Films

Friday, Feb. 1st at Hollywood 20

1:15 p.m. WOMEN BEHIND THE CAMERA
A film by Alexis Krasilovsky
2007, USA, 90 minutes
English and subtitled
Only 4% of cinematographers on the largest budget American films are women. Here are the riveting stories of women cinematographers all over the globe - Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Iran, Mexico, Russia, Senegal and more - as these gifted women compete against all odds for roles in movie-making.

Ms. Krasilovsky will lead a post-film discussion

3:15 p.m. IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH
A film by Pilar Prassas
2007, USA, 61 minutes
Film sponsored by MetLife
Three same-sex couples struggle against the law, convention and deep-set bias to marry the partners they love, while the dream of one couple hovers at the mercy of Lou Gehrig's disease.

Ms. Prassas will lead a post-film discussion

5:00 p.m. BEEN RICH ALL MY LIFE
A film by Heather Lyn MacDonald
2007, USA, 80 minutes
The unlikeliest troupe of tap-dancing divas are the "Silver Belles," five former showgirls from Harlem's 1930's heyday. Now aged 84 to 96, these ladies don't kick quite as high as they did at the Apollo and the Cotton Club, but they dance to standing ovations, sassy as ever.

Friday Sneak Preview Screening
to Miami International Film Festival

7:00 p.m. THE SUGAR BABIES
A film by Amy Serrano
2007, USA, 99 minutes
English & Spanish, subtitled

This controversial documentary, often filmed with hidden cameras, exposes the plight of the children of agricultural workers in the sugar industry of the Dominican Republic and takes a hard look at the moral price of sugar.

Ms. Serrano will lead a post-film discussion

9:45 a.m. WELCOME

10:00 a.m. LA HIJA DEL GENERAL
A film by María Elena Wood
2006, Chile, 59 minutes
Spanish, subtitled
The story of Dr. Michelle Bachelet's surprising journey to become the first woman president of Chile, one of South America's most conservative nations, despite being a single mother, a socialist and an agnostic.

11:15 a.m. BETWEEN A LAUGH AND A TEAR
An eclectic collection of 7 narrative shorts

SOMEONE TO LOVE
A film by Jill Jaress
2007, USA, 14 minutes
In this romantic comedy, "Snooze You Lose Speed Dating Service" promises that you will meet your soul mate in 55 minutes or... not.

DERNIER SOUPER
A film by Annie Macdonald
2007, Canada, 4 minutes
French, subtitled
A short tale about love and its worst enemy, doubt.

WEDDING DRESS
A film by Annie Macdonald
2003, Canada, 7 minutes
Defying all expectations, a young African woman honors her ancestral traditions.

SEXY THING
A film by Denie Pentecost
2006, Australia, 14 minutes
This beautifully filmed story about a 12-year-old victim of sexual abuse is original, deeply troubling, but with hope at the end of the darkness.

YA DEVI... THE GODDESS
A film by Amtojh Sandhu
2005, India, 3 minutes
This vibrating, cinematic portrait of the cosmic energy in its feminine form is a tribute to the life force of women.

CRICKETS
A film by Kari Nevil
2007, USA, 4 minutes
When a man finds himself in an unpredictable location, he questions the woman who greets him there.

HER VIETNAM
A film by Melyssa Payne
2007, USA, 11 minutes
On her last day serving in Vietnam, a U.S. Army nurse faces the ultimate trauma of a raid on the base. Based on a true story.

Several directors will lead a post-shorts discussion

Saturday, Feb. 2nd at Hollywood 20

3:45 ENEMIES OF HAPPINESS
A film by Eva Mulvad & Anja Al Erhayem
2006, Denmark, 59 minutes
Farsi & Pasthu, subtitled
Among the candidates for Afghanistan's first parliamentary elections in 35 years was Malalai Joya, a 27-year-old woman who ignited outrage among hard-liners when she spoke out against corrupt warlords. The film shows how this freedom fighter won over voters, as well as a snapshot of life in war-torn Afghanistan.

5:00 p.m. A LETTER TO A PRIME MINISTER
A film by Julia Guest
2005, UK, 71 minutes
Intrepid British activist Jo Wilding knocks on the door of 10 Downing Street to deliver a protest letter to Tony Blair. Then she goes to Iraq, where she witnesses the devastating impact UK and US foreign policy has had on ordinary Iraqi people, a view of the war rarely, if ever, seen from the "embedded" press.

Post-film discussion will follow

7:30 p.m. FROM FIRE: AN ODYSSEY OF GLASS
A film by Karen Lavender
2007, USA, 12 minutes
A St. Petersburg, Florida artist practices one of the most dangerous glass techniques in a largely male-dominated field. Using musical imagery, art becomes poetry.

THE OLDEST BASKETBALL TEAM IN THE WORLD
A film by Sharon McGowan
2006, Canada, 47 minutes
The Retreads, a group of former women basketball players, become the first over-65 team to play in the World Masters Games. Their average age is 72. One has an artificial hip, another had two heart attacks. From the first days of training to the last buzzer, this film rocks.

10 a.m. BEEN RICH ALL MY LIFE
Repeat screening of the film shown Friday at 5:00 p.m.

11:30 a.m. MOTHERLAND AFGHANISTAN
A film by Sedika Mojadidi
2006, USA, 74 minutes
English & Dari, subtitled
Film sponsored by Americans for UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund
The filmmaker follows her physician father back to Afghanistan. His mission is to set up health care clinics for women in their war-ravaged homeland, where one in seven die during childbirth.

Ms. Mojadidi will lead a post-film discussion

Two films sponsored by Sarasota-Manatee Chapter of National Organization for Women:

1:45 p.m. THE WOMEN'S KINGDOM
A film by Xiaoli Zhou
2006, China, 22 minutes
The keepers of last matriarchal societies in the world, Mosuo women in remote southwest China control their own finances and do not marry or live with partners. They practice "walking marriage" - a man may be invited into a woman's hut, but he must leave by daybreak.

HIDDEN WARRIORS: WOMEN ON THE HO CHI MINH TRAIL
A film by Karen Turner
2005, USA, 46 minutes
They call it the "American War," and many of these North Vietnamese women were very young when they left their homes to join all-female divisions opposing the U.S. forces. The tradition of the female warrior is part of the history of Vietnam, going as far back as 200 B.C.

Dr. Turner will lead a post-film discussion

Film schedule and speakers subject to change