Animakom Award

I was super-honored by my first lifetime achievement award from the Animakom festival in Bilbao Spain! I haven’t yet received the fancy glass plaque thingy in real life, but I did “attend” via video chat (starting around 54:30).

A few hours prior, I got interviewed by Thistle Pettersen of Women’s Liberation Radio News, and apparently had no f*cks to give as I cheerfully spouted unfiltered opinions of all kinds. That’s the great thing about getting older: you run out of fu*ks, and you get a lifetime achievement award.

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Travel Photoblog: Krok, Russia, September 21-30, 2019

Krok is an International animation festival that takes place on a riverboat in Russia or Ukraine or, in the past, both. Political issues have recently forced it to sail in Russia only, even as it continues to be organized by animators in both countries. This year it cruised from St. Petersburg to Moscow, making various scenic stops along the way. I was invited to lead the jury and watched lots of films between taking photos, trying to use the insecure internet in the bar, eating, rehearsing a song for “Carnival”, pretending to drink vodka, and sleeping.

On the drive in from the airport.
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Blacklisted

Update: Chaz Ebert confirms Ebertfest’s decisions had nothing to do with my no-platforming in Urbana and Beligium, and they were unaware of any controversy.

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Ebertfest (Roger Ebert’s Film Festival) is the big film festival in my town (Champaign-Urbana, Illinois). In October, its director told 2 film critics/scholars I know that my new feature film Seder-Masochism was “at the top of our list.” Which makes sense, since it’s by an Urbana filmmaker (me) whose last film was a star at the festival (Sita Sings the Blues) and contains my late father’s voice, which is known to much of the fest’s audience (he used to be Mayor of Urbana, as well as a math professor at the U of I). I emailed Ebertfest in January to ask if they were going to screen it, because I have to make plans in April. They didn’t reply. I emailed them again over a week later (Friday). “Sorry, we don’t have room for it.”

A week earlier Seder-Masochism was the target of a de-platforming campaign in Belgium. The women’s film festival that programmed its Belgian premiere removed all traces of it from their web site after transactivists threatened them. A few days before that, I was the target of a Twitter mob for sharing opinions with Graham Linehan.

Screenshot 2019-01-23 17.37.59

Ebertfest’s decisions are made behind closed doors, and I’m certainly not entitled to be at any film festival. But it is my opinion that their decision is very much related to my defamation and condemnation as a “TERF“. Much of the witch-hunt against gender-critical feminists comes from Academia, and Ebertfest is an extension of the University of Illinois College of Media. Last Fall the self-described “Chair of Gender Studies” Mimi Nguyen led a campaign against me to have my film de-platformed at a local cafe.

Mimi_Nguyen1Mimi_Nguyen2

I am blacklisted, but I will not shut up.

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Fall 2018 North American Festival Tour wrap-up

In the last month I traveled to Ottawa, Vancouver, Mill Valley, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, and Los Angeles, to attend numerous screenings of Seder-Masochism, including the festivals below:

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This is a LONG post with lots of photos, so start after the fold. Continue reading “Fall 2018 North American Festival Tour wrap-up”

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Seder-Masochism festivals, September-October 2018

Festivals marked with * and Bold are ones I’m attending in person!

 

Athens International Film Festival
Athens, Greece
September 19-30

AnimaSyros
Syros, Greece
September 26-30

Ottawa International Animation Festival
Ottawa, Canada
September 26-30 2018

Vancouver International Film Festival
Vancouver, Canada
September 27-October 12 (SM screenings October 3 & 4)

Mill Valley Film Festival
Mill Valley, CA
October 4-14 (SM screenings October 8 & 9)

The Goddess Animated
Capitola, CA
October 14

Animation Is Film
Los Angeles CA
October 19-21 (SM screening October 19)

Fredrikstad Animation Festival
Fredrikstad, Norway
October 25-28

AniNation International Animation festival
Jerusalem, Israel
October 24-27

Big Cartoon Festival
Moscow, Russia
October 26-November 3

 

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Where is Seder-Masochism?

Seder-Masochism is currently doing its film festival rounds. There are a number of festivals lined up this Fall and Winter, most of which I can’t name until they make their official announcements. I really, REALLY want to free the thing online, like, yesterday, but many festivals will disqualify any film that has an “online platform.” Film festivals are the only theatrical screenings it’s ever likely to have, so I’m not going to publicize an online release – even a Free, peer-to-peer one – until its “regional premieres” (which some festivals insist on) are done. If it’s any consolation, this waiting drives me crazy. But I’m going to wait, so that it may see the light of theater screens.

Love,

–Nina

P.S. If you haven’t seen my first feature, Sita Sings the Blues, now would be a good time to watch it! It’s Free all over the place.

 

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