Don’t take our
Kodachrome away

The winner for most psyched about a type of film has to go to Paul Simon for his hit “Kodachrome:” “You give us those nice bright colours/ You give us the greens of summers/ Makes you think all the world’s a sunny day, oh yeah!”

Second Prize goes to Gilles Castilloux, legacy man and director of the third annual Montreal Super 8 Festival. Tonight, Thursday, Nov. 10, 25 filmmakers both amateur and pro will put their films in competition against one another. The rules are simple: make a one-reel, unedited Super 8 flick that follows this year’s theme, “Dreaming in Kodachrome,” using the storied stock. “Part of the goal was to say farewell to this kind of film,” says an emotional Castilloux. “It’s kind of like a wake.”

The event will be presided over by four celebrity judges from the world of Super 8, including John Porter, with prizes furnished by Main Film. Screenings start at 7:30 p.m., doors at 7, at la Sala Rossa (4848 St-Laurent). —Matthew Woodley

Capoeira, raves, academics etc.

Until Sunday, the city will be crawling with dance academics, choreographers and dancers who are uniting for the International Conference on Dance and Human Rights. The overlapping of movement and human rights issues are at the heart of a slew of workshops, panels, discussions and activities at UQÀM.

Dena Davida, the event’s local organizer, says it’s the first time a dance conference of this scope and range is coming to Montreal. “We’re not only talking modern dance, we’re looking at all of dance’s forms like capoeira, raves and whirling dervishes.”

For performances, step out to Tangente (840 Cherrier) for a politically-driven choreographic evening with Newfoundlander Sarah Joy Stoker, Zimbabwean artist Nora Chipaumire and locals Julie Beaulieu and Jonathan Voyer. At the MAI (3680 Jeanne-Mance), Gaétan Gingras presents Manitowapan, a piece rooted in First Nations traditions. All shows run until Sunday, Nov. 13. For the full schedule, visit www.cordance.org. —Marites Carino

Palestinian potpourri

We Shall Remain is an evening of poetry and music organized by Vivian Tabar and other members of Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights. Tabar was initially inspired to put together the show by the work of Toronto-based activist and spoken word artist Rafeef Ziadah. “Her poetry deals with issues of being a Palestinian woman living under occupation, and the frustration Palestinian women feel being denied the return to their homeland,” Tabar explains. We Shall Remain features Ziadah, and poet and SPHR member Raya Hamdan. Yassin of Euphrates will drop some science, and there’ll also be Marc Tetrault’s acoustic reggae, political salsa by Ecos de Porte Allegre, films on Palestinian hip hop activism, and Da Mental Cru on the decks. Sarita Ahooja will show footage and talk about a non-violent direct action she took part in last summer at the West Bank village of Bil’in. Thursday, Nov. 17, 9 p.m. at la Sala Rossa (4848 St-Laurent), $7. — Vincent Tinguely

Male belly dancing!

This weekend is last call for the Festival du Monde Arabe de Montréal. If you haven’t yet had a chance to drop in on the annual event, there’s still time to catch two companies making their Montreal debuts.

Tonight, Nov. 10, 8 p.m., at the Corona (2490 Notre-Dame W.), les Gitans Dhoad du Rajasthan share the cultural traditions of India’s northwestern region in La danse du Serpent.

Moving westward, choreographer Altan Cakmak heads up the Turkish group Armelit and puts a new twist on the fine art of belly dancing. Cakmak casts a sinewy male to perform the sensual midriff undulations in his new production Hurrem Sultan, which plays at Place des Arts (Théâtre Maisonneuve) Nov. 11 and 12 at 8 p.m. For tickets, call 790-1245. —Marites Carino

Is it Art?

HOW’S YOUR PUBES? Waxing, shaving and plucking one’s pubic hair is the new branding... or so posits Éric Ladouceur. The local artist cynically figures that today’s young people express their identity through pubic grooming in that same way they do by sporting, say, a Nike or Puma logo on the outside of their trousers. With this in mind, Ladouceur drew a handful of clothes company logos that use animal shapes, glued pubic hair to them and termed his installation, Le règne animal. It’s at la Maison de la culture Frontenac (2550 Ontario E.) until Dec. 4.

ArtsHole

BENT ON BEESWAX: Heidi Barkun’s uses the product of our favourite yellow and black striped friend, the bumblebee, as has been done for millennia, to create the bold and balanced pieces in her latest exhibition, The Imperishable Self, at the Nest (3673 St-Dominique) until Nov. 20. Check out www.heidibarkun.com for samples of her work. • WHEN FRUIT FLYS: For reasons unclear at press time, Montreal intervention artist César Saëz has a plan underway to place a giant banana in the Texas sky. The fruit will apparently be visible from the ground at about one-tenth the size of the moon. The launch is projected for January, 2007, from the Sonora desert in the north of Mexico. Saëz gives a public talk on the technicalities and nature of his project, Geostationary Banana Over Texas, today, Nov. 10, 5 p.m., at Articule’s research facility (7154 St-Urbain)

ARTISTAT: Number of all-white, four-by-four-foot artworks selling for $100 each to raise money for the Centre des Arts et des Fibres du Québec at Blanc de Blanc, running Nov. 12–Dec. 16 at Diagonale (5455 de Gaspé): 90

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