Also see the follwoing write-ups:

• Hereunder and also more fully on http://curtaincallsa.blogspot.com 15TH OUT IN AFRICA SA GAY & LESBIAN FILM FESTIVAL

Our Personality of the Week is Hugh Fraser who graduated from Wits University in 1987 with a degree in architecture. Growing up in apartheidsouthafrica, didn’t offer much opportunity for travel, which he yearned. With the opening of the stable door in 1990, he bolted.

Over the next 15 years, he divided his time between practice which eventually left him with an architectural gastrectomy; and travel and photography.





Eventually he fled clients and contractors and worked for the Cement and Concrete Institute promoting the concept of concrete architecture. He is currently employed by the PG Group, as the shard of glass, exploring exciting developments in glass architecture, which mirror technological advances in materiality.

For 20 years he has observed the built environment through film and digital photography. Almost without noticing, a huge archive has been amassed and the transition to digital photography has allowed us to change the way we view architectural photographic experiences. Time is not encapsulated like a video recording or a still, but a series of pictures that can stand alone; and when viewed as a sequence offer a refreshing unedited record of architecture.

Also on the shoe tonight is longstanding friend - and Capetonian! - Nopdi Murphy.

She will discuss The Out in Africa SA Gay & Lesbian Film Festival which is turning 15 this year and bringing some reel buds to the big screen this spring!

The Festival reflects the significant changes that Gay cinema is undergoing by truly reflecting reality and ousting stereotypes, offering a broad choice of films ranging from comedy to documentary, feature films and shorts, local and international titles. Among the highlights are Eytan Foxs’ The Bubble, Jamie Babbit’s Itty Bitty Titty Committee, the award-winning XXY directed by Lucía Puenzo, the Oscar-nominated documentary For the Bible Tells Me So by Daniel Karslake, the hugely entertaining Times Have Been Better and Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin.

While our films and the panoply of topics they touch on entertain, panel discussions and especially our guests turn the festival into a unique inter-active experience. Our guests this year are Emmy-award winner Bennett Singer (Director of Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin, an award-winning documentary selected by Justice Edwin Cameron. The film reveals the life of the gay man who mentored Reverend Martin Luther King. Cameron will attend some of the screenings and engage with the director and Rustin’s life partner Walter Naegle, also a guest of the Festival.

Lisa Thrasher (Producer of Itty Titty Bitty Committee) is an Independent Film Producer and serves as the President of Film Production & Distribution for POWER UP (Professional Organisation of Women in Entertainment Reaching UP) – she will be running a Producer’s Seminar in Johannesburg and Cape Town, which are free and open to all – see the printed programme and website www.oia.co.za for further details.

Also in attendance will be Jamie Babbit, the Director of Itty Titty Bitty Committee. Babbit has enjoyed success as a television producer/director, serving as both for the WB television series Popular, as well as directing episodes of critically acclaimed shows such as Ugly Betty, the L Word, Alias, Nip/Tuck, Malcolm in the Middle and The Gilmore Girls.

Must see movies:
25 Cent Preview
A gritty, ‘in the moment’ gallop through the red-light district of San Francisco, this is a journey into the uncensored life, loves and tricks of its street hustlers. Honest, riveting performances and a fast pace ensures compelling viewing that reveals far more humanity and understanding than you would expect.

Itty Bitty Titty Committee
Shy, heartbroken Anna is a plastic surgeon’s receptionist. Her life is transformed when the office is defaced by sexy Sadie, a member of the underground women’s rights faction C(i)A or Clits in Action. Pulsating with a radical brand of gender politics accompanied by grungy, punk lesbian-rock, this loud, feisty activist comedy is an endearing introduction to dissident feminist groups and the ‘ballsy’ female anarchists who run them.

The Bubble
Hottie Israeli Noam and gorgeous Palestinian Ashraf drive this captivating ode to transcendental love – sexual, familial, and platonic – that encapsulates the surreal lives lived by young gays and straights, Jews and Arabs, men and women in Israel today. From the director of Yossi and Jagger.

Outing Riley
Laid-back and cleverly crafted, this light amusing coming-out family comedy disarms stereotypes and expectations of what a gay man is meant to be and how he is meant to act.

Times Have Been Better
In imitable quirky French style, the proud liberal parents of thirty-something banker Jeremy descend into crisis when he celebrates moving into a new house with his older, long-term boyfriend by finally announcing to the family that he is gay.

Savage Grace
Careening from New York in 1946 to London in 1972, via Paris and Spain, this true story with a stellar cast (Julianne Moore, Eddie Redmayne) charts one family’s descent from decadence into a dysfunction that would make Jerry Springer proud.

XXY
Living in a coastal Uruguayan town ‘problem’ teen Alex has been isolated and protected by her parents. A top plastic surgeon comes to assist with a solution. While the adults agonise over the conundrum of Alex’ gender, she and the surgeon’s closeted son get on with their own exploration of sexuality and identity. Beautifully shot, sparsely scripted, with stellar performances.

Documentaries:
For The Bible Tells Me So
In this thorough, positive and ultimately hopeful documentary, the filmmaker presents the complex subject of homosexuality and religion through personal and intellectual arguments that encourages people to examine their beliefs rather than mindlessly accept the preaching of others.

Panel discussions will be held after screenings in both JHB and CT – see printed programme and website for details.

The Festival is funded by:
The Atlantic Philanthropies, National Film and Video Foundation, Italian Institute of Culture, Goethe Institut, British Council, Cape Film Commission, Nu Metro, Exclusive Books, Killarney Mall.

http://www.oia.co.za/

15TH OUT IN AFRICA SA GAY & LESBIAN FILM FESTIVAL
Johannesburg Thu 4th – Sun 14th September 2008
Nu Metro - Killarney Mall
Cape Town Thu 11th – Sun 21st September 2008
Nu Metro - V&A Waterfront

www.oia.co.za ▪ 021 461 40 27 ▪ info@oia.co.za

Wednesday 19 September 2007

Mixael presents

BravoBrava celebrates Heritage Day, this coming Monday, 24 September, by interviewing Personality of the Week, David Hart, formal Manager of the National Inventory at the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA/National Monuments Council).

David, who has been with SAHRA for fourteen years, was born in Zimbabwe, schooled in Malawi and South Africa and obtained his BA(Hons) Architectural History from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

He also holds qualifications in Project Management (UCT), People Management (Stellenbosch University) and Advanced level MS Access.

Listeners may participate in our discussions by adding interesting viewpoints and comments. Telephone lines will open at about 10:30 pm – and, the number to call is 089 110 2003. Remember, we love you and would really like to hear from you!

Leading tonight's discussion about South Africa's national heritage and the importance of its conservation, is Krynauw Nel, Pr. Arch, Chief Executive of Krynauw Nel Associates (Pty) Ltd who graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand, with a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture in 1989. He also received several certificates of merit, particularly in his major subjects of “History of Architecture” and “Architectural Theory and Design”. He completed his first residential projects while still a student and spent a year travelling the Middle East, Europe and America.

In 1987 he completed a practical year with an architectural firm in London, specializing in upmarket residential work in areas such as Little Venice, Chelsea and Mayfair. He later formed a close association and collaborated with legendary British interior designer David Hicks, son-in-law of Lord Louis Mountbatten, for several years. Joint projects included work in Portugal, Cape Town and the Natal Midlands. After graduating, he spent a year with a commercial practice in Pretoria before setting up his own practice in 1994.

Krynauw’s work has been widely published and virtually every magazine, dealing with particularly residential design, has featured some of his projects. Several programmes on television have also featured projects by Krynauw.

Krynauw Nel is a qualified and registered architect. Krynauw is also a qualified and registered Estate Agent as well as a registered Sectional Title Practitioner. Membership includes the South African Council for Architects, Institute for the South African Architects, and Council for Estate Agents. He is currently working towards completing a second degree with rivate Law, Psychology and Latin as majors.
Krynauw’s practice has executed literally hundreds of homes across the country ranging from the modest to the grand, and from country to city. The practice actively avoids the confines of establishing a set style, preferring to focus on well-designed and detailed buildings.

The practice is also designing a new 5-star hotel on Poivre Island, Seychelles.

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Architect Herbert Prins, M.Arch(Cons); B.Arch; Dip T P;ARIBA; MIA;Arch SA, read architecture at the University of the Orange Free State and at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. He obtained a Diploma in Town Planning, (1973) and Master of Architecture (Conservation) (1990).

At present he runs his own architectural practice, specialising in heritage conservation and active in community affairs, as well as heritage conservation bodies.

Recent practice includes the design of the temporary structure erected on Strydom Square, Pretoria for the inauguration banquet of President Thabo Mbeki.

He has been heritage consultant on numerous South African architectural conservation projects, especially in the renewal of Johannesburg's City Centre and adjacent areas.

Member of the Gauteng Provincial Heritage Resources Council (PHRAG); 2002 to 2006. Chairperson of various heritage committees including: The Witwatersrand Branch of the Simon van der Stel Foundation (now Egoli Heritage Foundation)The Panel of Assessors appointed by the NMC to advise on existing conservation legislation; changes to the Act and management of heritage resources in South Africa. The Witwatersrand Heritage Trust - the umbrella organisation for heritage conservation on the Witwatersrand (1980 to its demise in 2000): Member of the Committee 1980-1990. Chairperson 1990-2000). Member of the committee of the Johannesburg Heritage Trust from its inception in about 2000 to present.

Member of the Executive Committee of the Johannesburg Heritage Trust and Vice Chairman.

Herbert has received many awards during his long career amongst other the Gold Medal of Distinction of the South African Institute of Architects and the Gold Medal of the Simon Van der Stel Foundation (now Heritage South Africa).

Flo Bird, became involved in Residents Association work in 1973 with the rezoning of Parktown to offices. Battles against the freeways M3, M6 etc. followed, and in 1982 she started doing tours of Parktown. This proved popular and grew into the Parktown and Westcliff Heritage Trust in an effort to preserve the heritage of the old homes and lovely gardens.

Flo is Jo’burg born and bred. She attended Parkview Junior, Parkview Senior (interrupted by 3 very happy years in Lourenco Marques) Parktown Girls High School, the University of the Witwatersrand (WITS) and Johannesburg College of Education(JCE).

Her grandparents were Johannesburg Pioneers (i.e. they came here before 1900) and her father gave her a strong sense of history. She served on the National Monuments Council for 10 years and have been active on heritage matters both in Parktown and Johannesburg.

Flo has been married for 43 years to a wonderfully supportive husband, John Bird. They have 3 sons and 7 grandchildren.

Gillian Condy was born in 1952 in Kenya and educated in Uganda and England. She trained as a scientific illustrator and received a Masters Degree from the Royal Collage of Art in London. She worked for four years in Botswana before taking up the post as resident botanical artist with SANBI at the National Herbarium in Pretoria, where she has been for over twenty years. She has designed fourteen sets of stamps for Botswana, two for Bophuthatswana and the set of Clivia stamps for South Africa (released in September, 2006). Gillian is also a founder member and past president of the Botanical Artists Association of Southern Africa (BAASA).
Gillian was a major contributor to the biographical section of Peeling Back The Petals: South African Botanical Art and has also illustrated two books: Geophytic Pelargoniums and Grass Aloes in the South African Veld. The latter features two of South Africa's most eminent botanical artists, of whom Gillian is one. Three paintings presented in this book and exhibited at the Kirstenbosch Biennale Botanical Art Exhibition in 2004 won Gold Medals - for the botanical artist this book has considerable interest, as each of the plants painted by Gillian is done with scientific accuracy in its natural habitat and immediate surroundings. Four pages of the book, with three A4 size paintings, explain how Gillian progressed her work to the final product.
The artist has received a number of awards: The London Linnaean Society's Jill Smythies Award, the Cynthia Letty Medal of the Botanical Society of South Africa, seven Gold- and three Silver Medals from the Royal Horticultural Society in London and two Gold- and two Silver Medals at the Kirstenbosch Biennale.

The Wine & Art Route is a 4 km stretch of our South African Heritage along Paarl’s Main Road. Curator, Johann du Plessis talks to us from the Rock in Paarl.

Born 1953, Frankfort, Free State Province, South Africa. Graduated with BA (FA) and (HED) from the University of the Free State in 1980. Du Plessis has exhibited widely both locally and abroad (Canada, Monaco, Spain and the U.K). He is represented in local and overseas private-, public- and corporate collections. Du Plessis has received numerous awards, including the FNB Art Competition, 1987 (overall winner); the 2nd prize at the 5th International Miniature Art Exhibition in Toronto, Canada; a merit award at the 15th Grand Prix International D’art Contemporain, Monaco. He was a finalist for the FNB Vita Art Now Award in 1995 as well as the Brett Kebble Art Awards in 2003.

Du Plessis has been involved in art education since 1981. He has been teaching / lecturing at Eunice Girls High, Bloemfontein, the Johannesburg Art, Ballet, Drama and Music School, Damelin-Eden Art Academy where he was Head of Department, Vice-Principal, and Principal. Du Plessis was examiner for Graphic Art Gauteng, till 2004. In 2005 he was co-founder and editor of CONTEMPO art & design magazine and is currently the curator / coordinator for Visual Art at the CULTIVARIA Festival 2007. He lives and works in Paarl, Western Cape, where he is a part-time lecturer at Boland College.

Du Plessis specializes in Graphic art (drawing, printmaking and collage). Traces of Dadaism, Minimalism, Formalism, Pop Art, Post- Modernism, Deconstructivism, * ”Neo-Pop, Neo-Confucianism or Neo-Claustrophobism”, can be found in his work.