Developing "Falling in...."

A work in progress by Annee Miron.

This evening I am off to begin shooting a collaborative piece with Melbourne Artist Annee Miron and Finnish- Argentinian choreographer Favela Vera Ortiz.  It is currently entitled "Falling in ....(insert city of choice)" and is an exploration of sleep.  My partner finds this very amusing as I struggle with insomnia and they feels I have limited personal knowledge of the topic!!

However, via various online medium we have been discussing the project for several months now and Annee has just completed an artist in residence at Yarra Sculpture Gallery, so it has given her an opportunity to begin building pieces.

Getting closer

After what feels like a long hiatus from shooting anything, its nice to be able to create again, but what I am finding most stimulating is the method in which I am working.  Lately, my work has been long format and narrative in style, where as this piece is more experimental, like my earlier work.  Its such a liberating way of working as there is less structure and we bounce ideas off each other.  I don't feel the usual pressure of shooting as it isn't constrained to a set period of time and the nature and stage of the work means that I can go back later and shoot again.  Very liberating and stimulating too.

Up close and personal

Inside

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are some images I took while visiting Annee in the gallery last week with Royce who had a great time playing in and out of the work.  The gallery, as you can imagine has not heated, so it was freezing cold, but a few cups of tea and a shared coffee scroll later I hardly noticed it at all.  Royce's hand were like little icebergs by the end but he was having so much fun and like most children doesn't feel the cold!

I'll post more images later this week.

Annee helps Royce climb "Rope Mountain".

Tristan Taormino talks and other adventures.

Last month, I spent a highly entertaining night listening to sex positive feminist, Tristan Taormino talk about her very interesting life and journey to making porn films.  It was a captivating and fascinating two hours.  Tristan is a great public speaker and if you ever get the chance to hear her talk I highly recommend it.

She spoke about her ethical approach to her actors: good pay, reasonable hours, providing safe environments, and giving actors the freedom to do what they wished rather than dictating to them.  It was strange to hear this referred to as ethical treatment of actors in explicit films as I thought it was the ONLY way to treat actors, but then again I have chosen to forge my own path and not be dictated by the mainstream industry, and I guess that what makes the difference. 

I decided to get up and ask a question about safe sex and the use of condoms in her films, as it is one of the things I feel very strongly about and think as erotic filmmakers it is very important to promote, especially as there is a rise in sexually transmitted diseases (which I find shocking, as choosing to have sex with someone is also about making a respectful choice to use condoms).  Her take was quite different and I do wonder how much of it is dictated by the studio she worked for or if it is as she said, a choice she let the actors make.  She was actually quite surpised how many of them would rather have sex without condoms!

The evening also gave me a chance to catch up again with Louise Lush, who I haven't seen in the flesh since "The Band" screened at the Berlin Porn Film Festival in 2009.  Wow how time flies!  Finally, I got to meet two actors/makers I have been wanting to meet, Angela White and Liandra Dahl.  We where all standing around being total video/film nerds getting excited talking about RED and Lexus cameras, steady cams and jib arms!  Pretty funny!

I actually stood next to Angela White for quite sometime until I realised it was her!  In the photos she has sent me she looks like an amazing amazon, yet in person she is still amazing but petite.  She had just returned from a month in the US filming scenes for her website and was looking forward to going home to several terabytes of video footage and begin editing!

Afterwards, I was hoping to talk with Liandra further about her films, but unfortunately she had to leave early, but we did catch up later that week.  She came by my office and we talked non stop for 2 hours.  I could have spent the rest of the afternoon talking with her, but unfortunately prior commitments prevented us from doing so.  However, I'm sure we will have many more discussions in the future.

It was great to be surround by such a wonderful group of sex positive women and so nice to talk openly about sex without anyone looking shocked, disgusted or horrified, but that it is just a natural part of life.  This is what I love about Pleasure Salon gatherings!

Hats off to amazing sex therapist, Cyndi Darnell from Pleasure Salon for organising yet again another sex positive evening.  Pleasure Salon holds monthly nights in Melbourne and I highly recommend you go and have a look, they are always informative and interesting.

In other news:

I'm giving a talk at Melbourne University this Friday 4th May at 12:30pm about Feminist and Queer Porn, for their "Rad sex and Consent week", which is free!  I'm looking forward to it but I'm also slightly nervous that Shelia Jefferys and her anti sex minions will be on hand!  However, the organisers look like they are providing a very safe space for people to discuss and explore sex and its many variations through workshops and talks.  If you want more information, check it out here.

Must go and finish practicing my talk.  Hope to see you there.

Writing a new erotic film.

Finally, I have found  focus and  begun working on a new erotic film entitled "Screwed in Suburbia".  It feels great to have something to work towards, as I was feeling lost towards the end of last year and didn't know where I wanted to go in regards to my next film.  More details on it soon, but we already have at least a US distributor attached who is they love it may take on international distribution!

I've been trying to write without putting pressure on myself as I have a habit of wanting to make everything perfect then and there rather than just letting it flow and leaving holes in it that can be reflected upon and fixed later.  Fingers crossed I can push out a draft before I return to teaching this year!

Also, I have begun a collaboration with an amazing script writer, Shanti Gudgeon.  We are creating an erotic thriller together which is very exciting.  I love writing with other people as you can bounce ideas off each other.  The last film I wrote in a partnership was "The Money Shot" with Lance Petrie.  It was great as I would write a scene get half way through loose my focus and pass it to him and he would finish it off.    It speeds up the process dramatically.

Thank you, thank you from the bottom of my crafty heart!

Here's a very blurry picture of myself at home just before "Making it Handmade" premiered on ABC2. As you can see I lead a glamorous life, in my tracksuit pants, slippers, the washing drying in the back ground and a knitted nanna rug on my knees (yes I did make it myself) and of course a glass of bubbly in hand.

It was strange to watch it,as I have seen it so many times, so it was very surreal, but I did enjoy the bottle of bubbly...maybe a little too much as I struggled teaching the next day!

Thank you to all 33,000 of you who tuned in to watch it and to the 9000 odd of you who watched it on iview. I was astounded by the numbers considering nearly all of the publicity was done through social media sites of those involved in the film!

The film stirred up some passionate discussion online:

On the films facebook page comments varied from:

Quoting Cheryl Rabe
"Thought the documentary was very disappointing. Not all crafters are activists. I'd like to think the majority of us make tasteful and useful things for others to enjoy, without sending any sort of political message."

We then proceed to engage in a debate about if the act of making is political in itself!

To:
Quoting KrÌstíÑã Gréeñwõod
Loved it. It's re-ignited a spark in me. Chronic Illness has taken away a lot of things from me. I have a creative mind and a bit of a wicked sense of humour. This is right up my ally. :D

Searching online I found so many different response so of them that caught my eye talked about:

- the craft demonstrated was of low quality. This I find interesting as often craft can be elitist and not inclusive. I liked the idea that in the doco, its about giving it a go. After all even if you are now highly skilled, you started off this way and its just been practice that has enabled you to make amazing work that is technically perfect!

- that the documentary was anti making money from craft. To be straight, no I'm not. I actually think that it is amazing that something so lovingly crafted can make you money, especially as in the past it was seen to have no commercial value. I guess I wanted to show that it is a hard road, that its not easy and there is a lot of work involved. Also in my research I was finding lots of women who were experiencing burn out from trying to make a full time living from crafting and giving up on it. However, if you can make a full time living from craft, I think you are amazing and I take my hat off to you all and bow down low in respect of your brilliance!

- Offense. This happened for may reasons, Casey's work was obvious but that I had left out so many women who make beautiful practical things has come up a few times. I wish I had the money and time to make a whole series on the women and the men I meet, spoke to, interviewed and read about online who are making wonderful, amazing stuff, who are from all walks of life and ages. When I was researching for this film it just kept on growing and growing, but I was restricted by the fact, I had no money to make this doco. I had no funding, it was made in my holidays with the money I'd managed to save from teaching. I shot it over 2 years and then edited it over about 9 months. Thus I had to keep it simple and that's why all the women are from Melbourne ( which is where I live). I wanted to challenge the idea of how society perceived crafters. I was drawn to women who were using traditional craft but subverting it in someways. From embracing the idea that it was about spirit and giving it a go, not making it perfect, to being craftivists.

- Inspiration This of course is my favorite reaction. I loved receiving posts and email from people who aren't crafty feeling inspired to give it go, or others who are lapsed crafters wanting to make again.

If you missed it, you can order your own copy on DVD here.

Also there will be screenings happening in Radelaide on Saturday Oct 8th at 6:00pm at the Reading Room as part of the Festival of Unpopular Culture . Check it out the screening and there is a radical craft workshop beforehand.

Or if you are in Western Australia you can check it out at the Soul Highway "Wave Rock Weekender" on from Friday 28th Oct til 30th Oct.

Thanks once again to all wonderful people who helped make the film and also to all the wonderful people who have watched it. Keep crafting.

Australia's sexploitation and erotic filmmaking history!

Last week wasn't as productive as I hoped. The intense and ongoing heat, knocked me out and made it impossible to sleep, but the rough cut for "Making it Handmade!" is still chugging along. I'm finding it interesting to see how over the year or so that I shot this documentary, not only did my interviewing technique improve but also my shooting skills. Yet again making another film has been a massive learning curve for me! I guess that is something that sucks me in...everytime you make another film you learn something new!

Any of you reading this are probably thinking, but what does that have to do with Australia's sexploitation and erotic filmmaking history....to be honest not much, accept I was working on the film when I spoke with legendary Australian Erotic filmmaker John D Lamond. Like most Australian genre filmmakers you may not know his work but if you've seen that great documentary about ozploitation, "Not quite hollywood!" you would probably know who he is. Just to refresh your memory, he is the one being interviewed with a pole dancer in the background or you may have seen some of his film "the ABC of love and sex: Australian Style" and "Felicity", just to name a few.

I was interested to talk with him but also a little weary as I have found male film makers of that generation to be .....how does one put this...pigs! However, John was anything but! He was lovely, humorous and extremely personable. We talked about the trials and tribulations of making erotic films in Australia, from dealing with censorship issues to trying to find cast who can act and don't have a problem taking off their clothes. He was as wealth of information and shared so many stories about his filmmaking adventures not only here but overseas. One story that suck in my mind was how he challenged the censorship board in regards to masturbation scenes in "the ABC of love and sex: Australian Style", inspirational and sad that still as a society that is so inundated with sexual images in our daily lives from advertising to music video clips on TV, we still are more threatened by sex than we are by violence..... It was truly an honour to speak with him and fingers crossed I get to work with him in the future.

I have always felt like I was working in a bubble here, until I went to Berlin last year and meet so many amazing women making films, so it was nice to connect with a fellow erotic filmmaker here in Australia who strives to make good erotic films with high production design, good scripts and acting. I no longer feel so alone!!! hee hee

Must return to the edit suite as I have a strict deadline to have the rough cut finished by the end of Feb. As my dad would say its time to put your head down and your bum up!

Director's commentary for THE BAND

Today, I edited together the Director's commentary that I recorded last week. It's very strange listening back to ones voice and I find that I constantly stumble over words and use the wrong ones. Some sections I want to redo but due to time restraints I have to use what is there, which is disturbing as I think of people who don't know me will listen to this jumble of words and think I don't make sense.

I'm so tired that I can't express how I feel very well....my language escapes me...and thinking back there are other stories I have forgotten to tell about the journey of making the film...like the masturbating auditioner (sic) who was quite happy to let us film him jerking off, but afterwards had second thoughts about being in the film and only wanted to if he could wear a mask! Or the horrible nasty emails I received from someone pretending to be from Family First (a right winged christian political group)...so many stories...its hard to remember them all when you are standing alone in a recording studio! Oh well.

Making it HANDMADE part 4 and "The Band"

Monday was a marathon day. I returned to teaching, then after a 3 hour class headed off to see Pip Lincolne from "Meet me at Mikes". I asked her kindly if I could re-shoot her interview as she was very sick when I originally did so. She actually admitted she couldn't really remember anything about the interview, and while her answers were good, she looked unwell.

Afterwards we drank cups of tea and extensively chatted before heading off to a Brown Owls gathering. I have to admit it is a truly strange sensation pointing a camera at people you don't know and shooting footage. I always feel like I should do an official "Hi I'm Anna and I'm making a film about..." I did introduce myself but then moved around the room shooting. About half way through people started asking me questions and then the flood gates opened!

There was lots on interesting discussion about craft and female inheritance, why people sell their craft and can you actually make a living from doing so. Home baked treats filled the kitchen as people skill shared, talk about their their days and the inspirations. I wanted to put down my camera and whip out my knitting and join them. The funniest question I got asked was "Do I make craft?". I find this very strange but I guess people look at me and don't think I fit the idea of one who crafts, this was something Pip and I had discussed that afternoon, the perception of who crafts. A very interesting night, but a long one....I didn't make it home til 11pm and considering I left home at 7am, it was a very long day/night!

Today, I will finish shooting the various websites people talk about and use. Thrilling I know!!

However, I am looking forward to Thursday night as I'm off to shoot an evening of mischief with the Melbourne Revolutionary Craft Circle.

Now, I have over 13 hrs worth of footage and my hard drive is looking very full, so after this weekend I will commence post production. Firstly, I'm going to edit a teaser together, so I'll post it on youtube for all to see and I would love feedback.

On another note, its official I am off to the Berlin Porn Film Festival in October! I've raised the airfare by writing articles for various magazines men's magazines! Very exciting and it looks like quite a few ex-pat Australians will be slipping across from London to be at the screening! I've never been to Berlin so it will be great to have a few days to explore the city, unfortunately I will only be there for about 6 days and I'm hoping I can do some publicity for "The Band" and its upcoming DVD release.......more on this later!

"making it HANDMADE" part 2

Yesterday, I headed out in the gale force winds to interview Pip Lincolne. I meet Pip years ago when her shop "Meet me at Mike's" was still in Richmond, but since then she has become such a whirlawind in the indie craft scene, been extensively featured in the press and has such a huge "fan club" world wide I wasn't quite sure who I was going to be meeting this time! Was this another person driven by money, cashing in on the resurgence of craft???

The answer is definately no! I now understand why Pip has such a huge following ( over 2000 visitors to her blog daily). Here is a woman who is passionate about craft and creating, but who isn't precious about her "art" and is happy to share her skills and knowledge to encourage everyone to have a go at crafting even if they make mistakes or produce "crap"craft. Its so refreshing to hear this and is something I think is wonderful about the indie craft movement that its about creating and not being put off by what I call the craft nazis ( those who insist on perfect technique) and letting your creativity roam free!

Today I'll be shooting footage of craft websites!! Thrilling I hear you yell! No not really but needs to be done for storytelling purposes!

Tomorrow I'm off to interview outspoken and fiesty crafter and designer Peta Pledger, which should be lots of fun and stir the pot up!!!