By Kim Spurway
SYDNEY — A five day festival celebrating community television, community arts and community issues will be held at the Bondi Pavilion, Bondi Beach, Wednesday-Sunday, February 2-6.
Titled, "Small Screen: Big Picture", the festival will include screenings of local, regional, interstate and international video programs; live performances in dance, theatre, music and experimental art forms; multi-camera video production; and visual arts and seminars.
The festival aims to demonstrate the link between community television, community arts and community issues with video and performances using themes of importance to the community. Sil-Nyin Cameron, one of the organisers, said, "It is a celebration of community culture. Performers want to get a message across, something they passionately believe in and which goes deeper into community issues than most multicultural festivals."
The program includes such issues as disability, health and HIV, gays and lesbians, women, Aborigines and the environment, young people and multiculturalism.
The festival also has an international program on the theme of "activism". There is a selection of independent Asian video works, "all of which are restricted in their own countries and made under duress with the festival being the Australian premiere", according to Sil-Nyin.
Of particular interest are films such as the one from Taiwan which documents the struggle of the indigenous people for land rights. As well, there are programs which show aspects of the struggle of the African National Congress and programs from El Salvador, Russia and Ireland presenting alternate views from the mainstream about the issues that are affecting these countries.
Part of the program involves live performances, including Kooris in Theatre presenting storytelling with supporting dance and traditional music. Other live performances are one from the Older Women's Network, a multicultural feminist play with dance called The Politics of Bellydancing and an exploration of being Aboriginal and gay in the play Faces. Another performance called Ethnicity in the City — No Jobs looks at cross-culturalism and the problem of unemployment in the Chinese Australian community.
All the live performances will be recorded in a multi-camera studio situation so that community television can show it later. "This will be giving voice to a lot of groups not usually given access to major commercial media", said Sil-Nyin, "as well as providing community groups with video resources they can use later".
The Bondi Pavilion Art Gallery will have an exhibition of visual arts including painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography and installations by various artists and community groups open between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. each day of the festival. There will also be a Glitz party on the closing night, Saturday.
For further information contact Sil-Nyin Cameron or Pip Parsonson on 810 6642 or 015 235 576.