Program & Events
Archive
Workshops
Image Awards
Various Other Screenings
BPL Events
Film Festival Co-presentations
Filmmakers Open Studios 2004
Community Partnership Video Grant: 2003
20+ Years of Work by WIFV/NE: 2002
In 2003, Women in Film and Video/New England established a monthly screening series featuring acclaimed regional female directors, writers, cinematographers, and editors presenting and discussing their work. The screening series is hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, through the support of its Women’s Studies Program.
Chicks Make Flicks premiered on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2003, with Lucia Small screening her provocative and award-winning documentary, My Father, The Genius. The monthly series continued with presentations by Laura Bernieri, Patricia Alvarado and Laurie Kahn-Leavitt. Signe Taylor (WIFV/NE Board member) launched the series.
The screening series was established for two primary reasons. First, in 2002, more than 9 out of 10 films released were directed and produced by men. The vast majority of these also employed male cinematographers. Given this tremendous imbalance, WIFV/NE believes a screenings series offers an effective way to highlight women’s contributions to film and to encourage more female participation in the filmmaking industry. Second, WIFVNE believes this screening series is a wonderful way to draw new members to the organization, thereby creating more networking opportunities that will help energize New England’s female filmmaking community.
All the screenings are held on the campus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Click here for this season's details.
CHICKS MAKE FLICKS
Fall 2006
December 14
Selected Experimental Works
by Louise Bourque
Louise Bourque is an Acadian French Canadian filmmaker living in the Boston area where she teaches cinema. Her films have been presented in forty countries in five continents. Screenings at international festivals include Sundance, Rotterdam, Toronto, Tribeca, San Francisco, Kerala, S„o Paulo, Hong Kong, Melbourne, and London. US broadcasts include PBS and the Sundance Channel. Bourqueís work was presented at the 50th Robert Flaherty Film Seminar in 2004 and was recently screened as part of the 2006 Whitney Biennial.
November 2
"Some Kind of Funny Porto Rican?": A Cape Verdean American Story
by Claire Andrade-Watkins
This documentary presents the tragic and scandalous story of a vibrant community of Cape Verde Island immigrants living in the Fox Point section of Providence, Rhode Island. Three generations of Cape Verdeans were forcibly displaced in the 1960s and 1970s by urban renewal to make way for the fancy coffee shops, antique stores, and elegantly restored houses that now fill the streets of Fox Point. This is a moving story of the old Fox Point, captured before it slipped away.
October 5
Mixed Blessings
by Jennifer Kaplan
Parents easily teach their children to wash their hands and brush their teeth. But when it comes to religious traditions, the spiritual path may not be as straightforward. Interviewing several Jewish-Christian interfaith couples, this documentary examines the struggles they face.
September 7
All Kindsa Girls
by Cheryl Eagan-Donovan
Tracing the evolution of garage/punk rock from its inception in the sixties through current interpretations, this documentary focuses on the career of Boston-based singer/songwriter John Felice and his band The Real Kids. The film examines the significance of music in the lives of performers and fans, and the live music scene in Boston during the mid-'70s, when "The Rat" was the place to be for seeing hard-edged local bands.
Chicks Make Flicks
Winter/Spring 2006
Jan. 12, 2006
Rolling
by Gretchen Berland
In 2001 three wheelchair-bound people were given camcorders to depict, for eighteen months, their struggle to maintain independence with dignity from four feet off the ground.
Feb. 9, 2006
Hineini
by Irena Fayngold
This timely film chronicles Shulamit Izen’s fight to start a gay-straight alliance at Gann Academy – the New Jewish High School of Greater Boston. Beyond the struggle to create a supportive environment for gay and lesbian students and teachers at the school, this is the story of a community wrestling with the very definition of pluralism and diversity in a Jewish context.
March 9, 2006
Nothing Like Dreaming
by Nora Jacobson
Emma is at a crossroads, done with high school, not sure about college. When Emma's life starts to unravel, she takes refuge with Sonny, and helps him build a mysterious Fire Organ. Played at night, with fires burning and pipes glowing, it produces haunting sounds that thrill and enchant.
April 13, 2006
Stay Until Tomorrow
by Laura Colella
A funny and kaleidoscopic film-within-a-film that centers on Nina, a transcontinental drifter who drops in unexpectedly on her childhood friend Jim.
May 11, 2006
Echoes of Bats and Men
by Jo Dery
Experimental-animation shorts. A musical history lesson, a chubby skunk, Rhode Island's industrial evolution...
Chicks Make Flicks
Fall 2005
September 6, 2005
The Pursuit of Pleasure
by Maryanne Galvin
A lively documentary film challenging commonly held beliefs about female sexuality, gender roles, relationships, and satisfaction.
October 4, 2005
The Devil's Music
by Maria Agui Carter
A historical documentary about jazz, rap, and the fear of blackness and sexuality.
November 1, 2005
Anonymously Yours
by Gayle Ferraro
Four Burmese women’s strikingly different life experiences come together to reveal an institution that enslaves them and as many as forty–million women worldwide in the fastest growing industry on earth: human sales. Clandestinely shot deep in the uncharted world of Southeast Asian sex trafficking, the film chronicles the merchandising of women commonplace in a land afflicted with staggering poverty and widespread corruption.
Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2005
West 47th Street
by June Peoples and Bill Lichtenstein
A cinema-verite style documentary following four people with mental illness over three years.
Winter/Spring 2005
January 11, 2005
Monkey Dance
by Julie Mallozzi
Three Cambodian-American teenagers come of age in a world shadowed by their parents' nightmares of the Khmer Rouge. Traditional Cambodian dance links them to their parents’ culture, but fast cars, hip consumerism, and new romance pull harder. Gradually coming to appreciate their parents’ sacrifices, the three teens find a sense of themselves and begin to make good on their parents’ dreams.
February 8, 2005
One in Eight: Janice's Journey
by Cynthia McKeown
Janice Fine was only thirty-three when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer. Though she felt she received good medical care, the only information she was given on coping was a video on how to tie scarves. A friend, Cynthia McKeown, suggested making a film on Janice's experiences; they thought they might call it Breast Cancer 101: An Insider's Guide. This video documentary takes an irreverent and highly personal look at one woman's fight against breast cancer.
March 8, 2005
Someone Sang to Me
by Julie Akeret
As budget cuts exacerbate an already deplorable situation in our inner-city schools, the arts are among the first to go. In Springfield, Massachusetts, one woman, educator, musician, and cultural activist Jane Sapp is doing all she can to stem the tide -- with remarkable success.
April 12, 2005
Life, Death and Baseball
by Marilyn Levine
Adrienne, sister of filmmaker Marilyn Levine, died of cancer at the age of seventeen. Adrienne was a passionate fan of the New York Yankees, as was every other member of the family, except Marilyn, who wistfully recalls feeling abysmally disengaged from the national pastime. While the family could express emotions enthusiastically in the ballpark, it was hard for them to share their feelings about losing Adrienne. Life, after all, goes on.
May 10, 2005
The Gay Marriage Thing
by Stephanie Higgins
A documentary presenting the politics, the piety, and the people involved in and affected by the heated debate over same-sex Marriage in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. From the anguished pleas of representatives at the Constitutional Convention, to the challenges facing church leaders, to the protesters busing in from out-of-state, there is plenty of public opinion to be had on the grounds of the oldest building on Beacon Hill.
Chicks Make Flicks (2004)
Feb. 11: Laurel Chiten, director, Touched
March 10: Laurel Greenberg, director, 94 Years and 1 Nursing Home Later
April 7: Wendy Chan, producer, Dance By Design
May 12: Jocelyn Glatzer, The Flute Player
Each year in September, WIFV/NE throws a Kick Off Party for members and prospective members. This is a chance for women to learn what WIFV/NE is about, what programs are coming up, and who are members are. Usually a free event in an informal setting, past Kick Off Parties have included door prizes, games, and networking opportunities.
Monday, September 18, 2006
7-9pm
Diva Lounge
248 Elm St.
Davis Square, Somerville
WIFV/NE's yearly party for members and prospective members. Door prizes, an opportunity to network, and more!
Sept. 2005
Red Fez, South End, Boston.
Thursday, Sept. 23, 2004 at the Elephant Walk restaurant, Cambridge, Mass.
Members and nonmembers attended. Great turnout. An evening of information, networking, raffle. 7–9 pm.
Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2003 at Simmons College, Boston, Mass.
Women in Film and Video/New England (WIFV/NE) hosted its annual Kick-Off Party on from 7–9:30 pm at Simmons College, Third Floor Conference Room, 300 The Fenway, Boston. This annual event is free and open to the public. It connects WIFV/NE’s members, who are both professionals and supporters of film, video and the media arts, to the public. The Kick-Off Party is the perfect event for prospective members to come and see what WIFV/NE is all about. Refreshments, raffle prizes, and networking. Catch a preview of WIFV/NE’s upcoming programs and events: WIFV/NE’s 3rd biannual Image Awards Gala; Chicks Make Flicks, a monthly screening series at MIT featuring the work of acclaimed regional female directors, writers, cinematographers, and editors; and Media Mentors, a new program connecting experienced professionals with women who want to further their film- and media-related careers
Screenwriters' Schmooze
April 2005
About 65 people attended Women in Film & Video/New England's first Screenwriters Schmooze on Thursday, April 28, 2005. Screenwriting pros mixed with aspiring screenwriters during the two-hour-long event. Held at elegant 38 Cameron in Cambridge, the evening included a moderated panel with experts, an awards ceremony to honor the winners of WIFV/NE's 2005 Screenwriting Competition, and an hour-long 'schmooze' with refreshments.
The panelists were Laura Bernieri, producer at Saint Aire Productions of Boston, founder of Harvard Square Scriptwriters, and co-producer of the film Next Stop Wonderland; Vinca Jarrett, an entertainment attorney who owns FilmPro Finance, which introduces financiers to top-tier packaged projects, and Skriptease Script Consulting, a consulting firm for screenwriters and producers; Janice Pieroni, an entertainment attorney who worked as an executive and business affairs attorney at Universal Studios, and owner of Story Arts Management, through which she offers an array of services to writers, including story development and preparation of pitches; and Drew Yanno, a screenwriting instructor at Boston College and author or co-author of 11 screenplays, whose action/adventure script, No Safe Haven, was sold to Universal Studios.
Screenwriting Competition: 2005
Winners of the 2005 Competition were: Grand Prize: Barbara Shapiro of Lexington, Mass., for BLINDSPOT: A mother must confront the possibility of the supernatural as well as the realities of teenage life in order to save her 17-year-old daughter from a murder conviction.
Finalists: Alice Stone of Boston, for THE COMFORTS OF HOME, a sci-fi romantic comedy that imagines the dating scene in a future where people rarely go outside, and Melinda Rose of New Tripoli, Pa., for IN THEIR HANDS, a twist on the infamous Lindbergh baby kidnapping trial of 1932.
From Script To Screen: Scriptwriting Secrets
May 27, 2003
Report by Lorre Fritchy
WIFVNE's screenwriting shindig at National Boston on May 27, 2003, was extremely well-attended by aspiring screenwriters eager to hear tips from award-winning scribe Andrew Arthur and industry expert Susan Kouguell (that's ku-GELL, folks). There were raffles, free-your-inner-bard drumming sessions, announcements of the WIFVNE Script Contest winners, and advice on what NOT to do when submitting screenplays. A bang worth the 15 bucks (cheaper if you're a member).
Arthur shared his process of tapping (or drumming, as it were) into the creativity necessary to release your mind enough to write. He also offered insights on getting through those inevitable dry spells, thinking visually, and respecting the relationship between character, story and structure. Kouguell (Su-City Pictures) was a virtual encyclopedia of industry tidbits on query letters, script formatting, and prodco research, in addition to revealing that even if you're as shy as she is you have to do the hard jobs of calling and pitching. Notepads were thoroughly filled by the end of the discussion. As was the WIFVNE coffer, thanks to the donation of raffle prizes and silent auction items.
This successful evening was the culmination of many months of planning, pleading, and publicizing by the Screenwriting Committee. People join WIFVNE with the hope of making their movies and selling their scripts. But in order to get to that point, a lot of people have to do a lot of work. WIFVNE is a member-driven organization; it counts on members to do much of this behind-the-scenes labor to improve the quality and volume of freebies, networking, discounts, and creative support we can all enjoy. And if you're lucky, you work on a team like the Screenwriting group, where everyone pitched in enthusiastically with ideas and volunteering to make this night a fun and informative one.
Most sponsors don't just jump in and ask to be involved on nights like these. Someone has to contact them with The Big Pretty Please. Then the great companies step forward. Such as the people at National Boston, who not only surrendered the entire studio to WIFVNE as it has done more than once, but also provided a/v support and use of their full kitchen. In that kitchen, we had fine food donated from the fine folks at Trader Joe's and Zaftig's Delicatessen. WIFVNE depends on — and remembers — such community support. My homemade banana bread notwithstanding, a few of us joked about a bake sale fundraiser for Women In Film. Hey, if it works for field trips, it can work for finishing funds. Don't look a gift brownie in the mouth.
Carol Patton again demonstrated her unending support via Imagine magazine, while Writer's Script Network donated a couple of online subscriptions to the cause. Final Draft came through by contributing its leading screenwriting software for silent auction. And Hollywood script guru/consultant Michael Hauge (Screenplay Mastery) agreed to be the final judge for the 2nd Annual Members' Screenwriting Contest. Rhea Becker and Merna Lobel Victor were finalists, and the winner was John Walker Bellingham. All three writers won varying degrees of personal script consultations with Hauge.
None of this happens without a WIFVNE member writing an email or making a phone call. See that picture of the Board Members on WIFVNE's About Us web page? If you haven't talked to them at an event or two, you probably don't realize how much these individuals do to provide workshops and seminars, screenings and financing for their member base. Whether it means setting up chairs or soliciting food donations, every WIFVNE member has the power and responsibility to make WIFVNE better. Having fun while you're at it, well, that's just a happy ending.
Workshops
Tax Planning for Filmmakers and Media Artists
Saturday, Feb. 25, 2006
10 a.m.-12 noon
National Boston
115 Dummer St. (between St. Paul and Pleasant/near Boston Univ.)
Brookline, Mass.
$15 for WIFV/NE Members; $25 for non-members
WOMEN IN FILM & VIDEO/NEW ENGLAND invites you to join Beryl Denker, owner of ABR Associates since 1990, which offers tax preparation and accounting services to self-employed individuals, especially those in the entertainment industry, for this informative workshop in tax preparation.
She will talk about tax changes at the federal and state levels, and discuss issues unique to those in the entertainment industry. This year she will also discuss new federal and Massachusetts incentive tax credits for film productions. Other topics may include the difference between wages and self employment income, reporting travel expenses using per diem rates, calculating home office and auto expenses, taking real estate sales deductions, new deductions for education expenses, and retirement plans. She will be available to answer your tax questions.
Success Workshop: 2004
(Re)Defining Success: A Workshop for Media Makers
A workshop with Niki Vettel, media executive
Saturday, June 12, 2004; 9 a.m.–12 noon
National Boston, 115 Dummer St., Brookline, Mass.
As creative people, we take our passions, ideas, intuitions, and feelings, and translate them into a tangible result: a feature film, documentary special, television series, book, website or CD. We work in an industry where we tend to hear "no" more often than "yes", and where reviews and ratings are a way of life. Only you can truly define success for yourself. And, until you take the time to create that definition, standards of success will be set for you by others.
Each participant will leave with a personal definition of success, and the basis of a Statement of Commitment, which is a personal definition of professional success that can be shared with clients and colleagues. Cost: WIFV/NE members: $30; non-members: $50.
Niki Vettel has been working in the television industry for more than two decades. Her career has been cross-disciplinary, with deep experience in program development, executive producing, marketing, syndication sales, and promotion. After 17 years as a senior executive with American Program Service (now American Public Television), she founded RealityCheck Media Consulting, which provides expertise in program development and project management, as well as the production of primetime pledge specials for PBS.
Self-Distribution Seminar
You've Wrapped Your Film . . . What Now?
Self-distribution for Independent Filmmakers
Sunday, May 4, 2003; 10 am–2 pm
National Boston, 115 Dummer St., Brookline, Mass.
Learn why some filmmakers choose to distribute their own work. Avoid pitfalls and missteps in launching your film. Get the knowledge and tools you need in this practical session.
Moderator: Michal Goldman, president, Filmmakers Collaborative
Presenters: Lynne Adams, writer/producer and self distributor, Made Up by Sisterfilms
Liane Brandon, co-founder, New Day Films, a self-distribution cooperative
David Kleiler, director, Local Sightings; co-founder, The Circuit
Margaret Lazarus, Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker
Karl Renwanz, co-founder, Video Transfer, Inc.
Gary Roma, documentary filmmaker and self-distributor
Allison Walton, BuyIndies.com
Topics: Why (or why not?) self-distribute? Planning, budgeting, and raising money for self-distribution; working the festivals; getting your theatrical release; sequencing a release to different outlets; outreach and grassroots marketing; advertising and publicity; self-distributing to video stores; working specific markets (such as libraries); using the Web as a marketing tool.
Admission: $25 WIFV/NE members; $30 nonmembers.
Image Awards 2006, WIFV/NE's 25th Anniversary
Wednesday, March 22
Reception: 7 pm
Boston Marriott Hotel Copley Place
WIFV/NE was founded in 1981 by a small group of pioneering women working in film and video. This year marks the organization's 25th anniversary. WIFV/NE’s biannual Image Awards gala will mark this special occasion. Come join us for a VIP reception, dinner, music, film, and an awards ceremony. The Image Awards will take place Wednesday, March 22, 2006, at the Marriott Copley Hotel in Boston.
CN8 producer Sara Edwards will serve as emcee for this special night. The evening begins with a VIP reception for sponsors and others. Then 7 p.m., cocktails and Silent Auction*. At 7:30 p.m., dinner will be served and the awards ceremony will begin. Our honorees include three New England women who have distinguished themselves in their fields:
Dorothy Aufiero, producer of Bravo Television's Queer Eye for the Straight Guy
Carol Patton, publisher of Imagine, the publication for the Northeast's film and TV industries
Lisa Simmons, founder of The Color of Film Collaborative in Boston and co-producer of the Roxbury Film Festival
3rd Image Awards Gala
Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2003
At the Sheraton Commander, Harvard Square
The Image Awards honors New England women who have demonstrated remarkable achievements in their respective fields. The honorees were:
- Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Margaret Lazarus
- Sara Rubin and Kaj Wilson of the Boston Jewish Film Festival, who together have built the largest motion arts industry event in New England
- Lyda Kuth, director of the LEF Foundation, a strong supporter of local women filmmakers
- In addition, SisterFilms’ Made Up actresses and producers Brooke Adams and Lynne Adams, will receive the Celebrity Image Award for their achievements in entertainment.
The evening was by Dixie Whatley, independent producer and former WCVB Entertainment reporter.
7 pm: dinner; 8 pm: dessert and presentation of awards and screening of videos; 9 pm: dancing with DJ Mocha
Tickets: Student members – $60; Members – $75; Non-members –$100; Friends of WIFV/NE – $250, 2 tickets and mention in program; Table (10) – $1200
Various Other Screenings
Outdoor Film Screening
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Time: Sunset (around 8 pm)
Location: Somerville Community Growing Center
22 Vinal Avenue, Somerville (near Union Square)
In-kind sponsor: Bontronics www.bontronics.com
Many thanks to Bontronics for providing us with a projector, speakers and screen.
Films to be screened include:
Why Overweight Preteen Girls With Glasses Often Like Unicorns
By Jennifer Matotek
4 min.
An abstract and experimental Bildungsroman depicting why overweight preteen girls with glasses often like unicorns.
Why the Anderson Children Didn’t Come to Dinner
By Jamie Travis, Director of Photography Amy Belling
16 min.
As matriarch Maud prepares the dinner they will never forget, Chester, Eliza and poor Godfrey employ their queer preoccupations for a communal objective—their undeniable, unprecedented and completely heroic absence from dinner.
Poisoned Garden
By Jaclyn Genega (local filmmaker)
13 min.
An autobiographical, experimental video documenting the psychological experience of one woman’s traumatic event and its aftermath, a process of dealing with the victimization changes her relationship between nature and herself.
Kristy
By Stephanie Gray
7 min.
A hand processed super-8 love letter to one Little Darling.
Sluice
By Adra Raine (local filmmaker)
3 min.
Sifting the mysteries and meaning of control in our relationship with nature and apparatus, intention and chance – the gates we have constructed open, the flood carries us, the gates close. Filmed on Super 8 film, edited in-camera and hand processed.
Twitch
By Leah Meyerhoff
10 min.
A young girl must confront her greatest fear: that her mother’s disability might be contagious.
Outdoor Screening
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Short Films Love Music
A screening of music videos, short musicals and other music-themed works.
Three Examples of Myself as Queen
By Anna Biller
A sad Arabian queen is cheered up by her harem girls, a Queen Bee in a pink hive is adored by her drones, and a teenage girl at a party escapes to a pink castle in a colorful musical fantasy.
Team Queen
By Leah Meyerhoff
The new girl in school is thrown into a topsy-turvy madhouse of high school hellcats. The cheerleaders are drag queens, the nerds are nymphomaniacs, the punks breathe fire, and the prom band is none other than the queer post-punk phenomenon Triple Crème.
Exercise with Chin Yung
By Wenhwa Ts’ao
Exercise with Chin Yung is a personal experimental/documentary film about the filmmaker's retired father who likes to exhibit his own creation of Tai Chi in public and sings Karaoke with his friends. This film presents the internal struggle of being the daughter of an old-fashioned Chinese father, whose lifelong wish had been to have a son to carry on his family name. The film examines the father-daughter relationship, and investigates the need of the daughter to fulfill the expectations of the father.
Queen of the May
By Eun-Ha Paek
Animated music video for a song by Veda Hille.
Gigi from 9 to 5
By Joanne Nucho
A Post Modern & Situationist inspired musical, "Gigi (from 9 to 5)" is a story about the perils of the endless cycle of work and consumption. Gigi sings and dances her way through her day, trying to keep up with the show.
Cats and Pants
By Jennifer Matotek
Cats and pants. And cats and pants. And pants and cats and cats and pants.
Film Series for Women, Action and Media Conference
March 31-April 2, 2006
The Stata Center, on the MIT campus
Room 32-141
Friday, March 31
10pm
Scene Not Heard: Women in Philadelphia Hip-Hop
by Maori Karmael Holmes
45 minutes
Through rare performance footage, music and interviews with artists such as Floetry, Bahamadia and Lady B, this documentary looks at the role of women in Philadelphia's underground hip-hop scene as they struggle to make their way in an industry known for its lack of opportunities for women in a city often overlooked for its contributions.
Saturday, April 1
Time 4pm, repeat at 7pm
The Grrly Show
by Kara Herold
18 minutes
An explosion of fringe feminism and print media, The Grrly Show is a powerful and rebellious message from new voices often left unheard. Examines the girly zine revolution and culture.
Left on Pearl: Women Take Over 888 Memorial Drive, Cambridge
by Susie Rivo
A work-in-progress documentary. Employing multiple perspectives, this documentary video will tell the story of a little-known but highly significant event in the history of the Second Wave of the women's movement. The 1971 takeover of a Harvard University building was the surprise ending of that year's International Woman's Day march. Several women involved in this event will be present for a discussion.
Sunday, April 2
4pm
The Education of Shelby Knox
by Rose Rosenblatt and Marion Lipschutz
76 minutes
Federally funded, abstinence-only sex education is sparking an intense national debate. Into the culture wars steps feisty teenager Shelby Knox of Lubbock, Texas. Although her county's high schools teach abstinence as the only safe sex, Lubbock has some of the highest rates of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases in the nation. Shelby, a devout Christian who has pledged abstinence until marriage herself, becomes an unlikely advocate for comprehensive sex education, profoundly changing her political and spiritual views along the way. When Shelby's interest in politics leads her to get involved in a campaign for comprehensive sex education in her town's public schools, and then to a fight for a gay-straight alliance, Shelby must make a choice: Stand by and let others be hurt, or go against her parents, her pastor, and her peers to do what she knows is right.
Short Film Showcase
Celebrating International Women's Day 2006
Emcee: Madge Kaplan, former reporter for WGBH’s "Marketplace," whogot her startin journalism through her work on an annual 24-hour radio broadcast marking International Women's Day at WMBR (M.I.T.).
KYLIE GOLDSTEIN, ALL AMERICAN / 3 minutes
Director: Eva Saks– USA
KYLIE GOLDSTEIN, ALL AMERICANisthe story of Kylie, a little girl adopted from China who is now an American Goldstein.
MOUSTACHE / 13 minutes
Director: Vicki Sugars – AUSTRALIA
Sometimes, it doesn’t pay to change your true self for the person you love.
ON THE CLIFFS / 15 minutes
Director: Lisa M. Perry – USA
Best friends Penelope and Dora are the producers and stars of a local cable access show devoted to staging classics such as Macbeth and Moby Dick, only the productions are based on the Cliff's Notes version of the novels rather than the classics themselves. Problems rise to the surface when Penelope and Dora attempt their interpretation of George Orwell's Animal Farm. This documentary-style short follows the friends as they deconstruct the plot--and each other.
MÉNAGE À TROIS / 15 min
Director: Kimberly M. Wetherell - USA
The story of a boy… a girl… and her cell phone.
THE SCIENCE OF LOVE / 14 min
Director/Writer: Joyce Draganosky – USA
Sydney, a buttoned up, brainy, beautiful professor, clashes with Ileana, her seasoned, sexy, seductive boss over research that claims brains scans can measure true love. During their battle of wits, Sydney gets more than she bargained for - including a swordfight in stiletto heels and a hefty dose of self-discovery. Zany, brainy and crazy, THE SCIENCE OF LOVE will leave you wondering if the mind has a heart of its own.
WASP / 23 minutes
Director: Andrea Arnold – United Kingdom
When 23 year old single mum Zoe gets asked out on a date, she lies about having four kids and leaves them outside the pub.
HAND SUM / 8min
Director: Eva Colmers - Canada
Miro moves through life without much conviction until a magical incident prompts an escape from the routine of her daily life. Miro climbs onto a cloud, listens to the birds and has an adventure. Shot as stunning shadow projection and rich in images, HAND SUM is driven by a compelling rhythm. Miro is the allegorical “everyone”, searching for the meaning of life.
Joanie4Jackie Video Screening
Thursday, September 15, 2005
7pm
Zeitgeist Gallery
1353 Cambridge St.
Joanie 4 Jackie is an alternative distribution system for women moviemakers. Every woman who sends her short film or video to Joanie 4 Jackie receives a Chainletter tape in the mail, full of works by women from everywhere.
Founded in 1995 by performing artist and moviemaker Miranda July, Joanie 4 Jackie is currently screening and distributing over 100 movies, and receiving more every day.
The chainletter tapes are private documents for sleuthy women seeking proof of what they've seen and evidence of more. This is girlculture: no stammer, no glamour.
This screening presented one special compilation: THE NEWBORN CHAINLETTER, featuring short works both amateur and professional.
Local Filmmakers Screening
AS220 Gallery in Providence, RI
Saturday, September 3, 2005
2pm
Like Whoa for the Totally 9 min.
by Michaela Georgeson
A series of vignettes from a distorted reality where clowns are born and balloons can love.
Boquita 10 min.
by Carmen Oquendo-Villar and Richard Ruiz
Boquita presents a day in the life portrait of a transgender performer from the Dominican Republic who resides in Jamaica Plain, MA. It is an exploration of Boquita in various facets of her life --day job at an Aids prevention center, night job at various Latino Gay Clubs in MA, and home getting ready for a show or chilling out with friends.
ANA’S CHRONOTOPE 6 min.
by Alice Cox
The film is a meditation on Ana’s process of understanding her childhood in rural Texas through a script written by her abusive stepfather. It attempts to render the elusive relationship between memory and present time as she struggles with her past.
Damming Brazil 12 min.
by Erin Sisk and Sabrina McCormick
A documentary about dam building in Brazil and the people it affects.
WITH US OR AGAINST US 5 min.
by Sarina Khan Reddy
This video explores the blurred boundaries between news and entertainment and how war and militarization are fueled by corporate globalization.
SHE 3 min.
Hongsun Yoon
A partly animated reflection of a girl.
Why Kyle, Why Not? 13 min.
by Christie Brown
A fictional portrait of an amateur videographer and his uncooperative muse, a rather average twenty something female.
Screening in the Garden
Tuesday, August 23
At Sundown (around 8pm)
Somerville Community Growing Center
22 Vinal Avenue, Somerville
Near Union Square, Between Summer and Highland Ave.
FREE!
An exciting and unique outdoor screening of short films, at the lovely Somerville Community Growing Center.
GOING BACK HOME by Louise Bourque
Turmoil of unsheltered childhood: the dwelling as self.
JOURS EN FLEURS by Louise Bourque
Jours en fleurs is a reclamation of flower-power in which images of trees in springtime bloom are subjected to the floriferous ravages of menarcheal substance in a gestation of decay. The title is based on an expression from my coming of age in Acadian French Canada where girls would refer to having their menstrual periods as “être dans ses fleurs”. As a result of incubation in menstrual blood for several months, the original images inscribed on the emulsion undergo violent alterations. The shedding of the unfertilized womb depredates the fertilized blossoms and substitutes its own dark beauty.
TO AND NO FRO by Abigail Child
A collaboration with Monica de la Torre, Abigail Child and Luis Bunuel. sound Dark, speculative play with the outside of the image, status and culture cracking the mirror of the bourgeoise, plus dreams, hauntings and wish-fullfilment of letters.
WOMAN by Signe Baumane
Woman is a visual poem about the creation of a woman and her two ways of encountering a man. In one way she has a potential to bring death to a man. In the other she can give him her love. It all depends on the man's actions.
DRAGONFLIES, THE BABY CRIES by Jane Gillooly
Music by the ALLOY ORCHESTRA
Chrildren's fantasies and the power of their imaginations are explored in this short black and white movie by noted director Jane Gillooly. Deep in the forest, beyond the restraints of the adult world, a group of children meet to play. The line between fantasy and reality begins to blur. A nursery rhyme becomes an incantation, and surprising things begin to happen.
THE NOT DEAD YET CLUB by Jane Gillooly
An excerpt from a narrative work in progress that explores the ways that women's identities change as their bodies and minds become less reliable.
OUR TIME IN THE GARDEN by Susan Steinberg Woll and Ron Blau
Optically printed experimental film about the life of a Jewish family in Berlin in the 1930’s who are forced from their garden when Hitler comes to power.
SELF PORTRAIT IN PRELUDE by Joan Nidzyn
A whimsical self-portrait of the artist using photo animation.
THE MUMMY'S DANCE by Courtney Egan
Wrapped up in the search for everlasting life.
WATER by Adra Raine
Various forms and impressions of water gather and move through the seasons, evoking sensations of the coming of spring.
THE UNHAPPY MEDIUM by Chelsea Spear
This film portrays a contentious relationship between fraudulent spirit medium Fay Stinson (Emily Sweeney) and Tom Lane (Ian Cardoni), her nephew and ward. Tensions mount during a seance held to contact the daughter of a well-to-do couple, in which Tom exposes the ways in which his aunt truly speaks with the dead.
Where are the Women Film Critics?
Panel discussion
Tuesday, January 31, 2005
7 p.m.
Rabb Lecture Hall, Boston Public Library
Free and open to the public
No major Boston publication has a female film critic currently on staff. Of the 20-member Boston Society of Film Critics, only four are women. Of film critics with national reputations, both print and television, few are female. On the same day that the Oscar nominations are announced, Women in Film & Video/New England, the region’s leading professional group dedicated to promoting women’s achievements on and off camera, asks: “Where are the women critics?”
Featured panelists include: Joyce Kulhawik, CBS4 News arts and entertainment anchor; Loren King, freelance writer, film critic, and president of the Boston Society of Film Critics; Janice Page, freelance writer and frequent film critic for the Boston Globe; and Gerald Peary, scholar, filmmaker, and film critic for the Boston Phoenix. The event’s organizer and moderator, Erin Trahan, is a freelance writer and past president of Women in Film & Video/New England.
BPL Screening
Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2005
Let My Country Awake
Boston Public Library, 700 Boylston St., Boston, Mass.
Screening of a film by WIFV/NE members Deb Huston and Janet Fuchs. The filmmakers will be present for a post-screening discussion. The film (50 min.) chronicles American opposition to the 2003 war on Iraq. Filmed in San Francisco, New York, Washington and Los Angeles. Winner of the Best of Festival Award at the 2003 Berkeley Video and Film Festival. Free. 7 p.m. Wheelchair accessible.
Mean Girls: Making Sense of Media’s Mixed Messages and Their Influence on Mothers and Daughters
Monday, Nov. 22, 2004; 6 pm–8:30 pm
Rabb Lecture Hall, Boston Public Library at Copley Square
Free and open to the public
Co-presented by the Girls’ Coalition of Greater Boston
There’s been a lot of talk about so-called “mean” girls and girls’ aggression. Yet much of the dialogue has been oversimplified: girls are painted as either “mean” or “nice,” leaving little room for the complexities and underlying sources of their conflicts. What lessons do we learn from movies like MEAN GIRLS? What role do on and off-screen moms play in helping their daughters find alternatives to the narrow depictions of “mean” vs. “nice”? Can critical thinking about popular media and girl/women-made media inspire girls to build stronger friendships with each other and use their “aggression” to effect social change? After all, upholding the status quo is exactly what keeps “mean girls” in power.
People of all ages are invited to a free screening of the popular film MEAN GIRLS and a post-film discussion that asks critical questions about how this film and other media portrayals confront and/or reinforce the ubiquitous images of girls’ friendship and aggression.
Featured speaker: Jessica Henderson Daniel, Ph.D., psychologist, Children’s Hospital – Boston
Facilitator: Erin Trahan, past WIFV/NE president and frequent contributor to Girls’ Coalition’s Girl Matters
Girls' Coalition of Greater Boston is a member-driven consortium dedicated to supporting the adults who empower girls.
Trouble in Paradise by Laurel Greenberg
Thursday, August 12, 2004
Rabb Lecture Hall, Boston Public Library at Copley Square
Trouble in Paradise is a real-life drama unfolding in the chaotic landscape of Florida politics over the course of a two-year period spanning from Election 2000 to Election 2002. Set amidst a backdrop of present-day events, the story follows the lives of five Floridians. Motivated by a sense of civic responsibility, they volunteer on campaigns, run for office, sue the state, and revisit the disturbing facts and unanswered questions of the historic election that changed their lives. Visit www.troubleinparadise.org.
Experimental short films and videos from New England
Saturday, July 10, 2005 2 p.m.
Just Words by Louise Bourque (16mm)
"Using as its text Samuel Beckett’s Not I, this shocking gift incorporates optically printed home movie footage and an eerily slick close-up of actress Patricia MacGeachy as she rants at lightning speed Beckett’s words about home, family and the confines and alienation associated with being a woman.”
— Program notes, Madcat Film Festival, San Francisco, 2001
Going Back Home by Louise Bourque (16mm)
Turmoil of unsheltered childhood: the dwelling as self, “Louise Bourque’s Going Back Home conveys a sense of loss and upheaval with just a few images”
— Program notes, San Francisco International Film Festival
Switch Center by Ericka Beckman (16mm)
This film is a tribute to the futuristic architecture of the Soviet postwar period, and a reaction to seeing it transitioned to shopping malls or global corporate office structures. Switch Center is a 10-minute experimental documentary shot in many defunct Danube Water Works locations on the outskirts of Budapest.
Fuzzy by Helena Schniewind (DVD)
A 10-day-old kitten suddenly becomes aware of the profound weight of its existence. A rigorously determined process-piece where the sound recordings of cats' purring are used as source material to reconstruct the mathematical dimensions of an architectural place.
Introduction to Living in a Closed System by Brittany Gravely (16mm)
This film is a fractured educational film based upon the idea of a biospheric utopia: a contained, self-sustaining, controlled environment which survives through dynamic systems.
Alphabet by Chelsea Spear (DVD)
Alphabet is a seven-minute short about the connections between math and music and the application both hold as languages. These connections are made through the character of Emily, a 12-year-old math genius who plays the French horn. The film eschews traditional narrative and editing technique for a cannily edited character sketch and examination of her thought process.
The Trickle Down Theory of Sorrow by Mary Filippo (DVD)
The core of this film is an interview with Filippo’s mother, in which she describes worker exploitation and gender discrimination in the jewelry factories she worked in during the 1940s and ’50s. The filmmaker connects and contrasts her own experiences and attitudes toward work, class and gender roles with her mother’s. While her mother's attitude toward the social injustices she endured is one of resignation, Filippo’s is one of assumed but uncollected responsibility.
Removed and Windows by Asma Kazmi
Saturday, June 5, 2004 2 p.m.
Queen of the Gypsies: A Portrait of Carmen Amaya By Jocelyn Ajami
A portrait of Carmen Amaya (1913–1963), this film is an award-winning documentary, written, directed and produced by Jocelyn Ajami. This biography is the first American film portrait of revolutionary Spanish dancer, Carmen Amaya, one of the most important performers of the millennium and the first Gypsy to become a world-famous star. Carmen Amaya brought the art of flamenco "puro" to the international stage. This film is the most comprehensive video history, to date, on the life and art of Amaya. Winner of three awards, including Best Documentary, North America, from the Latino International Film Festival in San Francisco.
Film Festival Co-presentations
Co-presentation at The Boston Jewish Film Festival 2006
SISTERS (HERMANAS)
8:15 pm
Tuesday, November 7
Coolidge Corner Theatre
Director: Julia Solomonoff
Country: Argentina released 2005
Duration: 88 min., 35mm
Language: Spanish w/subtitles
The two Levin sisters reunite in Texas in 1982 for the first time since Natalia Levin (Ingrid Rubio) fled Argentina for Spain in 1975. Argentina’s dark past -- its military dictatorship, the Dirty War it waged against its citizens -- is the backdrop for director Julia Solomonoff’s masterfully constructed family drama about memory, displacement and the American Dream during the Reagan years.
MARTI: THE PASSIONATE EYE
Down Under Jews
12:00 pm
Friday, November 10
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Director: Shirley Horrocks
Country: New Zealand released 2004
Duration: 73 min., Video
Language: English
After a childhood in a London Jewish orphanage, Marti Friedlander moved to New Zealand and became one of its most illustrious photographers. She has captured stunningly fresh and iconic images of protest activities, artists, and sheep for over forty years. The documentary follows Friedlander, now in her 70s, as she reflects back on her legacy and the people who have inspired her.
The 22nd Annual Boston Gay and Lesbian Film/Video Festival
Through May 21, 2006
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Remis Auditorium
WIFV/NE is co-presenting a screening at this year's festival:
Lover Other
Wed, May 17, 6:30 pm
by Barbara Hammer (2006, 55 min., video)
Experimental filmmaker Barbara Hammer illuminates the story of Surrealist writer, photographer, and lesbian, Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore, her lover, step-sister, and artistic collaborator. Capturing the spirit of this Jewish couple who refused to live by any standards but their own, the film masterfully employs photographs of the women and their artwork interwoven with voiceovers and insightful interviews. Lover Other brings art, politics, and gender identity to the fore in a thought-provoking investigation of artists and resistance during WWII. Description adapted from the Maine Jewish Film Festival.
Preceded by Hubby/Wifey by Todd Hughes (2002, 7 min., video).
Co-presented by The Boston Jewish Film Festival and
Women in Film & Video/New England
Human Rights Watch International Film Festival: 2004
WIFV/NE co-presents two films. The Human Rights Watch International Film Festival was in Boston from Jan. 27–31, with screenings at the Coolidge Corner Theater and the Museum of Fine Arts.
Silent Waters (KHAMOSH PANI: 2003)
Friday, Jan. 28, at the Museum of Fine Arts
Sabiha Sumar, Pakistan (2003) 35mm
In Punjabi with English subtitles
The Kite
Friday, Jan. 28, at the Museum of Fine Arts
Randa Chahal-Sabbag, France/Lebanon (2003); 35mm
In Arabic with English subtitles
Boston Jewish Film Festival: 2002
WIFV/NE co-presented two films on Nov. 11, 2002, at the14th Annual Boston Jewish Film Festival the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. A Home on the Range: The Jewish Chicken Ranchers of Petaluma, directed by Bonnie Burt; The Collector of Bedford Street, directed by Alice Elliot. A reception followed at the Mary Baker Eddy Library.
As part of the Filmmakers Collaborative annual Open Studios, WIFV/NE presented a screening of several members’ work, in the WIFV/NE office, courtesy of Vox Television. Filmmakers included Maryanne Galvin, Erin Dalbec, Signe Taylor, and others.
A raffle was held for the new Gorilla Film Production software, a program designed to help independent filmmakers manage their productions. Refreshments and an opportunity to mingle. 50 Hunt St., Watertown, Mass.
Filmmakers Collaborative Open Studios: 2003
Beth Harrington's Welcome to the Club: the Women of Rockabilly
Nancy Salzer's Excerpts from The Mother Tapes
Maryanne Galvin's Amuse Bouche: A Chef's Tale
Louise Bourque's Just Words; Fissures; The People in the House
Laurel Greenberg's Trouble In Paradise
Susan Steinberg Woll’s Rites of Passage
Robin Saunders’ Sustainable Homeownership
Robin Saunders' The Tennismen's Sports Club
Jacqueline Hogan will show short excerpts from multiple projects.
Ornit Barkai's A Day in Poland, August 18, 2002 (A triology)
Liane Brandon's Once Upon A Choice; Anything You Want to Be
Dana Biscotti Myskowski's The Lemonade Stand
Lynn Weissman’s TecsChange: Technology for Social Change
Jane Gillooly's Dragonflies, The Baby Cries
Community Partnership Video Grant: 2003
Every other year WIFV/NE’s board and membership supports the production of a video for a New England-based nonprofit organization that is linked to the mission of WIFV/NE. This promotional video is valued between $10,000 and $15,000.
Eligible partners must represent a New England-based nonprofit organization that is girl-centered, girl-developed and/or girl-directed with an emphasis on underserved communities. The organization should serve young women between the ages of 10-17. Special attention is given to groups with an interest in learning how to use video technologies.
The Community Partnership Video Grant began in 1998 with the successful collaboration between WIFV/NE and the Big Sister Association of Greater Boston. WIFV/NE organized a team of over 20 women filmmakers—ranging from amateurs to seasoned professionals—who were involved in the process of producing the video from the initial coordination of the interviews to the final editing. Big Sister has used the final product in fundraising activities and to train incoming volunteers; it was also distributed to over 515 Big Brother/Big Sister agencies across the country in a toolkit focused on serving girls.
The G.I.R.L.S. Project received the video grant in 2000. The video documented the project's annual conference planned by and for young women in Boston. Used as both a recruitment and fundraising tool, the video helps illustrate the project's work with the voices of its planners and participants
20+ Years of Work by Women in Film & Video/New England: 2002
Jan. 28–Feb. 2, 2002
Presented in conjunction with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Recognized as one of the best local film series of 2002 by the Boston Society of Film Critics.
For several summers, WIFV/NE has presented several different programs at the Rabb Lecture Hall at the Boston Public Library, Copley Square. The goal of the series was to present work from women in all genres and aspects of filmmaking. Filmmakers were present to discuss their work.
First Summer Fest: 2003
This free showcase of local filmmakers’ work included screenings of the following works and discussions with the directors:
10 a.m.: Sandy 'Spin' Slade: Beyond Basketball by Lorre Fritchy
11 a.m.: Three Short Films by Clodine Mallinckrodt
11:30 a.m.: Community Service, Community Spirit by Marilyn Pennell
12 noon: Beauty Parlor Census by Margaret Broucek
12:30 p.m.: TecsChange: Technology for Social Change by Lynn Weissman
1 p.m.: Lifestyles of the Poor and Unknown by Nancy Fliesler
2 p.m.: Tea Cakes or Cannoli by Francine Pellegrino
3:30 p.m.: A Day in Poland, August 18, 2002 & Manhattan Moments by Ornit Barkai
Saturday, Aug. 9, 2003, 10am–4pm
Boston Public Library, 700 Boylston St., Copley Square
Rabb Lecture Hall
Summer Fest: 2004
Greetings from Iraq by Signe Taylor (28 min.)
In this documentary about the first Gulf War and post-war experiences of Iraqi children and their families, viewers are taken on a journey through the diverse and broken city of Baghdad.
Inside Her Art by Erin Dalbec (27 min.)
Inside Her Heart was made to change people’s ideas of what it is like to live with a disability. It chronicles artist Nancy Cunningham's struggle while interweaving the story of Gateway Arts, its history and ultimate success in the rehabilitation of people with disabilities.
When Given Lemons... by Naomi Greenfield (8 min.)
A detective short about what you can do with a B.A. in English.
Packrat by Kris Britt Montag (52 min.)
Filmmaker Kris Britt Montag traces her family's struggle to deal with "packratting." Through family interviews, Kris chronicles her father's life and the development of the problem, which clinical professionals have addressed as a symptom of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Part personal and part informational, Packrat takes a look at what it's like to grow up in a family where hoarding is an issue.
Dental Farmer by Ellen Brodsky and Dunya Alwan (15 min.)
Meet dental farmer Dr. Art Rybeck, a man in West Virginia who combines his passion for organic food production with a community dental practice. Rybeck sees no reason why the less fortunate should go without dental care, so he has set up a clinic in a farmhouse with a barter and work-trade payment policy.
High, Fast and Wonderful by Maryanne Galvin (43 min.)
A thoughtful spiritual odyssey tracking the missions of four Catholic clergy ministering their flocks in some unusual places. Daredevil circus performers, champion race car drivers and migrant workers on Nantucket Island reveal that even the briefest encounters inspire relief from life's ups and downs.
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