Friday, February 25, 2005

UN05 mega-theater

Last night we met Finnish architect/designer Marco Cassagrande at The Wall for the Milk show, and when we told him about doing UN at Treasure Hill, he pulled out a pad and started sketching. This means he's going to help us design the "theater" - outdoors by the river - and he's got some pretty huge and wild ideas. A few years ago at the Venice Biennale for Architecture, Marco salvaged a derelict barge from the harbor and converted it into a floating park. It's just one of his internationally recogized projects, more at Cassagrande Laboratory web site. Basically, we're psyched to be working with him because 1) he'll be able to pull off something huge and hugely cool, and 2) the recycling ethos means it won't cost much.

Other news, also at The Wall last night: met up with Yuken, a Japanese friend of a friend (thanks Ozawa!), who will also be contributing some films. He's an artist/filmmaker from Tokyo/Toronto now in Taipei.

Saturday, February 19, 2005

About Treasure Hill

Treasure Hill is a pseudo-squatter community in south Taipei (near Gungguan - 公館) that has recently been saved and reinvigorated by Taipei City government in conjunction with local arts groups and numerous artists, some of them international. Treasure Hill will be the site of Urban Nomad IIII, giving it more of a drive-in kind of feel. (But please, do not rev your two-stroke loudly during the competition section.) We are also looking into tents for an indoor section. Below, Sean has posted several views of the site. We will probably hang screens from the trees against the backdrop of the river and bridges, though there are other possibilities. Hopefully, we'll be working with a certain Finnish architect to arrange the space. Also, we hope that since the space is relatively removed from residential areas (by crowded Taipei standards), we can get back to Urban Nomad I-style and make this year's film fest more of a party.

Monday, February 14, 2005


Another view of the area.. Posted by Hello

The majestic, Treasure Hill Posted by Hello

The bleachers at Treasure Hill Posted by Hello

Here is where we wanna have it... a traditional theater, before the corporations stepped in Posted by Hello

Tuesday, February 08, 2005


UN 2005 POSTER, and Free Screen Saver! Posted by Hello

Here is our UN 2005 Call For Entries! And announcement of special 5-min competition segment Posted by Hello

Stills from 2004 films

This and other stills below are from films from 2004's Urban Nomad III.



A still from the film Table Maker Posted by Hello

A short film about Taiwan Beer Posted by Hello

A still from the film ?Clay Soldiers? by T.C. Lin Posted by Hello

A still from the film ?Relax? by Jimbo Posted by Hello

A still from the film ? Dignity? by Norman Szabo Posted by Hello

A still from the film Street Pong by Les Arthur Posted by Hello

here's what we did in 2003

http://luna.sparkle.tripod.com/urbannomad/un.htm

urban nomad film fest 2003 – 城市遊牧影展
@ HWA SHAN ARTS DISTRICT. CHUNG HSIAO & BA DE.
(華山藝文特區), 1, sec. 1, pateh rd., taipei (台北市八德路一段1號)
APRIL 18 & 19.

TICKETS: 1 day nt$200, 2 days nt$300

now in its second year, the nomad continues with its simple goal of promoting films made locally in taiwan, whether they’re digital or celluloid, expat or taiwanese, professional or amateur. to us they’re all ideas, so here’s the best ideas we could find this time around. also, we’d like to thank ulead, which provided prizes for this year’s festival.

friday, april 18

8pm
experimental/art films

making maps (製造地圖) – tony wu (吳俊輝) – 21 min - 台灣重要實驗片導演2002年新作, 曾放映過在New York, Paris 和 Melbourne 的影展 – “Making Maps is my response and reaction to pornography and an understanding of pornography that’s different from its generally perceived function. The process is to experiment with semen and blood (real and fake) to create textures on pornographic pictures I collected from porn magazines and film them one by one both full and partial images. The semen and blood symbolize sexual ecstasy, orgasm, suffering and disease. The images are no longer pornography but rather physical and psychological maps in an abstract transformation through film. Technically, the film is an integration of film from different methods, such as optical printing, animated image, refilmming a film installation, and straight filming.” – Tony Wu


my uncle chen (real), or i am a niece of god - hongjohn lin (林宏璋) – 17 min – 1997 “UFO教派”的真實故事 由教派領導的姪子敘述而成 – the story of taiwan’s UFO cult of 1997, which moved to Garland Texas because its leader, Chen Heng-ming, thought Garland sounded like “godland’. the film was made by chen’s nephew, hongjohn lin, using found footage and his own impressions

24 Framerec – ella raidel – 6 min – 24 hour shots of four cities, Taipei, Johannesburg, Linz and Berlin, showing a unique portrait of the sameness and differences in these urban environments – 四個都市:台北, Johannesburg, Linz, Berlin 24小時全景瞻望

8:45pm documentary


behind the iron hog – michelle lang and charles stelzried – 22 min – 洛杉磯由黑人經營製片公司的真實敘事 – "An irreverent documentary short that looks behind the scenes of the ultra low budget American Independent feature film, I Accidentally Domed Your Son. It features Domed writer/director, Ryan 'Iron Hog' Combs (who earned his nickname by bench pressing 500lbs.); his partner, actress/producerJonnie Diarenzo; his brother, actor and music supervisor Tony Cox; his cousin "Basco" (Albert Brooks); and West Coast rappers Kurupt and Spyder (from "The Row")…a funny, original piece of Americana that captures the "insanity" that is filmmaking." – charles stelzried

9:10 shorts I

as salaam alaykum – kloie picot – 6 min – Picot went to Israel and Palestine, and shot over 30 hours of footage documenting effects the war is having on people’s lives. Several scenes include live fire, which is part of the regular life of the communities visited. This is a promo short edited to raise funding for a full-length documentary.


pie me – kelley deon – 4 min – lots of pies, lots of pies in the face


three minute movie – tim hogan - 8 mins -如果你發現路旁有一具屍體,你該如何? – a body is found by the side of the road. is it dead? what would you do?


premonition – hallie mckeig - 10 min - an art gallery full of love, death, and hypochondria - 發生在畫廊裡的愛,死,與疑病症


victim and french trailer – Eric Wilbur– 6 min - first it’s an edgar allen poe short, then it’s a simple man thrust into sultry bangkok - 兩部黑色喜劇短片


disco on mars – Lloyd Roberts - 5 min –- 薑餅人旅遊到火星 尋求迪斯可 – join Max Pixel (aka Gingerbreadman) and Hector the Vector Snowman as they boogie around through earth and space.
10pm surf/skate +
music performance by kola and the hsimen spiders

RPDX - RPDX - 4 mins – 龐克音樂錄影帶 – a punk rock video by the taichung band RPDX

roots of masalu – kyle zielinski – 20 min – 來自南台灣的衝浪記事 – 3 years of typhoon swells and endless miles of coastline from expat surfers with nothing better to do




saturday, april 19

8:00 mockumentary


redneck vampire – 45 min – mike w anderson – 一個在美國阿拉巴瑪州的男人相信自己是吸血鬼 – on a lost trip through central alabama, in search of direction and a cold beer, anderson stumbled across michael ray vanmeter, the self-proclaimed redneck vampire. armed with camera, anderson set out to document michael ray's outrageous claims of drugs, sex and eternal life, and explore the myths surrounding (redneck) vampires.

8:45 rockumentary


4 guys who just play music & happen to be in a band– olwen bedford, sean scanlan – 13 min -美國德州的後搖滾樂團 爆炸在天空 – a post rockers or glum poseurs? meet austin, tx’s explosions in the sky

dark funeral – david frazier, sean scanlan – 17 min – 此片於2003年紐約地下影展展出 瑞典黑金屬樂團記事- a Swedish black metal band talking about first satanic cults, church burnings and whether or not they fuck horses. debuted in march 2003 at the new york underground film festival

beautiful loser – olwen bedford, sean scanlan – 15 min – 一位台北記者追逐英國流行音樂團之採訪短片 – a local journalist’s half-assed paparazzi attack on the brit-pop band suede
9:30pm shorts II

ego beat – jacob yu – 2 min - 此部短片榮獲2002年金馬獎數位電影最佳剪接獎 - best editing award at the 2002 digital golden horse film festival. jacob yu is a video beatbox.

the beast – Eric Wilbur– 13 min - 私家偵探,瘋狂博士與公園裡的太極拳 – a spoof on hardboiled detectives, mad scientists and taichi in the park

nuts – the oyster – 20 min - 3 vignettes that presuppose terrorism, american vigilantism and mtv’s jackass - 試著想在台中大水溝中玩自製帆船

alphadogah - tc lin – 5 min -

the big cheese – paul Barlow – 10 min - 奇特的辦公室用工具 - an improbable tale about an unlikely piece of office equipment

10:15pm skate/surf

hi bali – jacob yu (于永傑) – 4 min - 放假去巴里島衝浪 - video journal of bali, surfing included

kent’s skate – todd tessier and kent dylan – 8 min – the title’s pretty self descriptive, actually

australian invasion – jason sedor and clayton wholley – 20 min – 澳洲人來台灣衝浪 - showcasing Taiwanese cultureand never-before-seen surfing footage , this documentary chronicles the day to day adventures ofthree Australian surfers as they search this island for its most coveted and elusive break.
11pm music performance + film


cricket, a band from taichung that once wandered off into the abstract only to finally return, meets tony wu’s psycho shower, a film remix of the classic hitchcock shower scene



*schedule is subject to change

sponsored in part by:

Sunday, February 06, 2005

A complete list of films shown at UN 2004

Friday

8:00
“Writus Concretus”
18 min
English
Mark Jarrett
Richard Benton
One man deals with writer’s block and a bad case of the blues.

8:30
“Abed Qusini” an excerpt from the documentary “Shots that Bind”
12 min
English
Kloie Picot
A glimpse at the life of a Palestinian photojournalist.

8:45
“Soldiers under Command”
17 min
English
Matt Luem
Christian metal band Stryper makes a comeback.

Short Program
9:15
“The Crack” 裂痕
5 min
Chinese
Weng Chun-yuan 翁淳淵
A young man traces a crack back to his childhood.

“Chasing” 追
8 min
No dialogue
蕭仲? Su Chong-???
An overturned table haunts the subject of this short film.

“City Limits”城市?界
6 min
No dialogue
Wei Hsiao-ching
Cruising through Taipei on a scooter – with a camera.

“Swearing”
7 min
English. Some offensive language
Marc D’andre
Try swearing off swearing for a day. The results may surprise you.

The Locust
3 min
Music
Matt Luem
Marc D’andre
The Locust performs “Caffeine sausage, we’d like to see you in the office.”

“Retreat”
4 min
English
Tim Hogan
The “I Ching” meets a secluded mountain dwelling.

“Flying Antaur”
1 min
English
Norman Szabo
An advertisement for an aerodynamic notebook computer.

“Wild Western”
8 min
English, with some Chinese
Jacques van Wersch
A love story set in Taiwan’s largest theme park.

“Relax”
5 min
English
James Howard
An ironic take on the meditative act of writing Chinese characters.

A/V Presentation
10:00
The Juxtapatones accompany video productions directed by James Thomas (“Bali and Danshui”) and Chen Shao-chin 陳少欽 (“Luluone Laubausu” 在扥布蓋的1983)
10:45
“UNRAP Japan”
22 min
English
A cover-up job set in the slimy underbelly of Okinawa.



Saturday
Early Bird Special
Come early and you get to see 45 minutes of extra programming at no extra cost
6:45
“Tongue”
45 min
English
Hannah Barnard
Two girls find themselves washed up in an Asian country, teaching English, trying to come to grips with the alien environment, and contemplating their failed musical careers. Their one release from the boredom gets them into trouble.

8:00
“Lady X”
17 min
English and Chinese with Chinese subtitles
TC Lin
Lady X travels to Taipei, Taiwan, where she sends sleeper agent Graham Fagan on a quest to recover a curious artifact.

8:20
“Legend”
32 min
English
Olwen Bedford
A reporter goes beyond skin deep as he covers an amateur fashion show at the American Club in China (in Taipei).

Short Program
9:00
“Song for Killing Summer” 夏日酷署的?歌
7 min
Chinese
Hsieh Guang-cheng 謝光誠
A disturbing story juxtaposing the voice of a woman being questioned about a rape and the death of a mosquito.

“Table Maker” 桌之生
3 min
No dialogue
Yang Chih-lung楊支龍
A suspenseful short with twist ending.

“Gratitude” 感謝
3 min
No dialogue
Chang Chia-wei 張家維
When all you've got to wear is underwear, you need something more than a cigarette to keep you warm.

“Choppy the Chimp” Part 1
1.5 min
English
Jay Speiden
Meet Choppy the Chimp. He means well, but with cleavers for hands, Choppy doesn't tend to make lasting friendships.

“Hsinhai”
3 min
No dialogue. Taiwanese song
Terry Hornsby
Joe Zagorsky
A live action animation celebrating the sights and sounds of Taiwan.

“Choppy the Chimp” Part 2
1.5 min
English
Jay Speiden
Choppy returns. Could his cleaver hands solve a thorny problem?

Black Dice
3 min
Music
Matt Luem
Black Dice perform “Art Piece” in this innovative music video.

“Here Comes Greatness”
5 min
English
Matt Luem
Greg Fiering
An unfinished documentary look at backyard wrestling.

Dignity
5 min
English
Norman Szabo
A romantic dinner, a thoughtful host, struggling thespians striving to realize their artistic dreams ... and a heartfelt plea for money.

Street Pong
7 min
English
Les Arthur
Ping pong breaks out of the basement.

A/V Presentation
10:00
David Chen and Tim Hogan perform in accompaniment to the short film “Sky Minded” (Directed by Tim Hogan).

Additional Shorts
10:30
Armageddon
3 min
English
Norman Szabo
Slam poetry from Oregon with video from Shanghai.

Chateau Shadow
7 min
No dialogue
Tim Hogan
Martial arts set to electronic music.
10:50
Shawn’s movie
60 min
Shawn McClennan
Team building among MacDonalds employees of the year.

Sunday
Feature
6:00
“ Nobody Needs to Know”
95 Min
Aza Jakobs
You must be willing to die.

A Chinese Description of UN 2004 城市遊牧電影節2004

城市遊牧電影節2004

時間: 3月26-28日晚上 7-11pm
地點: 華山藝文特區的四連棟 (北市八德路一段1號)
入場券:一日券$200, 二日券$300

城市遊牧電影節 (URBAN NOMAD FILM FESTIVAL) 為台北唯一獨立影展,主旨為推動台灣當地製作之短片與數位電影。去年第一屆的城市遊牧電影節 (2002年3月8-10日) 放映了 20多位導演的電影,包含台灣藝術家鄭淑麗的IKU、吳俊輝的實驗片、以及多位台灣當地與台灣國際居民所製作的電影,片長多為2-15分鐘。

今年的電影節將以:於2003年紐約地下電影節 (New York Underground Film Festival) 首次登場的 “黑金屬音樂之記錄片” (Dark Funeral: a Black Metal Documentary)、於Paris, Melbourne和New York的同志影展參與的吳俊輝的近期新作品、2002年金馬獎數位短片最佳剪接得主于永傑的 ”自狗節奏” 、藝術家林宏璋之作品等都為此屆高峰。另一部份為衝浪與滑板的影片---此為台灣新類型的製作。完成的時間表與各片的簡介資料都在網路上: : http://luna.sparkle.tripod.com/urbannomad/un.htm

去年有多位導演共同參與影展活動,藉著與導演溝通對話使其活動更具人性化而展現其真實性。因此今年我们將以影片咖啡座的方式取代電影院的型態。

EXPO EXTRA 由兩位外籍記者Sean Scanlan和David Frazier成立/於2000年3月,曾舉辦10多次活動包括:頌詩會、戲劇、電影節以及單次的 “台灣老外帥哥選美” 活動。同時也出版過文學雜誌以及文學網站,都頗受好評。


連絡人士:
Sean Scanlan 0922-428-070
David Frazier 0930-371-036


Urban Nomad 2004 rundown

urban nomad film fest 2004 –
@ HWA SHAN ARTS DISTRICT.
( pateh rd.,sec 1, no. 1, taipei
March 26 & 27.

TICKETS: 1 day nt$200, 2 days nt$300

now in its third year, the nomad continues with its simple goal of promoting films made locally in taiwan, whether they’re digital or celluloid, expat or taiwanese, professional or amateur. we conceive “film” as an “idea” so here’s the best ideas we could find. also, we’d like to thank our sponsors for providing prizes that we will distribute to some of the better films this year. The following is a tentative list of films and schedule for Urban Nomad 2004

friday, march 26
8pm
opening film
The making of a legend 30 min, olwen bedford, a newspaper assignment turns at the Taipei American Club turns into a life changing event.
9:00 shorts I
Mosquito 1 min, h. gerard, 1 min, a young woman finds an innovative way to solve her mosquito problem

Street Pong 10 min, l. Arthur, outdoor ping pong,

Black dice 2 min, m. luem, a video montage of new york’s Black Dice in all of their noisy, abstract brilliance

Lady X 20 min, tc. lin, 20 min , a car chase, a shoot out, and the scramble for clues as an Internet saga arrives in Taiwan for two installments.

Atash 10 min, l. arthur, a Nantou picnic turns into a musical odyssey..

Writus concretus 15 min, m. jarret, a writer battles the dreaded writer’s block and a bad case of the blues
10pm experimental +
music performance by kola

Fuji Rock 2004 s.scanlan, 12 min, snapshots from Japan’s largest outdoor rock fest




saturday, march 27
7:30 feature

Nobody needs to know 95 min, aza jacobs, an innovative black and white feature shot entirely with security cameras, retelling the life an actor, and the pains of rebellion.
9:00 shorts II

Wild western- 7 mins, j van wersch, a trip to leofoo village reveals the last cowboys in Taiwan.

Soldiers under command, 17 mins, m. luem, the return of Christian metal band Strypper and all of their devoted fans o

One man blues – 12 mins. s. scanlan, a battle between solo blues artists: bob log and the legendary tigerman.


10pm music performance + film

d. chen and muddy river boys play a live musical score


Thursday, February 03, 2005

Meeting Notes

Just an update.

At our exec meeting held over a few pints of guinness at the tavern, we have agreed to the following items.

1) we will begin a blog.
2) we will host the festival on March 25 & 26th
3) we will have tents
4) and the festival will be held at Treasure Hill (application pending)

Films mentioned for possible inclusion in the festival include:
1) "Manipulation" by Darrel Gallant
2) "Above and Below" by Paul Barlow
3) "Rendez Vous with the Moon" by Dean Karalakas.
(if you are one of the abovementioend films or filmmakers, can you send me a copy right away... me address is Kin Men STreet, Lane 12, Sublane 1, No. 2, Taipei Taiwan)

Also,
Tim Hogan sent me a text message which I will attempt to answer. The question pertains to our special 5-minute competion segment where we ask filmmakers to include this scene in their movie.

The scene involves a cell phone, and the following text message "Where are you?".

Urban Nomad blog appears

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