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Current Work
Mame Faye did not exist. At least that's what the history books would have you believe. Prostitutes and madams, no matter how well-known or successful, are not part of legitimate history. But the oldtimers of Troy, New York insist that Mame Faye did exist. Everyone past the age of retirement in Troy has a story - funny, sordid, unbelievable - about Mame. Together, these unrecorded oral histories tell a rich tale of a booming industrial city's complex relationship to its own seedy side at the end of the repressive Victorian era that was Troy's heyday.
Sitting on a Million [working title] is a 30-minute experimental documentary centered around this colorful lady from Troy’s past. With nods to unlikely influences such as Howard Zinn, Xaviera Hollander (the “Happy Hooker”) and Miranda July, Sitting on a Million is a blend of oral history, wild speculation and reenactments bringing to life the spirit of this forgotten woman. It is our hope that this project can stand as a rich symbol of the lives of those extraordinary, ordinary people erased from the official records. |
Short Bio
Penny Lane is an independent filmmaker and video artist living in western Massachusetts. Her collaborative and solo experimental, narrative and documentary videos have screened at AFI FEST, Int'l Film Festival Rotterdam, San Francisco Int'l Film Festival, Seattle Int'l Film Festival, Women in the Director's Chair, Santa Fe Art Institute, MOMA, and DUMBO Art Under the Bridge. Her award-winning documentaries The Abortion Diaries and Independent Media in a Time of War (the latter made with Hudson-Mohawk Indymedia) are regularly screened in classrooms, community centers and microcinemas across the U.S. and internationally on Free Speech TV. She earned her MFA in Integrated Electronic Arts at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and her BA in American Culture at Vassar College. Currently she is a visiting assistant professor of video and new media at Hampshire College and is working on an experimental documentary about a Depression-era madam.
And yes, that is her real name.
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Union Affiliations/Professional Organizations
Indymedia, Hampshire College, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
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Contact
21 Lasell Ave.
Northampton MA 01060 |
Artist Location
Northampton MA
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Art forms
Film/Video
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Type of artist
Editor, Director, Technical
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General Themes
Activism/Social Justice, Feminism/Gender Issues, Pregnancy/Abortion/Childbirth, Mass Media/Pop Culture, Education |
| Last updated on April 9th, 2007 |
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