The first seminar takes place in Jozi at the Big Fish School of Digital Filmmaking on Tuesday 25 October from 10am to 12 midday. It would be beneficial for all who attend to have seen her film, which screens on Saturday 22 at 8.15pm at Nu Metro Hyde Park. There is a second screening of Pariah, after the seminar, on the evening of Tuesday 25 October at 7pm.

In Cape Town, also at the Big Fish School of Digital Filmmaking, on Thursday 27 October from 10am to 12 midday, Dee Rees will conduct a second seminar for film students and interested members of the public. Pariah screens the night before the seminar at 8.30pm on Wednesday 26 October at the Nu Metro V&A cinemas. The second and last screening of Pariah, in Cape Town, is at 8.45pm on Friday 28 October.

Entrance to the seminars is free but it will be necessary to book. Please contact Arthur Mataruse art@oia.co.za to secure your place. Directions to Big Fish in both Jozi and CT are below.

Kiss of the Spider Woman

By Manuel Puig
Presented by Yellow Bunny Productions in association with the Joburg Theatre

Set in a turbulent future, Kiss of the Spider Woman is a scorching tale of forbidden love. Imprisoned for his revolutionary ideals, Valentin (Garth Collins) is placed in a cell with Molina (Brian Webber), a window dresser, imprisoned for gross indecency.

Throughout this much celebrated and acclaimed play the elusive spider woman weaves her web of enchantment. In order to pass the time and in a desperate yearning to escape their dismal confines, Molina narrates a classic film to his fellow inmate. At first, Valentin reluctantly listens to Molina’s narration of the melodramatic romance, and criticizes him for indulging in escapist fantasies rather than in political activism. But cell walls cannot contain the imagination, and Valentin finds himself irrevocably drawn to the story, and unknowingly, to Molina himself. Over the course of their confinement, through their shared ordeals, the two men fall in love and ultimately become lovers.

Directed by Lynne Maree, and featuring production design by Wilhelm Disbergen, Kiss of the Spider Woman will run at the Joburg Theatre from 26 October until 6 November 2011.

http://www.kissofthespiderwoman.org

• An accomplished British drama of four interwoven stories that deal with a gay newly-wed’s lack of fidelity, a married man who cottages, a repressed queer who bashes, and burgeoning sexuality. Rupert Graves and James Wilby star in Clapham Junction. Contact lisa@oia.co.za to book – preference is given to 8333s.
  • Jhb: Wed 20 8.45pm Bioscope | Wed 27 9pm Bioscope
  • CT: Wed 27 8.15pm Nu Metro V&A | Wed 3 8.15pm Nu Metro V&A
• Based on the real Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister, this period piece reveals that those long dresses and petticoats didn’t get in the way of lesbian seductions. Contact lisa@oia.co.za to book – preference is given to 8333s.
  • Jhb: Wed 20 7pm Bioscope | Wed 27 7pm Bioscope
  • CT: Wed 27 6.30pm Nu Metro V&A | Wed 3 6.30pm Nu Metro V&A

• An invitation-only Soirée for over 100 people, in honour of the Festival and hosted by the US Consul.
• The next day guests are off to the Cradle of Ourkind, looking at the animals and sipping long, refreshing drinks on the balcony. By invitation only.
• Festival Guest Luncheon for 30 or more at 6 Spin Street. Owner Robert Mulders is a long term sponsor of the Festival. Under his patronage we have had countless splendid meals at Rozenhof. This will be our first at Robert’s new restaurant.

  UPDATE: See our photos on Facebook here:
  http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=233400&id=23445668582&ref=mf

The time has come for gay clubbing to shine again… Go into Super-Disco mode for a party to satisfy any Superman or –woman!

On Saturday, 29 January 2011, Cintron Presents SUPER DISCOTEC.

If you’ve been aching to parade your stylish new dancing shoes to the beat of the hottest house- and pop tracks around, then Welcome to This Disco!

SUPER DISCOTEC headlines 5FM’s Erica Elle for one night only, spinning her glamorous dancefloor magic at one of the fastest growing venues in the north of Johannesburg.

Two dancefloors will deliver generous servings of the tastiest house and other stylish dance tracks, as well as a selection of all the pop hits burning up the floor.

The Warehouse will host The SUPER DISCOTEC House Floor – starring Erica Elle, along with Groovy Q, Stuart Hillary, and Russel LDQ – ensuring a constant flow of sexy house beats, some electro and lots of “get down & disco” energy.

From the more progressive, “underground” style of the Main House Floor, follow the steps down to the Horseshoe Bar, where Discotec presents Poptastic featuring Dizzy and DJ Sam. This commercial dance and pop music-orientated floor is a weekly party night at Discotec every Friday night. But, when SUPER-DISCOTEC hits the club every last Saturday of the month, then Poptastic also pops in at the Saturday disco for pure dancefloor frenzy.

Discotec launches with brand new decor at SUPER DISCOTEC on Saturday 29 January 2011. No serious disco connoisseur can afford to miss this true celebration of quality nightclubbing…all done in the name of Disco, with a twist!

CINTRON PRESENTS “SUPER DISCOTEC”
Starring Erica Elle
Date: 29 January 2011
Doors open 21:00
Tickets at the door: R70 [FREE before 22:00] including a complimentary Cintron can
Venue: The Warehouse, 84 Oxford Str, Ferndale, Randburg JHB

DJ Line-Up:
Warehouse Main Floor – SUPER DISCOTEC House floor
Groovy Q
Stuart Hillary
Erica Elle
Russel LDQ
Horseshoe Bar – Poptastic floor
Dizzy
DJ Sam
Plus Special Guest DJs

For more info & guest list requests, please contact:
Walter Gelderblom
walter@saevents.biz

Ashveer Kewalpershad
ashveerk@gmail.com

Issued on behalf of:
Discotec / The Warehouse
Stuart Hillary
info@discotec.co.za

** All guest list requests close at 17:00 on Thursday, 27 January 2011.

About Discotec |
DISCOTEC opens for disco pleasure every Saturday night.
POPTASTIC pops at Discotec every Friday night.
SUPER DISCOTEC hits Discotec every last Saturday of the month.
SUPER DISCOTEC, POPTASTIC and DISCOTEC are all located at The Warehouse mega-club complex in Oxford Road, Ferndale, Randburg in Johannesburg.|

The Baxter is proud to announce that Cape Town’s all-female comedy sensation, Cracks Only, kick off their year-long, month-end series of gigs at the Baxter’s Flipside on Friday, January 28.

The Cracks, award-winning actress Anthea Thompson, comedy stars Shimmy Isaacs and Anne Hirsch, and veteran columnist Marianne Thamm, caused a minor sensation with their show, Cracks And The City, directed by Alan Committie, which played at the Baxter in July last year before transferring for a three-week run at On Broadway.

Each month the Cracks will serve up a fresh cocktail of stand-up, music, brand new filmed sketches, which have become a much-anticipated part of the show. Celebrity guests will include the likes of political icon, Evita Bezuidenhout, internationally acclaimed crime writer, Margie Orford and South Africa’s own Janis Joplin, Karen Zoid. Other surprise guests who will feature will be announced later.

Make a regular month-end date with hilarity.

Seating in the new venue is limited so book early. Shows start at 9.30pm and last approximately 70 minutes.

Say “yes” to Cracks

Anthea Thompson is one of this city and the country’s most watchable stage and television actresses and will be remembered for a variety of performances including more recently in Shirley Valentine, Educating Rita and Taming of the Shrew. Her television credits include Laugh out Loud for M-Net, Mazinyo.Q, Fela, Madam and Eve and Out on a Limb all for the SABC.

Shimmy Isaacs‘s hilarious and touching autobiographical play, Allie Pad Funny Worcester, was one of two works voted “Best of the Ikhwezi Festival” and has enjoyed considerable success since then including a restaging at the Baxter Golden Arrow Studio this month.

The bitter-sweet but hilarious play shows off Shimmy’s unique stand-up comedy and physical theatre talents and is a breakthrough story of a young woman’s determination to break the cycle of history to chase her dreams.

Shimmy’s first stage play, Dens Wit Me, co-written with Levi Saville and Vicki Bawcombe, was a sleeper hit at the National Festival of the Arts in Grahamstown in 2007. Shimmy, graduated, with honours, from AFDA’s film school before heading for New York where she completed a three-month course in acting at the Black Nexxus Acting school. She has been performing stand-up in Cape Town for the past two years.

Anne Hirsch, born and raised in Bloemfontein, moved to Cape Town where six years later she emerged from UCT with a Masters degree focusing on comedy. She has performed and co-written three successful one woman shows and went on to win SABC’s So You Think You’re Funny? (Season 2) crowning her the funniest new stand-up comedian in the country.

Since then she is the only white woman to have ever performed as part of David Kau’s Blacks Only comedy tour performing to sold out audiences in Bloemfontein, Joburg, Cape Town and Durban.

While Marianne Thamm is better known as an award-winning columnist and journalist (she writes for Fairlady, The Sunday Times and many others) she has led the secret life of a comedian for several years. She first tasted fame (but not fortune) with the Cape Comedy Collective in the late 1990s but opted to return to the more unstable world of freelance journalism.

Marianne won the 2007 South African Comedy Award for Best Humourous Columnist. She performed her comic lecture “Survivor 1970s” for the first time at the command of her Excellency Evita Bezuidenhout at the 2009 Voorkamer Festival in Darling.

Sponsored by Pink Tongue & Out In Africa

The Way Gay Sing Along (hosted by Marianne Thamm)

After an absence of almost two decades from the recording scene, Heather Mac returns with a new album – Within

Booking is now open at Computicket for the launch concert at 9.00pm on Saturday 9th April

ONE NIGHT ONLY – FEATURING

Percussion and vocals: Tonia Selley
Guitars: Mark Harris, Tim Parr, Willem Moller
Bass: Ian Cohen, Peter Stein
Flutes and sax: Chris Tokalon
Drums: Kevin Gibson
Violin/viola: Terrence Scarr

Check out www.heathermac.co.za to watch the video of “Autumn”

Dear Friends

Please attend an emergency meeting today on the 14th of March to address South Africa’s opposition to a statement on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity to be issued by the UN Human Rights Council. On the 21st of March, 2011, the council will be delivering a joint statement on ending violence and related human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

This historic statement affirms the need to end violence and human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity. It does not seek to create new rights but simply states that existing human rights standards should apply to all human beings, irrespective of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

All states have been called upon to endorse the statement by no later than the 18th of March, of which 58 have already demonstrated their support. South Africa has however neglected to endorse the statement, something which is particularly concerning given the South African Constitution’s commitment to upholding the rights of all gay, bisexual, transgender and inter-sex people.

We have learnt that South Africa’s representative is not only refusing to sign-on to the statement but actively campaigning against the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity statement.

We request the attendance of LGBTI and related organisations at a meeting to discuss an appeal to the South African government to demonstrate its commitment to the human rights of all people and to endorse the HRC’s statement.

The meeting is to be held on Monday, the 14th of March at 4PM in the meeting room of Natural Justice, 6th floor of the Mercantile Building in 63 Hout Street, Cape Town.

The agenda for the meeting will be as follows:

1. Briefing
2. Mobilisation
3. Legal Action
4. Media

Your support will be appreciated in addressing this urgent matter.

Thanks.

Fritz Jooste & Zackie Achmat

In 1985 at age 52, after 22 years in the notorious Pretoria Central prison, Goldberg was released and went into exile in London where he continued to work for the ANC. His memoir, The Mission – A life for freedom in South Africa, was published recently.

It is an honour for Out In Africa to welcome a man of passion and compassion to open the Festival in Cape Town on Thursday 21 October in Cape Town.

In Johannesburg, on Thursday 14 October the Festival will be opened by Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, Director of the Legal Resources Centre’s Constitutional Litigation Unit and a member of the Executive Committee of the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (CASAC).

Ngcukaitobi is an advocate with qualifications in law and politics from the Universities of Transkei (BA-LLB), Rhodes (LLM) and the London School of Economics (LLM). He writes regularly for academic journals on the questions of human rights, labour law and administrative law. He has served as a clerk at the Constitutional Court and is a former partner of Bowman Gilfillan.

Denis Goldberg was the guest speaker at the launch of CASAC on 16 September 2010 at the Lilliesleaf Farm, famous for the raid that led to the Rivonia Treason Trial.

For more information on CASAC visit http://www.casac.org.za/ and http://www.thedailymaverick.co.za/article/2010-09-17-casac-the-new-voice-of-constitutional-reason-in-south-africa