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CALLING ALL FILMMAKERS 
Entries
are now being accepted for the 20th LONDON LESBIAN & GAY FILM
FESTIVAL in 2006. Organisers are looking for queer feature films
as well as documentaries and shorts. Last year’s programme included
the documentaries The Nomi Song (about Klaus Nomi, pictured) and Drag Kings
On Tour. LLGFF is currently the third largest film festival in the UK, attracting
an audience of over 25,000. To be part of it, submit your entry, preferably
on DVD or video, before Friday 16 December to: 20th London Lesbian & Gay
Film Festival, National Film Theatre, South Bank, London SE1 8XT.
For further details and festival
regulations, call 020 7815 1323
or check out www.llgff.org.uk
If you enjoyed your Gay Pride celebrations this year, why not do it all again?
The PRIDE REUNION weekender boasts three days and nights
of queer entertainment and it’s all to raise money for regional Pride
events. Running 19-21 November at Butlins in Minehead, Somerset,
the weekend features a live performance from Bananarama as
well as music from some of your favourite clubs. Brighton’s Wild Fruit,
Birmingham’s Nightingale’s and London’s Beyond, Crash, Popstarz,
Queer Nation, XXL and The Candy Bar are all in on the act. The package includes
an indoor subtropical Water World with shoots and rides, the UK’s biggest
speed dating event, gay bingo, as well as a comedy and cabaret extravaganza
hosted by drag queen Lola Lasagna.
Tickets start at £160 including accommodation. Call 0870 145 003. For every ticket sold, £5 will be donated to regional Pride organisations.
Scotland's
annual queer artsfest, GLASGAY (20 Oct-20 Nov),
rattles on with a programme of unmissable theatre, dance, music, film, comedy,
literature, art and entertainment. Highlights include Healthy Gay Scotland’s
free exhibition of safer sex-inspired cartoonery, Cock Tales (14 Nov-9 Dec),
US ladyshave Lipsinka (right) with her insane new lipsynching
revue The Boxed Set (18-20 Nov), the musical Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?,
based on the classic Crawford/Davis film (1-5, 8-12 Nov), Tim Fountain's play
Sex Addict (16 Nov), the flick Kiki & Herb Mount The President (10 Nov),
queer cabaret Club Fab! (18 Nov), DJ David Holmes with his electronic club
night Death Disco (19 Nov), 
and Alan Bennett’s theatrical yarn about
school-age adolesence and staffroom rivalry, The History Boys (15-19 Nov).
For full details, call 0141 552 7575, or check out www.glasgay.co.uk
BODY TALK
VIRAL SUTRA is a darkly comic play set inside positive playwright David Carter’s body. It’s the story told from
the perspective of HIV struggling for survival, all the while pondering issues
like God, the reason for existence, and the threat to its future posed by
condoms. Catch it at Bristol’s Alma Tavern Theatre from 1-12
November.
The Alma Tavern, Clifton, Bristol. Tel: 0117 946 7899, www.theatre-west.co.uk
Many HIV positive people fear stigma and discrimination from those they tell
about their status, including family, friends and work colleagues. DHIVERSE,
the Cambridgeshire HIV charity, is championing a campaign calling for full
legal protection from policies and laws that discriminate against those affected
by HIV and Aids. Its STICK IT TO STIGMA campaign is hoping
to collect 10,000 names of support, so they’re asking you to sign up.
It’s easy; all you have to do is log onto the website and fill in the
form. Go on, help make a difference.
The
countdown is on for WORLD AIDS DAY on 1 December. This year’s
theme is Stop Aids. Keep The Promise. To mark the occasion, National Aids
Trust (NAT) has launched a campaign called Wise Up. Wear It. Where’s
Yours? with which it hopes to get 2,000,000 people wearing one of the fundraising
red ribbons. To help them achieve that, they’re asking you to submit
quotes and photos to their website explaining exactly why you’ll be
wearing your red ribbon on 1 December. www.nat.org.uk
NAT is also in the process of developing resources for people who want to challenge discriminatory media coverage, including fact sheets, and email alerts on stigmatizing articles. If you want to get involved in the fight, email: emma.bickerstaff@nat.org.uk or phone 020 7814 6730 for more information.
In
his new exhibition of oil paintings, FALL / UPRISING, artist Kimathi Donkor explores the conflict between London’s
Metropolitan Police and residents of Brixton and Tottenham during the September
and October riots of 1985. Donkor’s Madonna Metropolitan (above) depicts one pivotal incident in which a heavy-handed raid led to the
fatal heart attack of a grandmother. “News of the death sparked more
protests, baton charges and a night of fighting on the Broadwater Farm estate,”
says Donkor, “culminating in the death PC Keith Blakelock.” Using
his own mother as a model, Donkor imagines the scene that was to provoke more
trouble. “The title,” adds Donkor, “suggests Christian martyrdom,”
reinforced by some of the poses, which echo Da Vinci’s famous ‘Madonna
of the Rocks’.
Running 3 November to 3 December, these large-scale oil paintings continue Kimathi’s exploration of the human struggle. At the Bettie Morton Gallery, 62 Atlantic Road, Brixton, London SW9. Details on 020 7733 5874, www.bettiemortongallery.co.uk
Rounding
off the UK’s BLACK HISTORY MONTH is Liverpool Philharmonic’s JAZZ JAMAICA. The annual concert, launched in 1991, fuses
Motown, ska, reggae, classic and modern jazz standards alongside Jamaican
folksongs. This year’s line-up includes Denys Baptiste and Juliet Roberts as well as organizer and veteran bassist Gary Crosby. It all kicks off at 8pm on 12 November.
Tickets cost £14, £19 for boxes, from Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, Hope St, Liverpool. Box Office: 0151 709 3789. Book online at www.liverpoolphil.com
If
you’re thinking of upgrading your phone this Christmas, do a good deed
at the same time by donating your unfashionable old brick to The Body
Shop, who in conjunction with Women’s Aid, the UK’s national
domestic violence charity, will turn them into mobile personal alarms for
women at risk. The bonus is you can get some Christmas shopping out of the
way at the same time. So just pop into your local Body Shop and drop off that
unwanted phone. If you’re thinking of donating at a later date, simply
pick up a pre-paid envelope. Easy peasy. JK
Need cheering up? WINTER NIGHTS is a new glamorous event
held at the Natural History Museum in London. Every Friday between 6-9pm visitors
can enjoy a cocktail, tapas and a generous 20 per cent discount off exhibition
entry. Currently on display, DIAMONDS is a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity to see an astonishing array of famous diamonds like the Steinmetz
Pink, alongside celebrity items like the diamond tiara worn by Catherine
Zeta Jones at her wedding and Sharon Osbourne’s cube ring (above).
From 16 November there’s also the chance to have a go on The Natural
History Museum’s new outdoor ice rink and pick up gifts from the Christmas
Fair.
OK, it’s November and those niggling coughs and colds are back to give
our T-cells another run for their money, and with no cure for the common cold,
anything that can alieviate symptoms is more than welcome. Comvita has harnessed the power of the New Zealand honeybee and created a range of Propolis products to help alleviate
sore throats, coughs, colds and flu symptoms. The magic ingredient Propolis
has antiviral, antioxidant and immune stimulating properties. The packaging
is a bit Miss Marple but we think they’re great. For coughs we recommend
the propolis lozenges at £2.95 and propolis throat spray at £7.50.
For colds and flu try propolis tincture, £7.25. All available at your
local health food store or call Xynergy Health on 08456 58 58 58 or see www.xynergy.co.uk.
JK
With
Christmas looming and the pressie list getting longer by the week, a little
discount wouldn’t go amiss. Our favourite male grooming website www.mankind.co.uk is offering PN readers a 10 per cent discount on their first online 
purchases
until the end of January 06. The site is packed with quality tried and tested
hair/body/skincare products to fit everyone’s wallet. There is a section
dedicated to skin type and any skin problems you may have. The shopping pages
are full of tips and customer reviews, and the Top 10 best seller’s
list shows what other guys are using. With brands like Molton Brown, Zirh,
Lab Series, Nickel, Anthony Logistics, Korres and Fudge, you are bound to
find that special present; or why not just treat yourself? Lets face it, guys,
you deserve it.
Check out www.mankind.co.uk and register (or log in if already a customer). Once registered you can start
shopping. To claim your 10 per cent off, enter PN1005 in the ‘offer
code’ box of the shopping basket at checkout.
Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) is hosting a conference on PROSECUTION
FOR TRANSMISSION OF HIV on 1 Nov at the Resource Centre on Holloway
Road, north London. The conference aims to give policy advisors and health
professionals information about how to think critically about HIV prosecutions
and how best to respond to them. For details, email elias.phiri@tht.org.uk
• On 2 Nov the POSITIVE WOMEN’S GROUP meet at
the Ribbons Centre in Southampton. Join them every first Wednesday of the
month from 11.30am till 1.30pm for chat and support. Details on 023 8022 5511
or www.ribbons-centre.co.uk
• Heterosexual men and women with HIV are
invited to help plan the first social event in Sussex for HETEROSEXUAL
PEOPLE AFFECTED BY HIV. The next planning meeting takes place on 4 Nov (2-4pm) at Terrence Higgins Trust South in central
Brighton when they will be developing ideas for a regular Sunday afternoon
social event. For more info, contact Chris Pearcy at THT South on 01273 764
200 or email chris.pearcy@tht.org.uk
• Help UNITY celebrate the diversity and creativity
of the people of Manchester on 12 Nov, when they stage their WINTER FESTIVAL. It’s an evening of art, music, dance,
drumming, samba and hands-on activities for all ages and all communities.
Runs 6-10pm at Manchester City Art Gallery, admission free. More info at www.unity-manchester.org.uk
• BEXHILL COLLEGE’S BATTLE OF THE BANDS returns on 16
Nov this year raising money for World Aids Day. The event takes place
from 9pm till 1am at Hastings Pier Ballroom and entry is £5. Details
from 07719 260 639 or email james@jamesrendle.com. www.bexhillcollege.co.uk
• If Halloween didn’t scare you enough, LEICESTERSHIRE
AIDS SUPPORT SERVICE (LASS) is staging an AFRICAN GHOST STORY
EVENING on 17 Nov at the Leicester Guildhall between 7.30-9.30pm.
Tickets £7, £5 concessions. Call 0116 255 9995 or email reception@lass.org.uk
• THE BLACK CONNECTION is a new monthly workshop for
black men into men. Meet, talk and socialise with other black guys in a supportive,
confidential and attitude-free environment. All black African and African
Caribbean men are welcome to attend. Next meeting is on 20 Nov, 6-9pm, at
Pace in Islington, London. For more details and to book, call 020 7700 1323.
• The 2005 UKC HERO AWARDS take place on 25 Nov.
• NATIONAL LONG TERM SURVIVORS are taking bookings
for their next ‘Living Proof’ retreat. Taking place 16-18
Dec, the weekend provides an opportunity to relax with others who
have been living with HIV for five years or more. For details, check out www.nltsg.org
or write to National Long Term Survivors, BM LTSG, London WC1N 3XX
• Registration is now being accepted for next year’s fundraising SUSSEX BEACON HALF MARATHON (right). Taking place on 19
Feb 2006 you can download a registration form at www.sussexbeacon.org.uk or call for details on 01273 694 222.
• Are you lesbian, gay, bisexual or questioning your sexuality and living
in a rural area? Then you may be interested in taking part in some research
being carried out by a team from York’s St John College. They want to
find out more about the lives of LGBT LIFE IN RURAL COMMUNITIES. If you’d like to know more, call 01904 716 875 or write to the Rural
Project, York St John College, Lord Mayor’s Walk, York YO31 7EX. Confidentiality
is guaranteed.
• Wrist support! BODY POSITIVE DORSET has produced
its own trendy HIV/Aids awareness wristbands. The fundraising bands cost £2
each, with 100 per cent of the profits helping the charity to reach those
who rely on their help most. You can purchase them online from eBay or direct
from the support centre. Details
on 01202 297 386 (1pm to 7pm). www.bodypositivedorset.org.
