To make your weekend whole, Supersonic have got an excellent programme of films, exhibitions, talks and workshops. Particularly exciting is the news that Whitehouse/Cut Hands front man William Bennett will be talking about his new project, his West African musical influences and his music’s inclusion on the Vice Guide to Liberia. This talk will then be followed with a screening of the Vice film that examines the dark history of the war torn country and the fate of its people today.
They will also be screening an exciting selection of film shorts from the exceptional label, Fonal. The Finnish label includes artists Es, Islaja, Lau Nau and of course Circle, who will be performing at the festival this year.
Conny Prantera is an artist and illustrator who lives and works in London. Through her intricately detailed drawings, she tells us a story of disquieting and disturbed beauty. Here at Supersonic she will be showing a new piece titled Kore Kosmou, a video installation consisting of photomontage and drawings, meticolously put together frame by frame, animated and synced to a series of purposely created audio loops and drones
Other screenings include a package of late night horror, programmed by Psychotronic Cinema. Responsible for he legendary “All Night Horror Madness” event and the upcoming “All Night Bad Movie Experience” they’ll be bringing ‘Flesh for Frankenstein‘ and ‘Suspiria‘ to the festival as a late night treat.
Birmingham experimental artists and producers SOUNDkitchen will be in residency at the festival, presenting their ‘Cinema for the Ears’. Working in collaboration with BEAST (Birmingham ElectroAcoustic Sound Theatre), they promise a concoction of installations and performances in a site-specific immersive sound sculpture. They will also be contributing the sonic element to the Imperfect Cinema performance on Sunday – creating an alternative documentation of the festival.
Other fantastic local folk getting involved are the Birmingham Zine Festival. Celebrating alternative publications for Supersonic 2011, the festival organisers have invited some of their favourite small press publishers to sell their books, comics and zines, along with an exhibition of zine artwork. Continuing the zine celebrations, there will be ascreening of ‘$100 and a t-shirt’, Joe Biel’s documentary exploring the thoughts and experiences of zine-makers in North America. Also a panel, From a to Zine, featuring Alex Zamora, Nic Bullen and Charlie Woolley will discuss the history of zines, their inspirations and how this feeds into modern DIY creativity and publishing.
The day line ups look like this:
FRIDAY – APPAT/CLOAKS/DRUMCUNT/MIKE WATT/PART CHIMP/SCORN/SCOTCH EGG/SECRET CHIEFS 3/SLABDRAGGER/
SATURDAY – AGATHE MAX/ALEXANDER TUCKER/ANTILLES/BACKWARDS/BARDO POND/BERG SANS NIPPLE/ELECTRIC WIZARD/KLAUS KINSKI/KOGUMAZA/LUCKY DRAGONS/MONARCH/MUTE SYNTH/NATHAN BELL/ORTHODOX/PHAROAH OVERLORD/SKULL DEFEKTS/TEETH OF THE SEA/WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM/ZOMBI/
SUNDAY – ALVA NOTO/ASTRO/BARN OWL/BYETONE/CIRCLE/CUT HANDS/DRUNK IN HELL/DRUM EYES/ENVY/ETERNAL TAPESTRY/FIRE!/ICONACLASS/JEFR CANTU LEDESMA/MODULATE/ORE/PEKKO KAPPI/SELFLESS/SILVER APPLES/TONY CONRAD/TURBONEGRO/WHITE HILLS/
Still more to be announced so watch this space.
Tickets for the festival are only £75 for three days of music, film, art and cake and are available from: http://www.supersonicfestival.com. For day ticket prices also check the website.