Wed 2/12 @ 6:30PM (Doors at 6)
Filmmaker/photographer/educator Cynthia Penter is known for the wide range of her work which includes straightforward films, videos and photo work as well as experimental and abstract work.
In the 90s, she made a film called Quilt Square for Diane, paying tribute to a friend of hers who died of AIDS in 1988, described as “an abstracted collection of film creating a souvenir portrait of a friend, a tribute to her life.” Previous versions were shown in the 1990s, early 2000s and 2014 as part of various arts events, and now a recent version of the 22-minute film will now be the centerpiece of an evening she’s put together at Context Gallery at 78th Street Studios.
The program will also include excerpts from two of her other films Doreeya Luna/ Pira Luna (1982) and Images of Women (1985): the dance number from On the Town and the lament from Madame Butterfly, original music by Julie Akerlund, plus additional images, super 8 films by Diane Hunt and Amy Burt, and poems by Hunt performed by Alice Cone and Major Ragain. Penter will also give a short talk following the screening.
“This film was labor of love that I made during the AIDS Crisis,” says Penter. “We had no hope. Only love. And a will to survive.”
The screening is free and open to all.