Opening night to feature conversation with RBG co-director Julie Cohen.
The Denver Film Society (DFS) announced all in-person filmmaker guests appearing with their films for the 2018 Women+Film Festival, opening April 10 and running through April 15. The festival will open on April 10 at 7:00pm with the Ruth Bader Ginsburg documentary, RBG, followed by a discussion with co-director Julie Cohen.
"We are honored to have co-director Julie Cohen on hand to celebrate the opening of Women+Film, alongside her moving biography of Ruth Bader Ginsburg," says Festival Director, Britta Erickson. "The directorial team of Julie Cohen and Betsy West have had an immediate and significant impact on the filmmaking scene, having premiered their important documentary at Sundance Film Festival."
DFS will host a press screening for RBG on Monday, April 9 at 5:00pm. Please RSVP to neil@denverfilm.org if you wish to attend.
The festival will also feature filmmakers celebrating their work with Denver audiences throughout the six days. Director Kate Webber will be on hand on Thursday, April 12 with her new documentary KIM SWIMS. The film gives us the inspiring true story of Kim Chambers, an accomplished open water swimmer, who attempts to become the first woman to swim 30 miles through a stretch of cold, rough and shark-inhabited waters off of the San Francisco coast. Narrative filmmakers will also be in attendance as director Jordana Spiro and producer Danielle Renfrew will be present to discuss their new film THE NIGHT COMES ON, Friday, April 13th at 7:30pm. This unique and poignant feature film tells the story of Angel LaMere, who, just released from juvenile detention, embarks on a journey with her 10 year-old sister to avenge her mother’s death. Directors Mary-Lyn Chambers (THE PLURAL OF BLOOD), and Sheryl Glubock (LILY 'N' ROSE) will both be at the Sie FilmCenter Saturday, April 14 at 1:30pm during the Women+Film Shorts Package. Join these filmmakers and programmers for Q&A discussions immediately following their screenings.
Other highlights include a Culinary Cinema screening of SOUFRA on Thursday, April 12 with food provided by The Preservery and Comal Heritage Food Incubator at 7:00pm, a lecture paired program from Melinda Barlow, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Film Studies at the University of Colorado, who will be on hand Friday, April 13 at 7:00pm to introduce and discuss the 1994 classic film BLUE SKY, as well as the annual Women+Film Festival Brunch on Sunday, April 15 at 11:00am in Henderson's Lounge.
The festival will wrap up on Sunday, April 15 at 7:00pm with the closing night presentation of Katherine Eaton's THE SOUNDING.
The Women+Film Festival began in 2011 and takes place at the Sie FilmCenter. The festival sees an annual attendance of over 2,000 patrons.
Individual tickets are currently on sale and full festival passes are available at denverfilm.org.
Click to see the full schedule and purchase tickets and passes
Members of the press interested in covering the Women+Film Festival for their outlet may contact PR Director, Neil Truglio at neil@denverfilm.org.
FILMS IN PROGRAM:
RBG
Directors: Julie Cohen & Betsy West / USA
Screens Tuesday, April 10 at 7:00pm
At the age of 84, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has developed a breathtaking legal legacy while becoming an unexpected pop culture icon. But without a definitive Ginsburg biography, the unique personal journey of this diminutive, quiet warrior's rise to the nation's highest court has been largely unknown, even to some of her biggest fans – until now. RBG is a revelatory documentary exploring Ginsburg's exceptional life and career from Betsy West and Julie Cohen, and co-produced by Storyville Films and CNN Films.
Opening night - Reception immediately following the film in Henderson's Lounge.
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MANKILLER
Director: Valerie Red-Horse / USA
Screens Wednesday, April 11 at 7:15pm
In 1985, after serving as Deputy Chief under a conservative leader, Wilma Mankiller took office as the Cherokee Nation’s first woman Principal Chief. Having relocated from Oklahoma to San Francisco earlier in her life, Mankiller worked with both the nascent Black Panther and the Alcatraz occupation movements, eventually bringing the passion and experience she gained there back to her people. During her decade-long tenure as Principal Chief and beyond, Mankiller’s leadership enabled the Cherokee Nation to become one of the most economically and culturally successful tribes in America.
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SOUFRA
Director: Thomas Morgan / Lebanon / USA
Screens Thursday, April 12 at 7:00pm
Soufra follows the unlikely and wildly inspirational story of intrepid social entrepreneur, Mariam Shaar – a generational refugee who has spent her entire life in the Burl El Barajneh refugee camp just south of Beirut, Lebanon. The film follows Mariam as she sets out to change her fate by launching a catering company, “Soufra,” and then expand it into a food truck business with a diverse team of fellow refugee woman who now share this camp as their home. Together, they heal the wounds of war through the unifying power of food while taking their future into their own hands.
Culinary Cinema Series - This film features a post-reception with food provided by The Preservery and Comal Heritage Food Incubator at 8:30pm.
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KIM SWIMS
Director: Kate Webber / USA
Screens Thursday, April 12 at 7:30pm
Kim Swims is a documentary film about the inspiring story of an accomplished open water swimmer’s attempt to become the first woman to swim 30 miles through a stretch of cold, rough and shark-inhabited waters off of the San Francisco coast. The film follows Kim as she chases her biggest dream yet: to become the first woman to complete a solo swim from the Farallon Islands to the Golden Gate Bridge – a 30-mile stretch of water known for frigid temperatures, swirling currents and the world’s largest Great White sharks.
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BLUE SKY
Director: Tony Richardson / USA
Screens Friday, April 13 at 7:00pm
Long before Mad Men delved into the gender dynamics and political upheaval of the 1960s, Blue Sky (1994) created a fascinating portrait of an emotionally volatile marriage set against the backdrop of U.S. nuclear testing in 1962.
Lecture Series - Pre-film introduction and post-film discussion led by Melinda Barlow, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Film Studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
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NIGHT COMES ON
Director: Jordana Spiro / USA
Screens Friday, April 13 at 7:30pm
Angel LaMere is released from juvenile detention on the eve of her 18th birthday. Haunted by her past, Angel embarks on a journey with her 10 year-old sister to avenge her mother’s death.
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SHORTS PACKAGE
Screens Saturday, April 14 at 1:30pm
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COUNTERFEIT KUNKOO
Narrative Short / Director: Reema Sengupta / India
In a city that houses millions, Smita finds herself fighting beasts of a different kind as she discovers a strange pre-requisite to renting a house in middle-class Mumbai. She would make an ideal tenant - except for one glaring flaw. She is a middle-class Indian woman without a husband. An intimate perspective on the ‘ideal Indian female’ in urban India.
EVE
Narrative Short / Director: Susan Nimoy / USA
Eve exposes a 74 year old woman's journey through grief, sexual passion, and renewal.
JESSZILLA
Documentary Short / Director: Emily Sheskin / USA
Jesselyn “JessZilla” Silva is serious about boxing, and at 10 years old trains seriously with dreams of becoming a professional fighter. Her father, Pedro, finds himself caught in between supporting her dream and worrying about her future in boxing.
LILY 'N' ROSE
Narrative Short / Director: Sheryl Glubock / USA
Imagine your first best friend. The one you knew so long that you couldn’t even remember meeting. That’s Lily and Rose. Then Holly arrives and captures Rose’s attention with boys, bands, and fashion. Now Lily is presented with a choice: grow up, or be left behind.
Director Sheryl Glubock in-person
THE PLURAL OF BLOOD
Narrative Short / Director: Mary-Lyn Chambers / USA
In her journey to support her husband’s career as a police wife on the verge of adopting a newborn black baby boy, an African American woman wrestles with the complexities of police violence within her own community and her loyalty to the THIN BLUE LINE within hours of the shooting of an unarmed teenager.
Director Mary-Lyn Chambers in-person
SURVIVING NEW YORK
Documentary Short / Director: Megan Miller / USA
In an effort to use her tragic story as a catalyst for change, Ana Wagner began advocating for children’s civil rights in New York State. Despite the demands of motherhood, the demands of marriage, cultural oppression, and the haunting memory of her devastating experience, Ana is doing what she once wasn’t able to as a child - fight.
YOURS SINCERELY, LOIS WEBER
Documentary Short / Director: Svetlana Cvetko / USA
Lois Weber was one of the most successful directors in Hollywood. Today she has been all but forgotten.
THIS IS HOME
Director: Alexandra Shiva / USA / Jordan
Screens Saturday, April 14 at 4:00pm
This Is Home is an intimate portrait of four Syrian refugee families arriving in America and struggling to find their footing. Displaced from their homes and separated from loved ones, they are given eight months of assistance from the International Rescue Committee to become self-sufficient. As they learn to adapt to challenges, including the newly imposed travel ban, their strength and resilience are tested. It is a universal story, highlighted by humor and heartbreak, about what it’s like to start over, no matter the obstacles.
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THE DIVINE ORDER
Director: Petra Volpe / Switzerland
Screens Saturday, April 14 at 6:30pm
Winner of the Audience Award for Best Narrative Film at the Tribeca Film Festival, The Divine Order is set in Switzerland in 1971 where, despite the worldwide social upheavals of the previous decade, women were still denied the right to vote. When unassuming and dutiful housewife Nora (Marie Leuenberger, winner of a Best Actress award at Tribeca) is forbidden by her husband to take a part-time job, her frustration leads to her becoming the poster child of her town’s suffragette movement.
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THE RAPE OF RECY TAYLOR
Director: Nancy Buirski / USA
Screens Saturday, April 14 at 7:00pm
Recy Taylor, a 24-year-old black mother and sharecropper, was gang raped by six white boys in 1944 Alabama. Common in Jim Crow South, few women spoke up in fear for their lives. Not Recy Taylor, who bravely identified her rapists. The NAACP sent its chief rape investigator Rosa Parks, who rallied support and triggered an unprecedented outcry for justice. The Rape of Recy Taylor exposes a legacy of physical abuse of black women and reveals Rosa Parks’ intimate role in Recy Taylor’s story. An attempted rape against Parks was but one inspiration for her ongoing fight for justice for countless women like Taylor.
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20 WEEKS
Director: Leena Pendharkar / USA
Screens Sunday, April 15 at 2:00pm
20 Weeks is a romantic drama about love, science and how prenatal and genetic testing impacts everyday people. The story is about a Los Angeles couple in their thirties, who after learning that their baby has a very serious health issue in utero, must decide whether or not to move forward with the pregnancy. Told in a nonlinear fashion, the film interweaves present and past moments of the love and courtship of Maya and Ronan.
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DARK MONEY
Director: Kimberly Reed / USA
Screens Sunday, April 15 at 4:00pm
A century ago corrupt money scarred Montana’s democracy and landscape, but Montanans voted to prohibit corporate campaign contributions. Today, after the Citizens United ruling, dark money floods elections nationwide, but Montanans are standing up to stop history from repeating itself in a struggle that has the potential to change the way elections happen nationwide.
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THE SOUNDING
Director: Catherine Eaton / USA
Screens Sunday, April 15th at 7:00pm
On a remote island off the coast of Maine, Liv, after years of silence, begins to weave a language out of Shakespeare's words. A driven neurologist, brought to the island to protect her, commits her to a psychiatric hospital. She becomes a full-blow rebel in the hospital; her increasing violence threatens to keep her locked up for life as she fights for her voice and her freedom. At a tipping point for otherness in our current climate, The Sounding champions it.
Closing Night reception precedes film at 5:30pm
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Sponsors
Barbara Bridges, Chocolate Lab, Comal Heritage Food Incubator, Girls Inc., Judith B. Wagner, The Goods, Helliemae's, KIND, Metropolitan State University of Denver—Institute for Women's Studies and Student Support Services, The Partner's Group, The Preservery, SAG/AFTRA, Three Tomatoes Catering
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Chatelin Bruno 
