Women in Film and Television

As part of my prize package for winning the BC Drama Teacher of the Year (thanks for all of those who voted for me!), I got eight tickets to the Women in Film and Television Film Festival which was held last week in Vancouver.  There are lots of films to see and of course, eight tickets just scratches the surface.  For those of you who made films for the WAG Film Festival, there were lots of "shorts" featured and maybe some day one of you will have your film showcased at a film festival!

I saw a variety of features and it was great fun.  I didn't love all the films, but they were challenging in different ways and it was great to see films about dystopias and historical events and different places in the world, all through the eyes of people who were compelled to tell the stories.

These were my favourite films:

"A First Farewell"  (directed by Lina Wang) was a film about the Uighurs, who are an ethnic minority in China and central Asia.  It was a lovely film that focused on the rural world in which the Uighurs live with vast expanses of land and sky and the hard work of farming and the hopes and dreams of two families.  It was beautiful and gave me a chance to see a different world from the hustle bustle of our world.

"The Rabbit House" (directed by Valeria Selinger) was set in Argentina during the "dirty war" in which the military junta in Argentina hunted down and "disappeared" Peronists and leftists who defied the agenda of the military.  It is a horrible story and many of the members of the junta are in jail for war crimes after having been found responsible for torturing and killing many of Argentina's citizens.

"Black Conflux" (directed by Nicole Dorsey) was set in Newfoundland in the 1980's and is about how the lives of a disillusioned girl and a disconnected guy converge.  I loved the performances and the writing and also how the director used natural scenes as metaphors for what was happening in the lives of the people.

It is exciting to see things like this taking place in our city.  I wouldn't have known about it without having received the tickets and am so grateful to have been able to go and see the world through the eyes of these talented women.