Out on screen
Some ideas take years of incubation, and for Matthew Hays, frequent Mirror contributor, the concept for The View From Here: Conversations With Gay and Lesbian Filmmakers was born on an early trip to London, where he saw his first John Waters films. ?His work has always meant a great deal to me. His ?70?s films were truly radical. But this book is meant as a tribute to all of the filmmakers in it. And Divine, of course.?
The View From Here, a collection of 32 interviews (33 including Divine) with queer filmmakers, is nothing if not diverse. The artists differ in both the content of their films and their perspectives about being gay directors. The book captures valuable moments with Pedro Almodóvar, Gus Van Sant, John Waters and Kenneth Anger, among others, and compiles them in a way that celebrates the scope of their work.
And some of the interviews are really funny: When asked about Fireworks, Anger responds, ?My model is Arthur Rimbaud; he wrote magnificent poems when he was a teenager, then went to Africa and became an arms dealer and never wrote another poem.? Or there?s Waters on his preferred title, ?Let me think: [they?ve called me] the Anal Ambassador, the Marquee de Sade, the Duke of Dirt. Certainly the Pope of Trash is my favourite.?
The View offers a blend of poignant interviews, humour and trivia that should be pleasing to any film enthusiast.
The View From Here (Arsenal Pulp Press, 371pp, $26.95) is now available at bookstores.
by Sara Constantino
Back that jazz up
Although many Montrealers consider our esteemed annual jazz rendez-vous to be the pinnacle of our international renown for musical improvisation, an exhibit currently on display at the Maison de la culture Marie-Uguay (6052 Monk) serves up a multimedia platter of homegrown nostalgia and takes us back to Montreal?s heyday as one of the North American capitals of jazz.
JAZZ, les folles nuits de Montréal employs two voices akin to local jazz?those of radio host Katie Malloch and author Gilles  Archambault?to guide us along vinyl-adorned walls, by memorabilia from popular jazz joints like Rockhead?s Paradise and through an improvised smoky club with a compelling assortment of video interviews with both musicians and witnesses of Montreal?s swingin? history.
They discuss how the Prohibition-plagued ?20s led many black musicians south of the border to temporarily flock to the ?city of 1001 clubs,? regarded as more liberal on racial matters. The delicious audio snippets from Michel Donato, bebop great Oscar Peterson and Yannick Rieu, to name but a few, will make you yearn for the infectious pop music of the ?30s and ?40s that TV and rock ?n? roll sadly relegated to the dusty discount bins of vinyl past. The free exhibit runs until September 23.
by Michael-Oliver Harding
The art of pleasure
I?ve heard a lot of lamenting lately from artists and gallery owners alike about their aversion to vernissages. But next Tuesday, Aug. 7, there?s  an art opening that will offer more than the ?same old, same old? at the Musée Juste pour rire (2111 St-Laurent). As part of the first edition of Montreal?s new Censored Festival, the exhibition De l?art à la censure will welcome the public (18+), between 7 p.m. and midnight, to take pleasure in a wide variety of mediums.
Alongside the paintings, photographs, installations and sculptures by over 30 artists, there will be a movie theatre set up in the gallery that will run a continuous series of projections. At 9 p.m., live performances will commence, including contortionist Gina Gagnon performing with her snake, and a very theatrical work by Danny Gaudreault involving popsicles and masks. Acéthone Rostropovich will provide the grooves, as well as invited musical guest Duo Po. Exhibition lasts about as long as a Viagra pill?only until Aug. 9. For info, see: censoredfestival.com.
by Christine Redfern
Is it art?
ARTISTS ANONYMOUS: Interactive art blossomed in the ?60s and ?70s with the performance pieces of Vito Acconci, best known for Seedbed, which had the artist masturbating under a ramp while vocalizing  fantasies about the visitors above, and Yoko Ono, to name a few. Around the same time, street art achieved mainstream popularity in large part due to Basquiat?s graffiti. Keri Smith?s Guerilla Art Kit is a guide to creating your own street and performance art, albeit more subtly than Acconci did, in an effort to stimulate interaction with the community.
The Kit opens with a manifesto about Smith?s brand of Guerilla art, defined as ?any anonymous work.? The rest of the book is a creative catalogue of suggestions, useful tips and detailed and quirkily illustrated how-to guides for making stickers, seed bombs, wish trees and other DIY projects for public enjoyment. The ideas are cute, and though some are illegal, who?d call the cops upon seeing a tree hung with paper cranes, a public lesson on writing backwards, or an anthropomorphic parking meter?
Arts hole
When in rome: Sicily?s the focus of the 14th Italian Week, which kicks off Aug. 5. With traditional food, wine, cars and shows available, plus the forecasted heat wave, you should be able to enjoy a Mediterranean-style weekend without getting on a plane. Info at www.
italianweek.ca. Green for Green: On Aug. 8?9, from 3?9 p.m., this city?s greenest and most ethical brands will be on sale at 6600 St-Urbain, suite 501. Peruse Posch, On and On and Preloved?s styles while sipping a cool drink. DANCING IN THE PARK: Enjoy prancing dancers in the company of squirrels and Lafontaine park fowl as Théâtre de Verdure?s dance season continues with les Grands ballets Canadiens, Aug. 2?5, 8:30 p.m., free.
Artistat
Number of pipe bands that will be competing at the Montreal Scottish Festival (the Highland Games), alongside heavyweight events, Scottish country dancing and a traditional Scottish ale tent (www.montrealhighlandgames.qc.ca): 40 +
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