Women Filmmakers: Immigrant Stories Series – “LGBTQ Narratives” at The Museum of the Moving Image

Women Filmmakers: Immigrant Stories Series – “LGBTQ Narratives” at The Museum of the Moving Image 

Thursday, April 26th, 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. Join us for this installment titled “LGBTQ Narratives.” Filmmakers will be available for a Q&A and refreshments will be available after the screening.

Nowhere – 15:21 mins, by Apoorva Charan

Pakhi, a conservative Paksitani woman, discovers her husband’s secret and follows him every night to a gay bar.

Apoorva Charan was born in India and raised in California. In Singapore she worked on major television series, including Thailand’s Got Talent, Vietnam Idol, and X Factor Indonesia before moving to New York to pursue her MFA in Film at Columbia University. During her time at Columbia, Charan has produced over fifteen short films. Her credits include Life Coach, licensed to Gaia TV, Santo Cerro, an official selection of the New Orleans Film Festival andZenith, a semi-finalist for 44th Student Academy Awards. Charan was awarded the  Katharina Otto Bernstein Production Award and the Sarah Jones Safety Grant and is a student member of the Producers Guild of America, East.

Federica Belletti was born and raised in Italy, Federica Belletti is a creative producer based in New York. A barrier breaker and firm believer in the power of storytelling as a catalyst of change, Belletti has produced six short films in collaboration with filmmakers from all over the world. She is the first person to crowdfund a post graduate education program at Columbia University, where she obtained an MFA degree in Film while interning for Gamechanger Films, The Austin Film Festival and Maven Pictures. In 2017 she won the Katharina Otto Bernstein Production Award, the Arthur Krim Memorial Award and was a finalist of the Sundance Producing Lab.

Saim Sadiq is a filmmaker of Pakistani origin who is currently an MFA candidate at Columbia University, School of Arts. With a background in anthropology, he previously directed a documentary, Stepmotherland – Minorities, Blasphemy and Pakistan (2014), about a Christian minority colony that was burnt down by religious fundamentalists in the city of Lahore. That doc went viral in Pakistan and led to a fundraising drive for the community. Interested in stories with a social impact, Saim directed a PSA after the brutal terrorist attack on a military school in Pakistan, aptly named, A Message to the Taliban, that was featured on BBC’s Free Speech Stories. In 2016, Saim directed a short Pasban, that has screened at Sulmona International Film Festival (Italy), Asian American Film Festival (NY), New York Indian Film Festival, International Film Festival of South Asia (Toronto) and Orlando Film Festival.

Saim plans on continuing his work in and out of Pakistan, to showcase refreshing and unique narratives set in one of the most troubled regions of the world. He is currently in pre-production for a short based in Pakistan.

Nobody’s Watching – 102 mins, by Julia Solomonoff

A well known actor from Argentina in a struggle to find his place in New York.

Nobody’s Watching premiered at Tribeca Film Festival 2017 and won Best Actor Award. It opened theatrically at Film Forum, and was a New York Times and Village Voice Critic’s Pick. It was selected for Best Films of 2017 by Screen and The Guardian, UK.

Julia Solomonoff is a New York based filmmaker from Argentina, graduated with Honors from Columbia University MFA and a Fulbright grantee. Her feature films as writer/director include Hermanas (Toronto 2005, Sundance Lab and Berlinale Talent project), The Last Summer of la Boyita (San Sebastian 2009, produced by Almodovar’s El Deseo, winner of over 20 international awards) and Nobody’s Watching (TFI Development Award, winner of Ibermedia, Incaa, Proimagenes and Ancine Production grants).

Date: Thursday, April 26, 2018

Time: 6:30 PM

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

RSVP

Save the date for select upcoming screenings & events in this series:

May 12th, 2018 at 6:30pm – Maspeth Town Hall
(53-37 72nd St, Maspeth, NY 11378)
Immigrant and First Generation Women’s Media Production Workshop
In collaboration with Third World Newsreel.
RSVP

June 14th, 2018 at 7pm – Onderdonk House
(1820 Flushing Ave, Ridgewood, NY 11385)
Immigrant and First Generation Women’s Workshop Short Films Screening
When We Meet Again
Before David 
RSVP

More dates to follow! See www.nywift.org for updates.

A Special Thanks to City Council Member Robert Holden who selected New York Women in Film & Television to receive funding for the Cultural Immigrant Initiative.