2000 -2002

NOVEMBER 13, 2002

GROWING UP, GROWING OUT:

Family for Better or Worse

 New Filmmakers/Anthology Film Archives

32 Second Avenue

www.newfilmmakers.com

underwritten by

STOP THE BLEEDING, INC.

SHORTS

ANNA and BELLA

Cilia Van Dijk

In this Dutch animation, two elderly sisters reminisce about their youthful years of romance, disillusionment, sibling rivalry and reconciliation. Animator: Borge Ring.

CUSP

Ruth Sergel

Cusp is a portrait of Alice, a spirited 12-year-old, hitting the wall of early adolescence. Her fierce struggle to retain her sense of self, despite the onslaught of other voices, denotes the unique experience of a girl coming of age.

MERMAIDS OF BROOKLYN

Maddy Lederman

Mermaids of Brooklyn is a quick adventure through the Mermaid Parade, a decadent folly celebrating summer in Coney Island, Brooklyn.

MY MOTHER, MARY; HER DAUGHTER, JOANNE

Joanne Morton

My Mother Mary, Her Daughter Joanne a Columbia College video project shot in 1993, came out of the (video)maker's need to find some resolution with her relationship with her mother. It helped a lot. Her mother, Mary, has never seen it and probably never will. Would you show it to your mother?

PLEASE EXCUSE MY DESIRE

Chia Hui Gao

An experimental film about an Asian woman's repressed desire in patriarchal Asian society.

FEATURE

TREADING WATER

Lauren Himmel

Set in a small, coastal New England town, Treading Water follows Casey Olsen, a long shore woman, and her social worker girlfriend, Alex, as they struggle to reconcile their relationship with Casey's family.

OCTOBER 9, 2002

SHADOWS:

Claining the Feminine Darkside

New Filmmakers/Anthology Film Archives

32 Second Avenue

www.newfilmmakers.com

underwritten by

STOP THE BLEEDING, INC.

MESHES OF THE AFTERNOON

Maya Deren

13 min.

A rich matrix of sound, imagery and texture that influenced the American experimental film movement of the 40s and 50s. A true avant-garde classic. [Her first film!].

THE BELL WATCHER

Whitney Hamilton

75 min.

Sarah sits graveside waiting, hoping for her beloved mistress’s bell to ring. Sinister events happen when her mistress’s fiancee shows up.

NINE

Jane Shepard

43 min.

A narrative of two women held against their will and the mind games they play to keep one another alive.

BLUE FIRE

Chia Hui Gao

66 min.

Jack Chen is sent to New York to forget a bittersweet love affair. While indulging his sadness, Jack can't help but to be drawn to his lively, but ill-reputed, roommate, Lana Lin. After passing judgment on Lana's loose lifestyle, Jack finds himself desiring her. However, Lana's seduction of Jack ends up crossing over to vengefulness.

JULY 10, 2002

THE TIES THAT BIND:

Life in Art

New Filmmakers/Anthology Film Archives

32 Second Avenue

www.newfilmmakers.com

underwritten by

STOP THE BLEEDING, INC.

SHORT

YUGODIVAS

Andrea Staka

An actress, a painter and three musicians from Belgrade leave their homeland to venture a new beginning in New York. The outbreak of the war in 1991 and especially the bomb raids on Belgrade in the spring of 1999 have changed their lives forever. Memories and a painful analysis of the old homeland preoccupy their thoughts. The film depicts stories concerning daily life, stage life, painting, music and the search for a lost homeland.

FEATURE

DENIS A. CHARLES, AN INTERRUPTED CONVERSATION

Veroniqué Doumbe

This documentary is the story of one man's struggle to follow his dream and the obstacles he encounters in his professional as well as his personal life. Unknown to the mainstream, Denis A. Charles was a legend on the avant-garde jazz scene where his drumming caught the attention of many innovative musicians like Thelonious Monk, Steve Lacy, Archie Shepp, Don Cherry, Sonny Rollins and many others. Performances shot during the last two years of his life, in venues across New York City interspersed with anecdotes told by Denis A. Charles himself, family members, friends and fellow musicians illustrate Denis's cling to music while waging a battle to simply survive.

MAY 8, 2002

LOOKING WITH NEW EYES: 

Experimental Films from the Female Gaze

New Filmmakers/Anthology Film Archives

32 Second Avenue

www.newfilmmakers.com

underwritten by

STOP THE BLEEDING, INC.

RELAH ECKSTEIN RETROSPECTIVE
LUCY'S DREAM

Lucy is a cute dog who dreams she's a Woman, who's in love with her master, who fantasizes she's a drummer in a rock n roll band. Lucy is currently undergoing therapy.

OAT-MEAL

An unemployed artist's oatmeal is poisoned with hallucinogenic bug balls by his fashion conscious wife and their dimwitted chambermaids.

THE ROOM

A man smokes a pipe and blows designs to his wife through the phone line.

EYE CREATURE

A goofy biologist falls under the spell of a beautiful and strange woman, The Eye Creature, who liquifies him for her morning beauty treatment.

EGGY TIME

A young couple are hypnotized by a demented Egg Fairy to fertilize her sterile egg.

MR. BUBBLEHEAD

A head in the sand spits out a mechanical bubble with a little man inside who flies the bubble into a cloud causing the sky to explode, clearing the sky for a sunny day.

ANT FARM

A woman dreams of a mysterious man who gives her a box of ants.

LIGHT MAIL

A man on the dark side of the world sends a letter to a Woman on the light side of the world, by burning it with a magnifying glass.

UP-AND-COMING EXPERIMENTAL FILMMAKER

OPHELIA'S OPERA
Abiola Abrams

Ophelia, living in an abusive relationship, throws period celebration parties with her terminally ill girlfriend, Moses. Each character speaks his or her own language their own way, exploring the mystery that any of us ever understand what anyone else is saying.

JADINA LILIEN RETROSPECTIVE
RICKY AND LENNY

An accidentally recorded conversation between a father and his adult son.

MARIE

A documentary portrait of a 75 year old woman as she philosophizes on life.

THE WALKER

An experimental film about the memory of love and passion.

HAPPILY EVER AFTER

A docu-drama about a family of musicians who live on a boat.

FORTUNES FOOLS

Based on a story told by the Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hahn, this is an urban fairy tale, a story of love and passion and the remembering of what's important.

MARCH 13, 2002

REMAKING OURSELVES:

Creating Our Own Images

New Filmmakers/Anthology Film Archives

32 Second Avenue

www.newfilmmakers.com

underwritten by

STOP THE BLEEDING, INC.

SHORTS

KISS IT UP TO GOD

Caran Hartsfield

Church. State. Family: Esther Jenkins returns home one sunny 4th of July to confront the enigmas of life.

BRUCE

Ruth Sergel

Bruce is a collision between camera and dancer, a duet that speaks to expectations of beauty and disability.

TRAVELING EYE OF THE BLUE CAT

Shawn Atkins

A photocollage animation: An abandoned garden, a pair of blue cats, and a decapitated head assist a girl through a startling metamorphosis that begins at the edge of the world.

FEATURE

BESOTTED

Holly Hardman

If only a fanciful wave of the hand could propel the love of your life into your arms. Filmmaker Holly Hardman attempts to fulfill this natural yearning in her film Besotted. Playing a sorceress, Hardman uses magical powers to manipulate the lives of her characters who reside in a picturesque New England fishing community. In this whimsical scenario, the town drunk (Jim Chiros) pines for the no-nonsense fisherwoman (Susan Gibney) who lusts after the golden boy. Harvard student (Liam Waite). Unsurprisingly, the film’s game of enchantment is fraught with complications and challenges as it collides with the chaotic nature of misguided love.

JANUARY 9, 2002

DEFINING MOMENTS

New Filmmakers/Anthology Film Archives

32 Second Avenue

www.newfilmmakers.com

underwritten by

STOP THE BLEEDING, INC.

THREE POINT TURN

Diana Lucas Leavonwood (Director)

Lisa Cheby (Producer)

Two teenage sisters, are forced to contend with their father's alcoholism and new girlfriend during their annual summer visit in an eye-opening ride through adolescence, based on a Jennifer Lucas short story.

SPA-TEL

Diane Sherry-Case

A fable about a girl who doesn't wear panties, her macho boyfriend, and a mystical desert motel where the unexpected is the norm.

PATRIOTIC

Judy Dennis

Based on a New Yorker story by Janet Kauffman, Patriotic focuses on an unlikely trio whose friendship deepens in the course of a day's hay harvest.

INSTRUCTIONS NOT INC.

Keren Atzmon

Treading a fine line between dependence and freedom, three twenty-something women sharing an apartment in Tel-Aviv struggle to free themselves from the labels that have been "stuck" upon them.

WHEN I WAS FOURTEEN: A SURVIVOR REMEMBERS

Marlene Booth and Jameson C. Goldner 

A chronicle of the Holocaust experiences of a young girl from Czechoslovakia, who survived seven concentration camps, was rescued by the Swedish Red Cross, and rebuilt her life in America.

2000-2002

NOVEMBER 14, 2001

GETTING A WORD IN EDGEWISE: 

Women Documenting Life Outside the Mainstream

New Filmmakers/Anthology Film Archives

32 Second Avenue

www.newfilmmakers.com

A PERSONAL TOUCH

Pazit Levitan

19 minutes

Three male dancers portray their personal, social and cultural values through their dance: Solly, an African tribal dancer; Prakash, an Indian religious dancer; and a transvestite performer who dances at tone of the hottest night spots in London.

THE WITNESS

Jenny Stein

Eddie Lama, a construction contractor who grew up on the mean streets of Brooklyn, is probably the last person you’d figure to be an animal activist. Indeed, Eddie was raised with a deeply ingrained aversion to animals, as he explains in the award-winning documentary The Witness. But when a pretty woman asks him to take care of her kitten, he finds himself reluctantly agreeing as a ploy to get a date, not knowing that his life is about to change forever.

In the end, it is the kitten who captures his heart, opening his eyes to the wonder of other living creatures and awakening him to the richness of the human-animal bond. One epiphany leads to another, as Eddie begins to notice abandoned cats at his construction sites and decides to rescue and rehabilitate them in his office. Surrounded by animals for the first time in his life, he experiences these cats as a child would, marveling at the contours of their bodies and coming to the uncomfortable realization that the animals he so lovingly nurtures are not so different from the animals he eats. Making this connection inspires him to become a vegetarian.

Eddie converts one of his work vans into a mobile audio-visual system, an invention he calls “FaunaVision.” When his construction office closes down for the night, he takes to the streets in his van and delivers images of animals suffering on fur farms and trap lines—right to the heart of the city, where the furs are bought and sold. As he pulls over to the curb, crowds gather, people stare. In the midst of the hustle and bustle of holiday shopping, busy people take a moment to try to comprehend what they are seeing. Eddie gets out and hands them pamphlets about fur, and explains what’s happening in each of the images. One by one, they get it, they understand. They make the connection between the animal and the coat. “A miracle is a change in perception,” says Eddie. And each day, he proves that miracles indeed can happen.

SHOOTING STARS 

Roberta Starzecpyzel

57 minutes

To dare, to grow, to love. An intimate portrait of eight men in group therapy. Shooting Stars is a documentary made in Provincetown about Living with AIDS. It challenges tnad inspires all of us to examine the precious gift of life. It draws the viewer into the circle of heroic humanness as it really is: frightened, vulnerable, mortal, but also deeply powerful and utterly beautiful.

BEYOND THE BARS: NO EXTENDED EMBRACES

Julia O'Farrow

Beyond the Bars/No Extended Embraces presents portraits of women who have a loved one in prison. This film focuses on the lack of intimacy that the women must endure while trying to maintain these relationships and explores how they remain committed in spite of the limitations. This moving documentary provides a voice for the women's stories that too often go unheard, and serves as a reminder that when a man is incarcerated he is more than just a number, he is someone's loved one.

SEPTEMBER 19, 200

GIRLS BECOMING WOMEN, 

WOMEN BECOMING THEMSELVES

New Filmmakers/Anthology Film Archives

32 Second Avenue

www.newfilmmakers.com

INVENTING A GIRL:

A JOURNEY IN HOME-SCHOOLING

Fernanda Rossi

Lily Borenstein-Burd and her brother Russell have never attended school. They are among the one million kids that the US Department of Education estimates are being taught at home.

Filmmaker Fernanda Rossi lived with and filmed the Borenstein-Burds for a period of over one year. Guided by Lily's natural curiosity and sense of humor, together they compile a list of essential questions about homeschooling, and turn to her parents for the answers.

With Lily in charge of the interviews, we learn much about homeschooling, but even more about one family's attempt to bond in an era of increasing disintegration. Lily's budding talents are also in evidence as we follow her through a campaign to save the local zoo and rehearsals of The Nutcracker.

Ms. Rossi's craft and empathy translates into a documentary of unique charm and versatility, as footage of the Borenstein-Burds' daily life is deftly intercut with black and white shots of Lily's fantasy world.

Inventing a Girl: An Experience in Homeschooling challenges our conceptions of education and the ability of children to learn on their own.

WEEKI WACHEE GIRLS

Kim Cummings, Director

Liz Deutsch, Art Director

It's the summer of '79, Katie and Maura are 15 and they've dreamed of being mermaids at Weeki Wachee Spring for as long as they can remember.

ROAD MAP WARRIOR WOMEN

Jen Senko

During "a road trip in the country of women," we find self-empowerment and inspiration through interviews with fiercely independent women.

JULY 18, 2001

THE FEMALE GAZE:

Relationships and Intimacy

New Filmmakers/Anthology Film Archives

32 Second Avenue

www.newfilmmakers.com

SHORTS

JEANNE & HAUVIETTE

Liz Foley

13 min.

A fifteenth century romance that takes place on the last day Joan of Arc spends with her girlhood companion Hauviette before leaving home to save France.

TOM LOVES MAEVE 4-EVER

Wendy Jo Cohen 

25 min.

A madcap tale of betrayal and destruction…

MOTHER'S BLOOD 

Myra Sito Velasquez 

16 min.

Preview screening

A young Chinese American woman struggles to break the bonds of her family's emotional legacy before they break her...

FEATURE

MAN IN RED

Gladys Bensimon

83 min.

A comedy about love, lust, loss, compassion and… red, sexy lingerie. The film is centered on the character of Jack (Francis Dumaurier), a corky, fifty-year old, homophobic Frenchman, who is married to the sexy Marie (Debbie Pingitore), a pretty, but insecure thirty-year old waitress from Brooklyn. Marie desperately tries to save her marriage by constantly trying to seduce her confused husband whom she finds wearing her lingerie after failing to have an erection. After Marie leaves Jack, his gay co-worker, George (who has a crush on Jack), finds Jack in gay bars and transvestite clubs. Far more painful for Jack after Marie leaves him, is the discovery that his psychiatrist, the man who has been advising him on sexual matters and how to save his woman, is as confused as he is.

APRIL 11, 2001

WOMEN DIRECTING MEN:

How Women See Men When the Directing

 Reins Are in Their Hands

New Filmmakers/Anthology Film Archives

32 Second Avenue

www.newfilmmakers.com

SHORTS

THE LOVERS

Francesca Rizzo

9 min.

Two lonely, clueless guys go into a bar and proceed to alienate every woman in it. 

THE FORGERY

Erika Yeomans

20 min.

Inspired by over 40 popular books and films from 1948-1952, where murder and circumstantial evidence lay in wait for the unsuspecting double-crossing double-crosser.

EL JARDIN BOTANICO 

Lourdes Rebora 

13 min.

Recipient Grand Jury Prize CiNY Award 2000

An introverted botanist makes his regular visit to the botanical gardens to find that regulations have changed and his only access is by joining a rowdy walking tour. Subtitled. 

FEATURE

TRUE RIGHTS

Meg Thayer 

103 min.

Set in the new Hollywood digital revolution era of real TV and graphic video as news, the film follows the rise of an eccentric crew of video vultures as they boldly sweep LA in an attempt to get the rights to the next great Shock TV story. Their targets run the gamut from gun-crazed militia leaders and line dancing serial killers to crack-addicted moms. Through their ineffectual "agent" the pair happens upon a disillusioned silent film era actor, Thad Whitney, who acts as a catalyst of conflict among the video crew members. What starts out as an interesting lead develops into a dark subplot as the video crew discovers that Thad is contemplating suicide. The result is a darkly comic exploration of art vs voyeurism. Awards include: Best Narrative Feature, CineWomen NY CiNY Awards; Audience Award, Dances with Films; Best Feature with a New Vision, Brooklyn Film Festival; Best Director, Brooklyn Film Festival; Best Actor, Jack Bett, Brooklyn Film Festival. 

MARCH 22, 2001

OPENING THE OTHER EYE:
WOMEN'S HERSTORY MONTH

Caspary Auditorium

at Rockefeller University

1230 York Avenue

WHITE LIES

Abra Bigham, Writer/Producer/Actor

Luisa Pretolani, Director/Producer

Screenplay by Georgia James

Featuring Andee Kinzy as Madge

Two strangers form an unusual bond when a woman offers a neighbor a ride to Sing-Sing prison on the eve of an electric chair execution in 1962.

LUCY'S DREAM

Relah Ekstein

Lucy is a cute dog who dreams she's a Woman, who is in love with her master, who fantasizes she's a drummer in a rock and roll band. Lucy is currently undergoing therapy.

MAD ABOUT HARRY

Ashley Mendoza 

Three brothers kidnap their sister's ex-boyfriend and force a confrontation that yields unexpected consequences. Revenge can be sweet.

THE THREE LIVES OF KATE

Karen Hanson/Ian Thompson, Co-Directors

Kate is coming to terms with a bizarre and, at times, emotionally crippling psychiatric condition called Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).

UNDER THE SWELL

Antonia Makey,Producer

Olivia Martin-McGuire,Director 

Set in a bathroom and under the ocean, the ritual of having a bath provides a private place for an intimate portrayal of pregnancy.

FEBRUARY 21, 2001

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

New Filmmakers/Anthology Film Archives

32 Second Avenue

www.newfilmmakers.com

Evening schedule:

5 PM Yoga

(wear loose-fitting clothes you can move in.)

6 PM Reception (free food and good conversation)

7 PM Shorts Presentation

8 PM Feature Presentation 

10 PM Reception (Cash bar) following the feature. Stop in to find out the location.

SHORTS

WHO?

Keren Atzmon 

PHONE TAG

Betty Teng 

IN REMEMBRANCE

Clairesa Clay

FEATURE

I WAS MADE TO LOVE HER:

THE DOUBLE DUTCH DOCUMENTARY

Nicole Franklin 

all images from respective filmmakers' websites.

 2000-2001

NOVEMBER, 2000

Caspary Auditorium

at Rockefeller University

1230 York Avenue

COWBOY

Jane Gaffney

WHITE LIES

Luisa Pretolani and Abra Bigham

Featuring Andee Kinzy as Madge

THE LOVERS

Francesca Rizzo

SEPTEMBER 2000

On Thursday, September 28th, 2000, CineWomen NY had our First Annual CiNY Awards. 

CiNY Awards were developed to give female filmmakers and craftswomen much needed recognition. Women filmmakers are often left out of the loop, garnering such awards as "Best Woman Director" or "Best Lesbian Film." With the CiNY Awards, we hope to recognize the films for the Outstanding pieces of work that they are - they just happen to be directed by women.

The First Annual CiNY Awards were hand-picked from the female-directed films at the Brooklyn Film Festival 2000. Over 50 films were viewed by a jury of CineWomen NY members, resulting in Most Outstanding Awards and Special Jury Awards.

Outstanding Film Awards:

Narrative Feature: TRUE RIGHTS

directed by Meg Thayer

Narrative Comedy Short: UTILITIES

directed by Michele Leddon 

Narrative Comedy Short: TOM LUVS MAEVE 4-EVER

directed by Wendy Jo Cohen

Narrative Dramatic Short: PAS DE DEUX

directed by Nara Garber

Narrative Dramatic Short: THE THREE LIVES OF KATE

directed by Karen Hanson & Ian Thompson

Documentary Feature: I WAS MADE TO LOVE HER: THE DOUBLE DUTCH DOCUMENTARY 

directed by Nicole Franklin

Documentary Comedy Short: THE BED

directed by Jennifer Brooke

Documentary Dramatic Short: SEVEN HOURS TO BURN

directed by Shanti Thakur

Animation: FALLING BACK TO EARTH: TOMATILLO directed by Pamela Turner

Experimental: UNDER THE SWELL

directed by Olivia Martin-McGuire

Breakthrough Documentary: THE WITNESS

directed by Jenny Stein 

Breakthrough Dramatic Narrative: THE APOLOGY 

directed by Leslie DeFrancesca

Special Jury Award:

WHEN I WAS 14: A SURVIVOR REMEMBERS

directed by Marlene Booth

ROAD MAP WARRIOR WOMEN

directed by Jen Senko

WHO?

directed by Keren Atzmon

EVENING

directed by Natasa Prosenc

LUCY'S DREAM 

directed by Relah Eckstein

MAD ABOUT HARRY

directed by Ashley Mendoza

EL JARDIN BOTANICO

directed by Lourdes Rebora 

THE FORGERY

directed by Erika Yoemans

PHONE TAG 

directed by Betty Teng

Outstanding Performance Awards:

Elena Franklin in UTILITIES

Alice Lee Chun in TOFU

Marcie Rich in PHONE TAG

Angelina Phillips in TOM LUVS MAEVE 4-EVER

Sarah Lively in PAS DE DEUX