All films shown on Saturday, March 17th, 2018 will be shown at:
Drexel URBN Annex Screening Room
3401 Filbert Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
www.drexel.edu/westphal
215-895-2000
Admission: $10
Student Admission w/ID: $8
Even Stranger Things Shorts Program:
Those odd, menacing, or just downright unexplainable things.
Saturday, March 17th, 2018 at 12:00PM
MISAPPROPRIATION | 9 MIN | SPAIN
Directed by Maria Ferri (message from Maria Ferri)
View Trailer
Coco is Sergio’s inseparable friend since Carla left. One day Coco takes him to “Láquesis”, Carla’s favourite shop. It seems to emit a powerful magic.
This is a dark tale about how everything that makes you happy can disappear in the blink of an eye. One moment of distraction is enough for our life to end up in the hands of a destiny that was not ours … or maybe yes.
THE ONLY THING CERTAIN | 6 MIN | USA
Directed by Shea Allen Borengasser
“The Only Thing Certain” is the short film directorial debut of Shea Allen Borengasser and explores the haunting realities that govern relationships both past and present. A strikingly familiar journey into what trouble comes knocking when we think we still have time.
FRESH BLOOD | 8 MIN | USA, INDIA
Directed by Richa Rudola
View Trailer
When a young South Asian girl is forced into the sex trade, she must choose her path to freedom even if it involves a vampire.
Director Richa Rudola will be present for Q&A.
IN CONTROL | 12 MIN | UK
Directed by Andrew Ryland
A hallucinogenic new drug creates incredible new realities within your own subconscious, but when a trial patient experiences terrifying paranoia and nightmares, she begins to doubt who she really is.
#BURNING | 19 MIN | BELGIUM
Directed by Nathalie André
View Trailer
His Sunday is a scorcher. Somewhere in our Ardennes. A road. A gang of kids trying to avoid boredom.
RESISTANCE: THE BATTLE OF PHILADELPHIA | 5 MIN | USA
Directed by Asli Dukan
Set in a dystopian, near-future, West Philadelphia, this prologue episode follows a stealthy hacker’s attempts to dismantle the surveillance tools used by the police to control her community after she learns that two young activists have been tracked down and brutally beaten by riot cops.
THE REFUGE | 15 MIN | UK
Directed by Maria Millan
The Refuge tells the story of 4 girls living in a women’s aid centre forced to take an antidepressant treatment.
The film stars the actress Lujza Richter Hugo, known for her role as “Princess Mona Braganza” in “Phantom Thread” by Paul Thomas Anderson; and the international model Demi Hannah Scott, known for her constant work at SHOW studio with Nick Knife, her worldwide campaign for Uniqlo, Fenty Puma and so on
The film is a protest to the current crisis in Britain that these institutions are facing due to government cuts.
VERNON AND VIOLET | 9.5 MIN | USA
Directed by Nikoletta Kanakis
Violet, a taxidermist, falls in love with a mortician named Vernon. Does Violet have the right stuff to preserve their love forever?
Director Nikolettta Kanakis will be present for Q&A.
Filmmakers Workshop – FREE EVENT
Saturday, March 17th, 2018 at 2:00PM
Join us for discussion forum with writer Anike Tourse (Girlfriends, One Life to Live), Director Ansley Sawyer and a panel of film professionals.
This event is free but you must RSVP in order to come to the event. Seats are limited.
ANSLEY SAWYER, CO-DIRECTOR OF “LIKE WE DON’T EXIST”
Ansley is a nomadic film producer. Her collaborations with director Brandon Li “Nomad of Mongolia” and “Hong Kong Strong” were Vimeo Staff Picks, and have been featured on BBC, National Geographic, Smithsonian, Sony Alpha Universe, and Upworthy. She is an avid traveler, singer, sailor, and storyteller.
ANIKE TOURSE, DIRECTOR OF “AMERICA; I TOO”
Anike has written for daytime series, “One Life to Live”, for the sitcom series, “Girlfriends” and is the playwright of stage play “No Milk Today” which premiered at the 2015 Fermentation Fest in Reedsburg, Wisconsin. She has produced multilingual videos and public service announcements for the American immigrant rights movement and has written feature screenplay, “Valentina.”
SAVANNAH BLOCH, CO-WRITER, PRODUCER, AND DIRECTOR OF “AND THEN THERE WAS EVE”
Savannah Bloch is an American/South African filmmaker and graduate of the USC school of Cinematic Arts. Savannah began her career shooting and directing promotional content for non-profits and start-up companies around the world. This type of work led her to the townships of South Africa; interviews with natives Bolivians and to Jordan, where she filmed children of the Syrian war receive serious medical attention. Savannah also worked during this time as a freelance cinematographer, combining her love of travel, culture, cameras and storytelling into a unique and pivotal experience. After this glimpse into global affairs, Savannah returned to Los Angeles armed with a handful of stories and a new perspective to focus on narrative directing. In 2012, she directed “Sister Cities” as part of the Hollywood Fringe festival. There she met AND THEN THERE WAS EVE co-writer, Colette Freedman. The show had four sold out performances and rave reviews demonstrating a new found talent for the stage. Savannah’s feature film directorial debut, AND THEN THERE WAS EVE, premiered in 2017 at the Los Angeles Film Festival and took home the LA Muse Jury Award. Currently Savannah is directing a feature music documentary called CAVES AND CATHEDRALS following singer/songwriter Kerry Hart and a one-woman show about Sikhs in the U.S. post 9/11 called RAGHEAD. She is also a producer/shooter for Hearst Digital Media’s Facebook show Best LA.
Savannah co-founded and currently runs a weekly director’s workshop in Hollywood called The Sandbox LA. In addition to powerful storytelling, Savannah is passionate about social innovation, feminism, surfing and veganism. Savannah works locally in Los Angeles, Barcelona, San Diego and Cape Town.
COLETTE FREEDMAN, CO-WRITER AND PRODUCER OF “AND THEN THERE WAS EVE”
COLETTE FREEDMAN- co-writer and co-producer on And Then There Was Eve which won the Jury Prize at the 2017 LA Film Festival. An internationally produced playwright with over 25 produced plays, Colette was voted “One of 50 to Watch” by The Dramatist’s Guild. Her play Sister Cities was the hit of the 2008 Edinburgh Fringe and earned five star reviews: It has been produced around the country and internationally, fifteen times including Paris (Une Ville, Une Soeur), Rome (Le Quattro Sorelle) and Australia. She wrote the film which stars Jacki Weaver, Alfred Molina, Jess Weixler, Stana Katic, Michelle Trachtenberg, Amy Smart, Troian Bellisario, Tom Everett Scott and Kathy Baker. Her hit musical Serial Killer Barbie played to sold out crowds for six months in Los Angeles and New Zealand. She has co-written, with International bestselling novelist Jackie Collins, the play Jackie Collins Hollywood Lies, which is gearing up for a National Tour. In collaboration with The New York Times best selling author Michael Scott, she wrote the thriller The Thirteen Hallows (Tor/Macmillan). Her novel The Affair (Kensington) came out January 29, 2013. The play of the novel earned both critical and commercial success as it toured Italy February through May 2013. Her sequel novel The Consequences (Kensington) came out January 28, 2014. Her YA novel Anomalies (Select Books) came out February 9, 2016 and the memoir she co-wrote with Steve Dorff I Wrote That One, Too (Hal Leonard) came out November 1, 2017. Colette co-produced Quality Problems which is currently on the festival circuit and her films Casa Matusita and Miles Underwater are currently in pre-production. www.colettefreedman.com
TANIA NOLAN, LEAD ACTRESS OF “AND THEN THERE WAS EVE”
Tania Nolan is a New Zealand born actress, who predominantly resides in Los Angeles.
At 19, Tania moved from Christchurch to Wellington to study –graduating with a Bachelor of Performing Arts from the NZ Drama School, Toi Whakaari, in 2005. After graduating, Tania landed her first lead role on the TVNZ drama The Hothouse (2007), receiving a Best Actress Nomination at the Qantas Television Awards. Following this, she appeared as a recurring character in the U.S. TV series’ Spartacus- Blood and Sand (2009) and Legend of the Seeker (2008-2009), as well as a supporting role in Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009).
Tania has been traveling between New Zealand and LA from 2009 onwards. Returning to her native home for shows including TVNZ’s This Is Not My Life (2009), Go Girls (2009 – 2011) and Step Dave (2014 -2015). Most recently in 2017 Tania ventured across the ditch to Australia to join it’s Award winning show Home and Away as Scarlett Snow.
JOVIDA HILL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE PHILADELPHIA COMMISSION FOR WOMEN
Jovida Hill is an award-winning writer and producer of more than 200 films and videos for the education, broadcast and training markets. Her work has included the civil rights documentary series In the Land of Jim Crow, which documents poignant first-person accounts of the African American struggle for justice and equality; the series Reinventing Democracy, hosted by noted historian Douglas Brinkley; and the series Celebrate, which introduces children to multi-cultural celebrations that herald our differences to amplify our similarities. A founding member of the African Sisterhood and Women Gather Conference, Hill currently serves on the boards of the Black Women’s Health Alliance and the Logan Square Neighborhood Association and has been appointed by Mayor Kenny to be the Executive Director of the Philadelphia Commission for Women.
Race Relations/Immigration Shorts Program:
Free at last?
Saturday, March 17th, 2018 at 3:30PM
AMERICA; I TOO | 20 MIN | USA
Directed by Anike Tourse
View Trailer
The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), presents its second short film; “America; I Too”, starring Academy Award nominee Barkhad Abdi and featuring the music from Grammy winners Quetzal. Writer and first time Director Anike Tourse shares the interconnected stories of three arrested and detained immigrants who navigate the system as they attempt to prevent their deportation. Film is based on real testimonies and experiences. Closed captioning for “America: I Too” is available in Spanish, Korean, and simple Chinese.
Director Anike Tourse will be present for Q&A.
LIKE WE DON’T EXIST | 28 MIN | USA, Thailand
Directed by Ansley Sawyer
View Trailer
Since 1947, the Burmese military government has waged the world’s longest continuous civil war against ethnic minorities such as the Karenni. After surviving 70 seventy years of brutal civil war, a refugee community from Myanmar shares their stirring experience of 21st century statelessness in this short cinematic documentary.
Director Ansley Sawyer will be present for Q&A.
FIVE O’CLOCK SHADOW | 7 MIN | USA
Directed by Saengeeta Agrawa
View Trailer
An Indian-American mother’s worst fear rises to the surface when she is the victim of racial abuse.
Director Saengeeta Agrawa will be present for Q&A.
CONVERSATIONS | 8.5 MIN | IRELAND
Directed by Emma Jackson & Igor Osipov
Detective Thriller set in Dublin.
Lead actress, Maree Jane Duffy will be present for Q&A.
THE TALE OF FOUR | 22 MIN | USA
Directed by Gabourey Sidibe
This multi-layered story inspired by Nina Simone’s “Four Women” spans one day in the lives of four different women connected by their quest for love, agency, and redemption.
WOMEN’S MARCH 2017 | 6.5 MIN | USA
Directed by Aly Spengler
The Women’s March (also known as the Women’s March Movement, or the Women’s March on Washington, and its Sister Marches), was a worldwide protest on January 21, 2017, in support of women’s rights and other causes including immigration reform, health care reform, protection of the natural environment, LGBTQ rights, racial justice, freedom of religion, and for workers’ rights. The rallies were aimed at Donald Trump, immediately following his inauguration President of the United States, and especially at his statements and positions some regarded as anti-women or in other ways reprehensible It stands as the largest one-day protest in U.S. history.
The Apology:
Saturday, March 17th, 2018 at 6:30PM
FEATURE DOCUMENTARY | 104 MIN | CANADA
Directed by Tiffany Hsiung
View Trailer
THE APOLOGY follows the moving personal journeys of former “comfort women” who were among the 200,000 girls and young women kidnapped and forced into military sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. Many revealing their stories to their shocked families for the first time.
Co-presented with the
Korean American Association of Greater Philadelphia
(KAAGP)
In Case of Emergency:
Saturday, March 17th, 2018 at 9:00PM
FEATURE COMEDY | 120 MIN | USA
Directed by Stefanie Sparks
View Trailer
One woman’s sometimes raunchy, always funny internal battle of status vs. substance.
Following an accident Sarah Williams, a New York City socialite, is forced to reevaluate her values in this darkly comic, low budget gem. Is Sarah ready to put away her judgements and pearls to descend into the subways of redemption? Or will she continue up the photoshopped elevator towards a lonely, bitter Park Avenue high rise? Laugh out loud with hints of gag-me gross & riot girl angst, director Stefanie Sparks’ edgy comedic genius grapples with what really matters in a world of selfish selfies: friends IRL. With appearances by Phoebe Robinson (YOU CAN’T TOUCH MY HAIR, 2 DOPE QUEENS), Cathy Curtin (ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK) and other emerging female comediennes.
Director and Lead Actress Stefanie Sparks will be present for Q&A.
About The Women’s Film Festival
The Women’s Film Festival is a forum that inspires and cultivates a movement to celebrate and unite the power of women in the film and entertainment industry.