[CIMC-working] [Fwd: Eye of the Storm ((i)) comes to chicago]

[Ian Bicking]

-----Forwarded Message-----

From: eots@riseup.net
To: IMC-Chicago@lists.indymedia.org, imc-chicago-working@lists.indymedia.org
Cc: rsand@mc.net, chrisgeovanis@aol.com, polyesterorange@hotmail.com, ckaihatsu@myrealbox.com
Subject: [Imc-chicago] Eye of the Storm ((i)) comes to chicago
Date: 03 Mar 2003 12:25:50 -0800

Hello Indymedia Chicago
This is Raphael from Eye of the Storm- I am sending this out to a few people in 
the hopes that we can make it on the agenda of the next meeting you have.
We are coming to screen our film in a few locations in the Chicago area and 
were hoping to try and set something up specifically with the Chicao IMC. I 
think all the infor is included below- but feel free to get back to us.
Thanks
Raphael y Andrés
EOTS@riseup.net


Tour Summary

Eye of the Storm Films is touring the Midwest/Chicago area and is looking for 
help setting up fundraising screenings the last week of march/ first week of 
April
Dates.

25th
26th
27th
March 28th (Chicago International Documentary Film Festival)
29th(Chicago IMC?)
March 30th (Occupied)
31st
1st?
2nd?

April 3rd  (Chicago University)
4th?
5th?
6th?


The Tour. 

We are producing an independent feature about the history and practices of the 
Indymedia movement, with a focus on Indymedia Argentina as a case example, and 
as a result, something of the situation in Argentina.  Through this story we 
describe the crisis situation there as a background to the importance of 
independent media as a communication tool for social movements.

We are doing this film from the perspective of those within the network, and 
are doing so without funding from corporations or large grants. This then is a 
difficult proposal. So firstly this tour is a fund raising venture.  

As we are making a film that is obsessed with network theory and constructing a 
reality around those ideas- it makes sense to fund the film in a diffuse and 
horizontal fashion, and this is our objective. Though we are small collective 
actually constructing the object, the screenings and talks are a way of making 
the process more inclusive, a way to provide space to listen to other opinions 
and demonstrate the idea of auto-financing through collective outreach. 

Secondly, the tour is a way to introduce the larger film project, which is Eye 
of the Storm- the film mentioned above. We have just finished shooting for the 
second time in Argentina and before our most recent trip we produced a 14 min 
short/trailer. It is a sort of a mini version of our ideas and is the heart of 
the presentation. It talks about the relationship between media and power, and 
the history of the Indymedia movement as a networked media activist response to 
that dichotomy. 

Finally the tour is also a way to help with distribution of a small library of 
activist/political documentaries that are being produced in Argentina right 
now. 

Over the last few months we have formed a collaborative personal relationship 
with several video collectives in Buenos Aires (and Brazil) who are producing 
important and largely un-funded shorts. If our situation is difficult, theirs 
is at the very least,  dire. Showing selections of their work - (parts which 
may appear inside our film) and making them available for sale here in the 
United States, is our way of expanding the network of which we are studying and 
are part, while helping to provide the funds that will allow these groups to 
move forward. It is also an opportunity for the audience to view material and 
stories which are largely impossible to see otherwise. From the point of view 
of trying to present "what is the work(s) independent media, especially in 
South America," these films allow for an unfiltered direct experience in 
understanding how exactly this idea manifests itself in Argentina. 

The Presentation:
This should vary depending on location. Ideally we would encourage the host 
location to find another entity, whether it be a representative from an 
organization related to independent media (we can help with contacts from 
indymedia groups in your area), Argentine solidarity, or just a person with 
expertise (whether it be academic or personal) in one or more of the areas we 
touch on. The idea here is to provide a locally accessible perspective to the 
events, while introducing the topics from another point of view.
This is not a requirement, only a suggestion.


We will be prepared to show one hour of material- all subtitled and give a 
short talk 15- 20 minutes. The rest of the time, 45 minutes is open to 
discussion and questions. In total, we expect no more than two hours.

This program is variable and can be leaned more toward issues surrounding 
independent media, how to do truly independent film production, issues 
surrounding our experiences in Argentina, or even the implications of network 
theory-depending on the desires of the host location. Left to our own devices 
however, we try and combine them somewhat equally.

The film screenings will include

Our short Eye of the Storm, described above: 14 minutes.
La Bisagra de Historia (The Hinge of History): 17 minutes
Compañero Piquetero: 12 minutes
Piquete Pueyrredon: 23 minutes/ Or Anita Garibialdi 20 min(Indymedia Brazil)

La Bisagra is a short by a collective called Vente Veo Video and it documents 
the uprisings in Buenos Aires on Dec 19th and 20th of last year. It shows the 
events from the point of view of those in the streets- and is a rare glimpse on 
a historic event barely covered here in the U.S.

Piquete Pueyrredon is a production of several videographers under the umbrella 
of Indymedia Argentina. It analysis the violent repression of an organization 
of unemployed workers (MTD) last spring, in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, which 
left two dead and dozens badly injured. It discusses the role of corporate 
media and its complicity in vilifying the protesters. It then goes on to show 
another point of view, including archival interviews with the slain, as it 
attempts to describe the goals and positive work of this autonomous and 
horizontal organization.

Compañero Piquetero is a short, edited in-camera, by an untrained youth who 
lives in the poverty stricken outskirts of Buenos Aires.  Although humorous at 
times, this short is also a stark portrayal of the reality of the ultra 
marginalized from a point of view that could be obtained no other way.

Anita Garibaldi- Sometimes we choose to show this film instead of Comañero.  It 
describes an piece of land outside of Saõ Paulo where several thousand homeless 
people have moved, to occupy it and begin a better life outside of hierarchy.



It goes without saying that these films, as well as the others we will be 
bringing in our library to distribute, largely do not exist in the United 
States at this time. Showing them is a special opportunity to bring them to an 
audience that will likely have no opportunity to see them otherwise. 

I hope this helps. Please tell us if you need something else. When the time 
comes we can help with a press packet and photos if needed. Feel free to call 
us.


(401)-521-1782



Some notes about funding

We are not asking for a guarantee from the more community adhoc locations, but 
we are hoping that these screenings will allow us to continue our work. 
Sometimes it is easier to find a sponsoring organization such as a University, 
other times the fundraisers are best helped through the organization of some 
kind of show, where a band or DJ could donate their time. We like to leave 
these decisions to the host locations. Obviously, however, one requirement is 
that you should have a space with a video projector, some kind of screen, and 
appropriate sound system. 

We are also asking that at university sponsored events, some contact is made 
before hand with the University Film Department/archives to think about 
purchasing one or more items from our library. This is important as the tour 
relies on a 
relationship with filmmakers in Argentina and Brazil. Their films are an 
important part of our presentation and the purchase of films by universities 
allows us to charge instiutional rates- this is one way to funnel more 
resources South. 

Thank you for your time-

Raphael and Andres
eots@riseup.net
401-521-1782

The short Eye of the Storm can be watched online at the following address: 
Instructions for PC and Macintosh follow the link.

http://www.sf.indymedia.org/news/2002/10/153176.php

MAC users(QuickTime):
Two links at the very top of the page:

-"QuickTime at 26.5 mebibytes " 
This is the streaming broadband version. For some
reason you need to stretch the window out some to see
the whole picture. Stretch the window out until you
can see the play/pause bar at the bottom of the page

-"download" same thing but goes to your hardrive.
Recommended- it will take about 10 minutes for a DSL/ Cable modem user.

PC users (Windows media Player)-
scroll down past the Spanish and then English text

two versions

-one link called "windows media at 4.0 mebibytes"
This is highly compressed version for 56k modems- not
recommended unless you only have a 56K modem

-"windows media at 26.5 mebibytes"
This usually works great.


BIOGRAPHICAL INFO: Biographies.

Eye of the Storm Films is a collective organization headed up by two 
filmmakers, Andrés Ingoglia and Raphael Lyon.

After producing a 14minute short/ trailer that was eagerly accepted by the 
Rotterdam, NY Underground, and Chicago International Documentary film 
festivals, Andrés and Raphael returned to Argentina for another two months to 
shoot the rest of what will be a feature film on the same subjects. They are 
now balancing the tough work of completing production while they raise money 
showing underground political documentaries from Argentina, speaking about 
independent media, and through it- the significance of the Indymedia movement. 

The motivation to complete this project and bring the conceptual practices of 
indymedia to a wider public is inspired by the potential and real synergy of 
horizontal organizational structures and a movement to democratize media 
making. The movement of independent media in general, and Indymedia in specific 
- both here and Argentina - has shown that through allowing people to tell 
their own stories, one can unite social movements. At the same time, it 
provides an important point of resistance to the worldwide corporate hegemony 
of communication, culture, and ideas.

Andres is an experienced video journalist from the city of Buenos Aires, where 
he was born and raised. After working for several years in both print and 
television, he left Argentina frustrated by the strictures imposed by his 
bosses, only to arrive in NYC where things were much worse. There he met 
Raphael Lyon.

Raphael is an award winning filmmaker and activist who graduated with honors 
from Brown University in 1998, and has been on the run ever since.
Eye of the Storm will be his sixth film, and the first to be made entirely in 
digital video. He is very optimistic that this will be his first feature length 
film to actually be completed. 
This however, may just be the maté talking.



Video Library:
This is a list of what we have right now and will be bringing with us.
Hopefully the list will grow.

-Indymedia Argentina Compilation One *120 min
 9 short videos from several different video collectives. Subjects 
range from Zannon- South America's largest tile factory- (worker occupied 
and controlled) to the uprisings of last year.

-Indymedia Argentina Compilation Two *52 min
 Three shorts documenting the movements of the Unemployed- including an 
in-depth piece which documents the assassination of two piqueteros 
during a demonstration in June of 2002.
(With Subtitles)

-Vente Veo Video Compilation *60 min 
 A Very creative and interesting series of shorts. Startling footage of 
the 19th and 20th, to a two part docu-drama involving street theater 
clowns intent on blowing up the Pink House with a paper-mache bomb.  
(Partially subtitled)
	
- Contra Imagen *60 min
Various works which look at the rise of worker controlled factories in 
the country.

- Indymedia Brazil *30 min
Two shorts.  One documents the anti-FTAA demonstrations in Sao Paulo 
and the repression that followed. The other is a short about a autonomous 
settlement in the outskirts of San Paulo by 8,000 homeless families.

--Indymedia Belo Horizonte
A video about the work of a CMI porto alegre, who does media workshops with the 
MST and poor people of local favelas. 12 minutes
(English subtitles)
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