2000 Highlights

Beyond Killing Us Softly: The
Strength to Resist
Co-producer Margaret Lazurus

In 1979 the ground-breaking Killing Us Softly shook our complacent views that American advertising was benevolent, entertaining and supportive of women's views of themselves. It's been 21 years and law schools, med schools, even military academies are dominated by women and the world cheered our incredible Women's World Cup Team. So, of course, we expect an attendant change in advertising. In fact, we've gone from squeezing toilet paper to incredibly violent images that we take for granted or see as sexy. A must see film and powerful tool for discovering how the message got so mixed. (33 min.)

Break & Enter
Director Amanda Brotchie

3am-a darkened house-the intruding burglar confidently collecting his take, unaware that the woman in the flannel nightie has other plans. She knocks him out with her frying pan, steals his clothes and his car, and leaves him to take her place. A delightfully silly Australian film that will make you smile. (9 min.)

But I Was a Girl
Director Toni Bowman

Told with a remarkable absence of sentimentality this is the story of Frieda Belifante (1905-1995) the first female conductor to have her own orchestra: first in WWII Amsterdam and later in Orange County, California. Wearing men's tweed suits, a member of the Resistance, Jewish, gay and playing sublime music, this amazing woman's story unfolds across time and two continents. (69 min.)

Can't Stop Now
Filmmaker Eileen Thalenberg

When Dance is your life and you are world renowned fortieth birthdays can loom larger than in other professions. People expect Juliet or the White Swan to look like ingenues even if your technical prowess is still intact. Fortunately the vision of choreographer Jeri Kylian of the Netherlands Dance Theatre III has brought together age, wisdom and talent to the delight of audiences. Featuring six remarkable dancers and stunning choreography that is only enhanced by the combined life experience of his troupe, this film is a joyful, inspiring confirmation that age can enhance our gifts. (58 min.)

The Eyes of Tammy Faye
Directed by Fenton Bailey & Randy Barbato

Who can forget the eyes . . . caked with thick makeup, mascara streaking with the perpetual tears, her small frame overwhelmed by those eyes. She and former husband, Jim Baker, dominated the 80's and reinvented Christian television. To most of us she was a caricature even as we were perversely fascinated. Yet, she is a woman of intense contradiction and stubborn style whose life even Hollywood couldn't have invented. The filmmakers chronicle the rise and fall, the scandals, the excess and the pain but above all the survival of a truly unique woman. (79 min.)

First Person Plural
Director Deann Borshay Liem

Deann Borshay was among thousands of supposed South Korean orphans sent to the U.S. in the 1960's to be adopted and raised by American families. First Person Plural is a personal documentary that chronicles her struggle to solve a case of mistaken identity and unravel the mysteries surrounding her adoption. Combining archival footage of Korea, 8mm home movies, and powerful footage of Borshay and two loving families, this is a story of the struggle to integrate love and loyalty, culture and disparity. It is a universal story of living with paradox, and navigating the tricky terrain of family. (60 min.)

The Gift
Produced by Gita Donovan

The Gift is the retelling of an old urban myth this time set in New York City on Christmas Eve. This silent short is black comedy at its most poignant: about a woman, loss and the intrusion of practical reality. (20 min.)

The Hat
Co-directors, Julia Jordan & Terry Stacy

You are sitting alone and lonely in Central Park when a handsome stranger leaves an elaborately wrapped present in your care. Do you peek? Do you believe that some special things belong to those who can understand and appreciate them? Do you hear the music? (10 min.)

A Hero for Daisy
Director: Mary Mazzio

On a cold spring day in 1976 nineteen women said enough is enough. Before anybody knew there was a women's soccer team, before two incredible Black sisters battled it out at Wimbleton, and long before the reality of Title IV filtered down to the towns and suburbs of America, nineteen women got tired of being cold and dirty. This rush of a film profiles Olympic rower Chris Ernst who masterminded the Yale 1976 women's crew protest against the shockingly substandard conditions in which they had to function. Great footage, great interviews, great laughs and great shoulders to stand on. "Mary, I really like your movie, Women are strong." Orren Fox, Age 3. (30 min.)

Judy's Time
Director/Producer Erin Flannery

Bio-chemist, Catholic mother of five, original soccer mom, soup kitchen volunteer- Judy Flannery seems an unlikely Ironman competitor yet alone a multiple winner. Starting late at 37, training in the early hours while her family slept, her athletic life was largely her own. After her tragic death her daughter Erin was amazed to discover the depth of her mom's "other life." This loving portrait of a life well lived will make you fall in love with the tiny woman with the infectious smile. (40 min.)

Ladies Room LA
Directed by Eric Simonson,
Written by Jeannie Zusy

In keeping with our theme introduced last year we present Ladies Room LA destined to become a case study film for female neuroses. Last year we observed going to the loo in pairs . . . this year we tackle that annoying problem of the wet seat, who is responsible, and can anything be done about it. (13 min.)

Life Afterlife
Producer/Director Lisa Jackson

What happens when we die? Does something live on? If we do live on, can we communicate back? The evolution of our human consciousness makes us seek answers that soothe our hearts even as our brains remain skeptical. Life Afterlife looks at the phenomena of the forty percent of Americans who say they have had some sort of after death communication. It focuses on science, philosophy and everyday people seeking hope in loss. (87 min.)

Long Night's Journey into Day
Filmmakers Frances Reid, Doborah Hoffman

In the wake of apartheid's blood past, South Africa chose an unprecedented approach to healing that nation's and its people's collective wounds. The solution came in the creation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, led by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, which sought to foster understanding among victims and perpetrators and set the record straight. The commission's efforts and some of its most compelling cases are the subjects of this remarkable film which won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. (94 min.)

94 Years and 1 Nursing Home Later
Filmmaker Laurel Greenberg

Pissed away opportunities. So many times it's not what we said, it's what we didn't say. When Bella Greenberg, a lifetime master caretaker, ends up alone in a nursing home her granddaughter, a Boston filmmaker, sets out to ask some elemental questions. The fragmenting of families in an evermore rootless society, balancing personal needs against familial responsibility and most of all failed communication are examined, often with frustrating results. This powerful film speaks to all of us provoking even more questions. (49 min.)

One Day Crossing
Filmmaker Joan Stein

Budapest, the last days of World War II. A young Jewish family poses as Christian to survive and maintain their daily lives. A beautifully filmed story about honor and redemption with full character development that belies its short length. (25 min.)

Pets: A Very Natural History
Filmmaker Carol Fleisher

"There are some simple truths . . . and the dogs know what they are"-Joseph Duerner. Cat people, dog people, beloved horses, birds . . . even snakes: this film speaks to the incredible bond we forged as we domesticated wild creatures. Some of these stories will make you smile or cry and some will astound you. Somehow our very humanness is enhanced by these profound relationships. (46 min.)

The Rememberer
Director Coreen Mayrs

Increasingly in our complex frenetic lives we long for simplicity. Here there is a young man so melancholy about the way things are that he de-evolves. His mystified lover watches helplessly. Remember Altered States in the 70s? (10 min.)

See Me
Writer/Director/Producer Sash Oster

"What do you see, nurse, what do you see when you look at me?" As a gentle maintenance man goes quietly from room to room in a nursing home late at night, a beautiful dance of full lives, loves and dreams unfolds. This small, exquisite nine-minute short will haunt you, as will Celeste Holm's reading of a discarded poem found in a wastebasket. (9 min.)

Stranger With a Camera
Director Elizabeth Barret

In 1967 in rural Kentucky a man was killed. As happens sometimes, outsider's good intentions are perceived as intrusive and threatening. The murdered man was Hugh O'Connor, a Canadian documentarian. The man who shot him was Hobart Ison, a reclusive landowner. Thirty years later a local filmmaker sets out to explore the complexity of the issues. What seems true changes as the story unfolds and turns back on itself. (60 min.)

Tulip
Writer/Director Rachel Griffiths

William's wife of forty-five years has died. Local widow women are kind and he is trying to adjust to life alone. It's just that Ruth's cow, Tulip, needs to be milked, but she wants nothing to do with him. Another great Australian short. (15 min.)

The Unique Oneness of Christian Savage
Director Jennifer Ussi

The vast, beautiful landscape that is South Africa unfolds with two boys, one black, one white, racing with the wind. The story could take place anywhere, but it is particularly evocative with what we know lies outside their world. They make blood packs and "pinky swear" as children do everywhere . . . but can promises be kept when tragedy intervenes? (18 min.)

Women of the Wall
Director/Producer Faye Lederman

Feminism arrived at the Western Wall in Jerusalem in the form a devout women's prayer group started in 1989. Despite verbal and physical threats these women fought for the right to pray in this holy space. In spite of a landmark court ruling this summer expanding the interpretation of Judaism in Israel, the fight continues for acceptance. This film speaks to the deep desires of women in all traditional religions to be able to worship as fully and completely as men. (31 min.)