2012-01-30

Xena Convention 2012 - Is it Still the "Final Journey"?

Special to the San Francisco - Examiner, January 29, 2012
By Moira Sullivan, Film Industry Examiner (Reprinted).
Hudson Leick (Callisto) and fan who bought her dress.


Is it still the "Final Journey"? Well, it's clear that the 18th edition of the Xena: Warrior Princess Convention will live on, a full 12 years since the last episode wrapped in 2001. The turnout this year certainly seems to have surpassed the "sweet 16" convention.

These are some of the events for which the fans return year after year.
  • Though Lucy Lawless isn't always in attendance, Renee O'Connor is. She's gracious about signing photos and doing photo ops, and promises to wear different outfits for each of the day she attends. Saturday night she signed for the fans, and she was back on Sunday for photo ops.
  • The costume show. Most of the talent this year was young-showing the torch continues to be passed to a new generation. This year, "Poseidon" won the grand prize, a Xenite in an aqua blue painted body suit. Other awards went to two "Xenas" and two archangels from Brazil, representing Gabrielle and Xena. The traditional leather outfit with handmade ornaments went to Xena 1, and an intricately designed dress without plates went to Xena 2 --both Lucy Lawless lookalikes. What were the judges thinking? Ask Xena producer/writer Steven L. Sears and Jacqueline Kim - ("Lao Ma"). Kim said she was waiting for her character to show up in the contest. This year, among others, there was one Gabrielle, one Hope - her evil doppelgänger daughter, the "the three laughing Gabrielles" and a "transgender Gabrielle". One woman dressed as convention organizer Sharon Delaney, and Aries was there, some Amazons including the fallen one, Alti, one of the furies, Eve, baby Eve, the Swedish Vikings - (Gabrielle and Aphrodite), Callisto and a couple of Varias.
Brittany Powell
  • Brittany Powell's underwear auction. Powell has made a hit auctioning off her bras for charity. She told the audience that the "Xena Convention" charity events have raised over $12 million for special causes. This includes a charity breakfast held Sunday’s for Gold pass holders. This year her bra went for a total of $5600 to her charity - the Desi Geestman Foundation. This total was "from both sides of the room", according to "Xena Virgin", a  UK based Canadian Egyptologist turned Xenite. The bras actually go on tour to breast cancer foundations in the US and the UK, and to Lucy Lawless' favorite charity in New Zealand - the StarShip Foundation.Powell said that she was recently interviewed by William Shatner and she mentioned the fans of the Xena convention in particular for their amazing charitable work. It is clear why Powell believes that Xenites are some of the nicest and most generous people for these worthy causes. Powell later appeared on Saturday with Musetta Vander, "Ilainus" of "Amphipolis Under Siege". A surprise visit was made by Athena -  Paris Jefferson who favored "Ilainus" in her entire army.
  • The guests:
Saturday's lineup included some favorite guests. The scriptwriter responsible for the intriguing special narrative twirks of the series, Katherine Fugate, came to the stage with a play for a movie/episode of Xena, where in the end, Xena declares her wish to marry Gabrielle. Actress Claudia Black played Xena, and for a while it was Beverly D'Angelo as Gabrielle. When she gave up Fugate called out for another actress and Renee O'Connor showed up. Lucy Lawless and O'Connor revisited some of these lines on the final night of the convention, in the grand finale of the convention.
Also on the lineup on Saturday was the Korean-American actress who plays the venerated "Lao Ma", Jacqueline Kim. Kim started by asking where the guests came from - mostly north and south Americans, a handful of Europeans, and a few "others" from around the globe. In addition to reminiscing about her character, Kim also sang two songs from her album This I Heard and led a guided meditation.
"Lao Ma" was an empress who came from the ancient kingdom of Qing who gave Xena her title "warrior princess", so she is a very important character. One of the famous scenes with Xena and Lao Ma is called by fans the “underwater kissing scene”. Kim told the audience that the scene was difficult because Lucy Lawless had to be in cold water with chemicals for quite a bit of time for the shoot. The muggy water was better for the photography but not for what was required in the scene. Xena was to hide in the water from "Ming Tzu"(Grant McFarland), the evil guardian of her son "Ming T'ien" (Daniel Sing). To keep her alive, Lao Ma dipped into the water to give Xena some air. Kim revealed that Lawless told her put her head in the water and she would find her lips. The scene is revered for its subtext.
Lao Ma was responsible for changing Xena from the vengeful and dishonest warrior to the Xena who used her combat skills to fight evil. One of Lao Ma's wise sayings that helped to transform Xena was "fill yourself with desire and see only illusion. Empty yourself of desire and understand the great mystery of things".
Kim said that upon reflection, her character was a lonely woman who lived with a cruel husband and tyrant she hated. She kept him comatose but gave him the credit for all her good deeds. “What difference does it make who gets the credit if the deed is good”, she explains to Xena. She had a son who hated her too that later killed her (Ming Tien). But in the end despite the sadness of the skillful regent's life, Kim revealed that she wanted to be Lao Ma because she could fly.
Presently Jacqueline Kim works with her band, This I Heard.
Claire Stansfield (Alti) and Timothy Omudson (Eli) took turn putting hilarious questions to each other in Xena Actor's theater, both as themselves and their characters. They hoped that since their children went to the same pre-school that their off color bantering would stay in the convention hall.


The second day ended up with a mingle and cash bar for Gold Pass holders who will jostle for seat upgrades at “Xena 2013”, yes there will be one, on Sunday night.
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2012-01-28

Xena Convention 2012: The Final Journey?



Xena Convention 2012: The Final Journey?


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2012-01-27

Xena Convention 2012: The Final Journey?

Special to the San Francisco Examiner
By Moira Sullivan
January 27, 2012
Callisto Roars! ©Moira Sullivan

Touching down at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank today for what has been promoted to be the final Xena Convention, the premonition was that it might be more of a requiem than a celebration. Some "Xenites" in Xena:Warrior Princess forums revealed that they wouldn't come to the Final Journey, the 17th convention: it would be too painful. But even Cher has announced her retirement several times, and still is out there with a new world tour. So, though most of the guests at this convention today alluded to the end: Joxer (Ted Raimi), Callisto (Hudson Leick), and Livia/Eve (Adrienne Wilkinson), the fans know that a 2013 Convention is already planned to be held in Burbank next year, at their request.
After a survey conducted by the organizers of this convention, Creation Entertainment, almost 800 Xenites said they would be back, and pretty close to 0 said it was time to end.
The convention celebrates the Xena: Warrior Princess TV series from 1995-2001 starring Lucy Lawless as Xena, and Renee O'Connor as Gabrielle. There is still a strong, dedicated following and there seems to be no other show like it to date - a journey retold from classic tales from mythology, the fighting scenes in which women are fearless warriors, and above all, the relationship between Xena and Gabrielle: a couple who is subject for study at the now defunct "International Association of Xena Studies" - Whoosh.org, a forum that discusses the "context" and "subtext" of the series and which gets into the grit between the lines of the show. "When popular culture is not enough", is the motto of the scholarly forum, and its longevity? - like the conventions themselves:  "like a cockroach that never dies".
Steven Sears , a beloved writer behind several Xena shows, kicked off the 17th convention with his dog, preceded by a video in which the canine caught the coveted "Chakram", Xena's special weapon. He was followed by Adrienne Wilkinson who teased the audience by telling them that she had never gotten the question before about who she preferred as her TV persona, Xena's daughter: Livia, the maniacal warrior, or Eve, the reformed Livia who becomes a religious fanatic.
One favorite character for the fans of the TV show is Brutus, first of all because he tried to spare Gabrielle from being executed and because he stood up to Xena's enemy Caesar (Karl Urban). David Franklin plays Brutus and in one episode he stabs the Roman ruler on the ides of March. This weekend Franklin returned as cabaret artist and screened a bizarre and humorous personal avantgarde video of himself shot in black and white in an empty Xena conference arena. "Brutus" atoned for his viciousness in song and dance Friday night - to the "people he impaled".
Also present at the convention was editor Rob Field from the Xena show, a craftsman behind many of the innovations of the series that made it stand out from the crowd.
Next up was convention favorite - "Joxer" himself, Ted Raimi. The joker, the loyal friend, the bungling fool, the lovable though flawed warrior. Raimi said he enjoyed all the characters he played in Xena, and that "he was paid for all three". Singling out young people in the audience who weren't even born in 1995 when the show started, and remarking "holy shmoly" to a young woman decked out in a Xena costume she made herself, he was in awe, as other guests of the devoted crowd who still pays tribute to a TV show that ended nearly eight years ago, and was telecast for only six seasons.
One fan reminded Raimi that he didn't show up for his high school graduation that he invited him to, 15 years ago, and another undaunted young woman invited him to her upcoming college graduation.
"Joxer" told the fans that his favorite improvisation in the series was the "Joxer the Mighty" tune he wrote for one of the shows - "the dumbest thing I've ever done".
"Six seasons for a series is enough", said the the popular Xena star--"or else it turns into Bonanza". Raimi was grateful that the show didn't recycle the series as other shows have to increase longevity.
"Atticus", the vine swinging ape (Joxer under a spell) in a ladies' nightie was the character he said he enjoyed the most, and was also the the role where he received the most injuries.
Currently Raimi is hosting his own show, and has produced a new TV series called Morbid Minute, where he is both writer and director.
The showstopper for the day had to be Hudson Leick, Callisto, who not only held a yoga workshop in the morning but has one of the most riveting and raucous relationships with the audience.
"What should we do now", she said, "play for an hour?" Which is exactly what Leick can do. "No one owns a toaster in my name", said the actress, "what a shame". Then she posed as a starship in a dress that she auctioned off for $1600 to a young woman who will wear it at her upcoming wedding.
A collage of pictures of past Xena conventions served as intermission to Leick's hour with the fans,  with many memorable snapshots of guests at previous conventions, some of whom will be here this weekend: Lucy Lawless, Xena herself, Renee O'Connor - Gabrielle, Brittney Powell - Brunhilda (who annually auctions off her bras at conventions), Musetta Vander - Ilainus, and Jacqueline Kim, Lao Ma, the ancient ruler of Qing who gave Xena the name "warrior princess". Also present will be Claire Stansfield , the evil enemy of the Amazons and Xena and Timothy Omundson - Eli, the prophet of love whose teachings signalled the end of the Greek gods.
The married couple Jennnifer Ward-Lealand (the warrior Boadicea) and director/actor Michael Hurst (Iolaus) entertained with brilliant musical theatre on Friday night with songs and readings from their current theatrical productions.
One other honored guest this weekend is the late New Zealand actor Kevin Smith (1963-2002) who played the Greek war god Ares in the series. Ares' frequent romantic entanglements include ones with both daughter and mother Livia and Xena. Smith will be honored in a special tribute during the convention. Jennifer Ward-Lealand and Michael Hurst dedicated two songs to him in their cabaret on Friday.
The convention features a host of vendors, including one touching exhibit of a woman who lost her partner of 35 years and who traveled to Burbank from Indiana with the many artifacts the couple collected over the years from previous conventions - which she gave away to the Xenites, asking only for voluntary donations to pay for the shipping of the items - photos, and mementos.
Lucy Lawless and Renee O'Connor, regarded as the quintessential guests of the Xena Convention, will close the convention on Sunday, and will be signing photos through the evening.   

UPDATE: PRIVATE GROUP
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Location: Burbank, CA, USA

2011-09-30

Aline Tashjian: Lesbian Feminist Cinéaste from Paris

Tribute to Aline Tashjian:  Lesbian Feminist and Cineáste from Paris


Soft-spoken and articulate Aline Tashjian passed away in Paris on September 23 after a long illness.
She was an ardent supporter of lesbian feminism and feminist cinema through the years and regularly attended the Créteil Films de Femmes International Women's film festival and the Cineffable Lesbian Film Festival, both in Paris.These are ongoing festivals where women can meet each year and see images of women, made by women, and how women live in other countries. Festival goers also come to catch up with their own community. The festivals are the best places for political activism and social contact in an international atmosphere of solidarity for women.

Créteil, March 2011.


If you wanted to know the films that were worth seeing at these festivals, you could consult Aline's program and her selections. Wherever there was a choice between the petite or the grand salle, Aline was among the women that chose the most provocative films with the most potent themes. 

Créteil Films de Femmes, March 2011. Festival director Jackie Buet (right), 2011.


These choices included political films about oppression, strong portraits of women who have made important contributions to culture, global portraits of women and their conditions in the work force and films with an artistic content that combine intelligent narratives with good visual imagery.


Aline loved to travel with her life partner Manue and recently went on trips to China, Greece and to Armenia where part of her French family originates. Her concern about health and good nutrition made you always think of the importance of the quality of life.  She was a hard worker and yet she took time to fill her life with valuable activities such as meeting good friends, sharing meals with fresh food from organic farming collectives, and demonstrating for just causes in Paris. Just for fun, she loved watching crime scene TV programs in the evening with Manue, who shared with her a dedicated interest in the Créteil and Cineffable festivals.  


Fluent in English, Aline attended French university where she studied various subjects such as film and media. She worked full time in the IT aviation industry and was respected in her field.
It is hard to imagine a world without Aline Tashjian, for she was truly a remarkable person with respect and consideration for transformative ideas and the people she loved. She leaves her life partner Manue and a number of good friends in the French and international community. Her contributions to valuable discussions at Créteil and Cineffable were important. The quality of her life makes our experiences with her vital and memorable. 

I came to know Aline through the Paris film festivals in the late 90's. I was immediately struck by her sincerity, intelligence and compassion for lesbian feminism and global women issues, and the inherent connections to issues of economics, the environment and pacifism - and how these all translated to the film medium. Conversations with Aline were always engaging and thorough. She and Manue introduced me to some of the internal discussions in French feminism, which are otherwise difficult for a French non-native. During the festivals we had many wonderful times together. I am grateful for this long lasting friendship, which is one of the most important ones I have.


Aline's Quartier
Little China in Belleville, Paris.
Belleville, March 2011.
 
In a video portrait (click above) by "Toxic Lesbian" created by Elena Toxico only last year (August 2010), Aline speaks of the beginnings of the lesbian feminist movement and the case of psychiatric treatment of lesbians. She explains that her political involvement did not begin as a lesbian feminist but with the pacifist movement and anti-war protests of the Vietnam war.
"Toxic Lesbian emerged in 2005 as a pure artistic language to virtual and live action, creation and investigation processes, including all kind of collaborations. An essential concept of the proposals is to generate works that do not have a commercial format but ephemeral and easy to disseminate ones.  In this sense, all proposed projects strongly connected with art, are conceived like performances. Around them, video art productions are the link with the visual language that will generate documentaries about collective social interaction and other testimonies related to the project" (Toxic Lesbian).


Moira Sullivan
San Francisco, September 30, 2011.
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2011-09-25

Enchanting Peter Cottontail Teen Ensemble at NCTC, San Francisco


Enchanting Peter Cottontail Teen Ensemble at NCTC, San Francisco


Another example of the enchanted world of the National Conservatory Theatre Family Matinees: Alice In Wonderland, directed by Stephanie Temple, with costumes by Carola Anderson.
Play
Another example of the enchanted world of the National Conservatory Theatre Family Matinees: Alice In Wonderland, directed by Stephanie Temple, with costumes by Carola Anderson. 
NCTC National Conservatory Theatre
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2011-05-20

Lars Von Trier's Other Comments

Danish helmer Lars Von Trier surrounded by the women he doesn't seem to care very much about.

Lars Von Trier's Other Comments
    64 Festival de Cannes 
Published in Film International, May 2011.
He likes to run his mouth ... I think he dug himself in a deep hole today. Kirsten Dunst.

The press conference with Lars Von Trier after the screening of his film Melancholia in the Cannes Official Competition gave insights into the workings of the director's mind, not the film. It is clear that the Danish helmer does not like the press and turned every question against the journalists asking them. But he also doesn't seem to respect women by taking liberties in speaking for their behalf. There has been a lot of discussion about the comments which led him to being banned from the festival this year, but no one has really taken to him to task about what he said before the final two questions which took up five minutes of the press conference. The entire session on May 15 lasted 45 minutes.
In addition to his comments about Hitler, Jews and being a Nazi, he declared his next project would be a porn film with Kirsten Dunst (who immediately said no) and Charlotte Gainsbourgh. The two actresses smiled nervously and laughed away the alleged film that Von Trier kept on bringing up for 40 minutes until he launched into his German commentary. What do actresses need to do to stay endeared to their helmer?  In this case, Dunst and Gainsbourgh tolerated albeit with forced good humor relentless comments on this porn film. By the time he launched into his standup about Germans and Jews, the actresses had already been worn down by the previous comments. The line had to be drawn somewhere and it was made in the last five minutes. Disrespect to women, Jews and Germans are one in the same.

"When accused of misogyny, filmmakers employ classic techniques of neutralization, concentrating on denials of injury and condemnations of their condemners. However, a few acknowledge having created movies that demean women, in which case they usually point out compensating virtues".
King, Neal. "Spinning Misogyny: Filmmaker Defenses Against Charges of Deviance"
 The claim that Von Trier writes "great parts for women" is not altogether true. You might recall one of Von Trier’s student films about an old man who is a sex addict and preys on young women. Last year Charlotte Gainsbourg  played a woman who was burned at a stake for being a women's studies professor in Antichrist.  She said mother Jane Birkin was her biggest support on the set. For this, she won the best actress award at Cannes. Emily Watson allows herself to be sexually used by men at her husband's suggestion.  Actually, women don't seem to hang around Von Trier for long, great parts or not. He doesn't have a stable of regular actresses like Bergman or Woody Allen. Where is Emily Watson? Björk from Dancer in the Dark refused to speak to him after the film was finished and at Cannes, and although he begged Nicole Kidman at the 2003 Cannes press conference to be in a sequel to Dogville as part of his so-called new trilogy she has yet to return. I can guarantee you that Gainsbourg and Dunst won't be back after this year. An interview with Dunst at Cannes yesterday was canceled by the Rothchild owned  Mouton Cadet Wine Bar who didn't want to be associated with Von Trier. She was not welcome, said the owners. Who needs this reaction after working hard on a film  for months? Fortunately Kirsten Dunst was awarded the best actress at Cannes but had to add "thank you Cannes festival for keeping the film in the competition."

Melancholia is about depression and the end of the earth. The title addresses not only an emotional and spiritual malady but also the name of a planet that is rapidly approaching earth and is on a fatal collision course.
“Melancholia is a good title used many times, in all art that I like and is part of all good art. It has to do with longing, which is special for this film," said the Dane.
Well, we are longing for Lars Von Trier to grow up.  We are longing for him to get as real as his pictures. A real spirit-mind connection. 

I link this stupid YouTube video to illustrate that beneath Lars Von Trier's comments about Nazis and Jews is a disrespect for women.  It must also be added that no on seems to care about this, as the YouTube video illustrates, which ridicules women to make its point. No one is going to kick Von Trier out of Cannes for that. That kind of humor is accepted and invisible. Cannes is known for film "art" where women are tortured, burned or used: Irreversible, Brown Bunny, Antichrist.  Often these films are singled out for awards.
The first question at the Melancholia press conference was about the female characters played by Dunst and Gainsbourg. Dunst said that coming out of depression makes you stronger. Von Trier interrupted to mention Kirsten's “knowledge of depression”, asking “Can I say that? Otherwise forget it”. Gainsbourg replied,  “we are not women, we are Lars”, and saw nothing different from men and women experiencing depression. Oh but there is. Especially since a depressed Von Trier is clearly very different from how actresses interpret depressed women. 
Dunst said she became friends with "Lars", whereas Gainsbourg after three films says she does not know the director very well at all.
In response to this "rejection" "Lars" added, “well I know you from every angle”. Gainsbourg laughed nervously.  
Though Von Trier could not say for sure if he was going to make the so far unproduced Wasington,  he said he had plans to make a porn film.  He claimed that Kirsten asked for the “beaver” shot in Melancholia, and now she wanted more.
"Charlotte is behind it. I said there would be lots of dialogue, but Charlotte replied, 'We don’t give a shit about the dialogue'. So there will be a lot of unpleasant sex, a hard core film. Three of four hours long so I can sleep a little longer for the press conference”.
When asked about the "magic cave" in the end of the film, Von Trier launched into a monologue about the differences between Eastern and Western religion.  The Western approach he called the "orchid" school with its emphasis on suffering and the crucifixion. He was all for the Eastern "orthodox" approach that believes in the holy spirit:
"If a film can bring this light, the other side of life, the light side of planet earth, the holy spirit side, I am going to exploit it in the porn film. The Eastern church is very important". 
Orgasms would also be “very important in the porn film but they would all be fake, except Charlotte's", said the Danish melancholic. He explained that had to do with two ways of acting. "French" and for Kirsten it was the style she used in Spiderman. Dunst reminded him that he used of webs of lace and yarn in Melancholia. 

Von Trier then announced that  he had  changed his photographer for Melancholia (Manuel Alberto Claro) who taught him that women must be younger and younger and get naked in today's films. 
"Now they are going to be naked and extremely young." 
Von Trier won't officially be around this year at Cannes anymore, but it's almost guaranteed that he will be back with his porn film The Nymphomaniac next year, and all will be forgiven.

But the Danish filmmaker already knows this. He actually did not leave Cannes and hung around to give interviews to apologize for his German remarks. In his apology he didn't mention anything about getting out of line about his porn film. He "thought he was doing well", (as this clip shows), since the jokes about the alleged film flew by unscathed by the women he mocked. But it went too far. Von Trier claims he won't give any more press conferences. In exonerating himself, the world was able to see who is really is, a man with the social graces of a toad. 
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