The following descriptions are provided by the volunteers who organize the Women's Film Festival. All films screen at New England Youth Theatre (100 Flat St., Brattleboro).
Tickets are $8.50 at the door, $7.50 for students or senior citizens. Five-show passes are available for $35 at Everyone's Books in Brattleboro and World Eye Bookshop in Greenfield.
Filmgoers are advised to arrive 15 minutes ahead of show time.
Festival organizers note: “The films in the Women's Film Festival should be generally considered “for mature audiences only” and are not meant for young children. Please use your own judgment, but we suggest assuming all of the films are at least the equivalent of a PG-13 rating or stronger.”
For more information about the films and screening times, visit www.womensfilmfestival.org.
A Courtship
2015 • Amy Kohn • 71 min • US • Documentary: A documentary about Christian Courtship, an alternative to dating that seeks to ensure physical and emotional purity until marriage. Kelly, a 33 year old virgin, renounces dating believing that her parents along with God should find her husband. Screening Saturday, March 12 at noon with Grace Under Pressure.
Cailleach
2014 • Rosie Hillman • 14 min • Scotland • Short - Documentary: A portrait of Morag, age 86, who lives alone at the end of a track looking out to sea with her three cats and twelve sheep. She has lived here her whole life, following five generations of the family who came before her. Cailleach follows Morag's simple and peaceful life as she contemplates her next chapter, shares her unique sense of independence and the connection she has to her wild island home. Screening Saturday, March 12 at 2 p.m. with Coming Back to the Hoop.
Can I Stay?
2015 • Onyee Lo, Paige Carter • 3.47 min • US • Animated Short: A heartwarming CGI short animated film about an apprehensive homeless girl who must traverse a dangerous, wintry city in order to escape her adorable pursuers. Screening Saturday, March 19 at 8 p.m. with Something Better to Come.
Catch It
2014 • Radiant Lea Brassy • 10 min • Norway • Short - Documentary: Accustomed to a life on the road, Léa Brassy's nomadic surfing lifestyle takes a pause in Northern Norway. Trading in her bikini for a thick wetsuit, she connects with the surrounding mountains, Arctic surf, and simple living. Whether it's paddling hard for a wave, or chasing after a passion - Léa reminds us that if the timing is right, we have to “Catch It”. Screening Sunday, March 13 at noon with The Empowerment Project.
Chuck Norris vs Communism
2015 • Ilinca Calugareanu • 83min • Romania • Documentary: In 1980s Romania, thousands of Western films smashed through the Iron Curtain opening a window into the free world for those who dared to look. A black-market VHS racketeer and a courageous female translator brought the magic of film to the people and sparked a revolution. Screening Sunday, March 20 at 8 p.m. with Face of Ukraine.
Coming Back to the Hoop
2014 • Jane Pittman • 92 min • US • Documentary: Jane Pittman, a promising basketball star at her small town high school, ran off the court 43 years ago, never to return ... until now. Vowing to get into the best shape of her life, she is determined to play competitive ball again. She finds a passionate group of seniors who have decided to 'wear out, before we rust out' - choosing basketball over bingo, these women come together for much more than sports. Screening Saturday, March 12 at 2 p.m. with Cailleach.
Dark Side of the Full Moon
2014 • Maureen Fura • 75 min • US • Documentary: When motherhood meets mental health complications in America, no one is listening. Dark Side of the Full Moon delves into the unseen world of maternal mental health and uncovers the disconnect within the medical community to effectively screen, refer, and treat the 1.3 million mothers affected by postpartum depression each year, giving a face and voice to the countless women who have suffered in silence. Screening Sunday, March 13 at 2 p.m. with Raising Ryland.
Don't Tell Anyone
2015 • Mikaela Shiver • 75min • US • Documentary: Since the age of 4, Angy Rivera has lived in the United States with a secret that threatens to upend her life: she is undocumented. In the shadows of an abusive past and a precarious future, undocumented immigrant activist Angy tells her extraordinary journey from poverty in rural Colombia to the front page of the New York Times. Screening Saturday, March 19 at 2 p.m. with Marathon.
Dreamcatcher
2015 • Kim Longinotto • 98 min • US • Documentary: Dreamcatcher takes us into a hidden world of prostitution through the eyes of one of its survivors; Brenda Myers-Powell. A former teenage prostitute who worked the streets of Chicago, Brenda defied the odds to become a powerful advocate for change in her community. With warmth and humour, Brenda gives hope to those who have none. Screening Sunday, March 20 at 6 p.m.
Driving with Selvi
2015 • Elisa Paloschi • 72 min • India • Documentary: Like many girls living within India's patriarchal culture, Selvi is forced to marry as a child. Her marriage is violent and abusive, and in deep despair, she escapes to a highway with the intention of throwing herself under the wheels of a bus. Instead, Selvi gets on the bus, choosing to live… and goes on to become South India's first female taxi driver. Through Selvi's eyes, the audience is taken on an intimate journey of healing, overcoming obstacles, and fulfilling dreams. Screening Saturday, March 12 at 4 p.m. with Finding June.
Dukhtar
2014 • Afia Nathaniel • 93 min • Pakistan • Feature: Two decades after her own forced marriage to a tribal leader, Allah Rakhi chooses to take her ten-year-old daughter and flee their home in the mountains of Pakistan on the evening of the girl's marriage to a tribal leader. A deadly hunt for them begins. Screening Sunday, March 20 at 2 p.m.
The Empowerment Project
2014 • Sarah Moshman • 99 min • US • Documentary: “What would you do if you weren't afraid to fail?” With this question, five female filmmakers set out on a roadtrip across America to interview 17 positive and powerful women leaders across a variety of lifestyles and industries. Driving over 7,000 miles in 30 days, these filmmakers relay candid insight on how women define their success, what it takes to be a woman in power, and valuable advice on how to improve the female role in the workplace, in a quest to inspire the next generation of strong women. Screening Sunday, March 13 at noon with Catch It.
The Face of Ukraine
2015 • Kitty Green • 7 Min • Ukraine • Short - Drama: Adorned in pink sequins, little girls from all over a divided, war-torn Ukraine audition to play the role of a national hero whose tears of joy once united their troubled country, the gold-winning figure skater Oksana Baiul. Screening Saturday, March 12 at 8 p.m. with Olmo & the Seagull and Sunday, March 20 at 8 p.m. with Chuck Norris vs Communism.
Finding June
2013 • Anna Schumacher • 21 min • US • Short - Drama: Through the eyes of a deaf woman just diagnosed with breast cancer, we explore communication's role in truly understanding one another. Screening Saturday, March 12 at 4 p.m. with Driving with Selvi.
First World Problems
2014 • Hanna Maylett • 7 min • Finland • Short - Comedy: Losing a car in a car park can be the end of the world or the beginning of another. Screening Saturday, March 19 at 8 p.m. with Something Better to Come.
Flying Solo
2015 • Leslie von Pless • 8 min • US • Short - Documentary: 92 year old Robina Asti, a WWII veteran and pilot, tells her story of living as a transgender woman since 1976 and her fight to be treated like any other widow, after her partner passes away. Screening Saturday, March 19 at 6 p.m. with From This Day Forward.
From This Day Forward
2015 • Sharon Shattuck • 75 min • US • Documentary: A moving portrayal of an American family coping with one of the most intimate of transformations. When director Sharon Shattuck's father came out as transgender and changed her name to Trisha, Sharon was in the awkward throes of middle school. Her father's transition to female was difficult for her straight-identified mother, Marcia, to accept, but her parents stayed together. As the Shattucks reunite to plan Sharon's wedding, she seeks a deeper understanding of how her parents' marriage survived the radical changes that threatened to tear the family apart. Screening Saturday, March 19 at 6 p.m. with Flying Solo.
Grace Under Pressure
2014 • Jen Moss • 10 min • UK • Short - Comedy: A comedy with supernatural elements, Grace Under Pressure explores the perception of women and success. Screening Saturday, March 12 at noon with A Courtship.
Hardy
2015 • Natasha Verma • 73 min • US • Documentary: The inspirational, true story of an undefeated female boxer from Brooklyn, NY, who rises above the gender inequalities in professional boxing and aspires to become a world champion. Screening Sunday, March 13 at 4 p.m. with KERS.
Horizons
2015 • Eileen Hofer • 67 min • Cuba/Switzerland • Documentary: In run-down rehearsal rooms along the halls of the Grand Theatre of Havana, dancers Amanda and Viengsay dedicate themselves wholeheartedly to the demanding routine their discipline requires of them: that of classical ballet. Their every step and aspiration echo the great achievements of their predecessor, Alicia Alonso, the prima ballerina assoluta, still invincible at the grand age of 90. Screening Saturday, March 19 at 4 p.m. with Women in Sink.
Joanna
2013 • Anita Kopacz • 40 min • Poland • Short - Documentary: Extraordinary Oscar nominated film. A devastating cancer diagnosis prompts Joanna, the mother of a small boy, to write about what she hopes to be able to accomplish in the time she has left. Screening Sunday, March 20 at noon with Suzy Lake: Playing with Time.
Junana (Seventeen)
2014 • Chantal Bertanlaffy • 15 min • Japan/Germany • Short - Drama: While on vacation in Japan, Alexandra and Charlotte's friendship is tested when they befriend Daisuke, a Japanese boy. Screening Sunday, March 13 at 8 p.m. with Tocando la Luz (Touch the Light).
KERS
2015 • Alexia Salingaros • 5 min • US • Short - Bio: Braving the general public's criticizing eye, KERS, a female graffiti artist, reveals her talents and takes us through the struggles she faces in her art form. Screening Sunday, March 13 at 4 p.m. with Hardy.
Liz in September
2014 • Fina Torres • 100 min • Venezuela • Feature-Drama: Liz has known several things since she was a child: that she is gay, that beauty is power, and that she would never be a victim. Diagnosed with cancer, and determined to enjoy the time she has left on earth, she hides her terminal disease from her friends. Along the way of her last months alive, Liz meets Eva, a straight woman whose car breaks down. Against all odds, the encounter between these two women changes their lives, setting new perspectives where love, life and death, away from morals, play as simple steps of nature. Screening Sunday, March 13 at 6 p.m.
Love Between the Covers
2015 • Laurie Kahn-Leavitt • 95 min • US • Documentary: For three years, directors follow the lives of five published romance authors and one unpublished newbie as they build their businesses, find and lose loved ones, cope with a tsunami of change in publishing, and earn a living doing what they love--while empowering others to do the same. Screening Saturday, March 19 at noon.
Marathon
2015 • Lauren Smitelli • 14 min • US • Short - Drama: A young woman with an unpromising future sets out to find someone from her past-but soon realizes the difficulty of her quest. Screening Saturday, March 19 at 2 p.m. with Don't Tell Anyone.
Mavis!
2015 • Jessica Edwards • 80 min • US • Documentary: Featuring powerful live performances, rare archival footage, and conversations with friends and contemporaries, Mavis! is the first feature documentary on gospel/soul music legend and civil rights icon Mavis Staples and her family group, The Staple Singers. Now 75 years old, Mavis' journey reveals insight into her struggles, successes, intimate stories, and a way of life which has kept her true to her roots, inspiring millions along the way. OPENING NIGHT GALA - Friday, March 11 at 7 p.m.
Mustang
2015 • Deniz Gamze Ergüven • 100 min • Turkey/France • Feature Drama: Golden Globe Nominated for Best Picture! In early summer, Lale and her four sisters are walking home from school, playing innocently with some boys. The perceived immorality of this play sets off a scandal that has unexpected consequences. The family home is progressively transformed into a prison; instruction in homemaking replaces school, and marriages start being arranged. The five sisters who share a common passion for freedom find ways of getting around the constraints imposed on them. Screening Saturday, March 12 at 6 p.m.
Olmo and the Seagull
2015 • Petra Costa, Lea Glob • 87 min • Brazil • Feature: Olivia, a free-spirited stage actress preparing for a starring role in a theatrical production of Chekhovs, “The Seagull,” discovers she is pregnant, and embarks on an existential, labyrinthal journey through her own mind. Olmo and the Seagull allows us access to the inner world of one woman, and the increasingly blurred lines between theatrical performance and reality. Screening Saturday, March 12 at 8 p.m. with Face of Ukraine.
Raising Ryland
2015 • Sarah Feeley • 13 min • US • Short - Documentary: An intimate look at parenting with no strings attached, Raising Ryland focuses on the transgender experience as lived by a deaf 6-year-old and his two loving parents. See what happens when a boy who cannot hear teaches the world to listen. Screening Sunday, March 13 at 2 p.m. with Dark Side of the Full Moon.
Something Better to Come
2015 • Hanna Polak • 80 min • Russia • Documentary: Ten-year-old Yula has but one dream - to lead a normal life. For 14 years, director Hanna Polak follows Yula as she grows up in the forbidden territory of Svalka, the garbage dump where Yula and her community live -- a huge mountain of trash, 17 stories high and stretching for over 2 miles. Although life is grim and dismal for the Svalka's inhabitants, it also has a way of bringing out the best in people. Screening Saturday, March 19 at 8 p.m. with First World Problems and Can I Stay?
Stuff
2015 • Suzanne Guacci • 98 min • US • Feature - Drama: With two young daughters and a house in the suburbs, married couple Trish and Deb Murdoch have built what should be a perfect life together. But after 14 years, Deb and Trish are miles apart--emotionally and in their king-size bed--finding themselves in a mid-life crisis where grief and attraction threaten their domestic world. Screening Sunday, March 20 at 4 p.m.
Suzy Lake: Playing with Time
2014 • Annette Mangaard • 62 min • US • Documentary: Suzy Lake, one of the seminal feminist artists to evolve out of the heyday of the 1960s, makes art that addresses politics, gender and issues of youth, beauty and aging while reflecting on her own journey through time. Interviews with Lucy Lippard, Connie Butler, Mary Beth Edelson, Martha Wilson, Barbara Astman and Lisa Steele tell a story of how much has changed in the worlds of feminism and art and yet how much things remain the same. Screening Sunday, March 20 at noon with Joanna.
Tocando la Luz (Touch the Light)
2015 • Jennifer Redfearn • 72 min • US • Documentary: Tocando la Luz (Touch the Light) weaves three stories – all set in the blind community of Havana, Cuba – into a tale of personal independence. As Lis, Milly, and Margarita each face family problems and heartbreak, their dependence on others turns out to be a double-edged sword. From the music halls of Havana to a cinema club for the blind, their stories reveal both the pain and the joys of fighting for yourself. Screening Sunday, March 13 at 8 p.m. with Junana.
While You Weren't Looking
2015 • Catherine Stewart • 104 min • Feature - Drama: South Africa led the world with its all embracing Constitution, granting homosexuals unprecedented freedoms and rights. This feature, produced by The Out In Africa Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, takes a look at South Africa through the lives and experiences of a cross section of Cape Town queers. Dez and Terri, a mixed-race couple married 20 years and adoptive parents are the trailblazing lesbians of the New South Africa. But, have these freedoms guaranteed them happiness? Screening Friday, March 18 at 6 p.m.
Women In Sink
2015 • Iris Zaki • 38 min • Israel • Short - Documentary: In an Arab hair-salon in Israel, the director installs a camera over the washing-basin. As she washes their hair, she converses candidly with the salon's clients -Arabs and Jews - on Israeli politics, life and love. Screening Saturday, March 19 at 4 p.m. with Horizons.
The Wonders
2015 • Alice Rohrwacher • 111 min • Feature - Drama: A family of beekeepers living in the Tuscan countryside finds their household disrupted by the simultaneous arrival of a silently troubled teenage boy and a reality TV show intent on showcasing the family. Both intrusions are of particular interest to the eldest daughter, Gelsomina, who is struggling to find her footing in the world. Screening Friday, March 18 at 8 p.m.