Happy Fall and Film Festival Season!
So many films, so little time. The NYWIFT creative community has been featured at many exciting festival events over the last several weeks. It has been about eight weeks of action-packed days!
Starting at the NY Latino Film Festival, where eight of our members had projects this year, we presented two awards on behalf of our new initiative, the New York | Puerto Rico Collaborative Media Pipeline: Llaima Suwani (13.4 seconds to Nowhere) and Ariana Marie Luque (Casa Amadeo) were both granted the NYWIFT Award for Excellence in Directing for a Short Film.
Next was the Soho International Film Festival – where a whopping 35 (!) of our members had films screening. Thank you, NYWIFT Board Member Sibyl Reymundo Santiago, for inviting us to once again curate a shorts showcase featuring the work of members Victoria Duncan, Serena Dykman, Luchina Fisher, Leah Gaydos, Fara Otero-Amad, and Dana White, and hold a fun reception at Sugar Mouse – pool tables included!
Easmanie Michel, Katie Chambers, and Sibyl Reymundo-Santiago on the red carpet; members, creative teams, and guests at the reception (photo credit: Kg Giroux)
Then to the NY Greek Film Expo in partnership with Hellenic Film Society. Screenings were held at the DGA Theater, Village East by Angelika, and the Museum of the Moving Image. We co-sponsored two films and our NYWIFT member Sweta Keswani moderated a conversation for our vital partnership. Later in November we will co-host an event in Greece at Thessaloniki International Film Festival, moderated by our board member Mary Miles, who is also the President of Hellenic Film Society USA.
That weekend, we held our annual Hamptons Brunch under our beautiful white tent, and kudos to our team (Rashiek, Easmanie, and Catherine) and our caterer Ray from Refined & Crafted Events, along with Satori Martinez, for their extra effort; they refused to let the drizzle dampen the fun.
NYWIFT members came from far and wide to join us in full force, including our board members Kim Jackson (President), Joyce Pierpoline, Christina Kiely, and Audrey Rosenberg.
From left; Audrey Rosenberg, Rashiek Smart, Christina Kiely, Elisabeth Aylesworth, Joyce Pierpoline, and Kim Jackson
We welcomed the new festival director, visionary festival veteran Bob Feinberg at our gathering. We also co-curated our annual Filmmakers Calling the Shots Showcase and presented awards to Anne Sundberg (The Drug In Our Pocket) and Marie Clémentine Dusabejambo (Ben’imana).
Back in the center of New York, we headed to Urbanworld, which redefines and advances the presence and impact of the multicultural community in cinema and cross-platform media, and with which we’ve partnered for well over a decade. We were proud to present the NYWIFT Award for Excellence in Directing for a Narrative Feature to Sheri Hagen (Billie), and the NYWIFT Award for Excellence in Directing for a Documentary Feature to Cassidy Friedman and Amber Allen-Peirson (The Unrooted Bloom).
Sheri Hagen (left) with her NYWIFT Award at UrbanWorld (photo credit: Equity Films)
Just a few days later, we headed to the Woodstock Film Festival, where The Plea, produced by Kim Jackson, had its world premiere. Directors Zach LeBeau and Dean Imperial, along with veteran actors Kathryn Erbe and Dennis Boutsikaris, were present for the Q&A. We are so happy for Kim, who is one of 20 NYWIFT members with a film at Woodstock this year!
Panel for The Plea at Woodstock; the team from The Plea (photo credit: Marion Curtis/Starpix)
We also curated a panel called Breaking the Frame featuring Rosanna Arquette, Gina Gershon, Rachel Grady, and Debra Granik. It was an uplifting, sometimes sobering conversation about how women survive in the entertainment business and what they need to do to ensure their films get made. It was standing room only, an audience packed with luminaries including: Pam Yates (Skylight Pictures), Barbara Kopple (Harlan County, USA), Judith Helfand (Cooked, Blue Vinyl), DeeDee Halleck (Founder of Paper Tiger and Deep Dish TV), Sharese Bullock-Bailey (Chief Program Officer, MNN), Francisco Bello (Salim Baba, The First Wave), and many more
An uplifting sisterhood community conversation held in the woods among the yellow and red leaves falling. It was chilly, breezy, and a little rainy, but so inspiring – thanks so much to all who attended. Our panelist Gina Gershon also had a book signing for her new memoir (learn more here).
(Photos by Grace Bolander / Woodstock Film Festival)
That same day, in partnership with Woodstock and UPWIFT, we held a reception at Cucina and toasted festival founder Meira Blaustein, who recently announced her transition and will leave her position at the end of the year.
At the WFF awards that were held at Jennifer Oz LeRoy’s Oz Farm, it was announced that Jessica Edwards will become the new Executive Director of the festival. Easmanie and I presented the NYWIFT Awards. First, to Director Grace Barry of Our Dark Horse: the documentary addresses what happens to a thoroughbred horse when he does not win the race… it was an appropriate and uplifting setting, given the awards were held at Oz Farm and stables. The second award went to Director Erika Burke Rossa for the narrative feature Rain Reign, selected for its outstanding portrayal of what it means to be a disabled child with agency, conviction, and strength regardless of circumstance. We also acknowledged the documentary Re/Pair, directed by Lacey Schwartz Delgado, with the NYWIFT Impact Award.
Kim Jackson and Jennifer Oz LeRoy (photo credit: Cynthia Lopez)
Easmanie Michel with Debra Granik at the NYWIFT reception at Woodstock (Photo by Olivia Meynadasy)
Meanwhile, the Chelsea Film Festival, founded and led by our member Ingrid Jean-Baptiste, welcomed seven of our members into its lineup! Kudos to Ingrid and her team, who showcased a total of 55 titles by women. Now, that’s the NYWIFT spirit!
In between all of that, for all those who were not attending these festivals, we held impactful programs for our members: the NYWIFT Masterclass: Character Building with acclaimed screenwriter Pamela Gray, a special info session on our exclusive member benefit with Actors Federal Credit Union (watch the recording here), and The Business of Adaptations for Film and TV. Plus, as awards season kicks into high gear, we’ve been happy to continue to provide exclusive free screening invitations to our members through our generous publicity and studio partners.
Still from Union Town (Photo Credit: Cabin Creek Films, courtesy of The Film Collaborative)
I know these are very tough times, with the news cycle crushing us with war headlines and environmental and climate events, at a scale I am not sure we have ever seen before. I am so proud of all of you who keep producing, connecting, and making incredible films that uplift, inform, and agitate for social change. I was sitting looking out the window in the cottage we rented in Woodstock contemplating Barbara Kopple’s informative and moving new film Union Town. It made me ask: What is the human cost of getting a UPS or Amazon package within hours? If you have not seen it, it is on my must-watch list! A sobering yet impactful look at how we live in a post-pandemic world, working like machines to get so much done faster, quicker, smarter, better… and who the workers are who actually make it happen. Thank you, Barbara, for your vision and insight.
Union Town closes a 50-year trilogy of labor documentaries that began with the Oscar-winning Harlan County, USA. You can catch it at DOC NYC in-person on November 13th and 15th, and streaming November 14th-29th.
Stay tuned… more to come this month, including our NYWIFT Float at the NYC Village Halloween Parade organized by our board president Kim Jackson!
Happy Halloween!
Cynthia Lopez
CEO, NYWIFT
