Amsterdam (The Netherlands): December 2012 Joe’s Garage program

The weather may be cooling down but the conflicts are still heating up:
The French Prime Minister is green in the gills about his Green coalition partners opposition to his private airport, not to mention his private security police cutting out the supports of the platform they stand on like their political masters do. The Mexican government is still un-comradely with the comrades of Guadalajara and the southern mountains of Chiapas. The Belgian government is still not modifying it’s position on Monsanto, the modifier (and seller) of nature.
And closer to home the refugees will have to seek refuge from their nutty village in Osdorp, west Amsterdam where the Labour Party (former housing corporation lawyer) mayor has recently announced a prohibition of protests at the refugee protest camp, and the defeated squatters who wouldn’t need another hot eviction wave haven’t given up even after the latest heated wave of evictions, not to mention the never ending battle between the beleaguered Saint Nikolaas and the American invader Santa.
And here in Joe’s Garage we’ve had inspiring evenings with the visit from two ZADists, the Mexican provinces, the village of the refugees and many more places.
But don’t think we will be sleeping cozy by the yuletide fire because we have many events in store even now, with or without a hoodie!
This month we have various benefits : Anarchist Black Cross Mexico, Mapuche Indian communities from Chile, FLM (Field Liberation Movement), various movie nights with In Time, Standard Operating Procedure, Larks on a String, Mars Attacks!, and even a sneak preview super 8 night on the barricades against Santa Inc. And let us not forget the free freegan sermons every Wednesday.

Sunday December 2nd 2012, Movie night: In Time (Andrew Niccol, USA, 2011, 109′, Sciencefiction / Thriller, in english). Door open at 20pm (films start at 21:00pm) In Time is a unique Science fiction action film. Set in a Dystopian society where time is literally money, the rich can live for centuries, the poor have to work for time. The concept of this film is terrific. If you want to live longer, you’ve got to earn more time, either legally or illegally. The world has also been segregated into Time Zones, separating everyone according to their wealth and social class.

Monday December 3rd 2012: Volkseten Vegazulu, Benefit for the Anarchist Black Cross Mexico, Part I, 19PM. It has been 8 years since the Mexican federal government of Jalisco brutally detained and tortured many protesters who mobilised against the summit of the heads of state from Latin American countries, the Caribbean and European Union.
By now, there are still some of arrestees facing criminal proceedings, as the public prosecutor has decided that neither the imposed sentences are finished, nor the statute of limitations has lapsed, and is looking for harsher punishment of the comrades to crush any other attempt of protest in the region. In 2006 the organized anarchist movement in Guadalajara was fiercely hit. 45 comrades were imprisoned and tortured, the judgement was disastrously rigged and most of them were found guilty of various offenses. After 8 years, 12 comrades remain imprisoned without the right to bail out. The others have been given this right, but the bail ammounts demanded are exorbitant high.

Thursday December 6th 2012: Volkseten Vegazulu, Benefit Mapuche Indian communities from Chile, 19:00 pm. In Maricheweu International (“10 times we shall overcome”) some people have come together whose main goal it is to support the human rights of the Mapuche (People of the Earth). Maricheweu International supports the Mapuche People mainly by translating and publishing news and information about their cause and by organizing protests, presentations and other events to inform the people outside Chile of the just and dignified struggle of the Mapuche people for their existence, their culture and their territory.

Sunday December 9th 2012, Movie night: Standard Operating Procedure (Errol Morris, USA, 2008, 115′). Door open at 20pm (films start at 21:00pm). A blockbuster of a documentary, Errol Morris’s “Standard Operating Procedure” is an inquiry into the prisoner abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib. It’s an estimable roll call, all the more so when you compare it with the average documentary or even a modest fiction film.

Sunday December 16th 2012, Movie night: Larks on a String (Skřivánci na niti,Jiří Menzel, 1968, CZ). Door open at 20pm (films start at 21:00pm). Although it was shot in 1968, Jiří Menzel’s sociopolitical comedy Larks On A String didn’t actually see the light of day until 1990, when it premiered and won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. Censorship had been lifted in Czechoslovakia for a short period, resulting in a fleeting burst of liberalization, especially for filmmakers – but the freedom was soon crushed by the invasion of Soviet tanks, which restored Czechoslovakia’s oppressive regime. Communism once again held a vice-like grip over the country, and Menzel’s film (which had finished shooting) was banned.

Monday December 17th 2012: Volkseten Vegazulu, Benefit for the Anarchist Black Cross Mexico, Part II, 19PM. (see above)

Thursday December 20th 2012: Volkseten Vegazulu, FLM (Field Liberation Movement) Benefit, 19:00 pm. Last year in May a group of anti-GMO activists destroyed a GM potato field in Wetteren, Belgium. After this field liberation action they were constantly attacked and criminalized by the media and authorities, at the same time they brought the topic of GMOs in the public discussion. The court case of 11 activists are still going on. We (FLM and ASEED) are organizing a benefit night to contribute to the legal costs of these 11 activists. In the benefit night, there will be info and discussion by one of the activists, we will serve a yummy dinner and you can contribute to the cause by drinking solidarity FLM beer.

Sunday December 23rd 2012, Movie night: Mars Attacks! (Tim Burton, USA, 1996, 106′). Door open at 20pm (films start at 21:00pm). Mars Attacks! is a 1996 American science fiction film directed by Tim Burton and written by Jonathan Gems. Based on the cult trading card series of the same name, the film uses elements of black comedy and political satire, and is a parody of science fiction B movies.

Monday december 24th 2012: Volkseten Vegazulu, Voku Special & Super 8 Sneak Screenings, from 19:00pm, no reservation! Bring your own rolls of Super 8. Voku Special starts at 19:00pm, Film Screenings from 22:00pm. Do you have something else to do on such an evening than coming to eat at Joe’s Garage, have a good time and watch the unexpected on a Super 8 film projector? We already have a lot to screen. Bring your own rolls of Super 8, we’ll play them, anything you collected at your grand mother’s house, in the street, in the attic of your squat, rolls you bought at the flee market.

Joe’s Garage is possibly open 6 days a week:

Ma/Mo: 19.00 Volkseten Vegazulu, vegan food, no reservations, donations welcome
Di/Tu: 20.00 – 21.30 Kraakspreekuur
Wo/We: 15.00 – 18.00 Lonely Collective Day Cafe
Do/Th: 19.00 Volkseten Vegazulu, vegan food, no reservations, donations welcome
Za/Sa: 14.00 – 18.00 Weggeefwinkel
Zo/Su: 20.00 Filmavond/Infoavond

Joe’s Garage is an autonomous social centre in a squat in Amsterdam East.
Snailmail : Pretoriusstraat 43hs, 1092 EZ, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
email: joe [at] squat [dot] net
http://www.joesgarage.nl/