Movie Screenings–All Weekend in Boyle Heights!

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“A Prayer for Juarez” has been a month long of international events raising awareness on the Femicides in Juarez, Mexico. After the slaying of three embassy workers this past weekend in Ciudad Juarez this tragic situation intensifies.  Filmmaker/Producer Dianna Perez is hosting two evenings of FREE film screenings  March 19 & March 20 at Casa 0101 Annex, 2102 1st Street, Boyle Heights. These films are rare and hard to get a hold of, and really amazing.  We invite you to join us!

Friday, March 19th, 8:00 pm
Senorita Extraviada by Lourdes Portillo
Missing Young Woman tells the story of the hundreds of kidnapped, raped and murdered young women of Juárez, Mexico. The murders first came to light in 1993 and young women continue to “disappear” to this day. The evening begins with a short film Sangre y Arena by Rigo Maldonado & Shakina Nayfack, followed by Q&A. This art film shot on location in Lote Bravo (a cotton field irrigation ditch) where 8 women were found at one time in 2001.

Saturday, March 20th, 8:00 pm
Border Echoes by Lorena Mendez Quiroga
Border Echoes-Ecos De Una Frontera, is a documentary that tells the story of the slayings of girls and women in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, through the eyes of investigative reporter Diana Washington Valdez. [Save the date! Award winning El Paso Times reporter Diana Washington Valdez will present in person at Casa 0101 Annex on March 27, 8pm) The evening begins with a short performance called Cihuatl 15 by endy and a screening of Sangre y Arena.
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A Prayer for Juarez Art Activism Starts this Week

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Not all art is about someone creating an object in passionate solitude, unveiling it at the trendiest gallery and selling it for (what would seem to most) an excessive price. Since 2001, I have been engaged in what I call art activism. Art activism is about pointing out something that is lacking in society in a more amplified way than just one painting or sculpture in a gallery. Perhaps in Picasso’s times his one painting of Guernica created that buzz, but in post modernism, we have to step up our game.

My current project began in the summer of 2009. It is called A Prayer for Juarez. If you feel that you have known and seen works on the murders in Juarez in excess—it has been due to a handful of artists who have vowed not let this art topic disappear until something is resolved for the people of Ciudad Juarez in Mexico. It’s not a Mexican-thing, it’s a humanitarian circumstance. When we come together to resist and witness an injustice, we create a dialogue within ourselves to begin to change the world hierarchy on what is valued. We do not have to accept matters, because they are not in our immediate sight. We are the guardians of all that lives on our planet and together have the power to stop any injustices. It begins with being informed.

During the month of March 2010, we will begin this dialogue through new works and voices in this art struggle against injustice. You are invited to attend these powerful exchanges of ideas through art, performance and testimony. Each week (here on LAeastside) look for our posts on A Prayer for Juarez. All events are free, except this Friday’s play (March 5) by Dr. Ana Nogales on human trafficking called “Don’t Call Me Baby”. All events take place in Josefina’s new theater space Casa 0101 in Boyle Heights, 2102 1st Street (corner of St. Louis), except “Don’t Call Me Baby” which is 1 block west at the smaller Casa 0101 Theater. Street parking is free (imagine that, in LA)! Continue reading

Killer’s Paradise

As many of you know, I have been an art activist against the femicides that have occurred in Ciudad Juarez.  My public activism in this has connected me to others that work to change gender injustices occurring all over the world.  In 2007, I joined Chapinas Unidas (Los Angeles Guatemalan Women’s Group) who came together to create awareness on the femicides occurring in Guatemala. Again, the international community was faced with extreme injustice by governmental, legal and social networks for victims and their families in Guatemala.  In May of 2007, we organized a press conference at Mercado la Paloma in South Central and a conference and art exhibit called “Espejo” at Sol Art in Santa Ana to discuss the femicides in Guatemala.

TODAY April 8th, at 7pm PST a discussion on Feminist Magazine (KPFK radio) about the upcoming Bringing The Circle Together film screening of ‘Killer’s Paradise’. Radio host Melissa Chiprin will speak with Indigenous activists in Los Angeles, Ana Castillo and Azalea Ryckman of Chapinas Unidas, and Olivia Chumacero of Farmlab, who have helped spread awareness about the ongoing femicide in Guatemala. You can listen in Los Angeles on 90.7 FM, on 98.7 FM in Santa Barbara and streaming live on kpfk.org. This show will also be archived if you are unable to tune in that night!   Please tune in to KPFK tonight and click more here to get data on the free screening of ‘Killer’s Paradise’ on Thursday, April 16.  Nos vemos alli. Continue reading