CROSS-ARTS AND CROSS-LONDON
GFEST – Gaywise FESTival, 'London's LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender) and queer cross - art festival for all', has announced 2011 programme that reflects high artistic quality.

This year the festival will take place across various London venues including The Dreamspace Gallery, Prince Charles Cinema, The Cockpit theatre and Rich Mix amongst other venues.

GFEST 2011 runs for two weeks from Monday 7 November 2011 to Sunday 20 November 2011.
The festival programme can be found on GFEST website:
 http://www.gaywisefestival.org.uk

The festival is recognised as one of the four key events taking place in the capital's annual LGBT and Queer calendar.

NIRANJAN KAMATKAR, the artistic director of GFEST said, “We are proud to announce the much awaited GFEST 2011 line up for visual arts exhibition, film screenings and performances. We hope, the loyal LGBT and other audiences will provide maximum support to help meet the fundraising needs for this year.”

He added, “ Now in its fifth year, I still feel that we have barely scratched the surface of the enormous contemporary LGBTQ talent and artistic diversity that exists around us – and which makes great contributions to the national and international arts scene. I am confident that GFEST 2011 programme is a thrilling mix of high quality artistic presentations from the LGBT community.”

The festival focuses on three main categories covering Short Films, Visual Arts and Performances. Complementing the programme are a series of workshops, participatory theatre, debate and parties. It has been seen as ‘hugely successful art event’ where thousands of Londoners enjoy and benefit from the showcase of emerging and established gay talent.

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Ends
For more information, photography, in-depth stories or to arrange an interview with artists, Niranjan Kamatkar, Artistic Director of GFEST 2010 and Wise Thoughts, please contact: Subodh Rathod, Wise Thoughts / GFEST – Gaywise FESTival
Tel: 020 8889 9555
 info@wisethoughts.org
www.wisethoughts.org / www.gaywisefestival.org.uk

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About GFEST – Gaywise FESTival:  http://www.gaywisefestival.org.uk
GFEST – Gaywise FESTival is the premier LGBT annual cross-arts festival in London - a platform for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and queer artists. Produced and organised by arts charity Wise Thoughts, GFEST 2010 is the brainchild of Wise Thoughts' Artistic Director Niranjan Kamatkar.

Truly diverse cross-arts, this year’s line-up features, amongst many others:


Visual artists:
Wendy Elia : trained in London at St Martins school of Art and has exhibited widely, including at the National Portrait Gallery and as a finalist and the public vote winner for the Sovereign European Prize in 2007.

Simon Croft is a trans-man living and working in London. His original inspiration was the photography and films of those artists who document trans people and the diversity of the trans community.

Deric Ch’ng, originally from Malaysia, regularly exhibited work from the age of twenty. In 2006, after graduating as an architect he moved to UK and later participated in winter exhibitions at Feren Art Gallery, Hull and in 2010 at Redgate Gallery, London.

Sadie Hennessy's work operates within a cultural framework of ‘Englishness’ and explores the idea of nostalgia. In 2010 she won the Jealous Graduate Art Prize for her final MA show at Central St. Martins.


Filmmakers:
Darius Clark Monroe is an award winning filmmaker and graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

Joe Morris is a writer/director from Sheffield. He participated in Screen Yorkshire's Digital Shorts scheme where he wrote and directed his short film ‘Boy’ which was shown as GFEST 2009.

Danish director Lasse Nielsen is best known for his 1978 feature, 'You Are Not Alone,' a best-selling Danish movie.

Tim Brunsden: Based in Liverpool, over the last few years Tim has worked on projects such as Liverpool Stories to larger educational work such as Project Triangle.

Kim Jho Kwang-soo is one of South Korea's few openly gay film directors and has been involved in the production of several works with gay themes. He produced the 2006 film No Regret which was considered to be "the first real Korean gay feature."

British Filmmaker Hong Khaou’s film 'Spring' is the second part of a quadrilogy, followed by 'Monsoon' and 'Winter'. 'Spring' had its world premiere in Sundance and was at Berlinale 2011 for the European premiere.



Performers:
London-based Johnny Guim was once Biba Lerhue, a notorious drag queen. He travelled from the extravaganzas in Sao Paolo to Italy’s wild house clubs. In 2000, he appeared in the feature film, 'Princesa', released internationally.

London Gay Symphonic Winds has been performing for about 4 years, with 45 regular members. They recently had a third solo concert and are going strong with the selection of standard band repertoire, orchestral transcripts, popular music, and showtunes.

Janice Perry has received multiple fellowships from the Fulbright Commission, the Vermont Arts Council and the NEA. Her work has been adapted for radio, television and print, screened at film festivals, and exhibited in the USA and Europe.

VG Lee has published 3 novels and a collection of short stories. Her fourth novel, Always You, Edina will be published by Ward Wood Publishing, spring 2012. At the age of 60 she became a stand-up comedian and was runner-up in the prestigious Hackney Empire’s New Act of the Year 2010.

London based EvOn MusicBully has managed to build a loyal fan base and has delivered her unique combination of hip-hop and soul music to the masses. She has performed for UK Black Pride twice, UK Peace Out hosted by QBoy and NYC Pride.

Naechanè Valentino has studio album releases, press and television appearances, live performances and movie features. His acclaimed debut album, "New Era" was released in 2006.