For more information, please contact Jerold Kress (213) 387 - 2822 ext. 123
* Photos available upon request
For Immediate Release:
HOLIDAY AND OTHER SHORTS! Internationally Renowned Filmmaker and Mixed Media Artist Monica B. Gazzo at Bresee Community Center, Los Angeles
| Event: | Film and Video Retrospective |
| When: | Thursday, June 28, 2007, 8:00 pm |
| Where: | Bresee Community Center, 184 S. Bimini Place, Los Angeles, CA 90004 |
| How much: | Free admission and parking |
| More Info: | Bresee at (213) 387 Ð 2822 ext. 123 |
For interviews to request a telephone appointment.
Monica B. Gazzo is an internationally respected artist whose films explore the relationship between personal narrative, memory and larger historical references through thought- provoking works that lead to new ways of thinking about the language of film. Her film grammar combines visual poetry with emotional states, collage with familiar landscapes, while recreating a space for the mind that speaks with intimacy of contemporary societal issues. A graduate from the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI), Cinema Department, Monica has lived and worked in Los Angeles since 1981. Her film, video, performance and mixed media work has been exhibited in the US and internationally (amongst others, Directors Guild of America, Hollywood, Los Angeles Filmforum, Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival, former Melnitz Theatre at UCLA, Echo Park Film Center, New Festival at NYU, New York City, Cleveland International Film Festival, MadCat Women's International Film Festival, Angels Gate Cultural Center, Anais Nin Video & Film Diary Festival, Big Sur, Film Arts Festival, Roxie Cinema, San Francisco, UC Theater, Berkeley, Beaubourg Pompidou Center, Paris, London Filmmaker's Coop). Monica has received grants from the City of Los Angeles, Cultural Affairs Department, the Long Beach Museum of Art Video Annex, the Ahmanson Foundation, the California Arts Council, the California Community Foundation, the Italian Cultural Institute and others.
Holiday (2006) is an experimental diary short about a trip to the Central California coast that invites meditation, cinematic "écriture" feminine and creates a rhythmic texture between past and present time, memory and cosmic spaces. Soundtrack composed by Los Angeles based music artist Jake Fedler. Other shorts in the program include: The House of Memories, Dinner with Arlene, Of Walking on Ice: Florence / LA, Tending Echo Park (music by Joan La Barbara).
More recently, Monica was invited to participate on the jury of Bresee's Second Annual Youth Film Festival on Social Justice, coordinated by Bresee's Media Instructor Jerold Kress. Fellow jurors included Eric Garcetti, President Los Angeles City Council, Steve Anker, Dean Film and Video at Cal Arts, David Tokofsky, former LAUSD Board of Education member and others. The Bresee Foundation is a non-profit organization that serves more than 3,000 people in Koreatown, Pico Union, Westlake and South Central Los Angeles. Established in 1982 Bresee is working to build a stronger, healthier, safer community for area residents by providing them with access to important resources and services and empowering them with the knowledge and skills to improve their lives. For more information, visit www.bresee.org.
Since 2000 Monica has worked as Translator for LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District). She is CSEA UNIT D District Vice President at Beaudry and serves on the Los Angeles Chapter 500 Executive Board. CSEA (California School Employees Association) is the largest classified school employees union in the United States and represents more than 190.000 public employees in California. On July/07 she will participate as delegate in CSEA's Annual Conference in Las Vegas.
Monica's retrospective project opens up a more in depth dialogue between herself and the community where she has lived and worked in for more than a quarter century towards a better understanding of art, education, aesthetics and women's rights. At a time during which women's voices are been heard throughout the city (MOCA's Exhibition on Art and the Feminist Revolution WACK!, Outfest Legacy Project at UCLA Film and Television Archive), Monica's vision becomes a most interesting one since it's an integral part of Los Angeles' recent history.
Back to Intro Page
Movie Trailers
Résumé & Filmography
Criticism
Archives
Links