Queering the Celluloid Workshop with Elian Mikkola

Elian Mikkola, Queering the Celluloid

Thursday, February 9, 4 – 7pm
Friday, February 10, 4 – 7pm
Saturday, February 11, 10am – 1pm 

PAVED Arts 424 20th St. W.
Co-presented by PAVED Arts and Queer City Cinema

This three-day workshop will be facilitated by experimental filmmaker and green “scientist” Elian Mikkola.

In recent decades, experimental filmmakers have explored eco-conscious approaches to analog filmmaking. Experimental filmmakers are leading the way by using eco-friendly recipes such as Caffenol (instant coffee, vitamin C and washing soda); plants, berries, wine or vegetables; or the Phytogram Technique (lemon juice, vinegar and hydrogen peroxide). Additionally, the act of physically manipulating analog found footage has been a long-standing tradition of experimental filmmaking, albeit  dominated by white, heterosexual cis-male filmmakers.

Supplied with their own found footage, workshop participants will be encouraged to take this tradition into their own hands – allowing QTBIPOC and LGBTQIA2 bodies to interrupt/disrupt existing images and narratives on the celluloid and take ownership  and reconstruct a new narrative, all within an eco-processing framework.

Ultimately, the goals of the workshop are to bring awareness and access to local filmmaking communities about analog filmmaking in a safe and environmentally  conscious manner and to reconstruct, through manipulation of found footage, QTBIPOC and LGBTQIA2 narratives.

Workshop structure

Preparation (Day 1): Intro to eco-friendly filmmaking and analog practice through samples and readings
Hands-on workshop (Days 2 & 3): Using hand processing and found footage, participants will dismantle and reconstruct  new narratives
Virtual Q&A Session: Post workshop to facilitate future eco-practice and analog filmmaking pursuits, Date TBD

Register

Space is limited – Register Early

To register, please complete this form: https://forms.gle/3987sh1nNSk8qpcN7

Bio

Elian Mikkola is a Finnish Moving Image Artist (of Karelian descent), and a white settler currently based between Treaty 4, Regina, and Montréal (Tiohtià:ke), Canada. Originally from Turku, Finland, Mikkola holds a BA in Journalism from Tampere University. They completed their MFA in Media Production in 2019 at the University of Regina. Mikkola works closely with both analog and digital images and their hybrid extensions. Their work explores themes such as memory, spatial dependences and queer belonging. Mikkola’s work has been showcased in several film festivals in Canada and internationally. Their debut film SAARI (2016) was selected to TIFF’s Canada’s Top Ten Film Festival student program in 2017 and their latest two films premiered at International Film Festival Rotterdam 2020 and Hong Kong International Film Festival in 2021.

https://elianmikkola.com/

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