Prince Hamlet is on a journey to England. While making plans for revenge on his father’s murder, he is caught between his hybris and insanity. The murderer, Hamlet’s uncle who has taken his father’s place on the throne of Denmark, now wants to kill him. Finally, Hamlet knows he has to escape death through transformation. The film has five episodes referring to the classical Hamlet’s five-act structure, with excerpts of original dialogue remixed with sounds and music. Scenes are shot in the UK, France, Germany, Finland and Norway. This production featured in Aesthetica Short Film Festival (ASFF) 2012 as part of the Experimental Films series. There is still chance to submit a short film for ASFF 2013, which runs 7 – 10 November across the city of York. The final deadline for submissions is 31 May.
Emotionally tense, Hostage is a gritty tale of a woman taken hostage by a man who does not speak English, and how they manage to connect beyond the limitations of language. The short directorial debut of emerging Canadian filmmaker Joanna Jang screened at over 10 festivals prior to its appearance in the Aesthetica Short Film Festival (ASFF) November 2012. Dark and dramatic, Hostage was a popular feature in the ASFF 2012 Thriller line up. There is still chance to submit a short film for ASFF 2013, which runs 7-10 November across the city of York. The final deadline for submissions is 31 May.Hostage, Short Film from ASFF
Linder Sterling: The Ultimate Form, Wakefield
This weekend Linder Sterling presented her UK premiere of The Ultimate Form, a physical collage that combined dance, costume, music and her provocative prints. Set in the gardens of The Hepworth Gallery, seven dancers from the Northern Ballet wound their way across the stage, demonstrating strength and poise in time to Stuart McCallum’s impressive score. Referred to as a “living collage”, Sterling’s works literally moved as they adorned Richard Nicoll’s carefully crafted costumes. Already presenting The Ultimate Form at her retrospective in Paris at the Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris earlier this year, the performance will next appear at the Tate St Ives early in 2014.
Interview with Kate Lindsey of Ariadne auf Naxos
The 2013 edition of Britain’s best-loved opera festival, Glyndebourne, opens in style on 18 May with a new production of Richard Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos. Directed by Katharina Thoma, and under the baton of Vladimir Jurowski in his final season as Glyndebourne’s Music Director, the production also sees many operatic talents making their Glyndebourne debuts. Mezzo soprano Kate Lindsey, who takes on the role of the Composer, is one such artist, and Aesthetica speaks to her about this exciting new experience and what audiences can expect.
Essential Film Festivals this May
To celebrate the final month of the Aesthetica Short Film Festival (ASFF) call for entries, Aesthetica presents the essential film festivals to follow or attend this May. The deadline to submit a short film is the 31 May, and the final selection will be screened in York, 7 – 10 November. Covering the genres of drama, documentary, animation, comedy, music video, thriller, experimental and artists’ film, the festival showcases the films across 15 distinct and historic locations in the city of York. Here are our top film festivals this month.
Athens Video Art Festival 2013
The Athens Video Art Festival returns for the 9th edition of the International Festival of Digital Arts & New Media. Running 7 until 9 June, exhibitions, screenings, workshops and performances will be hosted at the Historical Centre of Athens, opening a dialogue between public and private space.
Tate Liverpool is 25
Since 1988, Tate Liverpool has been the home of some of the world’s most important art works and attracted 15 million visitors. Opening its doors on 24 May, 1988, the gallery has become the most visited venue for modern and contemporary art outside of London. The gallery has already received several birthday wishes in the form of postcards, letters, emails and artworks, from Wayne Hemingway, Anthony McCall, Yoko Ono, Ed Ruscha, Bob and Roberta Smith, Zarina Bhimji and Colin Self. From 17 May until 2 June, Tate Liverpool will be celebrating in style with a specially curated exhibition entitled Tate Liverpool is 25.
PUNK: Chaos to Couture, New York
The Costume Institute of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, open PUNK: Chaos to Couture this May. Running 9 May until 14 August, the exhibition collates one of the most significant and political forms of fashion as it explores punk’s influence on high fashion. Beginning at the birth of punk in the 1970s, PUNK: Chaos to Couture spans the transformation of the movement, concluding with its resonating impact today.
One Month Left to Enter the Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2013
There is just one month to go before the submission deadline for the Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2013 (ASFF). Enter your film by 31 May and screen your work in an impressive setting to an international audience and be in with the chance of wining a cash prize. ASFF allows for both budding and established filmmakers to connect with new, worldwide audiences and interact with some of the biggest personalities in the film industry today. High profile ASFF attendees in 2012 included representatives from Warp, BAFTA, Channel 4 and Raindance. Over 200 films will be screened at this unique event, in 15 iconic locations across the historic city of York in the UK from 7-10 November 2013.
Bella Kerr: Keeper at Mission Gallery in Swansea
The traditional white cube gallery space comes with a cultural set of definitions and rules, it’s a set interaction between viewer and art object, with the object presented for the viewer to contemplate, there is a predetermined level of participation, which often makes it hard to negotiate, both from the experienced and casual gallery visitor. Keeper(s) investigates the gallery space, the role of the artist and the participation of the viewer. When we enter the space we are given the opportunity to interact, with the exhibition becoming a malleable object which shifts and changes with each encounter.
Review of Bowie Is, London
When an important, popular figure dies, fans seem to need more than their legacy – more than their work – to remember them by, to cling to them through. Physical mementoes, objects – things which that specific person touched, used, loved – are obsessed over; particles of skin and saliva on a napkin George Harrison used take on strange importance. Voyeurism and celebrity obsession have grown to a point now where people are paying up to $15,000 for a pair of stained underpants worn by Elvis Presley, a rumoured million for a pair of John Lennon’s glasses, and, perhaps most bizarrely, $45,000 for a set of three X-rays of Marilyn Monroe’s chest. However, this strange obsession we seem to have with the physical remnants left in the wake of our popular icons can be traced back a surprisingly long way. Darwin’s beard, for example, Abraham Lincoln’s hair and even Galileo’s finger have survived decomposition and remain, today, preserved behind glass for us all to gawk at.
Diffusion: Cardiff International Festival of Photography
Diffusion: Cardiff International Festival of Photography is a city-wide event, featuring exhibitions, screenings, performances and events showcasing outstanding photographic work from around the world, and providing a major new platform for Welsh artists. Hosted by Ffotogallery, the month long celebration (1 – 31 May) of photography includes highlights such as the world premiere of award-winning filmmaker Gideon Koppel’s B O R T H and Lure, a major exhibition of new work by Helen Sear, another of Wales’ most important and insightful artists.