Local Filmmakers at The Baltimore Women's Film Festival
The Baltimore Women's Film Festival this year features works which truly showcase diversity and hard hitting issues brought to light by talented and bold female filmmakers. The festival will showcase a wide variety of filmmakers currently based in the Baltimore/DC area, as well as filmmakers originally from Baltimore. These filmmakers will be at the event to represent their work, answer questions from the audience and support the second year of The Baltimore Women's Film Festival. Films by local filmmakers include documentaries, comedies, and short dramas. Additionally, local short experimental filmmakers Brandy Baker and Vivian Wong both have their shorts featured in The Baltimore Women's Film Festival experimental film showcase.
Opening Night Screenings Featuring Local Filmmakers
Filmmakers whose dramatic short films are in the festival include Baltimore Native Arlette Thomas-Fletcher whose film "Assault in Brooklyn" will be screening Thursday October 23rd, opening night at The Baltimore Women's Film Festival. Thomas-Fletcher recently won a Prestigious Telly Award and an Accolade Award for her work on this short dramatic film about domestic violence and a young Polish woman who is attempting to escape from an abusive marriage and a partner who has vowed to never let her go.“Assault In Brooklyn is an amazing story that I always wanted to tell. With so much domestic violence in the world I wanted to not just touch on the issue but to show a victim who even when pushed to her lowest, can find a glimmer of light...” says Producer, Arlette Thomas-Fletcher, Also in this opening night sequence is Peter Mullett's short dramatic film "Parting Ways" about a couple in the midst of a divorce exploring remaining issues in their relationship. Mullett's film, shot completely in Baltimore, features a powerful performance by Philippa Berrington-Blew. In reference to his film, the director states "everyone who worked on it with me have been friends and colleagues in the film community in Baltimore for a decade, maybe two."
"Alma" directed by Yuri Makino is also a selection for this year's Baltimore Women's Film Festival. Alma is about a young Latina coming of age in Arizona and to appeal to a wide audience through its universal theme about the bitter sweetness of growing up. Producer Vicky Westover states "being a second generation Mexican American when the values between the old and new generations clash. With the public’s growing interest in U.S.-Mexico immigration issues, this project is more timely than ever." Executive Producer Westover is a native of Washington D.C. and lived in Baltimore for over 20 years. Westover is a graduate of the Maryland Institute and the former director of the Baltimore Film Forum, Baltimore International Film Festival, and Baltimore Independent Film and Video Competition.
Dramady Screenings at the Festival
Maryland native Nicole Emmanuel will also be in attendance representing her film "Morning Glory." Her film is about an eccentric gospel singer racing to sing in Sunday service encounters hurtles that force her to chose between helping those in need or saving her holy reputation. Nicole Emmanuel is currently studying film at the prestigious Florida State University Film School.
In the Comedic Shorts Sequence is the Maryland Premiere of "Hold On" directed by Doug Olear (The Wire) and Jackie Julio, actress and filmmaker originally from the Baltimore area. The film also features Dominic West (300, Chicago) The film is a quirky comedy about Rose,
a spirited, quadriplegic, physicist who goes to extreme measures in her quest for romance. The film was shot at the Cloisters Museum in Baltimore County.
A number of the short documentary films at the festival were made by area filmmakers including "Crossing Lines," a film about an Indian American woman's struggle to stay connected to India after the loss of her father, and "My Dead Husband's Land," the story of an HIV-positive widow, Betty Tom, and her fight against discrimination in Kenya. About her short documentary, Director Jayaswi states "'Crossing Lines' is a personal essay documentary, exploring the life of a woman, Indira Somani. The film attempts to understand and sensitize audiences across the globe about the life of one Indian-American woman and how she tries to stay connected to her Indian culture, despite the loss of her father – a great cultural influence in her life."
"My Dead Husband’s Land" deals with the local Luo culture in Kenya which prevents women from inheriting and owning their deceased husbands’ land and properties. But the women of Orongo are emerging victorious in a battle against practices they consider oppressive and cruel. They’re using the AIDS epidemic to revolutionize their culture, in a fashion as yet unprecedented in Africa. This remarkable fight against discrimination has led to every widow at Orongo - whether HIV-positive or not - now having the right to refuse to be inherited. The film was Directed by Mia Malan who is the Senior Resident Health Journalism Advisor of Internews Network in Washington DC. Prior to this she was the Resident Journalism Advisor for Internews Network’s Local Voices project in Nairobi, Kenya. Mia Malan states "Stories that speak of African dignity and hope and people who inspire others to make a difference in the midst of the utmost desperation are rarely told. When I moved to Kenya four years ago from my home country, South Africa, I certainly didn’t expect to come across an inspiring HIV story. But then I was introduced to Betty Tom of Orongo Village on the shores of Lake Victoria."
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