NYWIFT Blog

Women-Directed Films at Queens World Film Festival

image

Katia, directed by Anna Shishova, is a nominee for Best Documentary Feature and Best Cinematography at the Queens World Film Festival.

The Queens World Film Festival runs March 4-9, 2014, in New York. Opening night will be held at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, with the rest of the films screening at The Secret Theater and Nesva Hotel, both in Long Island City, and P.S. 069 in Jackson Heights.

The festival is co-programmed by Opal H. Bennett, a New York Women in Film & Television member. Out of the 127 films in the festival, 40 were directed by women. Check out the 16 women-directed films making their world premiere, including 2 shorts by NYWIFT member Kate Marks

FEATURE NARRATIVE
Homostratus
Director: Siu Pham
The film examines the lives of people in a consumerist city: a dying grandmother, a divorced woman, an anxious father, and a teenager.

FEATURE DOCUMENTARY 
Katia
Director: Anna Shishova
A road movie about a Russian girl, who leaves everything and moves to India.

One: A Story of Love and Equality
Director: Becca Roth
In the months leading up to the vote on North Carolina’s Amendment One, which would remove legal recognition for couples that are not a married man and woman, a lesbian couple seeks to understand the personal stories of people on both sides.

Juana
Director: Neha Gautam
The story of a Filipino domestic worker who is a survivor of labor trafficking and domestic violence. 

Ambassadors: The Native Jazz Quartet at Work
Director: Sascha Just
In March 2013, The Native Jazz Quartet, a group that makes folk melodies from Alaska to Louisiana swing hard, met up in New York to audition for the American Music Abroad Program. 

Migrations of Islam
Director: Swarnavel Eswaran Pillai
A documentary on the representations of American-Muslim identity in popular culture post 9/11. 

SHORT NARRATIVE

7 Day Gig
Director: Kate Marks
A comedy film about loss and coping with the absurdity of death in a tradition you don’t fully understand. 

Before Breakfast
Director: Moema Umann
Alfred Rowland is an unemployed poet, married to a young woman that struggles to sustain both of them during a difficult time. 

Caught
Director: Elizabeth Page
Hannah has spent her life trying to do the right thing, but despite her efforts she can not catch a break or win the sought after affection of her mother, nor the respect of her brother. From a young age, Hannah finds solace in baseball and family strife culminates on the ball-field when Hannah’s co-ed team is up against Robbies in the playoffs. 

Fe de Vida
Director: Elena Frez
A woman goes to the Civil Registry Office to request her birth certificate of existence. 

Sardines
Director: Molly Castro
When a preoccupied mother leaves her two daughters home alone, one daughter goes to unusual measures to get her family’s attention.

Woo Woo
Director: Nicki Manchisi
The story of a young girl named Louise and an injured veteran in the summer of 1961. 

Odessa
Director: Cidney Hue
Mission specialist Shannon Wendell spends one last night in New York City with a stranger before she embarks on a 135-year-long journey to a distant planet. 

Pearl Was Here
Director: Kate Marks
A wild child finds solace in a sea of stuffed animals.

The Hero Pose
Director: Mischa Jakupcak
A short film about eight-year-old Mia and her father, Joe, who is trying to sell a car. As the day progresses, Mia and Joe connect with one another.

The Train
Director: Kathleen Heenan Tuttle
Chris, a 40-year-old woman, has an impeccably intact veneer. We watch her battle her nervousness about leaving the safety of her town.

Customer #935
Director: Smeralda Abel
Based on a true story, Rebecca, a single NYC actress, attends a Long Island “Passion Party” as a favor to her friend. 

SHORT DOCUMENTARY
Hope on the Horizon
Director: Donna York
Four hikers, including the filmmaker, set out to summit all 48 peaks in the New Hampshire White Mountains to raise awareness and funding for ALS patients and their families.

ANIMATION
My Art is Not Dead
Director: Savannah Steiner
A poor artist who accidentally discovers the use of blood to paint his works. 

PUBLISHED BY

nywift

nywift New York Women in Film & Television supports women calling the shots in film, television and digital media.

View all posts by nywift

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

*

*

Related Posts

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Ifeyinwa Arinze

Please join us in welcoming Ifeyinwa Arinze to NYWIFT! Ifeyinwa is a neuroscientist-turned-filmmaker from Nigeria and is currently based in New York City. Her work draws inspiration from human behavior and prioritizes intimate portrayals of Black women and girls that are grounded in generosity and care. Her short film, Two or More, premiered at the 2022 New York African Film Festival and has screened at the 2022 Palm Springs International ShortFest, 2022 Bushwick Film Festival and 2022 TIDE Film Festival, where she received the 2022 NYWIFT Outstanding Woman Content Creator Award. Ifeyinwa spoke to us about why the TIDE Film Festival is special to her, her transition from STEM to the arts, and the inspirations behind her work.

READ MORE

NYWIFT at Sundance: In Conversation with Nitasha Bhambree

The wildly inventive 2023 Sundance Film Festival feature film Landscape with Invisible Hand follows Adam, a teenage artist coming of age in the aftermath of an alien takeover. Based on the novel by M.T. Anderson, the genre-bending sci-fi dramatic comedy with a YA twist directed by Cory Finley will come out as a limited release August 18, 2023. NYWIFT member Nitasha Bhambree helped bring the fantastical story to life as the Stunt Coordinator for the film. Since graduating New York University with a focus in dramatic performance and film studies, Nitasha has been employed in the entertainment industry for over 20 years. She regularly stunt doubles lead actresses in various TV shows and films, and has performed stunts in big budget features such as Joker, The Dark Knight Rises, Spider-Man and A Wrinkle in Time, and has stunt coordinated features and TV series for Netflix, Disney, MGM, A24, NBCU, Hulu, HBO Max and Starz/Lionsgate, and Marvel. Nitasha spoke to us about working in the sci-fi genre, her favorite scenes, and her upcoming projects. 

READ MORE

Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Kayla Sun

Let’s give a warm NYWIFT welcome to Kayla Sun! Kayla is a LA-based trilingual Asian filmmaker. She earned her B.A. degree for Studio Art and Economics at Vanderbilt University and subsequently worked in the art world before diving into the film world. She earned her M.F.A. for Film and Television Production at University of Southern California, as a Jeffrey Jones Scholar in writing, and is a recipient of the 2020 Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Production Grant for her film The Code of Family (2022). The film also received a NYWIFT Award for Excellence in Short Narrative Directing at last year’s UrbanWorld Film Festival. Kayla spoke to us about her inspirations, love of learning, and why people of all ages should be encouraged to embrace technology.

READ MORE

My First Ever Sundance Experience!

"My first time covering the Sundance Film Festival in-person was everything I expected it to be. Fun, intense, inspirational, exhausting, and such an honor. Overall, the experience lived up to indeed be the experience of a lifetime. A journalist’s dream, especially mine." Tammy Reese shares her favorite star-studded moments from her trip to Park City for Sundance 2023!

READ MORE
JOIN OUR NEWSLETTER
css.php