6 I The Blue Banner I 9.28.2011
PUPPETS
continued from page 5
“We have our Young Audi
ence Series two to three times a
year at Diana Wortham Theater.
We are also using White Horse
Black Mountain,” said Sturz,
who is also in charge of the
Young Audience Series.
The APA, however, also pro
vides entertainment for adults
interested in puppetry.
“We are trying every year to
do something for adults,” she
said. “We have the Puppetry
Slam, which is short form adult
material.”
The ^oup put on a Puppetry
Slam this past summer and plan
to have one sometime in Octo
ber, said Sturz.
“Puppetry slam is a movement
that has been going on for about
20 years now. It encourages
short adult form,” she said.
Although puppetry has only
recently become popular in the
United States, Sturz said it has
been heavily influential every
where else.
“We are kind of behind in the
U.S. Recently, that is changing a
little,” she said.
Elizabeth Adams, a perform
ing arts student, said puppetry
is an underrated art form.
“You definitely don’t see it
as much, but that doesn’t make
it any lesser than any other per
forming arts,” she said. “It takes
so much talent, from what I have
seen, to not only create the pup
pets, but also control them.”
Adams said she would really
like to learn more about pup
petry.
“I wish I knew of more oppor
tunities to learn about puppets
and how they are created,” she
said.
Sturz has performed puppetry
in different forms.
“I’ve done a lot with opera,”
she said. “I also did something
with The Asheville Symphony.”
Puppetry is different than most
art forms, Sturz said.
“You can do a lot of nonlinear
dream imagery,” she said. “Pup
pets can communicate really
well. It is a visual art form.”
The APA will
perform “Pin-
occhio” start-
ing at 2 p.m. on
Saturday at the
Diana Wortham
Theatre.
For more information about
the APA, visit their website.
Local group benefits LGBTQ inmates
Tranzmission provides support, resources to prisoners
Beckett Bathanti
sbattiant@unca.edu - Staff Writer
Tranzmission Prison Proj
ect, an offshoot of the Ashe
ville Prison Books Project,
has been providing lesbian,
gay, bisexual, transgender and
queer inmates with reading
materials, resources and pen
pals for about five years.
Despite often working with
the LGBTQ organizations of
UNC Asheville and Warren
Wilson College, Tranzmis
sion is unaffiliated with either
institution and operates as its
own entity.
“Tranzmission is very much
a DIY grassroots organization
and there is no real assigned
hierarchy,” said Melody
Rood, a recent UNCA grad
uate who has been volunteer
ing with Tranzmission for al
most two years.
“We try and get books and
resources to inmates who
identify as LGBTQ. The edu
cation of that community that
is being silenced is impor
tant,” Rood said.
Tranzmission came about
following an influx of letters
from LGBTQ prisoners re
questing materials received
by Asheville Prison Books
Project. The project has been
providing inmates in the
Southeastern United States
with reading materials since
its inception in 1999.
Rae Swersey is a Warren
Wilson College graduate
and has been volunteering
with Tranzmission, for three
years. She said about five
years ago, Asheville Prison
Project began receiving letters
from LGBTQ inmates.
“Some members began re
plying to these letters and
stayed in touch with them,”
said Swersey.
Rood said Tranzmission
Prison Project is not limited to
Asheville.
“We are a nationwide pro
gram and it has spread mostly
by word of mouth, although
we are on some National
Prison Resource Lists,” Rood
said. “We get anywhere from
30 - 70 letters a week from in
mates requesting materials or
just interested in correspon
dence.”
Rood adds she is amazed
at how word travels, but also
points- out the pen pals pro
gram is constantly in need of
volunteers and has a relatively
low cost of operation com
pared to the Asheville Prison
Books Project.
Since both projects rely en
tirely on volunteers and dona
tions, funding plays a key role
in how many resources can be
administered.
“Alliance has sponsored
many events in which the
proceeds benefit Tranzmis
sion, and we regularly have
Alliance members that intern
with the organization,” says
Roth Doyle, a member of
Alliance, UNCA’s student
organization that focuses on
bringing people who identify
as LGBTQ and their allies to
gether.
Tranzmission’s shipping
costs often exceed their mon
etary resources. Doyle said
Alliance struggles to fulfill
the needs of UNCA’s LGBTQ
and allied community, while
Tranzmission serves a much
wider area.
Tranzmission’s goals are
not only focused on those be
hind bars. Rood says.
“We want to educate people
outside prison walls who treat
incarcerated folks as less than
human,” she says.
Rood says she is amazed at
how word about Tranzmission
has traveled beyond Ashe
ville. Rood also said it is the
only organization of its kind
she is aware of.
Doyle said anyone who is
interested in volunteering, be
ing a pen pal or wants more
information on the organiza
tion may contact tranzmis-
sionprisonproject@ gmail.
com.
Q-Fest: Asheville hosts its first loeal queer film festival
Garrett Rankin
grankink@unca.edu - Staff Writer
Asheville’s first LGBTQ
film festival will be held soon,
courtesy of Philadelphia and
Asheviile-based production
company Gaston Pictures En
tertainment.
Gaston Pictures Entertain
ment’s Manager of Produc
tion and Development Mi
chael Sheldon feels thrilled to
be a part of Q-Fest and is all for
the festival’s purpose.
“Eight of our films are from
new directors. A new wave
of gay/lesbian movies are
out "there, with directors tell
ing new stories different from
those in the past. They are
films that are not going to play
at the Regal Cinemas, and we
are going to get them to be seen
on the big-screen. We hope to
gain an audience in Asheville
to appreciate what these films
are and what they stand for,”
Sheldon said.
The idea of Q-Fest came
from an individual at “Youth
Outright PSA Campaign 8”
Sheldon and Artistic Director
Robert Gaston took part in re
cently.
“Someone said, ‘Why don’t
you bring out a film festi
val to Asheville?’ Neil Reid
from Fine Arts Theatre said
it was a good idea,” Sheldon
said. “We are receiving help
from an amazing group of vol
unteers. We have too much
work for two people to do, so
we have a lot of people helping
us out, and the Asheville com
munity is too.”
Sheldon and Gaston have no
ticed a nuance the volunteers
and those partaking in produc
ing and promoting Q-Fest are
experiencing.
“The one thing we’ve noticed
as we have been doing this is
that it’s bringing people to
gether,” Sheldon said. “Bring
ing these wonderful films to
town is a blessing. The movies
contain universal themes, and
whatever your sexual orienta
tion, you will take away some
thing from these movies.”
The festival will feature
movies from countries such as
the United Kingdom, Germany,
Iceland, Iran/Lebanon and the
United States, according to fes
tival officials.
A few of the films premier
ing and screening at Q-Fest are
the following: “Jamie and Jesse
Are Not Together” and “From
Hollywood to Dollywood”
from the USA, “Run Lola Run”
director Tom Tykwer’s “3” and
separately “Harvest” from Ger
many, “Jitters” from Iceland,
and “Circumstance” from Iran/
Lebanon.
Sheldon said he hopes Q-
Fest will become a staple in
Asheville’s vast festival reper
toire.
“We hope that it will be an
annual event. We hope that
next year will have more than
one theater showing more than
this year’s 15 films, and even
more community support,”
Sheldon said. “The ticket sell
ing is going well, you can go on
Gastonpictures.com and buy
tickets online. We have been
using posters and Facebook
for promotion. The Asheville
press is releasing information
before the 29th.”
Gaston and Sheldon both
promote Asheville’s Q-Fest en
thusiastically.
“You’ll be left out in the light
and not in the dark,” Sheldon
said.
The festival will show 15
gay/lesbian films from Thurs
day through Sunday in the Fine
Arts Theatre. Show times vary
for each film.
Tickets are
$10 per mov
ie or $60 for
an all-access
pass. ISlvpvlgC':
For more information about
Q-Fest, visit the festival’s web
site.