These short documentaries masterfully capture artistic works on screen while celebrating the imaginative minds behind them.

From a Scottish shipyard welder turned poet to Japanese interactive artist On Megumi Akiyoshi, these short documentaries will introduce you to convention-breaking creatives, their fascinating work spaces, and their sources of inspiration.

Full lineup to be announced soon.

MINING POEMS OR ODES
Director: Callum Rice
2015 / 11 min / United Kingdom
www.scottishdocinstitute.com/films/mining-poems-or-odes/

Robert, an ex-shipyard welder from Govan in Scotland, reflects on how his life experiences have influenced his new found compulsion to write.

YO: LET’S MAKE A BOOK OF THIS
Director: Kristina Budelis and Myles Kane
2013 / 7 min / United States

A few years ago, Yolanda Cuomo, a New York-based artist and graphic designer, learned that she had to vacate her Chelsea studio of twenty-five years. The studio, in an old carriage house in Manhattan, has been the site of artistic collaborations for decades, with artists and photographers from Richard Avedon to Laurie Simmons and Sylvia Plachy, and a team of designers, including Bonnie Briant and Kristi Norgaard.

THE 100 YEARS SHOW
Director: Alison Klayman
2015 / 29 min / United States
www.alisonklayman.com

Carmen Herrera is one of the oldest working artists today. She was a pioneering abstract painter in the ’40s and ’50s, but only recently found the recognition that eluded her for most of her career as she approaches her 100th birthday.

ON BLOOMING ART
Director: Cathryne Czubek
2014 / 6 min / United States

Multi-media artist ON Megumi Akiyoshi transforms the mundane of everyday life. Born in Japan and based in New York City, ON frequently brings her eclectic, and wearable, ON Gallery to the street to interact with the average passerby.

THE REINVENTION OF NORMAL
Director: Liam Saint-Pierre
2015 / 8 min / United Kingdom
http://www.liamsaintpierre.com/

The film follows Dominic Wilcox, an artist / inventor / designer, on his quest for new ideas….Taking the normal and turning it into something unique.

This evening of tributes, talks, film, food and drinks is open to all. It coincides with a simultaneous celebration at Shakespeare and Company Books, 7 Rue de la Bûcherie, 75005 Paris to be linked by video and live-streamed.

The purpose of this occasion is to show gratitude to Manning, Assange and Snowden for their revelations and the risks they took to bring them to public notice.

Come, bring friends and say thanks.

More about “Anything to say?”:

Speakers:

Vaughan Smith, founder of London’s Frontline Club, award-winning independent cameraman and member of the board of representatives for the Frontline Freelance Register (FFR).

Norman Solomon, the coordinator of ExposeFacts.org, a new organisation for whistleblowing and independent journalism and author of many books on media, war and public policy.

Gavin MacFadyen, director of the Centre for Investigative Journalism and visiting professor at City University London.

David Dormino, a sculptor and visual artist, he works in Rome and teaches sculpture at Rome University of Fine Arts (RUFA).

In Paris, at Shakespeare and Company linked by video, the speakers are William Bourdon, distinguished French human rights advocate and lawyer for Edward Snowden; and Jean Michel Boissier of Reporters Sans Frontieres. Chaired by writer, Adam Biles.

The project is supported by the president of the Human Rights Committee of the Italian parliament, Mario Marazziti and Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF).

It was after two decades that sculptors from India landed in Indian held Kashmir to take part in a camp organized by the government run Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art Culture and Languages (JKAACL) which looks after Cultural and Art related activities in the troubled region.

Even though Kashmir has produced some sculptors of international repute this art form could not grow because of the decades of turmoil, war and repression in the region.

The best sculptures are visible at a number of preserved sites such as, Pandretan, Avantipur and Martand and several places dotted around the winter capital, Srinagar.

Noted Kashmiri historian Fida Muhammad Hussein, a former director of the department of archaeology in the state of Jammu, asserted that history is witness that the local stone has long been utilized to create several sculptured marvels which still exist in many locations in the valley.

“Within the valley we have structures that point to a visible link to the Greek pattern of sculpture," said Hussein. "One can trace this development which started in neighbouring Pakistan. The famous Indus valley site of Mohenjodado is representative of this and is from where sculpture must have later come to Kashmir also,” explained Hussein adding that the activity was dominated by evolving patterns representing gods and goddesses in the stones.

However, the patterns created by the Indian artists at the camp depicted different themes together with the local group who displayed their creations alongside.

Gayoor Hassan, a prominent sculptor from Kashmir, said that we are not sensitive to this artform and we must once again make efforts to rejuvenate it here.

"Something has to happen to revive and secure this art, a significant change of policy must take place or we will loose a lot,” said Hassan.

The Indian artists, who were amazed to see the rich collection that the local Cultural Academy have in its possession, also stressed the need for safeguarding.

Pretty Khair a sculptor based in Indian city of Baroda, MadhayPrasdesh said that she traveled to the region for the first time and was astounded to see the sculptures belonging the government art body.

The local authorities say that the collection with the Academy is a result of the sculptor camps that have been organized since 1950 when the JKAACL was created.

The officials said that the present camp, held after a a gap of 21 years, had added another 12 pieces to the collection.

Haroon Rashid, a top official with the cultural body, said that they are trying their best to revive art forms in the region.