Last night my family and I went to see Jaap Blonk perform at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in a Non-Event event. This amazing Dutch sound poet and vocalist had been staying with us for a couple of days, and it was great to see him in concert again. Our daughters loved the huge range of nonsense sounds Jaap can produce. The were buzzing and honking the whole way home (and the funny thing is, on the train we ran into two young women who had been at the concert, too, and were also producing all kinds of weird sounds).
My little video clip doesn't do him justice... but you can see him perform a piece of Kurt Schwitter's Ursonate, augmented by live topography, here. Jaap has perforrmed the entire Ursonate from memory more than a thousand times.
Indelible Lalita in NYC Dec. 6
My recent documentary Indelibile Lalita has been making the festival rounds in CA, IL, MA, NH, OH and India - and now it's finally going to have its New York premiere at the New York No Limits Film Series on Friday, December 6 at 7pm at the Wild Project, 195 E. 3rd Street, New York.
I hope to see some of you there - and please help spread the word through the Facebook event!
Joel's Birthday
Today would have been Joel Turner's birthday. But he was murdered at age 19 in a home invasion in 2001. Joel's mother Janet Connors has reconciled with two of the four perpetrators and become a leader in restorative justice. My new documentary, Circle Justice, follows Janet's story and her work using peacemaking circles to help people find justice in schools, prisons, and community settings.
I was very moved to have the chance to spend a short hour with Janet and her friends on this difficult day... Janet is an amazingly resilient woman, and she has managed to transform her grief into positive work in her community. Today she was meeting with several friends and colleagues to develop a curriculum to help prison inmates find accountability for their actions. They lit a candle for Joel (pictured), said a prayer, then continued with their work.
Two of Janet's companions today have also suffered unspeakable loss to homicide. I am so impressed with the strength of these mothers, daughters, and sisters to carry on with their important work.
Campaign Launch!
Today is the official launch of the Radcliffe Campaign, which aims to raise $70 million to fund the many programs at Harvard's Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.
We produced - just in the nick of time! - the primary video for this campaign, which will premiere tonight at the launch gathering. This seven-minute piece is the signature video in a set of ten we are creating about the Institute's Fellowship Program, the seminars and workshops it presents through Academic Ventures, its Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, and its many public events. (One of its upcoming events is a screening of my independent documentary Indelible Lalita at the library on March 5 at 6pm.)
Read more about the campaign in Harvard Magazine's article.
The Radcliffe Professorship
Radcliffe Professor Nancy Hill from Julie Mallozzi on Vimeo.
The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University is launching a fundraising campaign in tandem with Harvard's $6.5 billion campaign. We are producing ten videos for the Institute about different facets of its work, including its fellowship program, the seminars and workshops it convenes, the Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, and its public events.
Radcliffe just released the first of these videos today, a portrait of Radcliffe Professor and Harvard Graduate School of Education Professor Nancy E. Hill. The Radcliffe Professorships, which allow for two years of fellowship at the Institute, help attract top-notch faculty from a wide range of backgrounds to Harvard. Read more about the current Radcliffe professors, and Radcliffe's Invest in Ideas campaign, here.
Jane Gillooly's "Suitcase"
© Love and Shame LLC
I really enjoyed yesterday's screening of Jane Gillooly's new film Suitcase of Love and Shame at the Museum of Fine Arts (it showed earlier in the year at the ICA). With a subtle sound design composed of audio from an adulterous affair in the 1960s Midwest, ambient music, and constructed sounds, the film sinks the viewer/listener into a haunting sea of desire and frustration. The filmmaker's decision to use only authentic photos of the couple - but to withhold their faces - maps this desire and frustration right onto the audience.
Gillooly came across a suitcase full of photos and reel-to-reel tapes this couple had mailed to each other over many years. Jeannie and Tom quite meticulously recorded erotic interludes, romantic chats, and tearful explosions - labeling everything and carefully erasing the most sensitive parts (though they left a lot of juicy material). I couldn't help but marvel at their love affair with the technology of audio recording itself, which seems to have endured and evolved along with their relationship.
Audition for BU Student Films
You Fatigue Me Marie Cacher from Julie Mallozzi on Vimeo.
My Production I students at Boston University are holding auditions for their short films this semester. Please come if you are interested!
Thursday, Oct. 24, 5-8pm
640 Commonwealth Ave., Studio East (3rd Floor)
Boston, MA
The above piece is my former student Connor Murdock's You Fatigue Me Marie Cacher, a short film that he made in my Production I class last year.