Author Archives for aliciasfriend

First meeting of Latin American & Spanish writers and poets in London: photography

A group of nine Latin American and Spanish writers who are based in London had their first meeting to discuss their work, and I’m very happy to have documented the occasion. Please visit my Flickr to see the whole album.

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Zombie Overture co-composition will be performed in Seoul

Some great news music-wise. The overture from the musical Flatmates V Zombies I co-composed last year will be performed in Seoul next week. The director of the musical, Hyun Ju Baek, is showcasing it. I can’t wait to hear how it is received over there. 

Here is the programme – my name and my co-composer’s name is in there amongst the Korean! I’m very excited. 

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English voiceover

Whilst recording the demo tracks for the Flatmates V Zombies musical, I remembered how much I enjoy doing voiceovers and thought I should get back into it. After we finished the final run of the musical and I was recovering from the enjoyable ordeal that is musical theatre, Lonitoy got in touch with me through my father in Turkey. They were looking for an English vocalist for their new English language learning project. What brilliant and serendipitous timing!

I was brought on board as their English vocalist and I’m so glad to see that the project is up and running on the App Store, ready for people to download!

It was unlike other voiceover work I’ve done before as I was required to vocalise words in isolation, but my background in linguistics proved extremely helpful, as well as having my highly trusted network of phoneticians and grammaticians on call for consultation – thanks Cristina Lopez-Bueno and Rebecca Seabrook-Tedd – and also guidance from my wise and knowledgable Logic guru – thank you Michael Neo.

I enjoyed being part of this project so much – I hope to work with Lonitoy again and that I can do more voiceovers in the future.

The applications are now available in the App Store: Combine the Pieces,  The Ship is Coming!, Musical Instruments, Let’s Catch, Matching Game, Our Environment,What’s the Opposite?

London Feminist Film Festival 2013

I went to the first London Feminist Film Festival last year where my documentary filmmaker friend, Jeong-One Park, screened her prize-winning film  Kung-fu Grandma – a film about grandmothers in Nairobi learning kung-fu to defend themselves, particularly against rape attackers. 

In its second year, the LFFF is one of the most important events in my calendar. It’s a platform for women filmmakers and its programming inspires thought, debate and crucial documentation of women’s rights issues around the world.

This year, I attended the Body Politics session which explored the attitudes and rights over the female body. They screened the films The Cut (about female circumcision in East Africa), Blank Canvas (about hair loss during chemotherapy),  Still Fighting: The Story of Clinics Escorts (about the need for abortion clinic escorts in the US). 
 
From this session alone one can see that the festival is an essential part of the feminist discourse. I would encourage everyone to attend, to support women filmmakers and be more aware of what’s happening to women around the world. 
 
The festival is on now at the Hackney Picturehouse.
For more info vist: www.londonfeministfilmfestival.com
Or follow them on twitter: @LdnFemFilmFest

London Screenwriters’ Festival 2013

I attended the London Screenwriters’ Festival last week. It was great to meet so many writers and catch up with friends. 

It was also an incredible opportunity to hear some of the most talented writers and industry professionals talk about their work and give advice. 

Graham Linehan was very inspirational – he was hilarious and so down to earth – exactly the kind of person you dream about working with.

David Hare was a bit intimidating  as he was so passionate and serious about his work – but really someone to look up to.

Kate Leys and John Yorke gave some incredible talks, full of practical and intellectual advice about writing.

Overall it was a very welcome reminder of what I want to continue pursuing, making me feel inspired and driven to write even more.