April 18, 2005
Women of Color Film Festival offering 'diverse
mix'
By Scott Rappaport
Over 25 local, national, and international filmmakers and performing
artists will be spotlighted in the 12th annual Women of Color
Film and Video Festival, April 22-24 at the Media Theater on
campus.
A still from Pura Lengua--an official selection of
the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, directed by Aurora Guerrero--that
will be screened at the Women of Color Film and Video Festival.
|
Since 1991, the UCSC Research Cluster for Women of Color has
screened more than 300 films, hosted workshops, and presented
panel discussions with a wide variety of both established and
up-and-coming filmmakers. Sponsored by UCSCs Center for
Cultural Studies, the research group is composed of graduate
students and faculty engaged in the study of women of color.
The theme of this years festival is Disrupting
Borders: Seeing Silences and Imagining Trans-Formations.
The films range from Anita Wen-Shin Changs 52-minute film
about discovering the political sensibility of her 100-year-old
Taiwanese activist grandmother and Nicole Williss documentary
exploring the impact of incarceration on mothers and children
in Texas, to Boi Hair, Alma Lopezs documentary
short about queer women of color and their short hair, and La
Tortilla, a seven-minute short by UCSC alumna Azucena Varela
that shows how tortilla makers are sculptors that conjure up
the past as they shape maize dough to feed present and future
generations.
Theyre all very different filmsits
a diverse mix of dramas, documentaries, and some comedy,
noted Susy Zepeda, codirector of the festival. We put
out a call for films and people responded. There are three films
from Mexico, one from Bangladesh, and other submissions from
New York, Texas, and Washington State.
Our goal is to understand what is actually happening
in the lives of women of colorto map the territory of
where they are today, Zepeda added. The focus is
not just on the negative aspects but also to explore the possibilities
for change and transformation.
Zepeda said that the 2005 festival will include panel discussions
and four keynote speakers who will discuss why they created
their films. Performances of African folk-fusion music, rap,
and spoken word will also be presented.
Most of the filmmakers will be attending the festival,
Zepeda noted.
Were very excited about this opportunity to foster
communication and dialogue about women of color.
All events at the Women of Color Film and Video Festival are
free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be provided.
For more information contact the festivals codirectors:
Susy Zepeda at szepeda@ucsc.edu
or Roya Rastegar at rrastega@ucsc.edu.
For a complete festival lineup, go to: queer.ucsc.edu/home/woc.shtml.
Email this story
Printer-friendly version
Return to Front Page