Cinema Klandestino presents Comandante. Sunday 18th of Jan. @Cube Cinema. 8pm.

On Sunday the 18th of January Cinema Klandestino links up with the 50th of anniversary of the Cuban revolution to return to the Bristol cine-scene and start the year 2009 off with a quality documentary at the Cube.

Information as to this extravaganza follows herewith:

From the director who brought us dramatisations of the lives of JFK, Nixon and Bush comes a more personal investigation of another world figure: Fidel Castro

50 years and 17 days after the success of the Cuban revolution, Cinema Klandestino presents Oliver Stone's compelling profile of the world's longest standing head of state and leading figure in the global anti-imperialist movement. Stone and his film crew visited Castro in Cuba for three days in 2002, and the film was released in 2003, premiering at the Sundance Film Festival. It was censored in the US due to pressure from anti-Castro Cuban Americans.

As the revolution has aged, its figurehead has survived countless assassination attempts by the C.I.A. and has been branded both a hero and a dictator depending on political perspective. While the USA's economic blockade of Cuba continues, Oliver Stone gains access to the country's president and splices together their interactions with archival footage of the past 50 years to portray the revolution and its leader.

Cine K's 6th outing at the Cube Cinema will be introduced by the ghost of El Ché at this timely anniversary. Whatever you think about Cuba, its human rights record or the achievements of its social policies, come witness this ground breaking portrait of its undisputed leader and controversial figure of world history.

Comandante
(2003) Documentary
Running Time: 99 minutes
Spanish and English with English Subtitles

Starring:

Fidel Castro ... Himself
Oliver Stone ... Himself
Juanita Vera ... Herself (Castro's Interpreter)

Production Credits:

Director - Oliver Stone
Producer - Fernando Sulichin
Producer - Jose Ibanez
Executive Producer - Jaume Roures
Executive Producer - Alvaro Longoria
Supervising Producer - Nancy Abraham
Cinematographer - Rodrigo Prieto
Cinematographer - Carlos Marcovich
Music - Alberto Iglesias

Trailer: http://www.moviemaze.de/media/trailer/view/9054/3e3358f...0.mov

Cinema Klandestino presents Comandante
18th January, 2009
Cube Cinema
Film starts at 8pm
£5/£4 (bring da badge!)

http://www.cinemaklandestino.org

Cinema Klandestino @ the Cube Cinema Thurs 4th Dec

Cinema Klandestino return for Cube V

Presenting: the 'Wandering Shadows' and 'En Agosto'

This month Cinema Klandestino brings two Colombian films to the Cube Cinema for our 5th event there.

With a 35mm monochrome and an award winning short animation, this'll be a quality night.

Doors 7pm

*STARTS*

This Thursday 4th December 2008 Cinema Klandestino presents:

'The Wandering Shadows' 

(La Sombra del Caminante, Colombia 2004, 90mins)

plus

'In August' 

(En Agosto, Colombia 2008 14 mins)

El Kolectivo Klandestino invites you to this 35mm stark monochrome 1st anniversary flick n' party!

'The Wandering Shadows'

Colombia's 2004 award-winning and bid for the Foreign Language Oscar 'La Sombra del Caminante' is Ciro Guerra's disquieting parable of a silent, goggle-wearing silletero (someone who carries a chair decorated with flowers) on the streets of Bogota, who scrapes a pittance carrying passenger Mañe, a middle-aged amputee in a roughly hewn seat on his back.

"Taking the hitherto tired 'odd couple' concept to alien new heights, the two gradually form a wary friendship. However, in a twist as David Lynchesque as the all-pervading air of dark portent, a shared secret begins to emerge that could sever their fragile bond." (Mark Powell, Metro 2006) 

Jaw-droppingly quirky and utterly absorbing from start to finish, The Wandering Shadows is Cinema Klandestino's 1st Anniversary celebratory experience.

Can't be missed! 

PLUS the night's prelude will be:

'In August'

The Colombian official entry for this year's Bristol Encounters Short Film Festival. A fifteen minute short film in 2D and 3D animation which was two years in the making. The film was written and directed by Andrés Barrientos and Carlos Andrés Reyes.

It depicts a city transformed by a diluvian cataclysm in the distant future, a young indigenous shaman woman's vision is strangely related to a similar vision of an old man's deceased wife across a vast span of time. In their visions the world's future shall be revealed. Veronica and Pedro foresee the arrival of the end of the world in August. They each anticipate it at different points in time, one in the present and one in the distant future.

Andres Barrientos will be presenting his film and doing Q&A.

So really, a night that can't be missed!

Thurs 4th December

7pm doors for pre-film party, 8pm start 

£5 (bring da badge for £1 discount)

*CineK price for best goggles.

Cube Cinema

Dove Street South,

Bristol

BS2 8JB 

Links for further information, trailers and images

Directions to the Cube Cinema: 

http://microplex.cubecinema.com/cubewebsite/directions.html

La Sombra del Caminante:

A new hope for Colombian Cinema: http://www.elojoquepiensa.udg.mx/ingles/revis_04/seccio...6.pdf

http://www.independentcinemaoffice.org.uk/viva2006_laso...a.htm

En Agosto

Official site with trailer:

http://www.dia-fragma.com/enagosto.htm

Interview with Andrés Barrientos

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jhPPqZCdMwg

contact: cinemaklandestino@riseup.net

Related Link: http://www.cinemaklandestino.org/

*ENDS*

Beyond Violence - the struggle against gender and gang violence in Guatemala

Iduvina Hernandez and Rosemary Burnett will be speaking in the Common Room at the School for Policy Studies,
University of Bristol, 8 Priory Road , Bristol , BS8 1TZ
on Thursday 13th November at 1.00 - 2.30pm.

Iduvina Hernández is a Guatemalan journalist and human rights defender working to challenge the extraordinary and horrific levels of violence and murder against women and young people in Guatemala. Her work to hold the Guatemalan authorities and security forces to account has at times resulted in her receiving threats and intimidation.

Rosemary Burnett, former director of Amnesty International Scotland, will also talk about her experiences working to support and protect human rights defenders in Guatemala. She will explain how you can support human rights work in Guatemala, including information on how to get involved with accompaniment work.

TALK IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH WITH AN INTERPRETER - ALL WELCOME

Blog of Espacio Bristol-Colombia solidarity accompanist

Hello,

I am in Colombia working with a Colombian network of social organisation doing solidarity accompaniment.

You can read about my experiences and reflections here.
http://gizzacroggy.blogspot.com/

If you want to be informed when the blog is updated email me at gizzacroggy at gmail.com

Thanks

Solidarity Picket with Sacked Amey Workers: Wed 22 Oct

Bristol No Borders - Picket Call Out

Support the Sacked Amey Workers! Equal Rights Without Borders

Assemble (with whistles and banners) October 22nd 11.30am - 1.30pm outside Amey Rail Plc ,Albert House, 111-117, Victoria St, Bristol. BS1 6AX

Five cleaners employed by Amey (who have the contact for rail maintenance in Bristol) were sacked for "damaging the company image" on the 2nd of October. They are going to appeal.

How were they damaging the company image? By belonging to a Trade Union and telling other staff at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in London where they work what was happening to them.

The text of the offending leaflet:

TO THE NPL STAFF:

The Amey Cleaning Department are looking for your solidarity, because LAURA JORDAN site manager is discriminating and bullying us, also has violated our employment rights, refusing to follow the grievance procedures and taken decision over the employment regulations Act.

This is the latest in a series of measures taken against the cleaners since Amey, which is owned by Spanish multinational Ferrovia, took over the cleaning contract in May 2007 and found itself faced with a largely Latin American migrant workforce that had recently unionised and was taking steps to gain recognition. The first came last year, when the company invited workers to a ‘training session’, only to bolt the doors behind them and leave them in the care of the Home Office, which promptly deported three of them, one to Colombia and two to Brazil, for not having official documents.

Since then the number of cleaners has been reduced from thirty-six to fifteen as Amey looks to cut costs as much as possible. The current suspensions are a direct result of the remaining workers’ attempts to protest against this trend. Amey, which posted a net annual profit of a £75 million, is well versed in these tactics. It is a majority shareholder in Tubelines, which cleans parts of the Underground. Tube cleaners who went on strike for a living wage this summer were faced with a corporate response consisting of paper checks, immigration raids and deportations to Sierra Leone and the Congo.

This is the second day of actions supporting the sacked workers, with another demo happening on 22nd October outside an NPL conference in London.

It comes as part of a wider movement, including the Campaign Against Immigration Control and No Borders, demanding that that documents and border controls are dispensed with altogether, or migrant workers be regularised and given the documents they need.

Cinema Klandestino @ the Cube Fri 10th Oct

Shrouded in mystery in the Cube programme:
http://microplex.cubecinema.com/cgi-bin/diary/programme.pl#4045

it can now be revealed that:
This Friday, the 10th of October, Cinema Klandestino return for our 4th night at the Cube Cinema to present:

Violet of a Thousand Colours
Dir: Harold Trompetero
Colombia, 2005

doors @ 8pm
£4/3 (Bring yer badge!)


This film has not been internationally released for the star, Flora Martinez, has prohibited its director, Harold Trompetero from showing it in Colombia or anywhere else. She claims that the movie was made for experimental film purposes and that Trompetero wants to jump on the bandwagon of the commercial success of her next film Rosario Tijeras (2005)

Despite this, it was shown at the Bogotá Film Festival in October 2005, in the Cartagena Film Festival in March 2006 and in La Palma Island International Film Festival in July 2006, where it won several awards.

It is now being screened for the first time ever in the UK.

Low-budget, raw, and ultimately audacious, Violet of a Thousand Colours is set in New York and revolves around a nameless woman. A woman with all the defects and qualities of a human being. A woman who one day takes the decision to exist no more, simply because she is tired of life.

She begins to prepare for her death. Her plan is to cut her veins in the bathtub, surrounded by candles and rose petals scattered on the floor and remember each moment of her life until her body gives out and her brain ceases to irrigate blood. She plans to lose consciousness and then sink into the warm and tranquil water for all eternity or until someone finds her dead.

For her the important thing is to die, to die remembering, to die dreaming, to die like she always wanted, a perfect painting for the painter, the only photograph that will annihilate the forensics photograph, the perfect scene for a film director. A suicide artistically perfect, committed by a woman like any other.

Through the film, Trompetero explores adverse sentiments inherent in femininity and the human condition in general, and this, added to its prohibited nature, should make for another quality night at the Cube.

New tunes, fresh from Colombia, will be playing at the bar before the film, so get down at 8pm!

Directions to the Cube: http://microplex.cubecinema.com/cubewebsite/directions.html

Violeta Info:

Review in Spanish (there are none in English!): http://www.cinefagos.net/index.php?Itemid=3&id=328&option=com_content&task=view

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGsDbV94UPs

Wiki: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violeta_de_mil_colores

IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0485164/

IMDB trivia: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0485164/trivia

http://www.cinemaklandestino.org/

Colombia Accompaniment Training: 15th & 16th NOVEMBER 2008, BRISTOL

INTRODUCTORY TRAINING WEEKEND
FOR ACCOMPANIMENT AND SOLIDARITY WORK IN COLOMBIA
15th & 16th NOVEMBER 2008, BRISTOL

Espacio Bristol-Colombia is organising its second two-day introductory training weekend for people interested in travelling to Colombia as a volunteer to help with its solidarity and 'accompaniment' work there.

You would be working with Colombian social organisations on various projects, in accordance with your skills and what you feel comfortable with, as well as providing 'accompaniment', which involves providing an international presence to deter the army or paramilitaries from interfering with social activists.

This training is essential for anyone who is interested in volunteering in Colombia, although we are keen to emphasise that the focus is on the training being an orientation weekend with absolutely no commitment to travelling to Colombia. It is also a great way of learning about the culture of the country and the current political situation that Colombians are facing.

INTRODUCTORY TRAINING WEEKEND
FOR ACCOMPANIMENT AND SOLIDARITY WORK IN COLOMBIA
15th & 16th NOVEMBER 2008, BRISTOL

Espacio Bristol-Colombia is organising its second two-day introductory training weekend for people interested in travelling to Colombia as a volunteer to help with its solidarity and 'accompaniment' work there.

You would be working with Colombian social organisations on various projects, in accordance with your skills and what you feel comfortable with, as well as providing 'accompaniment', which involves providing an international presence to deter the army or paramilitaries from interfering with social activists.

This training is essential for anyone who is interested in volunteering in Colombia, although we are keen to emphasise that the focus is on the training being an orientation weekend with absolutely no commitment to travelling to Colombia. It is also a great way of learning about the culture of the country and the current political situation that Colombians are facing.

ABOUT ESPACIO
Espacio Bristol-Colombia is part of the Red de Hermandad y Solidaridad con Colombia (Network of Friendship and Solidarity with Colombia) which is a space for coordination between grassroots organisations in Colombia and between solidarity collectives in other countries in Europe and the Americas.
Groups in the Red de Hermandad work together around themes such as:-
• the impact of multinational corporations;
• human rights violations;
• the need for a negotiated solution to the social and armed conflict in the country.
• supporting "planes de vida" (life plans), local/regional level collective organisation around social and economic alternatives

WHY WE NEED YOU
International collectives who are part of the Red de Hermandad not only take action in their own countries in solidarity with groups working on these issues in Colombia, but also provide accompaniment to social organisations in Colombia
There are basically three types of solidarity and accompaniment work, depending on your experience. In practice, however, these are flexible and depend very much on what you want to do and feel comfortable with:

1. People who are in Colombia for the first time or who have less experience can either

(a) do several shorter periods of accompaniment and, in the process, learn about the work of various organisations and the reality in different parts of the country or
(b) work with one organisation but without being given huge amounts of responsibility.

2. People with more experience of accompaniment or political work are normally linked to one organisation during their time in Colombia, often (although not always) in rural areas.

3. People with specific areas of knowledge might be linked into relevant areas of the Red de Hermandad's activities. For example, a plumber might help displaced communities returning to their land with the installation of water and sanitation and an academic might help with a research project.
The training will be run by three people from Espacio who have just spent some time living in Colombia and working with social movements.
Content
• an introduction to Espacio, the Red de Hermandad and organisations within it
• an introduction to Colombia's historical and political context
• accompaniment with social organisations in Colombia
• cultural awareness
• safety and legal issues
• emotional issues when working in Colombia
• health, hygiene and vaccinations
• practical issues, such as how to get a Visa and what to pack

During the weekend, you will have plenty of opportunities to hear from people who have already provided accompaniment in Colombia. You will also have the chance to ask questions and chat with them informally.

There is absolutely no requirement to commit to going to Colombia just because you come on the training. If you decide not to go ahead with the accompaniment, we will fully respect your decision. If, however, after the training, you decide that you want to do accompaniment, we will arrange an informal interview with you to discuss it and, if we both think that its right for you then we will provide you with all the support we can.

NEXT STEPS
If you are interested in attending the training, or have any further questions, please email us at espaciobristol@redcolombia.org
The training will take place in central Bristol from approximately 11am – 5pm on Saturday and then 10pm – 4pm on Sunday.
On Saturday evening we will eat together. Accommodation will be provided, where necessary. Please, note, however, that Espacio is an entirely volunteer-run group with little financial resources, and we are not in a position to subsidise travel costs. This is why we ask for a donation of £20 or more if you can afford it (£15 if you are on low income). The donation will help cover the costs of room hire, photocopying and printing costs for hand-outs and travel for people running the training. Please do get in touch if the value of the donation is preventing you from attending, as we are really interested in sharing Espacio's work with people would not want you to be put off by the cost.

So that we know a little about you before the training, please complete the short questionnaire below and send it back to us at espaciobristol@redcolombia.org. Please note that the questionnaire is not an application form. All answers given will be kept in strict confidence and will not be shared with any third parties.

Name:
Citizenship if other than UK:
Date of birth:
Permanent address:
Dietary or Special Needs:
Would you like accommodation (it'll be in the homes of members of Espacio) in Bristol on:
* Friday 19th: Y/N
* Saturday 20th: Y/N

Level of Spanish (ability to communicate without difficulty in Spanish is essential before you travel):
Have you been to Colombia before? If so, please provide details.
Relevant experience (activist/social movement/campaigning involvement, other experiences of accompaniment etc.):
Any useful skills (e.g. photography, carpentry, research, art, counselling):
Qualifications and professional background (not essential but may be useful for visa letter):
Anything else you want to tell us?

To cut-and-paste the above into an email, highlight the text with your mouse, press CTRL+T (or APPLE+T on a Mac) to copy, open a new email in your email client and press CTRL+V (or APPLE+V on a Mac) to paste the text into your email and send to us at: espaciobristol[at]redcolombia[dot]org

El Topo: Friday 4th July

Cinema Klandestino present:
El Topo (1970)

The Cube Cinema, Dove St

4^th July 2008, 7pm doors for pre-film party, 8pm start

£5 advance, £6 on the door, £1 discount with Cinema Klandestino badge or concessions.

Off the back of the last sell-out event, Cinema Klandestino return with another banger on 35mm. To celebrate the re-release of Jodorovsky's 1970 cult classic El Topo, you are invited to this exclusive screening on this special day. While over the pond they celebrate Freedom from British Imperialism, we raise our glasses to U.S. imperialism with a parodic wink. Join us to party from 7pm - dress code is psychedelic Western - before the film starts at 8pm. Advance booking recommended.

El Topo was the landmark cult film that began the whole 'midnight movie' phenomenon. It was the most talked about, most shocked about and most controversial quasi-Western head trip ever made transforming the way risk-taking audiences, seeking mainstream Hollywood alternatives, watched edgy underground films and how the industry learned to market them. New York cinema owner Ben Barenholtz first came across El Topo at the Museum of Modern Art. He booked the film to play seven nights a week at midnight in his run-down Elgin Cinema on 8th Avenue because, as the single ad he took out in The Voice put it, it was "too heavy to be shown any other way". El Topo regularly sold out every night for months, with many fans returning on a weekly basis. It ran at the theater through June 1971, until at the prompting of John Lennon—who was reported to have seen the film at least three times—Beatles manager Allen Klein purchased the film through his ABKCO film company.

The movie unfolds in two parts, opening to the sound of the it's eponymous hero playing his flute, showing him and his son crossing an unnamed desert on horse back. El Topo tells his son that, now he is seven he must bury his first toy and a picture of his mother in the sand. The second half takes place years later. El Topo is rescued by a band of deformed outcasts who, saving him from death, take him to their underground community where he lies comatose for several years; meditating on the four lessons. When he awakes he is 'born again' and is determined to repay the outcasts. Together with a dwarven girl who looked after him while he was in his coma, El Topo sets off on a quest to free them from their subterranean prison.

Links:

www.cinemaklandestino.org

Eye for Film review: http://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/reviews.php?id=5793

El Topo - A Book Of The Film: http://www.subcin.com/bookfilm01.html

BBC films review: http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2007/04/02/el_topo_2007_review.shtml

Film Guardian review: http://film.guardian.co.uk/Film_Page/0,,2046026,00.html.

ABKCO Films: http://www.abkcofilms.com/topo.php

Contact: cinemaklandestino@riseup.net

Pachanga Sudaka: Sat 28th June

Pachanga Sudaka

Get your dancing shoes ready, it's time for another Pachanga Sudaka! Back again at the Blue Lagoon, join us for this cross-border benefit fundraiser for Bristol Colombia Solidarity Campaign and Bristol Solidarity with Venezuela. As we stand side-by-side, we raise a united glass to social movements resisting oppressive economic and social injustices and working for meaningful social change. Whilst our struggles either side of this Andean border face distinct political problems, there is plenty in common and plenty to learn. On this night, we remind ourselves not to leave the party out of protest - we've all got to let our hair down!

Join us for salsa, reggaeton, cumbia, rumba, latin-hop and more as we get down to the sounds of our favourite resident DJs, El Borracho and DJ Phatticito, plus special guest!
We only ask for a donation of £3 to help us get our messages out there and continue campaigning. And there'll be stalls with plenty of information on the night...
So what are you waiting for, put it in your diary!

Saturday 28th June
8pm - 1am

£3 donation
The Blue Lagoon, 20 Gloucester Road, Bristol, BS7 8AE
click here for a map or visit http://tiny.cc/C17yy (both link to Google Maps)

Los Cartoneros: 18th June @ La Ruca

The Cartoneros of Buenos Aires:
Shadow show, film and discussion on the inspiring environmental work of Argentinas poorest.

The sound of nightlife in downtown Buenos Aires now is not so much heels clicking to a tango but the trundle of carts loaded up with rubbish. Each evening, thousands of families take to the streets and alleys to spend the night salvaging heaps of cardboard, glass and cans. They're called the "cartoneros". Though they are providing an essential environmental service, they earn only about 2p on every kilo collected. In a country where over half the people are in poverty, this is the only way they can put food on the table. The appearance of cartoneros has been one of the most visible and lasting effects of the 2001-2002 economic crisis in Argentina, a result of IMF and World Bank incompetence.

Rossana Vanni, from Buenos Aires, will present her stunning shadow show of the Cartoneros story. There will then be a short documentary and discussion. This event will look at the origins of the economic and social crisis and the resourcefulness of the cartoneros in not only creating work for themselves, but also providing their own social services, creative projects and campaigns. This is a tragic story, but full of hope.

Wednesday, 18th June 2008 – 7.15 p

La Ruca, 89 Gloucester Rd, Bishopston, Bristol, BS7 8AS

Cost – Donations (All proceeds will go to social projects run by the Cartoneros).

Latin American Food and Cartoneros Books Available for sale

FFI: Ross.Vanni@bristol.ac.uk or karenbell50@hotmail.com