CineAstra

To launch the festival we have collaborated with SaltSpace a creative cooperative based in Glasgow which aims to provide a supportive platform for early year creatives as a stepping-stone into their artistic career. Pairing artists with the nine curators who have undertaken the Curate-It programme we have created a multimedia journey in the form of artistic constellations through which to dive into our programme of films and events. So join us for a drink (alcoholic and nonalcoholic) and meet the curators and artists who are responsible for putting this year's edition of CineAstra together.

Following this launch the exhibition will be shown for the duration of the festival (27 Oct - 5 Nov) in the Transmission Gallery.

This collection of shorts consider the affective nature of film through personal reflections and collective experiences. From joy to melancholy, films in the programme capture the felt experience of life in a human body in all its colour and tenderness. Experimentations with form and materiality offer new ways of seeing and feeling, playing with sensory experience to explore subjectivity and the body as entwined with the moving image.

Following the screening there will be an interactive workshop playing with 8mm film to explore sensory filmmaking.

Seeking comfort in the milky way's duvet, floating between planets and strange worlds, Space Blankets is a strand of three screenings featuring sci-fi and otherworldly narratives in navigating trans and queer life.

For the first event in this strand, join us for a relaxed evening at Transmission with a screening of cosmic queer sci-fi shorts, followed by Send Nudis, an accessible guided visualisation by Hang Linton and Laura Lulika, where listeners develop a relationship with a nudibranch.

Curated by Maria Wrang-Rasmussen.

An engaging film screening event that explores the profound themes of disconnection and reconnection through the lens of Arab filmmakers. The screening takes you through a captivating journey through the intricacies of human relationships, cultural identity, and the universal quest for belonging. 

Curated by Huss Aya. 

Heroic Bodies highlights the development of the Sudanese women’s movement within the framework of the body politics. It investigates how the human body was used as a means of resistance against the state, patriarchy and colonial oppression. This film demonstrates different events in which the body became a common refractor for various kinds of repression and resistance that occurred during the eras of British colonialism and post-independence. It will further examine how the body engaged in creative practices that contributed to the process of Sudanese women’s emancipation.

The in-person screening will be proceeded by a poetry from Zaki El-Salahi. 

This event is curated in collaboration with the Sudanese Cultural Forum. 

Seas of stories explore the relationships between humans and non-human creatures as they encounter each other in water and on land and show us how the two worlds are always connected. With a strong Indigenous focus, this programme showcases stories from Canada, Australia, and the Pacific alongside Scottish and Nordic folklore. 

Lumaajuq and The Mountain of SGaana are only available in-person.

Curated by Jules Lacave-Fontourcy.

Reminders presents an intimate look into the experiences, perspectives and politics, past and present, of queer Asians in the diaspora. Through a screening of Richard Fung's Re:Orientations, revisiting his 1984 documentary Orientations, we explore the way queerness has developed and how understandings have changed in racialised communities in the past 40 years.

The in-person screening will be accompanied by poetry readings by Lady Red Ego and Maya Uppal, thereby grounding these experiences within the contemporary Scottish landscape.

Curated by Ava Campbell. 

Seeking comfort in the milky way's duvet, floating between planets and strange worlds, Space Blankets is a strand of three screenings featuring sci-fi and otherworldly narratives in navigating trans and queer life.

The second event in this strand features a screening of the stop-motion animated queer punk feature Torrey Pines. Beautifully handcrafted, this musical journey flows between vignettes with almost no dialogue, from band rehearsals and channel surfing to fluid dreams of intergalactic queer Star Trek kisses. 

Curated by Maria Wrang-Rasmussen. 

Time, Again is a series of three screenings exploring the past, present and future of queer representation on screen. This first Halloween screening takes a dive to seek out queerness in the archive.

The event opens with a reworking of Scottish experimental filmmaker Enrico Cocozza's Bongo Erotico, presented with a live score by Glasgow-based musician Zeo Fawcett, and concludes with a screening of folk horror classic The Wicker Man.

Curated by Milo Clenshaw.

Time, Again is a series of three screenings exploring the past, present and future of queer representation on screen. This second event presents a showcase of some of the most exciting contemporary film made by Scottish and Scotland based artists.

Digital glitch, animation and analogue footage confuse temporality in this screening that slides between perceptions of bodies and queer landscapes. 

Followed by a Q&A with Milo Clenshaw and contributing artists.

Curated by Milo Clenshaw. 

second sights and infrared sprites is a tapestry of short films that delves into spirituality, energy, and belief. Revealing connections between realms, present moments and the ethereal unknown. All films foreground an element of research, ritual or rhythm, be that submerged, unseen, felt or subconsciously known. These landscapes are explored both through direct narratives, subtle gestures, and are grounded by the sonic sphere. 

Each film, an offering or glimpse into the past and connections spanning various spaces and temporalities. second sights and infrared sprites is a programme that leans into liberation, parallel possibilities or realities, illuminating the many compasses we can choose to follow. Each film will have an improvised sonic response by Simone Searles.

This event is held in collaboration with Glasgow Women's Library.

Curated by Hannan Jones.

This event takes its name from the title of the work being screened. Feurat Alani’s collection of animated shorts references Iraq’s flavours (apricot ice-cream being a particular highlight) and its hospitality. Like in many other cultures, love is expressed through food in Iraq, which results in a rich and delicious cuisine. The screening will be preceded by a meal which celebrates these dishes, using the animations as inspiration for the menu.

Sporophytes pairs adventurous and heartfelt documentaries focusing on the importance of biodiversity, seed sharing and agricultural legacy. This event considers the urgent need to preserve generational seed wisdom rapidly being lost, underlining that if we care for the land, it in turn will care for us.

Post in-person screening, the audience will leave with reflections and resources to support their journey of seed sowing and community care.

Curated by Leo Torre Barral. 

This event is presented as a collaboration between curators Milo Clenshaw and Maria Wrang-Rasmussen. Time, Again is a series of three screenings exploring the past, present and future of queer representation on screen, while Space Blankets is a strand of three screenings featuring sci-fi and otherworldly narratives in navigating trans and queer life. 

(Tending) (To) (Ta), a feature film by artist filmmaker April Lin 林森 will be screened at Bonjour and followed by a newly-commissioned performance by the artist.

A participatory writing workshop that uses archive film as a source of inspiration and reflection.

The change of seasons marks the beginning of a period of contemplation and survival. In winter, some species migrate while others hibernate. Many plants die back or become dormant to save energy for new growth in the spring. Taking cues from archive film and poetry, this workshop will help you gather your creative supplies for the cold months ahead. What can we learn from venerating the dead in nature? Are we making room in our lives to recognise other things that have expired, or which await their time to grow? The workshop will focus on the themes of endings and rest.

Workshop led by Emily Munro (National Library of Scotland).

Please note: Tickets for this event are limited to 25 attendees.

Filmmaker Lea Luiz de Oliveira documents Callie Rose Petal who is a multidisciplinary artist-activist who uses her position in STEM to fight for trans* rights and representation. As the world’s doors close due to the pandemic and her health declines, her heart opens to the truth of her womanhood. She embarks on a journey of self-acceptance and turns to art-as-activism to inspire others. As she is about to start her medical transition, a diagnosis puts her health and her career into question, she embarks on a journey of self- acceptance and decides to use her music to inspire others.

Winner of the Best Short Doc Award at Kashish International Queer Film Festival

Screening will be followed by a music performance by Callie Rose Petal.

This event is curated in collaboration with Spit It Out.

This screening event explores the meanings of democracy centring films from Cuba and Chile.

In a post-screening discussion, Directors of the Havana Glasgow Film Festival, Eirene Houston and Hugo Rivalta, and freelance audio and video producer Gill Davies discuss the themes explored in the films in relation to democracy. According to the UN, democracy provides an environment that respects human rights and fundamental freedoms, and in which the freely expressed will of people is exercised. But what is the impact of media and technology on democracy?

Curated by Havana Glasgow Film Festival.

Note: Films will be shown online and in-person, the discussion will only take place in person.

With personal connections to Austria, Canada, Iraq and Tunisia, Mary Sarsam’s films are reflective of her experiences as someone with a link to a variety of geographical places. This event highlights her work with an ‘artist focus’ screening, which will be followed by a panel discussion with local artists and arts practitioners to give space to delve into the themes explored. Stick around after the panel for some light bites and some music!