News::

• UPDATE, April 2008
  In February I interviewed Toufic El Rassi, a teacher, artist, and writer living in Chicago, IL, about the complex history of his beard. We discussed the pressures from family and friends to assimilate (shave his beard), and his path to finding pride in his ethnicity, and beard, after sifting through his feelings and experiences after 9-11. His first graphic novel, Arab in America, was released in March.

  Also, Beard Club just received a matching donation of $700. If you would like to make a contribution to help us receive the matching donation, please visit the Support the Film page for more information, or contact me directly at laura@beardclub.com.

• NEW YEAR UPDATE, January 2008
  Thanks to everyone who donated to Beard Club at our last fundraiser! We now have a goal to raise over $40,000 for editing, animation, and post-production. Every bit helps!

  Just after New Year we took a ferry to Vashon Island, just outside of Seattle, to film at a Russian Orthodox Monastery. We spoke to Father Tryphon and filmed a colorful Orthodox service in the little monastery church.

  Later this month we will be filming the Sikh community in the farming community of Yuba City, CA, about their beard traditions.

• FUNDRAISER NOVEMBER 10TH IN BERKELEY, CA, 2007
  We are entering the final stages of production and as an independently funded film are reaching out to the community to help us move to the next step.

  Generously donated food and auction items include: Peet's Coffee, Trumer Pils Beer, a signed storyboard from the new Beard Club animation, an autographed copy of Pulitzer nominated Maximum City Bombay by Suketu Mehta, an autographed DVD copy of Academy Award nominated Genghis Blues, massage from Awakening Presence, jewelry from Amy K. Faust, a pair of FlowMaster Mufflers, a gift basket from Wine.com, Pacific Film Archives membership, tickets to CounterPULSE, Intersection for the Arts, The Marsh, Theatre of Yugen, Jess Curtis/Gravity, 3rdI South Asian Film Festival, Pocket Opera, The W Kamau Bell Curve, and books from Last Gasp Comics.

• RITES OF PASSAGE, September 2007 
  In September we filmed a San Francisco Bay Area family and spoke to them about the impact of the son's facial hair growth on family dynamics - looking at how quickly the personal becomes the inter-personal.

• THE INDIAN MUSTACHE, September 2007 
  The vast nation of India has many languages, foods, and many facial hair customs. Coming to American, some Indians will wear their traditional mustache even if that means not blending in to the clean shaven norm. But shaving for some parts of India is a sign of mourning. Others follow current fashion. We interviewed a father, son an uncle trio to find out what motivated their growth of a new family tradition - the goatee.

• THE SACRED BEARD, August 2007 
  Beards have been a tradition in many religions across the globe. We recently filmed at a mosque in Santa Rosa and have plans to film at a synagogue in NYC to learn more about the origins of these sacred beards.

• MUSTACHE PARTY, August 2007
  On August 8 we filmed at the San Francisco Mission bar, Pops. Mustaches took center stage at the Pops Mustache Party. Later this month we will be filming Pops owner Malia as she gets a mustache tattoo. That's dedication!

• ANIMATION UNDER WAY, July 2007 
  Storyboard artist Dave Bohn recently completed the first set of storyboards for our animation!
  Also, Denise Minter has come on board in an advisory role for the animated segments.

• FLOWER POWER, July 2007 
  In July we interviewed comic book publisher Ron Turner of Last Gasp Comics about the 60s and the difference between the activist beard and the hippie beard.

• MOST WANTED - BEARDS AND TERRORISM,, June 2007
  Iranian visual artist, Taraneh Hermami, saw a tiny picture on a government website depicting the most wanted terrorist suspects. No specific facial features could be recognized, but you could see outlines of beards. Hemami responded with a beautiful and proactive exhibit called 'Most Wanted' which we filmed at Intersection for the Arts in San Francisco.

• DRAWING A BEARD, June 2007 
  Artist James Gobel drew a fabulous curly beard for Beard Club. See the beard on the Subjects page and check out the link to examples of James' other fabulous beard felt work!

• RECIEVED FISCAL SPONSORSHIP FROM FILM ARTS FOUNDATION, April 2007 
  Beard Club received Fiscal Sponsorship from Film Arts Foundation, a 501(c)3 film organization based in San Francisco, CA.

• MUSTACHES AND DRAG, August 2006 
  Performance artist Audrey Hannah, has a great mustache collection. We filmed her don a stache as she discussed her personal experiences of gender biases.

• Beard Club FUNDRAISING EVENT AND BEARD AND MUSTACHE COMPETITION! , March 2006 
  Thank you to all who donated and congratulations to our competition winners!
  Food generously donated by Thinkers Cafe, Goat Hill Pizza, Cafe Gratitude, and other local businesses.
  Prizes generously donated by Sports Basement, Four Star Video, Beardsley & Company, Oregon Wild Hair Mustache Wax, Skippy's Mustache Wax, and Father's Mustache Wax.

• LIONS AND TIGERS AND BEARS, February 2006 
  International Bear Rendezvous draws hundreds of Bears to San Francisco for fun, fundraising, and fur. We visited this year to film the furry Bears and their competition.

• FILMED AT THE NO GREASE BARBER SHOP, CHARLOTTE, NC, November 2005
  There we met Damian Johnson, the owner, and a wonderful group of customers who shared their stories.

• PRIDE, June 2005 
  Our film crew marched along with the Bears at Gay Pride Parade in San Francisco. It was a festive occasion to find out why these men take pride in their facial hair, something many gay men spend hundreds of dollars to remove.

• WORLD BEARD COMPETITIONS, August - October 2004 
  Our first entry into the world of beards and mustaches and it was a big one! Filming first in Washington at a local fair and then traveling to London, Germany, and Italy to learn more about the world of World Beard and Mustache competitors and travel with the Berlin team to see if they had what it took to win at the European competition held in Grotalie, Italy.