Review: Diaries, Notes, Sketches

Julie Perini of the Portland Diary Summit hosted Diaries, Notes, Sketches: A Film Screening and Journaling Event for the New Year with Experimental Exposure and Stelo Arts. About 75 of us showed up on a brisk evening to watch experimental films and group journal.

I was there for the movies, the snacks, and the socializing. I’m not much of a journaler, but I am a daily habit person, and I appreciate the diary keepers and documenters. We watched these 4 films, I helped clean up a little, and Julie and I got a drink to celebrate the great success of the event after it was all wrapped up.

I liked all the films, but Visibilty:Moderate by Vivienne Dick was amazing, a film by someone who could have been a friend. A punk from Ireland in NYC and then back in Dublin protesting with Anarchists and interviewing Maureen Gibson who was an activist for a United Ireland who talked about her experience as a political prisoner in the Armagh womens prison. Excellent context clues like television ads and footage of storefronts. I hope our work stands up as well as this film. Who is friends with Vivienne Dick and how can we bring her to Portland?

Julie from Ohio was made by Isa Hesse-Rabinovitch. Julie from Ohio moves to NYC after art school and then goes to Italy to visit family. It’s beautiful and an excellent portrait of someone really engaged in figuring out what they want to do and how boring and slow the process can be. “When did you feel most like yourself this year” was a prompt for the journaling of this film, and I had a vision of sitting on a bench outside the library in Cheyenne WY and just soaking in the world. I’d forgotten.

There wasn’t much discussion of the films during the journaling time. The groups didn’t mingle much, there were a large age range at the event. I caught up with friends I rarely see. The popcorn was really good. I appreciate a slow roll out of a new year. It was cool to be in a new space. Extra thanks to Kate and Jodi for sitting with me.