Textually Yours

and another film festival

arpitaincuba — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 05:43:27 +0000

.holding it together. will be screening at the 3rd i film festival in November in San Francisco.

another festival!

arpitaincuba — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 04:26:20 +0000

.holding it together. will be screened at the chashma film festival in NYC.

more later.

Keep your laws off my body!

arpitaincuba — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 04:54:31 +0000

The ban on the burqa by that old white guy from France called Sarkozy once again infringes on a woman’s ability to choose. I have been working with Planned Parenthood for a while now and on everyday basis have to deal with the anti-choice screamers. A woman should have the option to wear a burqa if she feels the need. Likewise a woman should be able to have an abortion if the pregnancy is not planned.

CHOICE

Why is it so difficult to let somebody have the freedom of choice?

Of poetry and performances

arpitaincuba — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 19:46:59 +0000

Yesterday, I attended the San Francisco International Poetry Festiva l at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco and was transported back in time to Amherst, MA where I had first experienced that undiluted pleasure of poetry in performance. I had thought I had moved away from poetry because I had stopped performing it infront of an audience but yesterday watching the poet Ziba Karbassi helped me realize how I had used performed poetry in every film that I have made and it was the throw of the voice and the poignancy of the words that created the magic for my images. What a serendipitous moment for an artist! I realized how I make films for poetry–so that text as a visual element and poetry as performance consummate on screen to create the magic of cinema!

I am going to CalArts this fall to creat many more such films but I will talk about that later.

I want to use this post to introduce to you three poets that moved me greatly last night.

First was Ziba Karbassi.

Ziba Karbassi at the Iranian Literary Arts Festival

Her poem,Love is lemony, was performed by her in farsi. The eroticism of the poem manifested itself through the spoken short sudden words that mimiced the breathlessness of lovemaking and the languidness of her voice that reminded one of gentle yet all encompassing love.

Here is a youtube link of a translator reading her poem

The second poet is from Ecuador and her name is Carla Badillo Coronado.

Image is from her blog

She is 23 and she blogs! Her poetry still not at a place as Ziba’s is but her performance definitely is there.

Here is one of her poems in Spanish that I really enjoyed last night:

3.- Carla
Phoenix. 10: 30 am. Escribo este poema mientras viajo en un Greyhound camino a Albuquerque.
.

Progreso
.

Viajo en autobús
de Arizona
a Nuevo México.
Entre los pasajeros
varios migrantes latinos:
tres mexicanos
dos ecuatorianos
una peruana.

Escucho su conversación
desde mi asiento:
jornadas completas
de lunes a lunes
feriados, reemplazos
horas extras.

A lo lejos, veo pasar un tren de carga
cientos de vagones repletos de mercadería.
Uno de los migrantes se queda dormido.
A su lado, un hombre blanco
señala el tren con orgullo.
“Ahí viaja nuestra economía”, dice.
“Ese tren es el retrato de nuestro progreso”.
La frase retumba en mi cabeza.
El tipo ignora que su economía
también viaja en este autobús
Y que el retrato más humano del progreso
lo encarna el rostro
agotado y seco
del que duerme a su costado.

And finally the third poet that I fell in love with is Ferruccio Brugnaro.

ferruccio-brugnaro

He is that “fuck you all” poet. Why wouldn’t you love him?

Here is a short passage from my favorite poem written by him:

“Buy, Always Consume.”

Buy, buy more than you can
consume. Consume. Fuck over
any relationship.
Step on everything and always
buy everything up. Carry home
As much as you can.
Stuff, stuff yourself with greed.
Don’t look anybody in
the eyes.

For all those who made me feel bad about my Facebook addiction-

arpitaincuba — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 04:58:09 +0000

how does it feel to eat your words?

Disclaimer: This is a gloat post

Three years ago, people gave me shit for my addiction with facebook, youtube, and the internet in general. Now, I get paid good money for it. A year back in grad school, the students in their thirties mocked many of us in our early twenties for knowing everything about the internet. Now, I advice several in their age bracket about how to utilize these social networking tools. This weekend I was paid to attend the Craigslist Foundation Bootcamp and noticed how desperate everyone was to jump onto the web 2.0 bandwagon.

The present political situation in Iran, the Pink Chhadis campaign, and the Obama administration all are sending out clear signals–there is no escaping social networking! And amen for that!

Of Australian memories

arpitaincuba — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:47:15 +0000

by Mansi Shah

My most vivid memory of Australia is being called one of above mentioned racial slurs. I was seven years old in a playground in Melbourne.

In light of the recent racial attacks on Indian students in Australia, this memory has also become one of the saddest.

Call me Madhavikutty

arpitaincuba — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 06:19:56 +0000

My division III at Hampshire College centered around her poetry. I wrote 70 pages of critical analysis focussed on Das’s three poems and made an 11 minute avant-garde film out of ”An Introduction.” My father suggested, on several occasions, that I mail my thesis and film to Das but I was too unsure of my educational and creative endeavors to share it with the muse. I had meant to…when I had the confidence to discuss her work with her but I guess three years is too long a time to garner confidence. She is gone and I’m still working on making a film good enough to show her.

Yo! Your shampoo is toxic!

arpitaincuba — Thu, 28 May 2009 23:57:12 +0000

Here is a disturbing fact: everyday products such as plastic water bottles, personal care items and household cleaners contain toxic chemicals that can cause early puberty in young girls, and negatively impact adult fertility and reproductive health. Even our environment contains contaminants such as lead, mercury and pesticide residue that can have far-reaching impact on healthy fetal development.

Below are some chemical contributors you should be aware of:

Phthalates are a group of chemical compounds that are mainly used to make plastics more flexible and in perfumes.

Phthalates may cause: hormonal imbalance, developmental/reproductive toxicity, allergy and organ system toxicity.

They are found in:

cosmetics

fragrances

shampoos

lotions

nail polish

pill coatings

hospital equipment

plastic shower curtains

vinyl flooring

IV bags

Biphenol-A

BPA is a key building block for polycarbonate plastic. Polycarbonate is a lightweight, shatter and heat-resistant plastic.

BPA cause hormonal disruption and may trigger early puberty in young girls, cancers, hampers fertility and could contribute to childhood behavioral problems such as hyperactivity.

BPA is found in:

Sport water bottles

Baby bottles

Food and milk cartoning

Dental sealants

Canned food lining

And finally for all my wonderful, beautiful women friends out there–Please determine the toxicity of your lipsticks(lead), nailpolish(formaldehyde) and other beauty aids on this database!

My next post will be about alternative affordable substitutes for these toxic cosmetics. Keep reading!

India has voted!

arpitaincuba — Sat, 16 May 2009 18:39:25 +0000

Congress has re-emerged in Uttar Pradesh! Good Bye Mayawati!

NO MORE EXTREME VIEWS.

Sardarji is again the P.M. of Bharatvarsh.

Film Screening

arpitaincuba — Fri, 15 May 2009 19:05:13 +0000

Last night my film screened at the Bay Area Women in Film and Media Film Festival in San Francisco.

Lunafest also contacted to and inquired if they can screen .holding it together. in their film festival.

The ball has started rolling!