Cardiff becomes LezDiff for weekend of lesbian film and arts
Cardiff International Lesbian Film & Arts Festival, also known as LezDiff, aims to be an inclusive venture for lesbians (including trans lesbians), bisexual women and queer women to participate and engage with the arts.
The three-day event, in early July, begins at the Queer Emporium for a night of music and spoken word with Cardiff’s very own Banshi (formerly known as Yasmine & The Euphoria) and performance poet Sarah McCreadie.
The second day of the festival will take place at Chapter Arts Centre, with three programmes of short films: It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over! featuring Marguerite, Care and Time & Again; Young Queer And Very Much Here! with Cwch Deilen, Ladies Day, Home Girl, Night Out, Planet Love, Minutes, Do This For Me and Make Me A King; and We Are Family!, which includes Pink & Blue, Second Parent, Heather Has Four Moms and Cocoon, plus feature film While You Weren’t Looking.
The final day of LezDiff will see theatre and literature take place at Chapter. The two programmes featured, Writing The Lesbians Back In, explores the ways performers and writers are writing lesbians back into historical fiction, while theatre play Women’s Intents – The Perfect Pitch is an award winning comedy drama by Katie Marks, which follows a female writer coming to terms with the end of a long-term relationship.
The festival was put in place to represent, increase awareness and portray the lives of lesbians and their experiences to the UK and wider world, while also encouraging filmmakers. LezDiff will feature films, discussions and workshops brought together by festival chair and programmer Rachel Dax, with a team of women who are driven to see more lesbian storylines featured in LGBTQ+ film festivals.
Lez Diff, Queer Emporium & Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff, Fri 8-Sun 10 July. Tickets: £6 per Chapter event, £7.50 music night. Info:
lezdiff.org
EMMA WAY
Operation Julie: £100 million of LSD now a month of musical theatre
More than four decades ago, the rural grounds of mid-Wales were centre stage for one of the most notorious episodes to date in the war on drugs. Known as Operation Julie, it resulted in dozens of arrests and the discovery of LSD worth £100 million. Theatr na nÓg and Aberystwyth Arts Centre are now saluting the saga with a co-produced prog rock-flavoured stage musical, which will debut in Aberystwyth in late July before touring Wales.
Operation Julie tells the story of the 1977 LSD bust, to this day one of the world’s biggest ever – albeit atypical – counter-drug operations. In musical form, it will explore both sides of the divide: the police, collected from forces across Britain to work on the case, and the hippies, working individuals and leading members who settled in Ceredigion hoping to change the world, fuelled by a motivation to transform human consciousness.
Geinor Styles, writer and director of Operation Julie, met and interviewed Alston ‘Smiles’ Hughes – who was a main part in the LSD chain from his home in Llanddewi Brefi – and Anne Parry, wife of the late Detective Sergeant Richie Parry, another key person in the inquiry. These real-life stories inform the musical direction of the production, and composer Greg Palmer: era-specific acts including Caravan, Bob Dylan and Steely Dan are referenced.
Packed with songs, drama and comedy, and a forward- thinking true story, the production (pushed back due to COVID restrictions) continues to accrue modern-day relevance in Styles’ view. “I was astonished how relevant this story was to us, living in a time where the effect of what we are doing and continue to do to the planet is a threat to our existence,” she said.
Operation Julie will premiere at Aberystwyth Arts Centre with performances running from Sat 30 July to Sat 13 Aug, including a Q&A on Mon 1 Aug. It will then tour to Brecon’s Theatr Brycheiniog, playing on Wed 24-Fri 26 Aug, and the Lyric Theatre, Carmarthen from Wed 31 Aug-Fri 2 Sept.
theatr-nanog.co.uk/operation-julie EMMA WAY
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