Events

A brilliant series of short films by women including:
2nd Best –
A Family Memory –
The Lost Van Gogh –
Valencia – Chapter 3

“All Women Are Bitches” was not a chart topper, but it represented a significant thread in queerpunk history thanks to the all-female art punk band Fifth Column. Former band members recall the scene in the 1980s and their progressive efforts to unite music, film and zine culture to challenge conventional art practice, gender roles and femininity. The band’s memories of the fun and feuds that fueled their creativity and built their reputations connect to the later Riot Grrrl movement. Most enlightening may be what was Toronto’s first zine war, where rivals battled it out through handcrafted photocopies. Three decades may heal old wounds but clearly a few scars remain.

In the history of Mexican cinema, the Calderón family is known for building grand movie palaces and producing outrageous genre films disdained by critics yet loved by the masses. Filmmaker Viviana García Besné investigates their legacy from the inside as the grandniece of mogul José Luis Calderón. Her journey uncovers a hidden history full of curvy actresses, masked wrestlers, human robots and Aztec mummies – all driven by the most shameless commercial impulses.

After a year of heartbreak and loneliness, Erin and Cal have forgotten enough of each other’s flaws to get back together. They take what they hope will be a romantic camping trip in Sequoia National Park. Alone in the majestic landscape, they begin to revisit their past relationship. As cracks start to show each is left wondering whether the other has changed enough to make it work this time.

Marija’s funeral was interrupted by a storm. Six years later her grave remains unadorned, so her granddaughter, filmmaker Suková, decides to give Marija the send-off she deserves. Suková and her two cousins (one portrayed by an actress) throw a wild dinner party, inviting Marija’s elderly neighbors. Dressed in flamboyant frills, the cousins revel in the memory of their grandmother, while the Czech synth-pop band Midi Lidi provides live entertainment.

At a time when the world is rethinking its drug policies large and small, one state rises to the forefront of attention. Once a pioneer in legalizing medical marijuana, the state of Montana is poised to become the first in the US to repeal its medical marijuana law. Set against the sweeping vistas of the Rockies, the steamy lamplight of marijuana grow houses, and the bustling halls of the State Capitol, CODE OF THE WEST follows the political process of marijuana policy reform. This is the story of the many lives and fraught emotions when politics fail and communities pay the price.

Set in a predominately Mexican, immigrant neighborhood in Los Angeles, Mosquita y Mari tells the story of two 15 year old Chicanas growing up in H.P. —Huntington Park. When Yolanda Olveros (“Mosquita”) meets her new neighbor, Mari Rodriguez, all they see in each other are their differences. As a sheltered, only-child to her older, immigrant parents, Yolanda’s sole concern is securing her college-bound future. Street-wise Mari hustles to help her undocumented family stay above water. But despite Yolanda and Mari’s contrasting approach to survival, Yolanda and Mari are soon brought together when Mari is threatened with expulsion after saving Yolanda from an incident at school involving Yolanda’s boy-crazed friends. Determined to call it even, Yolanda convinces Mari to let her tutor her after school to prove to the administrators that she’s more than a delinquent. Mari and Yolanda forge a friendship that soon proves more complex and sensual than anticipated. Pushed to the edge, Yolanda and Mari are faced with taking hold of their own lives.

WONDER WOMEN! The Untold Story of American Superheroines traces the fascinating evolution and legacy of Wonder Woman. From the birth of the comic book superheroine in the 1940s to the blockbusters of today, WONDER WOMEN! looks at how popular representations of powerful women often reflect society’s anxieties about women’s liberation.

Not Waving, But Drowning examines Adele, a young woman dying to escape Bartow, FL. Driven by the promise of excitement, she moves to New York City, leaving behind her best friend, Sara. Wanting to take up space in the city of her dreams, but not knowing how, she finds herself racing in all the wrong directions. Meanwhile, Sara, stuck at home with her depressed father, becomes strangely liberated by the absence of Adele. As the two girls grow in different directions, the texture and nature of their friendship shifts radically, a reminder of just how much separation can create barriers and longing between old friends.