2018 Women Filmmakers: Immigrant Stories Screening Series – Women Actors Turn Filmmakers

2018 Women Filmmakers: Immigrant Stories Screening Series – Women Actors Turn Filmmakers 
Event: Thursday May 17, 2018

For the fourth season, New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) presents the Women Filmmakers: Immigrant Stories Screening Series — a free screening series of work by women filmmakers focusing on the immigrant experience throughout the five boroughs of New York City. This series showcases a themed exhibition of short and feature-length films. Filmmakers are available for a Q&A and refreshments are available after each screening.

PROGRAM: Women Actors Turn Filmmakers

Wildflower
Kristi Roosmaa (Producer/Actor)
9:03 mins

Wildflower is a universal story about love and loss, showcasing what culturally unites us all. Anna, a young immigrant pursuing her dream of making it as a professional singer in New York, struggles with a heartbreaking choice after hearing difficult news from back home.

Kristi Roosmaa is a New York based Estonian-born actress, singer and producer. Roosmaa got her start at the age of 5 performing at a bakery. She holds a law degree from Tartu University Institute of Law, a diploma in performing arts from The American Musical and Dramatic Academy, and a dance certificate from the Broadway Dance Center. She has performed at Carnegie Hall as a soloist, is a cast member in Johanna Telander’s musical Kalevala and considers herself a cultural advocate of Estonia. Wildflower is Roosmaa’s love letter to her late grandma and a reminder to human kind of how precious life is. 

MIA
Galia Barkol (Director/Writer/Producer)
70 mins

Since losing her ability to dance due to an injury, Mia has escaped life in Tel-Aviv for a temporary life in Brooklyn. She lives in a dorm room, where she suffers from insomnia due to the noise in and outside of her head. She takes origami classes, and to support herself, she works as a cat sitter for Justin, a married, sales agent who is only in New York on the weekends. Mia finds comfort in her employer’s quiet, empty space and in his cat, and eventually secretly stays in his bed on the nights when he’s away. When he returns to NY earlier than expected, and catches her in his bed, she is mortified. Determined to prove to him that she is “not that kind of person,” she offers to take him out to dinner, leading the pair into an unexpected friendship and living situation.

Galla Barkol is a NYC-based actor, director and screenwriter. Galia wrote, directed, starred (and played the piano) in the dramedy feature MIA – now on the festival circuit.
Galia recently appeared in the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival VR arcade, and she is currently developing a pilot for an original comedy series.
Galia graduated from Paris-Diderot University in Paris, France, with a B.A in Film & The Performing Arts. She was awarded a scholarship for the program MICEFA, with distinction, and completed an Acting conservatory program at HB Studio.
She later founded Ring the Bells Productions, where she concepted and produced several experimental shorts, with the intention to explore the relationship between structure and narrative in film. Through discoveries made in these works, Galia crystallized her approach to filmmaking and acting.

Date: Thursday, May 17, 2018

Time: 7 PM

Venue: The Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Ave, Queens, NY 11106

FREE

Directions
From Manhattan:Take the M or R to Steinway Street
From Brooklyn: Take the G (towards Court Square), then transfer to the M to Steinway Street

RSVP

A Special Thanks to City Council Member Robert Holden
for support of the Cultural Immigrant Initiative.