The Future is a Forward Escape Into the Past is the latest album by Los Angeles-based multidisciplinary artist and composer Yann Novak, and his second for Touch. It considers the relationships between memory, time, and context through four vibrantly constructed tracks that push Novak’s work in a new direction while simultaneously exploring his sonic past. The Future is a Forward Escape Into the Past is composed as a quadriptych – a single gesture broken into four parts – that meditates on the inevitable progression of time, our relationship to the past, and our distortion of the past through the imperfections of memory. The album will be released February 23, 2018 on the London-based label Touch. Available digitally and on CD, the physical version will be packaged in a gatefold sleeve as a limited edition of 500.

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Devolver Digital Films and MidBoss are proud to announce the digital VOD release of the entertaining and informative feature documentary, Gaming In Color, which explores the queer side of gaming. Directed by Philip Jones, the award-winning Gaming In Color takes a look at the queer gaming community, ‘gaymer’ culture, and the increasing acceptance of LGBTQ themes in video games. The film, which won Best Documentary at the Gen Con 2014 Film Festival, explores how the community culture is shifting and the industry is diversifying, helping with queer visibility and acceptance of an LGBTQ presence. Read the rest of this entry »

Medicinal Media LLC announces the publication of Heart Medicine: A True Love Story – One Couple’s Quest for the Sacred Iboga Medicine & the Cure for Addiction, an intimate memoir written by Elizabeth Bast, set to release in August 2015. In Heart Medicine: A True Love Story, author Bast shares the story about iboga as a miraculous treatment for heroin addiction for her husband, acclaimed visionary street artist Chor Boogie. In 2014, Boogie experienced a drug relapse after being clean for over 13 years. The new book follows the couple’s journey in search of the sacred plant medicine iboga, indigenous to Central West Africa, known for its spiritual healing and powerful addiction-breaking effects. Read the rest of this entry »

As angry protestors across the country demand an end to police brutality, nationally syndicated African-American cartoonist Keith Knight has increasingly become a sought-after speaker on U.S. race relations, a frequent topic in his storytelling cartoons. Knight, the creator of three comic strips, The Knight Life, The K Chronicles, and (th)ink, is scheduled for a number of U.S. speaking engagements in 2015, including a special guest presentation on police brutality at the inaugural Black Comix Arts Festival in January and a civil rights panel discussion at the California School Library Association Conference in February. In his provocative speaking engagements, a unique blend of lecture, activism, and comedy, Knight addresses issues of race, politics, media, censorship, and the importance of social activism.  Read the rest of this entry »

Devolver Digital Films is proud to announce the digital VOD and cable releases of the touching comedy-drama, Diving Normal. The film will also have a limited theatrical release in Los Angeles as well as one night event screenings in Atlanta, Austin, Nashville, New York, Orange County (CA), San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington DC, and other cities to be announced (please see schedule below). Directed by Kristjan Thor, the character-driven narrative feature film tells the story of a love triangle that occurs when two unlikely friends fall for the same beautiful, but broken, woman. In the film, an adaptation of the critically acclaimed play of the same name, the three main characters combat abandonment, addiction, and struggles with conforming to traditional relationships. Read the rest of this entry »

Paprika Productions is pleased to present West Coast premiere performances, in both Los Angeles and San Francisco, of Burq Off!, a gutsy autobiographical one-woman show written and performed by Nadia Parvez Manzoor. Los Angeles performances will run from Thursday, July 17 through Saturday, July 19, 2014 at Elephant Stages in Hollywood. San Francisco performances will run from Thursday, July 24 through Saturday, July 26, 2014 at the EXIT Theatre Studio Space. Directed by Tara Elliott, Burq Off! follows Manzoor’s search for identity and acceptance, while navigating the cultural conflicts of her British-Pakistani home. With great humor and insight, she explores themes of sex, religion, culture, truth, and family.  Read the rest of this entry »

Devolver Digital, well-known as a leading champion in the production, marketing, and distribution of independent video games, today announced that they are adding independent film distribution and promotion to their repertoire. Citing a shortage of attractive options for independent filmmakers who want help promoting their cable VOD and digital releases, the notoriously spunky bunch from Austin, TX has added team members in Los Angeles and San Francisco to build its film effort, Devolver Digital Films, and navigate the rapidly evolving digital distribution landscape. Read the rest of this entry »

Hybrid Cinema is pleased to announce the San Francisco premiere of the feature length documentary Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance at the third annual San Francisco Dance Film Festival on Sunday, March 18, 2012 at 6:00pm.  The film, directed by Bob Hercules, chronicles the legendary Joffrey Ballet from its humble beginnings touring the country in a borrowed station wagon to becoming one of the world’s most exciting and prominent ballet companies.  The San Francisco premiere will feature a Q&A immediately following the screening moderated by the film’s director, Bob Hercules, with former Joffrey Ballet dancers as panelists.

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Photo by Jesse Freidin

Inspired by Polaroid’s newest spokesperson, Lady Gaga, award-winning Bay Area dog photographer Jesse Freidin – with the help of The Impossible Project (TIP) – created The Doggie Gaga Project, which has become a viral sensation.  Freidin dressed his canine models in five of Lady Gaga’s most celebrated outfits, and photographed them using two packs of Polaroid film from the last remaining supply in the world.  Read the rest of this entry »