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Event
WFAC 2012: Strange Frame
It is 200 years after the Great Earth Exodus. On the moon Ganymede where most of the population struggles against oppressive debt slavery, Parker leaves the comforts of her previous life and falls in love with Naia, an inspired songwriter, who is genetically engineered and enslaved to be a miner. They form a band and soon Naia is enslaved again, this time to stardom, via an exploitative talent agent. Though down and out, Parker sets out on a quest to free Naia and redeem their love.
G.B. Hajim built this film out of sheer perserverance and creativity. Creating the animation processes, teaching beginners how to contribute, and using every resource at his disposal, Hajim built an animation studio in Hawaii, recruited fan-favourites like Claudia Black, Cree Summer, Juliet Landau, Tara Strong, Tim Curry, Ron Glass and Alan Tudyk to voiceover his characters, and recorded his soundtrack at Skywalker Studios. This labour of love was to tell his story his own way, socially-challenging stereotypes be damned. How refreshing an attitude this is.
About G.B. Hajim
Geoffrey Blair Hajim puts his heart into the community, and that drives everything he is trying to develop. How he got to Hawai'i is a long story, and it started with his college career. A Connecticut native, Hajim studied at the University of California-San Diego, starting out in astrophysics before switching to visual arts and media science. He explored culture and media with projects like performance art pieces with the Dineh (Navaho) and large mural painting with orphans in Mexico. It was during these years that he became passionate about non-Western art and African filmmaking.
He co-taught a class that compared African films to African literature and, encouraged by a professor, did field work on a topic of his choosing: the kava bowl. "I read everything written about it and wrote papers on itI spent time in Fiji, Tonga, and Western Samoa. Everyone on my travels opened their homes to me. Everywhere I went I saw communities of people raising each other's children and taking care of one another. I was in love with the way island people treated each other."
He went on to graduate work in film production before becoming an islander himself, moving his young family to Hawai'i to find, in his word, "community." Hajim's love for the island induced him to study its language and immerse himself in Hawaiian culture. Within a short time, he established Screaming Wink Productions to apply his expertise to producing Hawaiian language and culture videos, working with Hau'oli Motta, Luahiwa Namahoe, Kainani Kahunaele and Kala'i Ontai. He produced, among other films, "Pi'apa `Oiwi, The Hawaiian Alphabet"; "Kalanimainu'uthe Story of the Mo'o Goddess of Moloka'i"; and "Ka'ililauokekoa," which won the Hawai'i Filmmaker's Award. These projects enabled him to start honing his cut-out animation style.
About Shelley Doty
Shelley Doty co-created the film with Hajim. Winner of the highly competitive Lilith Fair Talent Search, Shelley has released two critically acclaimed independent CDs with her band the Shelley Doty X-tet. Praised as "a future legend" by WIG magazine and "a delightful entertainer as well as composer, singer and all-round musician" by Phillip Elwood of the San Francisco Examiner, Shelley is known as a powerful and passionate live performer. The East Bay Express says, "her groove is searing, soulful, high-flying, undulating, jubilant and hypnotic in its deep funkiness." A headliner in clubs in the Bay Area and Pacific Northwest, Shelley has performed with Sarah McLachlan, The Pretenders, The Neville Brothers, No Doubt, Blues Traveler, Train, Stroke 9, Little Feat, Patti Larkin, and Spearhead. She is also a sought after lead guitarist, who has been compared to Carlos Santana (Oregon Daily Emerald) and Jimi Hendrix (Metro).
In addition to fronting her band, the Shelley Doty X-tet, Shelley also often performs solo acoustic. When Shelley plays electric guitar she rips into it like no other woman ever has she has a swagger and confidence to play lead guitar that is as rare as it is electrifying. But she also has the subtly and tenderness to cause an audience to shiver at the elegance of her voice and insightful lyrics. Don't be fooled though she can bring the same intensity she's known for when playing electric to an acoustic setting.
For the past several years, Shelley has also concentrated on expanding her skill set behind the magic curtain. Driven by her soundtrack work, she has focused some of her creative energy toward Music Production in her own home studio. Using her main tools Propellerheads Reason and Digidesign ProTools, as well as her extensive virtural rolodex of world class musicians, Shelley generates exciting and unique sound for picture.
In addition to performing and recording her own material, Shelley is a versatile lead guitarist. She has played with and recorded CDs for the avant-punk-classical Bonfire Madigan (Kill Rock Stars), Kindness (rocktronica), Yo Miles!, Composer and Vocalist extraordinaire Pyeng Threadgill, and San Francisco Rock favorites Dolorata. Shelley can also be heard on CDs by Rosin Coven, Melissa Crabtree, the Redwood Project, Judea Eden, Green Huse, and Gwen Avery. Her songs have made it onto several compilations, including "Calling All Kings and Queens" (with Amy Ray and Sleater Kinny), "wildFire", "SF2000 Timecapsule" and "Wine, Women and Song". Shelley is also the co-creator, musical director and script-writer for a teen and adult animated project called Strange Frame (www.strangeframe.com). And she is honored to have a song featured in the movie, "Healing Sex", based on the acclaimed psychological text by Staci Haines "The Survivors Guide to Sex How to Have an Empowered Sex Life After Child Sexual Abuse".
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LocationChrysalids Theatre (View)
137 Ontario Street North
Kitchener, ON N2H3W5
Canada
Categories
| Kid Friendly: Yes! |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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