrated latterday exponent of everything-at-once pop – you might say everything-everything pop – as Max Tundra, the highly idiosyncratic musician who records for Domino and whose every song sounds like several different acts from several different eras jamming on Jools Holland’s head (we wish). Everything Everything are that rarity – a band you could quite reasonably describe as Tundra-esque. It probably won’t happen again - taken from The Guardian’s ‘Band of the Day’ column
www.myspace.com/everythingeverythinguk www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/may/21/new-band-everything-everything
Kraffics - Taking the world apart page by page ― Wednesday 29, 2009
Kraffics is a Leeds based collective run by Leemun Smith and fellow collaborators Kirst Wilson and Jessica Charbonnier. Together they spin things upside using the medium of cut and paste, photography and illustration. They’ve just finished the Tubelord artwork and are set to go berserk at Nation of Shopkeepers where they have been commissioned to do a permanent wall with scenery fixture (whatever that means) it’s gonna be dope, rest assured.
MONOTONIX set to raise hell at Nation of Shopkeepers ― Tuesday 28, 2009
MONOTONIX (LIVE) + CASTROVALVA
Friday 21st August 2009 / 7.30pm / Tickets £3.00 from Jumbo, Crash & Seetickets.com
Tickets are £3.00 available now from - http://tinyurl.com/MONOGIG
Monotonix are a garage rock band from Tel Aviv, Israel. They released their debut EP in 2008 and have toured the United States and Europe, including notable appearances at SXSW. Dissatisfied with the state of the music scene in their hometown of Tel Aviv, the Israeli trio Monotonix formed in November 2005. The band, which has grown out of the disbanded Mono Addicted Acid Man, consists of singer Ami Shalev, guitarist Yonatan Gat, and drummer Haggai Fershtman (Ran Shimoni filled in for Fershtman on some tours), started recording, influenced by Led Zeppelin, the Sonics, and Thin Lizzy. Shortly after forming, they began playing shows at local venues. They frequently set up on the floor among the crowd, playing shows raucous enough to result in the power being shut off or the police called in.
In 2008, the band signed to Drag City, where they have released Body Language, and have continued their all-year touring.
www.myspace.com/monotonix www.myspace.com/castrovalvamusic www.last.fm/music/Monotonix
Wilhelm the Maker by Adam Hancher & Jack Hudson ― Tuesday 28, 2009
An animated short that explains the story of a miserable village and a misunderstood giant. The giant (Wilhelm) enters the village by night, stealing various objects. Some townsfolk regard him as just a myth, others fear him, believing him to be some sort of evil spirit. The only real knowledge of Wilhelm is a result of hearsay and rumour, but the reason behind his actions aren’t known…
jackhudsonillustration.blogspot.com/ www.myspace.com/adamhancher
JULY AT NATION OF SHOPKEEPERS ― Friday 3, 2009
It’s been a great first month at Nation of Shopkeepers. More images charting June’s events will be added to the site shortly. In the meantime, check out the Listings section for details of July’s happenings.
PROJECTED, LAURIE INNES ― Monday 15, 2009
Laurie Innes lives on the Old Kent Road square on the Monopoly Board. Well actually, the road in South London, but it’s just as great in real life. From this stately base he creates a variety of exciting projects, often video and animation, but also print and artist’s books. Laurie is a member of the art collective PLATS and is currently writing his first novel. You can see Laurie’s contribution to the showreel at Nation of Shopkeepers.
PROJECTED, RAINBOW DROPSHADOW ― Monday 15, 2009
Rainbow Dropshadow is a small creative studio based in Portland, Oregon, run by Alex Harris and Bryan Dalton. Rainbow Dropshadow specialises in Direction, Motion Design & Animation, and has contributed some great motion graphics for the showreel in Nation of Shopkeepers.
PROJECTED, FREE TRAPPER ― Friday 12, 2009
Free Trapper is a multi-disciplinary design agency that works with art direction, print, illustration, fashion, moving image and magazine design that believes in the power of developing visual languages. Broadly speaking it is about thinking and doing, dialogues, shapes and colours. As part of the Nation of Shopkeepers’ Showreel, Free Trapper has contributed some a range of new motion graphics.
PROJECTED, DENISE HAUSER ― Friday 12, 2009
Denise is a visual artist and designer who works with animation/film and illustration. She has contributed a selection of fantastic motion graphics as part of the showreel displayed in Nation of Shopkeepers. Originally from Zurich and having spent seven years in London, Denise currently lives in Norway. Since leaving with an MA in Animation from the Royal College of Art she works on a freelance basis. Denise divides her time between commercial projects and collaborative projects with other artists and designers as well as pursuing her goals as an independent film maker. Since 2008, Denise has also been teaching animation and visual communication in Norway as well as being a guest lecturer at the Art University and the KUMU Art Museum in Tallin, Estonia.
PROJECTED, ILONA HANSSON ― Friday 12, 2009
Ilona Hansson is a freelance illustrator and animator, currently designing websites for a new agency in Sweden and an artist in England. Ilona is also working as a stylist and costume design assistant for Cattis Aronsson at Adamsky agency. She recently moved to Stockholm after studying Graphic Design at Camberwell College of Arts and working in London, and has contributed some great motion graphics for the Nation of Shopkeepers’ showreel. Ilona says of her work; “I work around the idea of illusions using people, scale and 3D illustrations, creating large or small sets with organic materials, drawing by hand and collages”.
PROJECTED, CÔME DE BOUCHONY ― Tuesday 9, 2009
Côme de Bouchony is a French graphic designer and art director and has contributed some motion graphics to be projected as part of the showreel displayed in Nation of Shopkeepers. Côme founded his freelance practice in Paris after graduating from the Graphic Design course at Penninghen (Esag) in 2007. He also studied at Willem de Kooning Academie, in Rotterdam, Netherlands. He works on an eclectic range of projects mostly in music, cultural and media areas, including print and type design for posters, books, identities, and records sleeves, as well as motion design such as videos, clips, animations and titles.
PROJECTED, THIS IS STUDIO ― Tuesday 9, 2009
THIS IS Studio has contributed some stunning motion graphics to be projected as part of the showreel displayed in Nation of Shopkeepers. Established in 2006, THIS IS Studio was born through a love for honest, exciting and functional design. Their approach is ideas led and informed by the individual characteristics of the project. Recent projects include work for the V&A and directing and producing two films for MUSE.
PROJECTED, JULIEN VALLÉE ― Wednesday 3, 2009
Montréal based Julien Vallée is a freelance artist and designer working across a wide range of fields, such as art direction, motion graphics, print design, art installation as well as film and design for the music industry. As part of the showreel displayed in Nation of Shopkeepers, Julien has contributed some fresh motion graphics to be projected. In 2008 he was awarded the Young Guns Award of the Art Directors Club in New York, and will be part of the judging panel for this year’s contest. Julien likes to use physical image making well endorsed by the various technological tools available in order to the bridge the gap between physical and virtual art.
PROJECTED, NICHOLAS BENTLEY ― Wednesday 3, 2009
Nicholas Bentley is currently working on a variety of moving image projects on a commissioned and freelance basis, and has contributed some impressive motion graphics to be projected as part of the showreel displayed in Nation of Shopkeepers.
“Music is a massive influence on my work and definitely molds the way I approach it.” At the moment he’s working predominately on music based projects. “I guess I’m trying to develop something distinctive, like everyone else I guess. I’d like to think my approach changes and develops from project to project.”
PROJECTED, JAMES WIGNALL ― Friday 29, 2009
Director, designer and animator, James Wignall has contributed some motion graphics to be projected as part of the showreel displayed in Nation of Shopkeepers. After working in a post production house in Leeds for a few years, James moved to London and worked at Mainframe. James is currently working freelance in London and has produced work for MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, Sony, Nike, BBC, to name but a few.
PROJECTED, SIGRID ASTRUP ― Friday 29, 2009
Sigrid Astrup is a one-woman creative company, and a part of the Copenhagen based “Hurraaa Studio”. She has contributed some great motion graphics to be projected as part of the showreel displayed in Nation of Shopkeepers. In their small workshop / showroom you can find her in the basement creating miniature landscapes, or in the store with a new creation of unusable pottery. “My work is is all about trying to make things alive. Creating to me, is to break down “the everyday”, by making the surreal ideas come to life.”
AN INTERVIEW WITH NOUS VOUS ― Thursday 21, 2009
Leeds based arts collective Nous Vous were commissioned to visually respond to poems featured in the zine, and also to create hand-drawn artwork to adorn the walls of the venue. Here, they share their thoughts on Leeds and its cultural heritage…
Why are you called Nous Vous?
We toyed with a few different collective names in the very early stages of our collaboration, one favourite being ‘We Appreciate You’ which we looked at in different languages to account for foreign influences in our collective work, literal or otherwise. It translates into French as ‘Nous vous apprécions’. We liked the sound of Nous Vous but felt ‘apprécions’ was a little superfluous. Nous Vous said what it needed to and communicated what we wanted it to, plus it rolls off the tongue quite nicely.
What did you think of the poems you were given to interpret?
They were nice. It’s great to do work where you have something inspiring to work from and support with imagery, it’s a challenge because the poems are strong and its always difficult to conjure up an image to support such strong words and add something extra to the reading of it..
Is it inspiring to have such a literary heritage in Leeds?
It is always inspiring to find out about new pockets of culture in Leeds, the trouble is is that it usually seems confined to the pockets. Culture doesn’t really appear to be at the forefront of the Leeds City Council’s agenda. Therefore a lot of interesting and exciting things you could potentially know about, or be encouraged to find out about, go by the wayside and you never actually find out about them. But it is promising to know that people continue despite this and still create great things, of which there are plenty.
Tell us something we don’t know about Leeds.
It is considered by some that cinema was born in Leeds, by a Frenchman living here in the 1880s, named Louis Le Prince.
THE GRYPHON, A ZINE FROM NATION OF SHOPKEEPERS ― Thursday 21, 2009
We have our own zine. You can pick up one up at Nation of Shopkeepers, or download one as a PDF here.
LOVEFOXXX (CSS DJ SET) PLUS GUESTS ― Wednesday 20, 2009
Lovefoxxx (CSS DJ Set) / Dinosaur Pile Up (Live) / Skull Juice / Casper C / Good Form Club / Kill The Rhythm / No Bones DJs / The Old Romantic Killer Band (live) / Drowned in Sound vs. Death By Shoes / Er…Kentucky DJs and more.
We’re proud to present Lovefoxxx who is the lead singer from provocative art-dance sextet CSS from Sao Paolo, Brazil. She will most likely be spinning everything from Bowie to Diplo and we imagine she’ll be as unpredictable as she is on stage. Bloggers Delight residents Casper C and Skull Juice will stop over another night in Leeds after playing Stag and Dagger at The Faversham, good lads!