Reel World

Queer Spirits

Basement Films will host a special one-night-only touring show featuring a fine selection of modern experimental films. Channeling: An Invocation of Spectral Bodies & Queer Spirits is a collection of film and video programs curated by Latham Zearfoss and Ethan White. Both curators will be on hand for the screening at Guild Cinema on Thursday, Jan. 22, at 9:45 p.m. The 68-minute program features a mixture of digital video, saturated 8mm, home movies, animation, greenscreen and more. The works in this program take a personal approach in dealing with the political and historical problems that haunt the queer experience: the AIDS pandemic, the body in transition, the idealized nuclear family and the narrow cultural standards of desirability. Among the artists represented are Vanessa Renwick, Elliot Montague, Shana Moulton, Michael Robinson and John Di Stefano. Admission is only $5. For more details, log on to channelingqueerspirits.wordpress.com.

Get Booked

The Book of Eli, a postapocalyptic thriller directed by the Hughes brothers (Menace II Society, Dead Presidents) and starring Denzel Washington, Mila Kunis and Gary Oldman, is looking for extras. Casting agents are on the hunt for extras of all ethnicities and both genders with long hair, “especially dreadlocks.” (In the future, everyone will have dreadlocks.) If you’re interested, please mail a photo with name, phone number, e-mail, address, height and weight to: “Book of Eli Extras, 304 Washington SE, Albuquerque N.M. 87108.” Filming will take place in Albuquerque, Alamogordo, Carrizozo and Santa Fe from February through May.

Casting Class

Prominent New Mexico casting director Kathryn Brink (“Easy Money,” Wild Hogs, “In Plain Sight”) will hold an advanced audition workshop on Saturday, Jan. 24, and Sunday, Jan. 25, from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. This one-day workshop (you can choose to attend either weekend day) is aimed at fine-tuning actors’ audition skills. This workshop is not for beginners, those without prior audition experience or children under 18. For more information or to make reservations, call 266-6211 or e-mail kbrinkcasting@aol.com. Cost is $75 and space is limited.

Screenwrite for Less

If you’re thinking of attending this year’s SouthWest Writers Screenwriting Conference (Saturday, Feb. 21, at the CNM Workforce Training Center), you have until Feb. 1 to take advantage of the “early bird” registration price of $169. Feature film writer Kirk Ellis (HBO’s Golden Globe-winning John Adams) will be this year’s keynote speaker. In addition to Ellis, Tammy Ader (writer/producer of “Strong Medicine” for Lifetime), Rick Reichman (author of 20 Things You Must Know to Write a Great Screenplay) and intellectual property attorney Sherri Burr will be on hand to lead workshop sessions. To look over a complete schedule and see about registration, log on to southwestwriters.org or call 265-9485.