Latest video with Jeff:
Upcoming Event:
About the Event
Author Elena Poniatowska described the legendary women of Juchitán, a city in Oaxaca, Mexico, as “guardians of men, distributors of food.” Artists like Miguel Covarrubias and Frida Kahlo celebrated their beauty and intelligence. Blossoms of Fire shows them in all their brightly colored, opinionated glory as they run their own businesses, embroider their signature fiery blossoms on clothing and comment with angry humor on articles in the foreign press that flippantly and inaccurately depict them as a promiscuous matriarchy.
The people interviewed in this film share a strong work ethic and fierce independent streak rooted in Zapotec culture. These qualities have resulted not only in powerful women but also in the region’s progressive politics, manifested in their unusual tolerance of homosexuality. Veteran film editor and former Les Blank collaborator Maureen Gosling and co-director Ellen Osborne illuminate the infectious self-confidence of the Juchitecan people.
Q&A will be with the filmmaker in person, Maureen Gosling moderated by Jeff M. Giordano
*No one is turned away for lack of funds; tickets are $10.00*
FULL DETAILS: https://www.theclarionsf.org/events/blossoms-of-fire-film-screening
MAUREEN GOSLING has been a documentary filmmaker for more than thirty years and is best known for her twenty-year collaboration with acclaimed independent director, Les Blank. Gosling has also been sought after as an editor, working with such directors as Tom Weidlinger, Jed Riffe, Shakti Butler, Amie Williams, Ashley James and Pam Rorke Levy. Her work has often focused on themes of people and their cultural values, music as cultural expression and the changing gender roles of men and women. Her films have been seen in countless film festivals around the world, on national public and cable television, on television in Europe, Australia and Asia, and have been distributed widely to educational institutions.
Gosling’s Blossoms of Fire, a feature documentary filmed and edited completely on 16mm, represents her debut as a Producer/Director. The film is a celebratory tribute to the Isthmus Zapotec people of southern Oaxaca, Mexico. Blossoms of Fire, an Intrépidas Productions release, has garnered rave reviews, charming audiences from San Diego to Marseille. The film won the coveted Coral Award for Best Documentary by a Non-Latino Director about Latin America at the Havana International Film Festival. The film has also been broadcast on HBO Latino.
Time & Location
Saturday, March 25th, 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Clarion Performing Arts Center, 2 Waverly Pl, San Francisco, CA
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Jeff played percussion on the following song!
*To book a screening for one of Jeff’s directed movies, or to hire Jeff for your documentary, percussion, harmonica, or creative needs, email: love(at)jeffmgiordano.com
Listen to Jimmy Lyons’ album Night Music! https://jazzpoetry.bandcamp.com/album/nights-music
Music Video filmed by Jeff in 2023:
Since August 2022, Jeff has been programming films at the Clarion Performing Arts Center in San Francisco! Below are Q&A’s Jeff had moderated with guest filmmakers and subjects of films shown:
Recent Events:
- Saturday, September 3rd at 4pm, our music documentary mystery about Jimmy Lyons had its San Francisco at the Clarion Performing Arts Center! https://www.theclarionsf.org/events/searching-for-jimmy-lyons-film-screening
- Saturday, July 30, 2022 at 4pm: our award-winning documentary The God Given Talent: the Creative Life of Charles Curtis Blackwell will be shown at the Clarion Performing Arts Center in San Francisco (2 Waverly Place); Get Your Tickets at https://www.theclarionsf.org/events/god-given-talent-charles-curtis-blackwell-film-screening
- Monday, August 1st 2022 at 9pm: our award-winning animated-documentary Romantic Chorus plays in Oakland outside!
- Tuesday, August 2, 2022 at 6pm: our music documentary Searching for Jimmy Lyons will be shown at the Alameda Free Library in Alameda, CA. Watch Jimmy’s music video at: https://youtu.be/TWrqTmzWb1M
*Jimmy was a legendary jazz artist who wrote lyrics about love, family, existentialism, politics, myth, meaning, and once penned a song for Johnny Mathis. Lyons was also arrested in New York City at the Gaslight Cafe for his unique vocal style and acquitted with “the right to expand the boundaries of poetry.”
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The music video Billie’s Blues by Jimmy Lyons directed by Jeff will premiere at the Oakland Secret Music Video Festival!
*All of the documentaries can be rented/purchased via Vimeo on Demand https://vimeo.com/jmgmotionpictures/vod_pages
- https://vimeo.com/ondemand/romanticchorus (this version contains optional French, Spanish, and English subtitles!)
*Contribute:
- https://www.paypal.com/donate/?business=payments@jeffmgiordano.com&source=url
- https://www.patreon.com/m/jmgmotionpictures
*Thank You. Any support right now is very much appreciated and helps a ton! You rock!
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Below is the 47 minute Ukrainian film (same running time as our Jimmy Lyons documentary!)…this is the first animated feature made in Ukraine. It is based on a play by the poet Vladimir Mayakovsky who lived from 1893 – 1930. Enjoy it while it’s up! There’s both live action and animation; it gets wild!
Mystery-Bouffe (1969)
Hello again! Hope you are all well! Peace & Love. Thank you everyone for your support over the years, and continued encouragement!
In the meantime…check out this unreleased scene from Passion is the Money and keep scrollin’ down for more 🙂You have some options for experiencing the documentaries!
- You can rent them with the QR Code below or visit:
https://vimeo.com/jmgmotionpictures/vod_pages
Last but never least! We have DVD’s available, too!
DVD Artwork from our recent films is below…click the images to enlarge…email love@jeffmgiordano.com if you want to purchase a DVD for $20 (plus Media Mail shipping in the US)…physical media, yay!
*More Good News!
The God Given Talent: the Creative Life of Charles Curtis Blackwell won an award for Disability Justice at the 2020 Superfest Disability Film Festival
Cool links from the Archive!
- https://www.indieactivity.com/jeff-m-giordano-how-i-collaborated-virtually-with-20-artists-on-romantic-chorus/
- https://dac.berkeley.edu/news/dac-movie-screenings-crip-camp-god-given-talent
- https://eoss.asu.edu/content/romantic-chorus-film-screening
Flyers from the Archive!
Paintings by Jeff M. Giordano…
Original Music by Jimmy Lyons, the subject of our documentary Making Up My Mind: Searching for Jimmy Lyons…
In March 2020, Jeff created a bandcamp page for Charles Curtis Blackwell’s audio poetry (three albums!). Charles is the subject of the award-winning film The God Given Talent.
- To book a screening event for one or all of the documentaries, or for speaking engagements, and performance roles — please visit the following email address. Thank you very much for your interest and may we all carry on! love(at)jeffmgiordano.com
