Thursday, August 9, 2012

JWAM selection of SOAPIFF International Fest and Silent River Film Festival

JWAM has been chosen to be screened at 2 more festivals!

The Silent River Film Festival takes place in Irvine, CA (not far from Hollywood) and will be held October 11-14th. Info on screening times TBA

Silent River Film Festival dedicated to the independent filmmakers of the world has been established with a vision to bring East and West together to share their best work of  films and Cinema and Causes on one platform to raise awareness about the issues that are important to us. It also aims to create more opportunities for the Female Filmmakers and supports  Student Filmmakers by discovering and recognizing them.





Secondly, the Southern Appalachian International Film Festival takes place in Kingsport, TN and will be held November 12-18th. Info on screening times TBA as well

 The purpose of SOAPIFF is to publicly recognize, promote and preserve the work of independent filmmakers and encourage film production and film culture in Southern Appalachia. SOAPIFF revives an annual film festival in the greater Tri-Cities, Tennessee, the birthplace of the oldest continuous independent film festival in the American South (the Sinking Creek Film Celebration). SOAPIFF will entertain, educate and also present speakers, seminars and other art forms that play collaborative roles in film production and promotion. To that end, the Organizers aim to provide Festival entrants with an opportunity to showcase their movies to as wide an audience as possible with the premiere of their entries, if selected, at SOAPIFF in multiple theatres, and, when possible, via distribution of entry materials for promotional purposes separate from, and/or before, during and/or following the Festival.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

JWAM selection of 2012 Interrobang Film Festival

JWAM has been chosen to be screened at the 2012 Interrobang Film Festival! If you happen to be in Des Moines next weekend, it's showing on June 23rd at 10am. 


The Film festival works in conjunction with the Des Moines Arts Festival taking place June 22-24th in downtown Des Moines. For more information on the Interrobang Film Festival and the Des Moines Arts Festival visit,






Sunday, May 20, 2012

JWAM Premieres, wins at IMPA Awards

After the IMPA Awards Ceremony

JWAM's premiere at the Nelson-Atkins on May 6th was a success, with almost 100 viewers in attendance. Again, many thanks to everyone who came out to see it!

Next up was the Iowa Motion Picture Association Awards, where last night JWAM took home a win in the College Doc category. My 2011 short film, The Yellow Wallpaper, also won in its College Short category.

JWAM Premiere at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Saturday, April 14, 2012

New Vitamin JWAM & Behind the Scenes Stills

Watch the Vitamin JWAM: Weekend Edition 2-part Meditation on Quality in Art!
Featuring Professor Russell Ferguson and Artist Misha Kligman.

                       
View Part I
View Part II

Now for a glance at the making of JWAM


 Shaun Teamer as Jeff Koon's Michael Jackson


 Alex Eckard, playing F. Holland Day, receiving direction from Alyssa Lundgren


 Dancer's Rehearsal night before first day of shooting; Kenny Personett, Kristen Cooksey, Ayla Glass, Emily Shakelford



 The cast of The Calling of Saint Matthew. Russ Pedersen as Matthew; C.J. Schrat, Tim Coen, John Lampe, Coleman Crenshaw, Tyler Ernst, Adam Dreeszen.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

See JWAM on the Star online!

Be sure to save the afternoon of May 6th, the film has 3 showings and is only 40 minutes long. 
And exciting news! There is a potential addition to the Q&A with me after the last screening, a panel discussion with 4 of the people featured in the documentary!


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 Alyssa Lundgren, “Reenactment of Andres Serrano’s Piss Christ,” 2012, color photograph; and “Reenactment of Caravaggio’s Calling of St. Matthew,” 2012, color photography, 
photo credits: Matthew Wilson

Dances with Religion
KCAI senior makes documentary of Academia, Faith, and reenactments of Art
Premieres May 6, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (April 3, 2012) – Acts of piety and blasphemy will be witnessed when Jesus Was A Moonwalker, a film by Kansas City Art Institute senior Alyssa Lundgren, premieres at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art on May 6th, screening at 1:30, 2:15, and 3:00pm, ending with a Q&A with the filmmaker.

Synopsis of the film: While being distracted by the loud, explicit, train wreck of regurgitated culture that is postmodernism, have we missed something in the art world? After millennia of being dominated by religious imagery, the art world is now discussing everything but. Jesus Was A Moonwalker is a documentary featuring interviews with historians, critics, curators and artists about the qualms of including religious content in the contemporary art scene.

Alyssa Lundgren, a Digital Filmmaking and Art History double major at the Kansas City Art Institute, made the film as her senior thesis project after noticing something at home that’s rarely spoken about in art school. “The weekly bulletins at my church back home have always had some sort of art on the cover. Much of it seems to consist of old masters depicting religious scenes, but actually the majority of the art is contemporary. Noticing how I (an artist myself) had for years completely disregarded those contemporary pieces as being  ‘serious art,’ I asked myself, ‘why do I react negatively to sincere religious art made in the contemporary scene? Does sincere religion have a place in contemporary art?’”  

Professor of Art History at the University of Kansas David Cateforis states, “When modern art does intersect with religion it does so in ways that can be discomforting or challenging to someone who is not attuned to that kind of experimentation.”

“There is a tension in America between our Puritan Heritage and what visual art can do,” adds well-known art critic Eleanor Heartney, author of Postmodern Heretics: The Catholic Imagination in Contemporary Art.

JWAM, as it’s affectionately known, is a typical talking-head documentary in collision with the collaboration of many of Kansas City's performers, dancers, and models who re-create several works of art known for their sensationalized religious content. Including Andres Serrano’s Piss Christ, and Chris Ofili’s The Holy Virgin Mary, as well as old master works like Caravaggio’s Calling of Saint Matthew.

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Vitamin JWAM Dose 10: "Grace & American Religion"

Now some more on the religious side, the Rev makes a great point about religion in our country and the concept of Grace.




Jesus Was A Moonwalker Supplemental Series:
with the Rev'd Todd Bruce, St. Paul's Episcopal Church - Kansas City

Vitamin JWAM: Dose 9 "On Religious Studies"

Taking a break from artspeak, what about religion/anthro-speak? 
VITAMIN JWAM.


Jesus Was A Moonwalker Supplemental Series: 
with Paul Mirecki, Professor of Ancient Mediterranean Religions - University of Kansas

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

JWAM featured in Bread & Glitter Art Journal

Check out the first coverage of Jesus Was A Moonwalker!

Read the article here: http://breadandglitterjournal.com/2012/03/26/jesus-was-a-moonwalker-q-a-with-alyssa-lundgren/



"This week we are proud to feature an interview with Alyssa Lundgren-a Kansas City based-filmmaker and artist. We interviewed Lundgren about her current project, Jesus Was A Moonwalker (JWAM)-a documentary featuring interviews with historians, critics,  curators, and artists about the qualms of including religious content in contemporary art. Lundgren recreated several famous works of art known for their sensationalized religious content by collaborating with local Kansas City based performers, dancers, and models. The following is our conversation." 


About Bread & Glitter

B&G is both a web and print-published arts journal showcasing a mix of essays, life & cultural reflections, reviews and profiles of local artists and their work. It is designed to provide a minor stage on which an excellent relationship between art, faith, culture renewal, and local community can be celebrated. We accept submissions on an on-going basis. Please contact us if you wish to contribute.