Down and Dirty: The Intimate World of Queer Filmmaking

Femina Potens Gallery
March 18th, 2006 8PM
$5 – No One Turned Away for Lack of Funds

Femina Potens Gallery, in conjunction with Shani Heckman of Shanestar Productions, presents its innovative new Quarterly Film Series entitled Down & Dirty: the Intimate World of Queer Filmmaking beginning Saturday, March 18th, 2006.

This ongoing series features film and dialogue with Bay Area Queer Filmmakers as part of Femina Potens 2006 Film Screenings. Celebrate and promote local queer, trans, and women video artists as we feature intimate conversations with local filmmakers, a shot-by-shot analysis of the filmmaking process, stories from behind the scenes, and the inside scoop on San Francisco’s filmmaking community and scene followed up by Q & A from the audience.

A Night With Shawna Virago, the first in the series, showcases the black-and-white short films of the trans-fox rock star, activist, filmmaker, co-founder Of TrannyFest, and writer Shawna Virago. Reared in the diy tradition, Virago’s work harkens to that of Goddard and early Scorcese. “Almost Human” features a compilations of stills and political satiric while “Shut Up, Josephine!” is a punk-rock homage to Goddard’s nascent work.

Shani Heckman is a long-time activist, publicist and creator of Shanestar Productions, recipient of the Film Arts Foundation's STAND grant 2003 and is a second year film student at City College. Her recent short doc, WRONG BATHROOM has been broadcast on National TV and is currently touring the festival circuit.

Shawna Virago was dubbed "the sex symbol laureate of the burgeoning West Coast trans rock music scene" in Eros magazine. Her band, The Deadly Nightshades, are one of the hottest rising bands in the Bay Area. Ms. Virago is also co-director of TrannyFest, a film festival dedicated to supporting work made by and for transgender and genderqueer people. She is a founding member of TransAction, the police accountability group and she was the first trans woman to serve on the board of directors for San Francisco Woman Against Rape (SFWAR).

Femina Potens is a nationally recognized art gallery and performance space dedicated to the advancement of women and trans-folk through art. Sponsored by Sister Spit and the Queer Cultural Center, with support from the San Francisco Arts Commission and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Femina Potens is one of the leading queer organizations in San Francisco. Femina Potens has been featured on the Australian television show, Out and About, Q-Television, the documentary TranArchy, Japan's Foil Magazine, Bitch Magazine, and the San Francisco Guardian, which called Femina Potens a crucial bit of justice.