Electric Sheep now exists in print too! From now on you’ll be able to pick up a free copy of the magazine at selected cinemas, cafes, arts centres and universities. We celebrated the launch of our first print issue at the first of our monthly Film Clubs (co-organised with Resonance FM) on Wednesday 5 September at the Roxy Bar and Screen, London. We showed Melvin van Peebles’ 1971 incendiary ghetto tale Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, a source of inspiration for Electric Sheep not only because of its radically independent spirit but also because of van Peebles’ unshakable determination in the face of adversity. Our guest speaker Joel Karamath (who runs the Uncut film forum at the ICA) introduced the film and the screening was followed by a very lively Q&A. If you missed it you can now listen to the Resonance podcast of the talk and Q&A. Next Film Club is on Tuesday 2 October.

Resonance FM are currently in the process of relocating to new studios so live broadcasts won’t resume until September. However, I’m Ready For My Close-Up podcasts are continually updated so don’t forget to check them out! Now online is a podcast featuring an interview by Alex Fitch with Pete Tombs, producer of ‘Bolly Horror’ film Zibahkhana (Hell’s Ground).

This month we have a special feature on Raindance, one of the most exciting film festivals in the UK, celebrating original, unconventional and daring cinema. In the theatrical releases we review Tarantino’s homage to 70s exploitationers Death Proof, intricate German drama Yella, travelogue-cum-vendetta tale Legacy, Indonesian musical extravaganza Opera Jawa, Andy Warhol’s Screen Tests, part of the BFI Warhol season, and silent Indian classic A Throw of Dice.

In the DVD releases we look at the work of eccentric French poet-scientist Jean Painlevé as well as the gritty world of Shane Meadows, Japanese animé Ghost in the Shell: Solid State Society, eco-horror thriller The Last Winter and Sam Peckinpah’s first western The Deadly Companions. And we’re very excited to announce that Häxan, which we reviewed in our May issue but was until now only available as a US DVD, will be released in the UK on 24 September.

We talk to Opera Jawa director Garin Nugroho, who tells us how he coped with the making of a film that includes no less than 60 songs, 70 dance routines and 7 art installations.

Picking films in our Jukebox this month are Wild Billy Childish and the Musicians of the British Empire, who take up where the Buff Medways left off, offering more of Billy’s very own brew of radical punk spirit and raw garage-blues.

And we have two brand new sections! Short Cuts is our short films section, which this month looks at the Raindance Shorts programme; The Last Word is a film column created especially to showcase the unique observations of the mysterious CJ Magnet.

Every month we’ll give you the chance to get your cinephile hands on a film prize – all you have to do to win is spin the Film Roulette! We’re pleased to announce that our August winner is Stuart Gardner. Well done Stuart, you’ve won a magnificent Seijun Suzuki prize, including 7 DVDs + a poster of Princess Raccoon signed by the director, very generously given away by Yume Pictures! This month we have a truly unique prize – a copy of Jean Painlevé‘s strangely erotic documentaries on the mating rituals of molluscs, courtesy of the BFI! (Please note that this is a region 2 DVD) So get spinning!

The Electric Sheep Magazine team