Cinewomen On Screen - A NYWIFT series: Family Struggles and Coming Of Age Across The Cultural Divide
This screening series celebrates the
work of emerging female filmmakers
from all over the world. Films that are included in the series must be
directed, co-directed, produced, written, edited or shot by women.
Whenever possible, the filmmakers are present for discussion and
socializing after their works are presented.
There will be a Q&A
following the screening, and an after-party to follow, with Cash Bar
and complimentary food @:
Tonda
235 East 4th Street near Ave. B
This month's series of shorts is entitled: Family Struggles and Coming of Age Across The Cultural Divide.
Set across the globe in Brazil, Italy, Australia and America, these moving short films are united by the universal struggles of the families they depict - from the anxieties of working mothers to the loss of childhood innocence.
Macchie di Sole (Sunspots)
Director/Producer: Stella di Tocco
In a small village on the coast of Italy, 12-year old Adriana spends the summer with her sister, Francesca, who involves her in a strange game with a little boy who is the image of the innocence that Adriana is about to lose.
Stella di Tocco was born in Rome, Italy, and studied at the Film School ECAM in Madrid. Sunspots, her first work in 35mm, has screened at many international film festivals including the 2008 Turin Film Festival and the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival. It won Best Short at Sguardi Altrove Milano 2008 and at Molisecinema 2009. She recently completed her first feature documentary, Le bambine di Palmi, which received Special Mention at the 2009 Bellaria Film Festival.
Small Change
Director/Writer/Editor: Anna McGrath
A man struggles without his wife; a little girl loses a tooth, and a boy reacts the only way he knows how - small change can make all the difference.
Anna McGrath is a film writer and director based in Melbourne, Australia, who focuses on stories that investigate the vagaries of humanity, understanding and the strangeness of the everyday. She completed a post graduate diploma in film narrative and a Masters in Film at the School of Film & TV, Victorian College of The Arts, Melbourne. Her work has appeared at festivals around the world and Small Change has garnered several awards, including the Tribeca Film Festival Student Visionary Award.
Annie's Religion (top photo)
Director/Writer: Laura D'Antoni
Annie is an eight year-old Christian girl growing up in the 1950s. Against her mother's wishes, she forms a friendship with her new Jewish neighbors and, in an effort to save her infant neighbor from eternal damnation, kidnaps and baptizes her. Returning from the church, Annie is surprised to realize that not everyone appreciates her efforts. Based on the true story of Vi Sherman.
Laura D'Antoni received a B.F.A. in Film and TV from New York University. She was Associate Producer on a feature documentary set in New York before moving to South Florida, where she is delighted to be working on her first feature film set in the Everglades. Many of her works are influenced by her experience of being born and raised in Germany as a foreigner.
Quase Todo Dia (Almost Every Day)
Director/Writer/Producer: Gandja Monteiro
The lines between documentary and fiction are blurred in this depiction of a day in the lives of a mother-daughter duo. On a strange winter day, during a long journey from her home in Recreio dos Bandeirantes to downtown Rio de Janeiro, Polly struggles against time, traffic, the temptations of big-city life and her own inadequacies as a young mother.
Gandja Monteiro, a New York-based filmmaker raised in Brazil and New York, received a BFA from New York University's Institute of Film & TV. She wrote, directed and produced two shorts: She's a Blur (winner of Best Director Award at NYU's Fusion Film Festival) and Quase Todo Dia (Almost Every Day). Her first feature screenplay, Lucas 1968, was a finalist for the Sundance Screenwriter's Lab. Quase Todo Dia premiered at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival and has screened at the Palm Springs International Shortfest and the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival. It was short-listed for the Academy Awards by the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival. Monteiro is currently in pre-production for her first feature film.
Last updated: Aug. 10, 2010 
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