Current Events
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Sidestreets Off-Site since January 2014!
Throughout 2014 Sidestreets will organize all of its programs outside its own headquarters, in different venues, spaces, cities and countries.
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TREASURE ISLAND
26 September - 8 November 2014, NiMAC
The event is co-organized by
the Nicosia Municipal Arts Centre - Associated with the Pierides Foundation [NiMAC] &
the Cyprus Ministry of Education and Culture, Cultural Services,
in collaboration with
AHDR (Association for Historical Dialogue and Research)
&
SIDESTREETS Educational and Cultural Initiative.
The Nicosia Municipal Arts Centre - Associated with the Pierides Foundation [NiMAC] and the Cyprus Ministry of Education and Culture, Cultural Services, in collaboration with AHDR (Association for Historical Dialogue and Research) and SIDESTREETS Initiative, announce the opening of a new exhibition project entitled Treasure Island on Friday, 26 September 2014. The project features visual works, performances, public discussions, interventions and other events selected through an Open Call, next to a number of preselected works.
Treasure Island seeks to expand discourses of the past in Cyprus. It seeks to shed critical light on dominant modes of historical representations, and address those stories that have been subjugated, manipulated or silenced by hegemonic historical discourses and artistic, literary or theoretical practices. Moreover, the project aims to underline the broader meaning of the political in art, in the local context: On the one hand, as a drive for critical (re)negotiation of the modern history of trauma, conflict and violence, as well as of any totalizing ideological strategies of approaching, thinking and narrating the past, particularly in relation to national or cultural identification. On the other hand, as an attempt to deal with a broad spectrum of crucial issues that affect Cypriot society, beyond the Cyprus Problem. Ultimately, the project aims to bring forth the culturally inconspicuous, and the latent patterns of Cypriot historical experience, both in the colonial and postcolonial contexts.
The project has welcomed a variety of presentational formats such as visual works, performances, theoretical discussions, film screenings, talks, literature/poetry readings, public interventions and educational programmes. It features a diverse group of Cypriot and international participants, including Emin Cizenel, Lia Haraki, Eleni Kamma, Nurtane Karagil, Gabriel Lester, Literary Agency Cyprus/Whirling Words, Mesarch Lab, Panayiotis Michael, Savvas Papasavva, Christodoulos Panayiotou, pick nick, Alexandros Pissourios, Saramarasamsara, Nicolas Tschopp, Stefanos Tsivopoulos and Sholeh Zahraei/Kamil Saldun. The programme also includes presentations and interventions led by Adonis Florides, Antonis Hadjikyriacou, Chrystalleni Loizidou, Meropi Moiseos/Nasa Patapiou/Eleni Papadopoulou, Johann Pillai and Evi Tselika/Marina Hadjilouca spread throughout the duration of the exhibition, as well as a one-day series of theoretical discussions. Treasure Island will also be hosting a public reading library in collaboration with Moufflon Bookshop, comprising bibliography from the areas of social and cultural studies, postcolonial theory, social anthropology, political science, art theory, history, critical literature and poetry, and beyond.
PROGRAMME OF EVENTS
Friday, 26 September, 20:00 @ NiMAC (Opening)
Performance
The Record Replay React Show (2014, 30’)
Lia Haraki
Saturday, 4 October, 10:30 @ NiMAC
Screening/Discussion [in English]
Life Chances: Four Families in a Greek Cypriot Village by Peter Loizos (1974, 43’)
Antonis Hadjikyriacou in conversation with Olga Demetriou, Zelia Gregoriou and Adonis Florides
Wednesday, 8 October, 19:30 @ Rüstem Bookstore (24-26 Girne caddesi, Sarayönü, Nicosia)
Screening/Discussion [in English]
Cyprus is an Island by Ralph Keene (1946, 34’)
Adonis Florides in conversation with Costas Constantinides and Yiannis Papadakis
Friday, 10 October, 19:00 @ NiMAC
Presentation [in English]
"Cyprus Pussy": Culture jamming/On Cypriot commemoration in the 21st century & its interventions
Chrystalleni Loizidou
Performance
The Record Replay React Show, (2014, 30’)
Lia Haraki
Saturday, 18 October, 10:30 @ NiMAC
Presentation/Discussion [in Greek]
Here Lie the Books, Rizokarpaso 1931-32 (2014)
Meropi Moiseos, Nasa Patapiou and Eleni Papadopoulou in conversation with Takis Hadjigeorgiou, Niyazi Kızılyürek and Makarios, Bishop of Kenya
Friday, 24 October, 19:00 @ NiMAC
Presentation [in English]
Nonverbal Communication
Gabriel Lester
Wednesday, 29 October, 19:00 @ NiMAC
Visual lecture/Presentation [in English]
Monument to Fragmentation
Johann Pillai
Saturday, 1 November, 10:30 @ NiMAC
Screening/Discussion [in Greek]
Cyprus is an Island by Ralph Keene (1946, 34’)
Adonis Florides in conversation with Christodoulos Panayiotou and Yiannis Papadakis
Saturday, 8 November, 10:30 @ NiMAC
Discussions [in English]
The Past as Treasure Hunt
Part I, 10:30-12:00: “Buccaneers and Buried Gold”: Deconstructing memory and fiction with Yiannis Hamilakis, Nicolas Papadimitriou and Stephanos Stephanides
Part II, 12:00-13:30: “The Stockade”: Barriers in Education / Education of Barrierswith Mete Hatay, Aydin Mehmet Ali and Yiannis Papadakis
Saturday, 8 November, 20:00 @ NiMAC
Performance
The Record Replay React Show, (2014, 30’)
Lia Haraki
Closing
Curatorial team: Yiannis Toumazis, Louli Michaelidou, Anber Onar, Despo Pasia, Kyriakos Pachoulides, Elena Stylianou.
NiMAC: Nicosia Municipal Arts Centre-Associated with the Pierides Foundation
19, Palias Ilektrikis, 1016 Nicosia, T: 22797400, info@nimac.org.cy, www.nimac.org.cy
Office hours: Monday – Friday, 8:00-15:00
Exhibition hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 10:00-21:00, Sunday – Monday Closed
!f ² 2014: Istanbul Live Films
21 February, Friday at 19:00, Onar Village
I wanted the tension and the weight of this event (death) to be felt, sacred and grave, but without a trace.”
After he takes the medicine from Irene, we learn that he is not ill but extremely unhappy and tired of living. Irene, this time, comes close to helping someone commit suicide, and as she runs after Carlo to change his mind, the line between life and death gets blurred. Honey does not take the easy way out, and manages to tell this tough story in a distant and positive manner. The film creates solid ground out of fragile distances between people.
Festivals:
About the Director:
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Alleine Tanzen / Dancing Alone
Germany – 2012 – 98’ – Colour – DCP – Turkish, German
“Mother, he’s not hitting you, he loves you... he loves you beatingly. Mother, the bruises are love marks!”
“Can I ever find happiness if my parents and their parents have not already found it?”
Through a little girl’s diary entries, and some old VHS recordings, we begin to get to know a family. The director is Biene Pilavcı who, at 12 years of age, decided that the bursts of violence at home were too much to handle and had herself moved into a children’s home. Now at 33, she is aware that the pain, which remains from all that was lived yet never talked about, is too much to handle, and goes back to her family, this time with her camera. Though Dancing Alone was screened formerly at the 5th Which Human Rights? Film Festival, we chose to screen it again – a first at !f. This is because Dancing Alone is an incredibly special piece of filmmaking; a powerful lesson in the healing powers of the courage to look pain in the eyes.
Also, this is no doubt a film that should be seen everywhere in Turkey, so it will be shown in 36 different locations, through !f2.
Festivals:
About the Director:
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Austria, Switzerland, Germany – 2013 – 118’ – Colour – DCP – Spanish, Farsi, Arabic, Russian, English
“I’m dedicating myself to the resistance because my father didn’t do enough.”
Everyday Rebellion is not just a contemporary document, but also a call for utopia.
A cross-media documentary about creative forms of non-violent protest and civil disobedience worldwide, Everyday Rebellion comes as a breath of fresh air in these pregnant times. Moving around the world with the Occupy movement in New York, The Indignados in Spain, the Arab Spring
in Egypt, the non-violent uprisings in Syria, and briefly through Taksim, this poetry of a documentary is a reminder that today’s struggles are all connected – they should be considered as one. Through interviews with the Yes Men, Femen, Srdja Popovic, John Jackson, and other passionate activists, Everyday Rebellion is a celebration of peaceful protest and the possibilities that it opens up. As a documentary, it gives voice to all those who decide not to use violence to try to change a violent system, and as a project (www.everydayrebellion.com), it is a growing network that ties many of the ideas, methods and passionate people mentioned in the film together.
Festivals:
About the Director:
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Pelo Malo / Bad Hair
Venezuela, Peru, Argentina, Germany – 2013 – 93’ – Colour – DCP – Spanish
– “Even better, I can turn you into a singer.”
9-year-old Junior lives in public housing apartments with his single mom and little sister. Junior and his mom’s lives are on a straight line that never leads anywhere. Junior’s long lasting dream is to straighten his curly hair, wear his dancing costume and become that figure in his head. His mother’s
Festivals:
About the Director:
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Gabrielle
Gabrielle is a glowing 25-year-old woman with Williams syndrome, a genetic disorder marked by cognitive underdevelopment as well as gregariousness and advanced musical skills. She lives in a group home with her friends, among whom is her love, Martin. When Gabrielle and Martin
Festivals:
About the Director:
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Sidestreets’ first 2014 program is !f ² – the Istanbul Independent Film Festival – and the screenings will all take place from 21st to 23 February in Kyrenia at the Onar Village! (www.onarvillage.com)
The festival’s pioneering film distribution project has been connecting communities in 31 cities for 5 years.
!f ² is a ground-breaking alternative film distribution and sharing project. Organized in partnership with the quality cinema website MUBI, !f İstanbul will reach audiences in 31 cities around Turkey and in neighbouring countries.
!f ² has partners from around Turkey as well as in Nicosia*, Gyumri, Yerevan, Jerusalem and Ramallah, who will screen five festival films simultaneously with Istanbul in their respective cities on the last three days of the festival. The system is simple: Universities, unions, women’s groups or other NGOs in these cities volunteer to be a supporting branch of !f ² and organize a screening venue.
The online cinema website MUBI works in collaboration with !f ² to allow all partners access to five festival films with high resolution and quality. Q&A sessions with directors following the screenings are also broadcast live. Audiences in different cities thus have the opportunity to engage directly with the guest director or producer, who is in Istanbul. The vision is to connect diverse cities and communities, building bridges through the shared medium of cinema.
*Nicosia-based Sidestreets will be screening all the films at Onar Village, in Kyrenia.
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Cinema Culture series
Thursday, November 14th and 21st
Sidestreets, in collaboration with the Embassy of Sweden in Cyprus, is pleased to present, as part of its Cinema Culture series, screenings of two award-winning Swedish films. Both films are in Swedish with English subtitles.
PROGRAM:
Thursday, November 14th
The Wedding Photographer (Brollopsfotografen)
Director: Ulf Malmros
Stars: Björn Starrin, Kjell Bergqvist, Tuva Novotny
LANGUAGE: Swedish; SUBTITLES: English
19:30, Sidestreets Audio Visual Room
Robin is from a remote town in Sweden, Värmland. He’s a country bumpkin with a passion for leather trousers, chains and photography. Following a chance encounter with an over-the hill television personality and the closure of the local factory, Robin moves from his beloved home town to Stockholm. Having arrived in Stockholm, he is desperate to make it as a professional photographer and despite some initial setbacks and his rural background, he is commissioned to photograph an upper class wedding in Djursholm, the ritchest district in Stockholm. He promptly falls in love with the bride’s sister and is willing to change everything about himself, from his outlook on life to his hairstyle, in order to win her heart. What follows is a comical clash of cultures and class as the down-at-home Robin tries to woo the girl of his dreams.
Thursday, November 21st
Simon and the Oaks (Simon och ekarna)
Director: Lisa Ohlin
Stars: Bill Skarsgård, Helen Sjöholm, Jan Josef Liefers
LANGUAGE: Swedish, German, Hebrew; SUBTITLES: English
19:30, Sidestreets Audio Visual Room
An epic drama spanning the years 1939 to 1952, this is the gripping story of Simon (Bill Skarsgaard), who grows up in a loving working class family on the outskirts of Gothenburg but always feels out of place. He finally convinces his father to send him to an upper-class grammar school, where he meets Isak, the son of a wealthy Jewish bookseller who has fled Nazi persecution in Germany. Simon is dazzled by the books, art and music he encounters in the home of Isak’s father Ruben (Jan Josef Leifers), which makes Simon long to know more about his own family background. Isak, on the other hand, draws comfort from learning to do something with his hands, helping Simon’s dad (Stefan Godicke) make boats. When Isak faces trouble at home, he is taken in by Simon’s family and the two households slowly merge, connecting in unexpected ways as war rages all over Europe.
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2013, October
Creative Art Workshops with Aslı Bolayır
Aslı Bolayır is a Turkish Cypriot artist residing both in Spain and Cyprus.
Currently the creative art workshops she is offering at Sidestreets are conducted in Turkish, but upon demand English workshops can also be arranged at other times.
If interested, please contact us at +(90) 392 2293070.
