Women of Color Film festival

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The WOMEN OF COLOR FILM FESTIVAL 2004 is coming to Berkeley March 4 - 14!

The festival showcases a diverse array of innovative short films and videos
from sisters of color. It celebrates the distinct perspectives of
individuals who are united in giving voice to an underrepresented group. The
curators are proud to highlight women of color as filmmakers, not only in
the directorial role, but also in less visible but equally crucial positions
as writers, cinematographers, and producers.
- Linda Charmaraman


THURSDAY MARCH 4
5:30 Laughter and Activism
First Thursday Free Screening!
Tickets available at the PFA Theater starting at 4:30 p.m.
Artists in Person

As women find their voice, their work brings them closer to their community
in this group of recent short films. Art and Activism on the Ones and Twos
(Phuong Tang, Jennifer Cho, 12 mins) profiles two Asian American DJs who
offer their wisdom on music and activism. In the liberating Jingwei Girls
(10 mins), Rae Chang examines the changing roles of Chinese women. The Color
of Funny (Kimberly C. Singleton, 40 mins) reveals the multicultural
experiences of five standup comics from the group Shades of Laughter Sisters
Doin' Comedy. Each of these women lets loose the truth of her life in her
own unique and very amusing way.-Elaine Kovacs

(Total running time: 62 mins plus discussion, U.S., 2003, Color, Video, From
the artists)



FRIDAY MARCH 12
7:30 The Secret Language of Youth
Artists in Person

Diverse voices tell of the challenging life decisions young people face: in
And You AreŠ? (13 mins), J. Orchid Lan Pusey searches for a sense of
historical identity among the names of five generations of women in her
family. Moccasin Flats (Randy Redroad, Produced by Laura Milliken, Jennifer
Podemski, Canada, 2002, 24 mins) depicts a winding path of love, loss, and
split-second decisions on an urban Indian reservation. While the animation
of Ravishing Raspberry (Shawnee and Shawnelle Gibbs, 10 mins) is a tasty
treat for the eyes, it depicts a teenage girl's bitter struggle with popular
standards of beauty, a struggle also explored in White Like the Moon (Maria
Gonzalez Palmier, 2002, 22.5 mins, 35mm). Something Between Her Hands (Sonya
Shah, 11 mins) peers into the painful stories of six Cambodian girls sold
into prostitution, while in A Secret Language (Arti Jain, 5 mins), a
ten-year-old reveals her insight into growing up in an immigrant family. A
young basketball player's loyalties are challenged and the concept of
sisterhood put to the test in Shooter (J. J. Goldberger, 24 mins).-Ariana
Proehl
(Total running time: 109 mins plus discussion, U.S., 2003, Color, Video,
From the artists unless otherwise indicated)


SATURDAY MARCH 13
6:30 The Liberation of Everyday Life
Artists in Person
The journey to find one's purpose and confront its consequences is magnified
and electrified in tonight's array of shorts. In the experimental Passing
(Karen Earl, Canada, 7 mins, From Video Out Distribution), driving down the
dotted white line is a precarious state, literally and figuratively. In a
similarly moody essay, The Liberation of Everyday Life (16 mins, 16mm), Juli
Kang examines what happens when an idealistic woman loses tolerance for her
banal corporate existence. Against My Will (Ayfer Ergun, Pakistan, 2002, 50
mins, From First Run/Icarus Films) unflinchingly documents the double-edged
sword of leaving an abusive marriage. The stark realities of a New York
intersection are confronted through Chinaka Hodge's spoken word rhythms in
Barely Audible (Vivian Liu, Katherine Copeland, Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi, 2002,
3 mins). Haruko Tanaka's experimental California Telephone (4 mins, B&W,
16mm) attempts to listen between the lines of the late June Jordan's poems
of resistance. War on Iraq: Casualties of American Empire (Regan Kruse,
Bianca Darville, Monica Galindo Heim, Cristina Lee, Tim Tsai, 20 mins)
skillfully navigates the quagmires of political maneuvering and media
monopoly.

-Linda Charmaraman
(Total running time: 100 mins plus discussion, U.S., 2003, Color, Video,
From the artists unless otherwise indicated)



9:00 Ways of Love
Artists in Person

This collection of shorts illuminates love in its many expressions. The
timeless theme of familial conflict is rendered in One Week Wake (Tammy
Apana, 2001, 20 mins, 35mm) and in Ohm-Ma (Ruthann Lee, 2002, 5.5 mins), an
intimate video-letter by a queer artist. Wenhwa Ts'ao's lyrical Exercise
with Chin Yung (8 mins) depicts the filmmaker's struggles as the daughter of
an old-fashioned Chinese father. In My Mother's Keeper (Malissa Strong, 10.5
mins), a woman caught between her mother's deteriorating health and a failed
marriage finds strength from an unlikely source. Chi-Jang Yin's experimental
Untitled Affair (7 mins) addresses the fluid boundaries between memory,
fantasy, and reality as a woman recalls a moment at the theater. The
filmmaker's affection for her subjects is evident in the beautiful
documentary Love in an Elevator (Thea St. Omer, 2002, 17 mins, B&W, 16mm), a
love story of a couple in their eighties. Young love is heightened by a
sense of tragedy in Bessie's Blues (Marsha Battee, 8 mins) and in Lockjaw
(Gayle R. Romasanta, 18 mins), an irreverent romantic comedy that dares to
ask if the love of God can fulfill the desires of a nun.-Rosa Lau, Suowei
Xiao

(Total running time: 95 mins plus discussion, U.S., 2003, Color, Video, From
the artists unless otherwise indicated)



SUNDAY MARCH 14
3:00 The Endurance of Spirit
Artists in Person

This program offers visions of individuals, communities, and families
withstanding calamity-portraits of strength, resilience, and resolution. In
Remember (Proshat Shekarloo, 7 mins), an Iranian-American first-time
filmmaker relates personal stories of abuse and neglect, revealing troubles
often experienced by women within her community. Stone Mansion (J. J.
Goldberger, 14 mins), a narrative set in Tulsa, Oklahoma, during the 1921
race riot, explores the insurmountable integrity and courage of a black
doctor and his wife. Lawan Jirasuradej's Mama Wahunzi (U.S./Thailand, 2002,
57 mins, From Women Make Movies) profiles three disabled African women who
learn to build and supply wheelchairs in Kenya and Uganda. When the Storm
Came (Shilpi Gupta, 23.5 mins) documents the residual impact of an alleged
mass rape on a community in Kashmir and exposes the frequent use of rape as
a weapon of war.-Sara Gambin
(Total running time: 101 mins plus discussion, U.S., 2003, Color, Video,
From the artists unless otherwise indicated)



5:30 Truth Has a Perfect Memory
Artists in Person

In these short works, women journey inward and outward in their quests for
meaning, truth, or identity. Unruhe (2001, 5 mins) by Elia Alba is a
split-screen experimental video that playfully juxtaposes faces. In Tokyo
Equinox (Yuri Makino, 11 mins) two siblings rediscover their father. Moments
in Love: the more you ignore me the closer I get (Donna Golden, 2001, 20
mins) experiments with the horror genre to demonstrate deep-seated cultural
biases. In Angela Cheng's Esme Seeking (2002, 4 mins), a bridesmaid attends
a wedding, with unexpected results. The experimental All Water Has a Perfect
Memory (Natalia Almada, 2001, 19 mins, From Women Make Movies) documents the
effects of a tragic event on a bicultural family. In Donna Lee's Enter the
Mullet (Canada, 5:30 mins, From Video Out), class, race, and queerness
intersect in a farce about an infamous fashion statement. Transplant (Alison
Nicole Stewart, 2002, 10 mins) generalizes about the West Coast through an
East Coast lens. Aarin Burch's Reflections Unseen (26 mins) focuses on eight
Bay Area African American women living with HIV to tell a transformative
story of healing.-Irene Avetyan, Patricia Contreras
(Total running time: 102 mins plus discussion, U.S., 2003, Color, Video,
From the artists unless otherwise indicated)



UC Berkeley Art Museum
Pacific Film Archive
PFA Theater:
2575 Bancroft Way near Bowditch Street
Berkeley, California
(510) 642-1412

http://www.bampfa.berkeley.edu/pfa_p...omen_of_color/

Admission:

$8 for one film,
$4 UCB students, BAM/PFA members;
$5 faculty/staff, non-ucb students, disabled, seniors (65+), youth (17 and
under);
$2 extra for all double bills.