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12/29/05
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(New York, NY - February 20, 2006)- Women in Film and Television International (WIFTI) is proud to announce the simultaneous launch of its first annual Short Film Showcase on Wednesday, March 8 – International Women’s Day 2006 – across eighteen screens in five countries within its network of member Chapters.
For one night only - from Los Angeles, USA to Auckland, New Zealand - WIFTI Chapters worldwide will present an outstanding collection of short films by some of today’s best female filmmakers. The 2006 Showcase is comprised of seven award-winning short films, selected by WIFTI’s international Board of Directors, from finalist shorts from the WOW International Festival in Australia and the NYWIFT/Hamptons International Film Festival’s To The Point: Women Telling Tales Through Media event.
“International Women’s Day commemorates achievements, acts of courage and determination by ordinary women. What better way for WIFTI members and the public to celebrate than with a screening of original, accomplished international short films by and about modern women,” comments Paulina B. Abarca, Showcase Producer and WIFTI’s Chair of Programming.
Each WIFT Chapter may also add outstanding regional films of their choosing to WIFTI’s 91-minute Showcase.
Together, the seven short films have garnered over fifty international awards including a 2005 Academy Award, a Jury Award for International Filmmaking: Sundance International Film Festival and the Grand Prix The Golden Dragon at the International Short Film Festival, Poland for Andrea Arnold’s WASP; a Best Foreign Film Award at the 2005 Créteil International Film Festival, for Vicki Sugars’ MOUSTACHE; and an IFP Audience Choice Award: Columbia University Film Festival for Joyce Draganosky’s THE SCIENCE OF LOVE.
“These films showcase the talents of directors at different stages of their career. Each has a unique strength, each displays inspired craftsmanship,” said Abarca from Montreal. “Couple them with the ingenuity of our Chapters to present welcoming, highly stimulating events, and you have the makings of a truly fabulous evening.”
The seven films comprising the 2006 WIFT International Short Film Showcase are:
| Film Descriptions ( Download them all in this Word.doc) |
Stills
(high- res images available for download,
click on the thumbnail below) |
Director
(high- res images available for download,
click on the thumbnail below) |
KYLIE GOLDSTEIN, ALL AMERICAN / 3 minutes
Director: Eva Saks – USA
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Film Synopsis: KYLIE GOLDSTEIN, ALL AMERICAN is the story of Kylie, a little girl adopted from China who is now an American Goldstein.
Director bio: Eva Saks has written/directed for SESAME STREET, Nickelodeon, Time Warner Cable, UPN and the Independent Film Channel (currently airing her CONFECTION and COLORFORMS). Her FAMILY VALUES (available on Netflix) won a Student Academy Award, screening at Sundance, Telluride and Tribeca. She has a law degree from Yale and an MFA in Filmmaking from NYU (2005). She is developing "family-friendly" film and television projects.
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MOUSTACHE / 13 minutes
Director: Vicki Sugars – AUSTRALIA
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Film Synopsis: Sometimes, it doesn’t pay to change your true self for the person you love.
Director bio - Vicki Sugars has worked as an assistant director for a number of years. In 2004 she was the associate producer on the feature film LOOK BOTH WAYS. MOUSTACHE is her first film as a director and writer. She is currently producing a 5 minute claymation on plastic surgery and in pre-production on her second film PAST MIDNIGHT, a half hour drama on psychological violence. She has a feature film in development, about a writer struggling to write her first feature. Vicki has yet to decide if it's comedy or tragedy!
Best Foreign Film: Créteil International Film Festival, France 2005
Audience Award Winner, Palm Springs International Film Festival, USA 2005
Best Film Audience Award, Sao Paulo International Short Film Festival, Brazil 2005
Official Selection Venice Film Festival, 2004
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ON THE CLIFFS / 15 minutes
Director: Lisa M. Perry – USA
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Film Synopsis: Best friends Penelope and Dora are the producers and stars of a local cable access show devoted to staging classics such as Macbeth and Moby Dick, only the productions are based on the Cliff's Notes version of the novels rather than the classics themselves. Problems rise to the surface when Penelope and Dora attempt their interpretation of George Orwell's Animal Farm. This documentary-style short follows the friends as they deconstruct the plot--and each other.
Director bio: After graduating with honors in directing and acting from Skidmore College,
Perry moved to NYC where she began producing plays. In 2001 she moved to Toronto to work on A&E’s Nero Wolf. Upon returning to New York she began work on several independent films, including IFC’s IN THE COMPANY OF WOMEN. In 2004, Lisa co-founded Sloane Road Productions with fellow NYWIFT member Jessie Hutcheson.
Winner Best Short Comedy - Ohio Independent Film Festival 2004
USA Film Festival Finalist 2005
Best of CineWomen 2005 |
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MÉNAGE À TROIS / 15 min
Director: Kimberly M. Wetherell - USA
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Film Synopsis: The story of a boy… a girl… and her cell phone.
Director bio: Ménage à Trois marks Kimberly M. Wetherell's cinematic debut after ten years in the operatic community as a stage director. She started her film career as an intern with New York Women in Film & Television and is in pre-production two years later on her upcoming feature film, A PRETTY GIRL (A Sheyne Meydl)
Best Short Film: Red Bank International Film Festival, New Jersey 2005
Filmmakers' Favorite: DC ShortsFest, 2005
Best Actress (M. Raymond) & Best Actor (A. Rein): Chicks with Flicks International Film Festival, NYC 2005
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THE SCIENCE OF LOVE / 14 min
Director/Writer: Joyce Draganosky – USA
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Film Synopsis: Sydney, a buttoned up, brainy, beautiful professor, clashes with Ileana, her seasoned, sexy, seductive boss over research that claims brains scans can measure true love. During their battle of wits, Sydney gets more than she bargained for - including a swordfight in stiletto heels and a hefty dose of self-discovery. Zany, brainy and crazy, THE SCIENCE OF LOVE will leave you wondering if the mind has a heart of its own.
Director bio – Joyce’s films have played in competition in some of the world’s top film festivals. She is an Emmy-Award winning writer/director who freelances for TV and other productions when not making films. She holds an MFA with honors from Columbia University’s Film School. At Columbia’s 2004 Film Festival, her film EXTREME MOM won Best Film, The National Board of Review Award, Lifetime Network’s Outstanding Filmmaker Award, Best Actress and Audience Choice Awards. It also won the Triumph Award at the International Angelus Competition and the Grand Prize at The Director’s View Festival 2005 in Manhattan. Joyce’s film JARED played international film festivals and won the Grand Jury Prize in Madrid. She is currently in development on her first feature film which she wrote and plans to direct.
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Grant Award for Short Film Production
IFP Audience Choice Award – Columbia University Film Festival 2005
Official Selection – The Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films 2005
Official Selection – The Seagate Foyle Film Festival 2005
The Museum of The Moving Image – online exhibition (excerpts only)
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WASP / 23 minutes
Director: Andrea Arnold – United Kingdom
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Film Synopsis: When 23 year old single mum Zoe gets asked out on a date, she lies about having four kids and leaves them outside the pub.
Director bio – Currently editing feature RED ROAD for project ADVANCE PARTY produced by ZENTROPA (Denmark) and SIGMA (UK) and originated by Lars Von Trier. ADVANCE PARTY involves three filmmakers writing a separate feature film using the same nine characters. RED ROAD was developed at the Sundance Screenwriters lab in 2005 and is due for release in 2006. Made 3 shorts. WASP has won 37 International Festival Awards including the Academy Award 2005. DOG won The Jameson Award (UK) and screened at Cannes (Critics Week) in 2002. MILK was also selected for competition in Cannes (Critics Week) in 1998.
WASP's 37 International Awards in 2004 - 2005 include:
ACADEMY AWARD LIVE ACTION SHORT
JURY AWARD FOR INTERNATIONAL FILM MAKING - Sundance International Film Festival
GRAND PRIX THE GOLDEN DRAGON - Cracow 44th International Short Film Festival, Poland
BEST LIVE ACTION FICTION FILM - Worldwide Short Film Festival Toronto, Canada
BEST OF FESTIVAL - Palm Springs International Short Film Festival USA
BEST SHORT FILM - Stockholm International Film Festival Sweden
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HAND SUM / 8min, 3 secs
Director: Eva Colmers - Canada
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Film Synopsis: - Miro moves through life without much conviction until a magical incident prompts an escape from the routine of her daily life. Miro climbs onto a cloud, listens to the birds and has an adventure. Shot as stunning shadow projection and rich in images, HAND SUM is driven by a compelling rhythm. Miro is the allegorical “everyone”, searching for the meaning of life.
Director bio – Many years ago, Eva Colmers travelled to the islands of Java and Bali and fell in love with shadow theatre. In Hand Sum, she tries to incorporate some of the wayang kulit elements into her screen work. Eva has created a variety of film work which includes short films, film scripts, a documentary with the National Film Board of Canada and a PSA. Her work has been seen at national and international festivals as well as on television. Eva is also very active in her film and theatre community. She loves photography and likes to travel.
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With gratitude to our sponsors:
Chitiz Pathak LLP
Barristers and Solicitors
Media and Entertainment
Toronto
Comedia - Just for Laughs
Montreal
July 2006
Press Releases and invitiations from our participating member chapters:
New Mexico Women in Film WIFT NSW WIFT-T WIF-Dallas Montreal
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Copyright ©2003-2009 Women In Film and Television International. All Rights Reserved.
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