On Tuesday, I went to the celebration of 5000 screenings by Doc'n'Roll, who showed our film Stories from the She-Punks. They were wonderful with us- almost mentors for part of it. They suggested that we put subtitles with names under the women we'd interviewed, which made the whole film much clearer. We'd got to a point where we almost couldn't see the woods for the trees, not because we didn't know what we were doing, but because each of us was dealing with awful personal circumstances that could have delayed the completion of the whole thing.
I invited Joan Ashworth, the animator and maker of the documentary about Sylvia Pankhurst, Who Is Sylvia? We hadn't seen each other in a long time, and it seemed like a great chance to catch up. As I waited for her, I saw Shirley and Anna from The Raincoats driving past the venue (it was held on the rooftop of a black-painted building in Shoreditch). Later on, I saw them in the distance, but in between catching up with Joan and chatting to other people, I never got to say hello. Early on, out on the terrace, there was a set by the acoustic artist Emma Tricca, whose deft playing and rich vocals were perfectly accompanied by the occasional twinkling seagull and distant plane crossing the sky above. Tiny fluffy seeds floated about, as though specks of clouds had detached themselves and drifted into the party to satisfy their curiosity. The party started to become loud as more people suddenly arrived.
Colm and Vanessa talked about the company, and a couple of significant 'firsts' they had screened. They are rightly proud of what they've done; the company has become global. I love it. Music documentaries are amongst my favourite things to watch, endlessly fascinating. I have been to a lot of their screenings and missed even more because of... well, starring in my own life, I suppose. Gigs, and stuff like that. I've come to realise just how much time and energy goes into being a DIY artist and how motivated you have to be to write songs, learn them, record them, get them released and then set up gigs to tour them. I have never really stopped to think about this, but a period of illness recently has made me really appreciate all of it.
Anyway, blah blah about that: back to the party! It was suitably star-studded: Debbie Smith and Atalanta Kernick were there, and it looks as though Debbie may screen Joan's film at some point. there was a whole Rebel Dykes crew; Michael, who engineered Gina's albums; Estelle from Big Joanie; Stuart Lee and Laetitia Sadier; Wanda (one third of the Neo-Naturists); Marie, from Gina's band; Lora Logic; Dean, who I met when I went to help out with Gina's next video by being hands, arms , feet and legs; and many more. Vanessa did a Q&A with Gina, and then the Causing Trouble video was screened with its multitude of women artists and musicians. It looks really good on a big screen in the open air, and sounds good too.
I missed the shoot because I was in Brighton hanging the Pelirocco exhibition, and also playing that night in the hotel, and Charlie Harper did too. Popstar-elicious! I think I've only sold one print, which means I've lost money, but these things are always a gamble.
Anyway, the party was great and really buzzy and we stayed a lot longer than we meant to. I realise that because I don't drink any more socialising can be difficult, but I did make myself go to say hello to a couple of people and I'm glad that I did.
Here's to another 5000 screenings!
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