California Women’s Film Festival
July 2021 selections and Winners
Official Selections
5
Dir. Chia Chen & Jack Gastelbondo
Lena and Nick ran away together to live the free life they seek, but only to confront the past they couldn't outrun.
A Life In Three Letters
Dir. Vanessa Ndombe
Seth, a 33 years old African American has to face his past loss and fears in order to move forward in his marriage.
Admitted
Dir. Nathan Caywood
'admitted' is a dark comedy that sheds light via first person perspective on the stigma surrounding mental health. It is set in a state-funded health facility, and follows Lili, a strong-minded woman who willingly admits herself in-patient. Now on her second suicide attempt, she is patiently waiting to get well while steadily continuing to lose her mind. Her stay, which could be a few days to several weeks, is sweetly shortened by a new set of friends within the facility's confines.
ALA KACHUU - Take and Run
Dir. Maria Brendle
Sezim (19) wants to fulfil her dream of studying in the Kyrgyz capital when she gets kidnapped by a group of young men and taken to the hinterland. There she’s forced to marry a stranger. If she refuses the marriage, she is threatened with social stigmatization and exclusion. Torn between her desire for freedom and the constraints of Kyrgyz culture, Sezim desperately seeks for a way out.
April Kills The Vibe
Dir. Bonnie Mckee
What are our responsibilities to our friends- especially on a wild night out? After a rowdy New Year’s Eve in Hollywood, party girl April wakes up and realizes she’s been sexually assaulted. Spiraling and unclear on what happened, she does her best to hide it from her sober, responsible boyfriend Grant until she can call her fairweather friend Lola to fill in the blanks.
Boundless
Dir. Kate Campbell
An 80-year-old Woman Airforce Service Pilot remembers her audacious attempt to fight for military status and for a flag to be placed on her fellow pilot’s coffin near the end of WWII. After flying a collective 60 million miles in service with 1078 other women pilots between 1942-1944 in a specialized training program designed to free the male pilots for battle, she and the Lost Last Class of Avenger Field are abruptly disbanded, shamed for taking the jobs of men, denied military status and forced to pay their own way home.
C. U. Next Tuesday
Dir. Diana Levy
At this yoga studio, karma's a bitch.
Celeste’s Dreams
Dir. Iona Morris
When a creative young woman becomes the same age her mother was when she passed, her life stagnates, forcing her to reconcile a longstanding fear and opening up an opportunity for her to pursue their shared dream.
Coastal Requiem
Dir. Diane Tuft
Coastal Requiem investigates the plight of displacement due to climate change amongst five coastal communities around the globe. Weaving Diane Tuft's photography and haikus with deeply personal interviews, the short film portrays the global climate refugee crisis due to rising sea levels.
Coffee With Exes
Dir. Jessica Bishop
This female driven plot depicts a woman reconnecting with her former relationships as she struggles to figure it out romantically. From the "Here's Your Shit Back coffee" to the "Wanna Hook Up for Old Time's Sake coffee", Jess reconnects with all her exes over multiple cups of Joe. Ultimately, she realizes that the real person she’s been looking to reconnect with is herself. Armed with the new empowerment of her ‘enoughness’, she is finally ready to move forward in life and love. “It’s time to find a new coffee shop.”
Countdown To Year Zero
Dir. Jane Velez-Mitchell
Countdown to Year Zero hones in on an unprecedented global disaster that is rapidly unfolding. If we don't take meaningful action on climate change now we may soon reach a point of no return. This film offers a specific solution to reverse climate change that centers around the daily choices everyone makes. Be inspired by world renowned social media influencers, activists and celebrities! Learn what others are doing and how, together, we have the power to heal our planet.
Courage
Dir. Nourah Al Hasawi
Student Film - “Courage”
Diabla
Dir. Maya Korn
After surviving assault, an enigmatic 17-year-old Mexican girl finds retribution through her untapped female power and local witch culture.
Equally Shared Parenting — A Feminist Issue
Dir. Emma Johnson
When parents divorce or break up, most of the time the kids stay with the mom, with visits with dad. That seemed to make sense, and is assumed to be what is best for kids. But single moms are overwhelmed, exhausted — and resentful of this arrangement. This film explains not only why 50/50 parenting is actually what is best for kids but how equally shared parenting liberates both men and women from dated gender norms, and is a critical tool for torpedoing inequality.
Erased
Dir. Anna Friedland
Documentary telling the story of hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas.
Fledgling
Dir. Carissa Niciauskas
Musician and Executive Producer Charlotte Moon presents the coming-of-age story of a newborn vampire in the "Fledgling" Music Video. Deriving inspiration from eighties B-grade horror films and contemporary pop music videos, "Fledgling" is a uniquely stylised music video with a compelling storyline and a diverse cast.
Glass Darkly
Dir. Dave Penner & Eli Chance
In 1941 Holland, two Dutch sisters must resort to prostitution to deal with the turmoil of their Nazi-occupied town. Based on a true story.
I Am Normal
Dir. Olia Oparina
A sane woman fakes the symptoms of a mentally unstable patient in order to be admitted into a mental institution for a secret psychiatric experiment. Inspired by the Rosenhan Experiment of 1973.
I want to make a film about women
Dir. Karen Pearlman
‘I want to make a film about women’ is a queer, speculative, documentary love letter to Russian constructivist women. It asks what the revolutionary women artists of the 1920s said, what they did, and what they might have created had it not been for Stalin's suppression.
It's Lawr-uh Not Laura
Dir. Angela Pedraza
Prom queen wanna be Laura is forced to take a trip to Colombia that might put her friendships at risk, but after developing the forgotten film in her grandfather's camera, Laura's unwanted trip turns into a self discovery adventure.
Paralyzed
Dir. Renee Ambush
A Song that gives hope and strength so that people can move beyond those things that hold them in bondage and in a state of fear to a place of hope and life in abundance. IIt leaves the listener with inspiration there is Destiny Over Drama.
Rose
Dir. Anna Niebert
Grieving the suicide of her best friend, a young college student decides to take matters into her own hands and confront the perpetrator that caused her friends downward spiral.
Rosie
Dir. Tessa Germaine
In 1943 America, factory worker Rose Donnelly must stand up for her female co-workers when their supervisor ignores blatant harassment and refuses to treat them as equals to their male co-workers. Based on the “We Can Do It!” poster by artist J. Howard Miller.
Rotten
Dir. April McDonald
Violet muses about what makes a person become evil while watching a man further himself down a very dark path, fantasizing about violence against the women in his life, leading to the two's ultimate collision.
Rubber And Glue
Dir. Cate Dale
A teen must undergo treatment to rid herself of the thing that makes us most human. Empathy.
Split Second
Dir. Julianne Donelle
When a woman is shoved out of a cafe moments before a grenade is detonated by the very man who commits the attack, she struggles with the guilt of survival as she attempts to uncover the reason why her life was spared when so many others were taken.
Starfish
Dir. Alicia Buckner
A story about a human trafficking survivor's journey freedom.
Synthetic Love
Dir. Sarah Heitz de Chabaneix
Diane, in her fifties, fantasizes about the enigmatic Pierre, who works with her at the gas station. When she wins a trip for two around France, she decides to invite him along. But she wasn’t aware that Pierre already has someone quite special in his life…
The Bench
Dir. Savannah Lamble & Rachel Stackpool
Two women. One mythical sex coach. Lots of fun.
The Concert Of Life
Dir. Lina Li
Steven is a poor young boy who loves music, but harsh life, especially his needy family, forced him to face reality. He has to do different jobs to supplement the family income. However, he never loses hope.
The Subject
Dir. Lanie Zipoy
A successful white documentary filmmaker deals with the fallout from his last film, which caught the murder of a Black teenager on tape. Now, someone else is videotaping his every move, threatening his idyllic life.
Wichita
Dir. Sergine Dumais
Sara is in bed with her lover when her husband calls. When he asks for something in his sock drawer, she runs home, stalling for time, asking endless questions about Wichita, Kansas.
Audience Award Winners
(Audience Winners will be posted by July 27th)
1st Place
Shevolution Dir. Seidy Lopez
2nd Place (Tie)
Alone Again (naturally) Dir. Diana Mantis
Intervention Dir. Linda Palmer
3rd Place (3 Way Tie)
ALA KACHUU - Take and Run Dir. Maria Brendle
Jen, 28 Dir. Iyin Landre
Routine Dir. Anitra Stevens
Jury Category Winners
(Category Winners will be presented at the end of the film’s screening block)
Best Feature Film
The Subject Dir. Lanie Zipoy
(Presented at the end of Block 3 on Friday 7/23/2021)
Best Short Film
Alina Dir. Rami Kodeih
(Presented at the end of Block 3 on Saturday 7/24/2021)
Best Feature Documentary
Countdown to Year Zero Dir. Jane Velez-Mitchell
(Presented at the end of Block 2 on Saturday 7/24/2021)
Best Short Documentary
The Cleanup Dir. Deb Kemp
(Presented at the end of Block 1 on Saturday 7/24/2021)
Best Student Film
The Last Leaf Dir. Sia Aleskovskaya
(Presented at the end of Block 2 on Friday 7/23/2021)
Best Foreign Film
ALA KACHUU - Take and Run Dir. Maria Brendle
(Presented at the end of Block 2 on Friday 7/23/2021)
Best Animation
The Waste Tide Dir. Xiaotong Wen
(Presented at the end of Block 1 on Saturday 7/24/2021)
Best Music Video
Dream Dir. Maxi Witrak & Jose Muro
(Presented at the end of Block 2 on Friday 7/23/2021)
Best Experimental Film
After Ray Dir. Natasha Halevi
(Presented at the end of Block 1 on Saturday 7/24/2021)
Best Feature Script
TESStosterone by Erin Elizabeth Keefer
Best Short Script
Sans Everything by YANZI DING
___________________________
Feature Script Finalist
A Little Randy by Diana Miriam Caldwell
Cultivating Mr. Perfect by Roopal Badheka
Her Seventh Death by Virginia Austin
MOB by Sophia Lee
Praying Mantis In A Jar by Rosalyn Rosen
Seahorse by Khara L Campbell
The Professor by Sandra Fox-Sohner & Maria SIgrist
War Songs by Judy Chaikin
Winds of Transition by Sil Brook
Yankee by Sophie-Anne Beaudry
Short Script Finalist
54 Years Late by Michele Wright, Ph.D.
All The Little Pieces by Tawny Sorensen
Alone in Baghdad by Mary B. McDaniel
I Am Doctor Chastain by Stephanie Poole
Magnificence & Stone by Michael angel Johnson
Say It by Jaimy Gardner
Squeak by Maureen Aitken & Barbara Lhota
The Last Shred of Daylight by Jaclyn S. Powell
Jury Creative Winners
Best Director
Maria Brendle - ALA KACHUU - Take and Run
Best Actress
Alina Turdumamatova -
ALA KACHUU - Take and Run
Best Supporting Actress
Aunjanue Ellis - The Subject
Best Actor
Jason Biggs - The Subject