QUEER inSIGHT

First Take partnered with Queer Bodies Poetry Collective to bring you Queer InSIGHT: A fusion of spoken word, film, visuals & music to explore the changing landscape of Gender & Sexuality. 

We worked with 10 exciting new Queer Poets/ Spoken Word Artists in the Liverpool City Region on this experimental new programme of workshops, films, interactive poetry zines, vjing & Live Performance.

It is a bold legacy of audio and visual work that briefly encapsulates our community, hones and platforms the skills of our artists in development, and engages our audience in a conversation around the political landscape of what it means to be LGBTQ+.

 

Alina Burwitz – Fruiting Bodies

What happens when two monokaryotic mycelia meet…? An exploration of the dynamics of attraction in this genre-bending queer love story.

Claire Beerjeraz – I Love you but

‘A true mockery of nature…’ Claire grapples with the rejection of conditional love from a perfidious lover in this subversive religious horror.

Jo Mary Watson – Heirlooms

A film about Motherhood, in all its vastness, and the heirlooms we choose to pass on.

Dan Chan – Things I do to find light

An homage to ancestry, heritage, and bringing in the new – A drag queen shifts between the dualities of their identity; the ancestral and the modern, the natural and material, the maternal and paternal, in a meditative quest for light.

Beth Noonan-Roberts – Eviction of Body

In excavating her own body, Beth confronts her own intrusive perversions in this dystopian reimagining of the body’s extinction.

Benjamina Albenese – City visits plant does not leave

In the natural world personified, plants tell us of the concrete visitor that came and never left… A moss green take on the state of the world and its forgotten first inhabitants.

Melanie John – Anger

Mel, a young Black woman, enraged at being wrongfully jailed, casts a spell during her overnight stay in a cell-block to tip the power balance between herself and the Police. A disturbing look at racialised misogyny and its violent counterpart through a black, female gaze.

Ollie Adebisi – God

Ex-Muslim, Ollie, is haunted by their past when they meet a handsome stranger on a night out… Desire, paranoia and transgression straddle the intersection of religion and sexuality in this neo-noir horror.

Leo Soph Welton – Sometimes

‘That’s cool- but can we still call you mum?…’ A Non-Binary parent comes to terms with the multiplicity of their identity and all its forms in this coming of age short film.

Marcella Rick – My friend Hugh

Marcy can’t understand why anyone’s arsed about the Queen dying in a palace while their friend Huw was found as unidentified remains. A satirical commentary on death, wealth, and how the two are closely linked in mourning.

MEET THE TEAM

Jay Farley – Film/Visuals/Concept

Jay is a non-binary, queer filmmaker/digital artist who has worked on award winning shorts, documentaries and feature length films. They have shot for broadcast throughout Europe and is a director at First Take. Their work as a digital artist began as an international creative activist, fusing art and insurrection and now with creative accessibility, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), interactive web and live streaming has featured in New York, Hong Kong and Sao Paulo. They are currently developing their own practice for the first time as a Spoken Word artist whilst integrating their film and digital art skills into their practice.

Day Mattar – Spoken Word/Poetry

Day Mattar is a queer, non-binary internationally published poet (Rialto, Lambda Literary, Rattle) and has a Masters degree in Poetry, with Distinction. Their pamphlet springing from the pewswas published by Broken Sleep Books, and they were a recipient of the FACT TOGETHER and QUEERCORE artist development grants in 2020. They have experience in performing, hosting, and producing events with Brendan (SPEW, EAT ME, and Queer Bodies Showcase, Homotopia Festival 2020). 

Brendan Curtis – Artistic Director (live Show)

Brendan Curtis is a queer, neurodiverse multidisciplinary host, writer, performer and chef, he has over 10 years experience producing and initiating grassroots projects (Eat Me, Spew, LQPC) and companies (Dough Theatre, Bearded Child) and forging collaborations with local organisations and communities. He is committed to creating accessible events and safer spaces that push boundaries of forms, showcase radical, inclusive work and act as a safe space for the queer community. He is Artistic Director of Eat Me.

Lynne Harwood – Director/Editor

Lynne Harwood is a writer/director and editor that has written and directed two feature films and many short films.  Her films have received official selection in Film Festivals around the world including Los Angeles, Toronto, Berlin, Chicago, London and São Paulo.  Lynne has been a director of First Take since 1993.  She has written for both film and television and is presently developing a TV drama series with Moonspun Films.

Becky Downing – Producer

Becky Downing is a multi-disciplinary queer creative & producer. She has previously worked as a producer for the 99 Comedy Club, London, A project Co-ordinator for various projects with Writing on the Wall, and is a core member of Queer Bodies. She is currently co-producing A Lovely Word Festival and runs Liverpool based theatre company Flood, where she is the Co-Director. She is also the Co-director for environmental arts focused company Theatre in the Rough, and has been working in the arts across various sectors since 2012. 

Charlotte Barber – Composer

Charlotte Barber goes by the moniker SHAR and is a sound designer, composer, multimedia performer and artist based in Manchester. She writes and produces music for theatre, film and live performance, intertwining beautiful harmonies, piano-led melodies and soulful nuances.

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