2003 -2004

November 30, 2004

Two Boots Pioneer Theater

155 E. 3rd Street

www.twoboots.com

SAME DIFFERENCE

Joseph Dorman, Producer/Director

Daniel B. Polin, Executive Producer

15 min.

New York City faith stories in words, music and dance. A powerful work which combines original music, dance and drama was created from interviews with over a hundred New Yorkers about their faith, anger, fears and hopes before and after 9/11. A joint venture by an interfaith group of artists.  CWNY member Eileen B. Weiss is one of the writers/producers of the play upon which this film is based.

WE ARE THE LITTLETONS

Penny Lane

11 min.

A tangled web of found objects, intercepted correspondences, reenactments and total fabrications centered around Eve Portian Littleton Rodriguez, an artist with "movie star good looks" who was mysteriously banished from her post-card perfect American family.

WITHOUT APOLOGY

Susan Hamovitch

73 min.

The story of the filmmaker's family's 'dark secret'- her brother Alan, born with a disability so severe he would never learn to speak. Institutionalized in 1958, a taboo family topic for more than thirty years, Alan is only now- after the expose of his state run facility, the radical overhaul of medical thought on retardation and autism emerging as a member of his family and of the world.

October 26, 2004

THE WITCHING HOUR:

Feminine Fire & Brim

Two Boots Pioneer Theater

155 E. 3rd Street

www.twoboots.com

THE WITCH AND THE COW

Signe Baumane

2 min.

A tiny witch tries to milk an immense cow. Things get out of her control.

LIGHT OF THE BODY

Amy Greenfield

11 min.

The electric Francine dances topless wielding fiber optic torches, bathed in strobe light against multiple projections of herself.

POTION

Juliette Campbell

74 min.

A documentary about seven witches, their spiritual beliefs and experiences practicing the nature-based religion of Wicca in Manhattan.

September 28, 2004

RECONSTRUCTION:

Through Avenues Of Addiction

Two Boots Pioneer Theater

155 E. 3rd Street

www.twoboots.com

SITAYANA

Nina Paley

2 mins. 

animation

The Sitayana is based on an episode from the ancient Indian epic the Ramayana. Sita is unfairly rejected by her god-husband Rama, and enters a funeral pyre while lip-synching to Annette Hanshaw's 1929 recording of Mean to Me.

Nina Paley is best known for alternative comic strip, Nina's Adventures, which began in 1988 and has enjoyed 7 years publication in several American newsweeklies. Next came a 2-year stint creating the mainstream daily newspaper comic strip Fluff for Universal Press Syndicate, an artistic crisis which drove her animation in 1998. Since then, her works, including Luv Is, Heart My Cat, Cancer, Pandorama and Fetch, have appeared in festivals around the world.

RESONANCE 

Tatiana Akoeva

12 mins.

Andrea, a young painter, mixes imagination and reality with the memories of her lost childhood in order to come to terms with her father's death. Witnessing her father's love for the other woman, as an adult she becomes the other woman herself to recreate and recapture the love she lost in childhood.

Tatiana Akoeva has been a painter, an Italian and French translator and a film director. She received her first BFA in Painting from Russia. Her second degree was earned at SVA, where her thesis film Resonance won the Best Film award and the Best Performance by an Actor. She is currently working on two feature scripts - one an historical epic, the other a contemporary psycho drama, where the the main characters are women.

COLE GRAY

Jennie Allen

10 mins.

Magic and the mundane cross paths to help a newly clean young addict forge a connection to life.

Jennie Allen writes screenplays, teaches a video class at City College, and freelances in the world of production. Cole Gray is her first short film, and was produced by CWNY member Keren Atzmon. It has screened at festivals in and around New York this summer. jall@verizon.net

WHAT'S SO FUNNY

Sandra Longo, Director

74 mins.

A young stand-up comedienne struggles to make sense of her life and career after losing 160 pounds. This engaging documentary follows Jessica Fischer's journey after having gastric bypass surgery. Not only does she lose the weight, but also her drive and ability to perform comedy, which she perceived as her "ticket" into the world of entertainment. While her physical transformation is remarkable, it is the emotional turmoil she experiences afterwards which is truly life changing and proves to be more than she bargained for.

Sandra Longo makes her directorial debut with What’s So Funny? After over a decade in the corporate world, Sandra worked for several years as a personal coach whose specialty was helping others to pursue their life’s dreams. As a result, she felt compelled to pursue her own dream of becoming a filmmaker. A native of the Midwest, Sandra has lived throughout the United States and Bermuda. She and her husband now reside near the Jersey Shore and are the parents of two four year-olds adopted from Guatemala. She is currently in production on her second feature documentary, as well as co-producing a television pilot.

June 29, 2004

LOOKIN' FOR

GOD, GOLD AND THE PERFECT BLOUSE

Two Boots Pioneer Theater

155 E. 3rd Street

www.twoboots.com

SUBWAY SALVATION

Carolyn London, Director

Carolyn London was born and raised in Chicago. After graduation from Brandeis University with a theatre degree, Carolyn worked in television, theatre and film before turning to animation. In addition to directing short films and music videos, Carolyn is currently an advertising copywriter at Lowe Worldwide in New York City.

GIRLSPREE

Lee Eypper, Director

Lee Eypper is a filmmaker, actress and writer who resides in New York City. She wrote, directed and acted in her first short film Throw Me A Line, which screened at 20 film festivals throughout the United States and Canada. It received a comedy award at WorldFest Houston Film and Video Festival. Lee worked as a videotape operator and playback editor at Unitel Video, New York. She directs and acts in New York and regional theatre and is a member of New Jersey Repertory Company and CineWomen NY. Girlspree is her second short film.

DIGGING FOR DUTCH

Laura Levine, Director

Laura Levine’s Digging for Dutch won the Kodak Torchlight Award at the 2001 Woodstock Film Festival and premiered internationally at the 2002 Edinburgh Film Festival. Levine’s first short documentary, Peekaboo Sunday, premiered at the 2001 Sundance competeition, and has gone on to screen at numerous festivals. Before filmmaking, Levine worked as a music photographer and video director for well-known artists. An award-winning self-taught illustrator, Levine has collaborated on two children’s books and her illustrations have appeared in Time, Rolling Stone and The New Yorker, as well as on the covers of numerous books and cds. Levine’s paintings have been exhibited worldwide and are part of the permanent collection of major museums. Levine’s work in animation has been screened as part of the 2000 Animation Festival at the Museum of Television and Radio. She was commissioned to create and develop an animated series pilot for MTV. In her spare time, Levine is the proprietress of Home & Langley’s Mystery Spot, an unusual antique/junk/oddities shop in Phoenicia, New York. http://www.lauralevine.com/

2003 -2004

July 27, 2004

CWNY SCREENING SERIES

Presents Two Talented Cinewomen NY Filmmakers

Eva Saks and Leslie Weinberg: 

LIFE: Wild, Wooly, Wonderful 

Two Boots Pioneer Theater

155 E. 3rd Street

www.twoboots.com

AS LUCK WOULD HAVE IT

Leslie Weinberg

22 minutes

Joe Smith, a happy go lucky guy, finds himself sucked down a swirling vortex of bad luck after deleting a chain e-mail sent by Earth Day enthusiasts.

A recent graduate of Columbia’s MFA film program, Leslie Weinberg is currently working on expanding As Luck Would Have It into a feature film while writing a sit-com pilot and working on other feature scripts she plans to direct. She is the author of a photo book, A Palm Beach Picture Book and a children’s book, An American Cat in Paris, which she plans to expand into a movie. During the 9/11 crisis in new York City, Leslie was a student at Columbia and began a personal video diary which became a documentary entitled Voices in the Wind. Some of her footage was used by HBO for a group documentary which aired in 2002. This is the New York city premiere of As Luck Would Have It. It has screened at three film festivals and will soon be shown at the Telluride Film Festival.

A PIZZA MAN

NEEDLE IN A HAYSTACK

TWIN SET

FAMILY VALUES

CONFECTION

COLORFORMS

DATE and

ALPHABET PAM (HAS A PASSION FOR P) 

Eva Saks, Director

A PIZZA MAN

3 minutes

Documentary about an immigrant from El Salvador who makes Italian pizza at California Pizza Oven in New York City. A slice of life!

NEEDLE IN A HAYSTACK

7 minutes

The story of Penny - her body belongs to Heavy Metal, but her heart belongs to Fred Astaire!

TWIN SET

12 minutes

Twin sisters Lavinia and Virginia Albatross face off in this political comedy. An homage to Patty Duke and Bugs Bunny. 

FAMILY VALUES

24 minutes

A documentary meet Becky and Donna, a nice lesbian couple with a home in the suburbs, who run a family business cleaning up death scenes.

CONFECTION

5 minutes

A delicious short film about a little girl who learns empathy from a pastry.

COLORFORMS

A very short film about a very messy little girl.

DATE

5 minutes

Just a date like any other? Starring Mylika Davis (Showtime's Just Another Story and Far From Heaven) and Sean Nelson (Winner of the Independent Spirit Award for Fresh and star of HBO's The Corner.)

ALPHABET PAM (HAS A PASSION FOR P) 

3 minutes

A Sesame Street Letter of the Day set in a pizza shop.

Eva Saks attended Yale College, Yale Law School and NYU Tisch School of the Arts MFA Program. She worked as a lawyer for BMI before leaving the legal world to attend NYU’s film school. She has worked as a dialogue coach; clients have included the 6 year-old co-stars of Adam Sandler in Big Daddy. Eva has also done freelance casting for Sony, HBO and Fox. Coming up, she will write and direct comic pieces for Sesame Street on children’s health and fitness for the 2005-2006 season. Her documentary film Family Values received a Student Academy Award and screened at Sundance, Tribeca, Telluride and 100 other festivals worldwide, receiving numerous awards. Family Values is distributed by Docurama and Netflix. Overall, her films have appeared in over 200 film festivals around the world, garnering more awards than is possible to list here. www.evasaksmovies.com

May 10, 2004

KEEPING FAITH:

 The Magic is in Believing

Two Boots Pioneer Theater

155 E. 3rd Street

www.twoboots.com

NIKO'S RESTAURANT and

EL CHANCECITO

Efterpi Charalambidis, Director

Born in Venezuela to Greek immigrants, Efterpi Charalambidis graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Media in Venezuela, directing an award-winning animated thesis short that aired on television. She made her way into filmmaking, first as an actress, then as a director/producer in educational television and corporate videos before coming to New York. She received a master of Fine Arts in Film from Columbia University. her short Niko’s Restaurant won awards for best actor and editing at the columbia University Film Festival, along with showing att many festivals around the world. Her second short, El Chancecito was shot in Caracas, Venezuela and had received awards for best director and best best short from New Line Cinema, Lifetime, and the National Board of Venezuela. Efterpi currently directs plays, teaches acting and serves as a program director for the the Greek Cultural Center in Queens.

FORBIDDEN WEDDING / CASAMENTO PROIBIDO

Flavia Fontes, Director

A documentary about a disabled man forbidden to marry because of his sexual impotence.

Flavia Fontes has been making documentaries since 1989. She shot, produced and edited Forbidden Wedding after reading of the story in a small Brazilian newspaper in New York. It went on to screen at the Margaret Mead Film Festival, received an Honorable Mention at the Philadelphia International Film Festival and an Award of Excellence at the Biennial BRASA Film Festival. Altogether, it has screened at more than twenty festivals around the world. She produced and directed Living With Chimpanzees: Portrait of a Family, which received numerous awards and aired on The Discovery Channel. She directed My Father, The Clown, another award winner. She produced and edited several documentaries which have aired on PBS, TBS and TNT. Flavia was born on Brazil, lives and works in New York City.

April 12, 2004

Two Boots Pioneer Theater

NUTHIN' BUT THE BLUES

Rebecca Conroy, Director

Impressionistic protrait of a young musician in travels, wonderings, musing...with blues on his mind.

THE STORY OF FENIST

Yelena Den, Director

A famous Russian artist puppeteer makes his way to Cambridge, does street performances and attracts a loyal following.

HOME

Nancy Deren, Director

Ten year-old Dorrie, raised by a disillusioned grandmother, gets a jolt when her mother returns from out of the blue determined to turn over a new leaf.

March 8, 2004

FRAME OF REFERENCE:

Murder, Mystery, Mayhem and Magic

Two Boots Pioneer Theater

155 E. 3rd Street

www.twoboots.com

FOWL PLAY

Tyler Chase, Director

Tyler Chase is an actress/writer/director/producer. Fowl Play was written, cast, scouted and shot in less than seven days with insurmountable obstacles. This short black comedy stars Jack Mulcahy from Brothers McMullen and Sex and the City. Score by Deni Bonet.

INTO AIR

Dovar Chen, Director

Dovar Chen was born in Taipei, Taiwan, receiving and M.F.A. in Filmmaking from Syracuse University in 2002. In Taipei, she worked as an editor and post-production director in the television commercial and film industries. In the U.S., she has written and directed two narrative experimental short films. Into Air, her first experimental- -ethnographic documentary, shot in Taiwan, is a statement about the politics of disappearing in this age of globalization. She now resides in New York.

GRIT AND POLISH - HEROINES FROM HONG KONG

Birgit Rathsmann, Director

Birgit is a German media artist who works in animation, video installation and documentary. Grit and Polish started as a college film project, then grew to surprising proportions. Recent projects include a two channel video installation in Japan. Currently, she is developing a creative documentary set in Indonesia.

URBAN INQUISITION 

Tyler Chase, Director

Tyler wrote, produced, directed and edited Urban Inquisition which screened at Ocularis Open Eye Festival and opened Let's Talk About Love with Celine Dion at the New York International Independent Film Festival. She has completed a feature-length script, Goldie, which she will be directing with L’Orage, Ltd.

January 12, 2004

WHIMSICAL GRRLS LET LOOSE

Two Boots Pioneer Theater

155 E. 3rd Street

www.twoboots.com

FLIGHT OF FANCY

Rachel Cohen, Director

Choreographer Rachel Cohen, director of rococco productions and cinematographer Leighton Edmondson, based Flight Of Fancy on an earlier performance piece, in their first joint exploration of the possibilities of performance and film.

THE STORY OF BELINDA AND ZOE

A MAN FOR MARIE and

A SURPLUS OF LOVE  

Anna Faroqhi, Director

Anna Faroqhi is a Berlin and New York based author and filmmaker currently in production on a feature film. She created this trilogy of short films as an ode to silent films, all of them telling friendship stories among women. A Man for Marie was shot during five days in a hot Berlin summer with practically no money and the generous support of co-workers.

DINNER AT JOJO'S

Shoshanna Gleich, Director

Shoshanna Gleich is an actress, writer and director. She wrote, directed, produced and acted in Dinner At JoJo’s while at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. It Almost didn’t get made when her film teacher suggested she stay away from the challenges of having a fly in her film look real. She persevered on her project, eventually winning numerous awards for it, Shoshanna is currently working on a performance piece called God’s Giggle.

WILDFIRE

Amy Greenfield, Director

Amy Greenfield is one of the top experimental film and video dance directors working today. Her projects have screened at the Berlin International Film Festival and MOMA. Her multi-media performance received a “Best in Art” from The New York Times. Her first feature Antigone/Rites of Passion is now in stores.

 2003 -2004

November 10, 2003

PARANOIA IN THE AIR:

Flights of fancy into worlds ruled only 

by the imagination

Two Boots Pioneer Theater

155 E. 3rd Street

www.twoboots.com

AGNY

Jennifer Drue 

Original, quirky take about a young girlʼs paranoia in a New York City deli leading to an encounter with a handsome muse in Union Square.

OFFICE GIRL GOES HOME

Jennifer Callahan

A surreal look at the tedious aspects of the day in the life of an office girl with an artistic bent, swaying the audience with itʼs lovely vision of office girl dancing in the street to the tunes of some cool jazz in the background. 

DEATH OF A SALESWOMAN

Donna Wheeler

A Tupperware themed who done it murder mystery, centering on a popular saleswoman killed in the line of duty.

September 8, 2003

IN THE MIX:

An evening that blends filmmaking styles and genres

Two Boots Pioneer Theater

155 E. 3rd Street

www.twoboots.com

THE CREATION

Deb Lucke

11min.

A painting of God comes to life to save the artist that created him.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT HATS?

Andee Kinzy

30min.

The secrets of hat lovers around the country are uncapped in Andee Kinzy’s documentary about the people under the brim.

CHAMPION BLUES

Aletha Rodgers

51min.

Profile of LA blues singing legend Mickey Champion, a woman of many hats figuratively and literally.

July 14, 2003

NAKED TRUTHS: 

The Hunger Within/The Body Without

Two Boots Pioneer Theater

155 E. 3rd Street

www.twoboots.com

UNMADE MOVIE #2 

Melissa Ulto

6 minutes

Moving forms breathe. Pale, liquid and jarring glimpses abound. This is the body in metamorphosis, in birth, in death, as it dissolves; emerging and creating one's self anew.

MY FATHER'S PREY

Jean Gilles

25 minutes

Three parallel struggles seemingly disconnected are unified in a shattering climax in which dreams, hopes, fears and fate are realized in one common thread: reincarnation.

TWENTY MINUTES OF IMMORTALITY

Mitchell Bard, Writer

Stephanie Sellars, Producer 

Two models: one female, the other male, pose for an art class. Their naked thoughts and stories intertwine…clothing optional. 

INSIDE OUT: STORIES OF BULIMIA

Michelle Blair

56 minutes

The "real experts" speak i.e. those who have experienced bulimia firsthand in a powerful mix of interviews, observational and abstract footage, providing a rare glimpse into a devastating affliction. What's on the outside doesn't tell the story.

May 12, 2003

THE VIEW FROM HERE:

A Narrative in Five Parts

Two Boots Pioneer Theater

155 E. 3rd Street

www.twoboots.com

AUNTIE

Kathy Desmond

7:52 minutes

A woman who never felt old until 80 recalls the people, choices, and regrets that have shaped her life.

About the filmmaker:

Kathy Desmond creates video and installations that focus on women in society. Desmond is an Assistant Professor of Visual Communications at Endicott College, and received her MFA from the Massachusetts College of Art.

UNDERTOW

Mary Prendergast

12:40 minutes

Charlotte has asked for divine protection against everything from drowning to crime, but she left one thing off her list.

About the filmmaker:

Mary Prendergast wrote and directed her first short, Undertow, while at Columbia University Graduate Film School. Since then, she has freelanced from post-production to catering and currently works at A&E Television.

NIGHT BLUE

Elizabeth Meister

20:00 minutes

What is passion? Is it something that plays on the surface, or swims deep below?

About the filmmaker:

Elizabeth Meister is a NY based filmmaker whose work has shown internationally, on the net, and the Cooper-Hewitt Museum and DIA Center for the Arts in NYC. She holds an MFA in Radio, Television and Film from Northwestern University.

FERRY TALES

Katja Esson, Director

40:00 minutes

Communities spring up in the most unlikely and vibrant places as in the women’s restroom of the Staten Island Ferry.

About the filmmaker:

Katja Esson is a NY based writer/director. Esson studied film and theater in Miami and went on internationally to make docs, short films, music videos and commercials. She is currently filming the documentary Miracle Babies for ARTE and is preparing the narrative short A Season of Madness based on the best-selling story of Hanan al-Shaykh.

KEEPING ROMEO

Elizabeth Bove, Director

25:35 minutes

Her new canine companion is now her creative partner but her husband can’t handle the competition. What’s a woman to do?

About the filmmaker:

Elizabeth Bove is an actress, writer and producer who wrote and produced Keeping Romeo her first short film, which has screened at 18 film festivals in the US, UK, Mexico and Turkey. Bove was a play finalist at the Moondance International Film Festival 2002.

March 6, 2003 

CWNY SCREENING SERIES

in association with

THE DONNELL MEDIA CENTER OF THE NYPL

RARELY SCREENED MASTERWORKS BY

PIONEERING WOMEN FILMMAKERS - PART 2

The New York Public Library

Donnell Media Center

20 West 53rd Street

TOILETTE

Joan Freeman, Director

BRIDGES GO ROUND

Shirley Clark, Director

FAUVE

Donna Cameron, Director

NOTEBOOK

Marie Menken, Director

WINTERGARDEN: HUDSON RIVER DIARY

Storm De Hirsch, Director

GENTLY DOWN THE STREAM

Su Friedrich, Director

SPOOK SPORT

Mary Ellen Bute, Director

FEBRUARY 19, 2003

 CWNY SCREENING SERIES

in association with

 NEW FILMMAKERS/ANTHOLOGY FILM ARCHIVES DOCUMENTARY, MOCKUMENTARY and COMMENTARY

32 Second Avenue

www.newfilmmakers.com

SHORTS

ANYTHING YOU WANNA BE

Liane Brandon, Director

A satire (made in 1971)on societal pressures that force women to compromise their individuality and intellectual goals to assume a constantly changing identity of femininity. The heroine is an intelligent high school girl who is told she can be anything she wants but is repeatedly victimized by sex role stereotyping. (As relevant today as it was in 1971).

BABY EXPRESS

Shaya Mercer, Director

Set at a mall near you in the not-too-distant future,Baby Express takes a satirical look at the intersection of modern genetics and modern convenience when a yuppie couple orders a made-to-order baby.

KANDAHARLEM 

Cathleen Campbell, Director

An off-beat portrait of Starletta, a Black woman who invites "sisters of Kandahar" to Harlem, for a tour.

THROW ME A LINE

Lee Eypper, Director

Will Mia stop talking? Will Sherry resume dating? Is Bob a stand-up kind of guy? And does any bartender truly know how to mix a chocolate martini? It can get complicated when you try to throw someone a line!

PRISTINE

Jeanne Omlor

Quirky film about a woman in a white dress who bit by bit becomes absolutely filthy and then returns home to her husband and chastises him for a speck on his shirt.

FEATURE

TRADE-OFF

Shaya Mercer, Director

Trade Off is an event-style documentary about "The Battle of Seattle" - November 29 through December 3, 1999 - when the World Trade Organization's first meeting on U.S. soil was met with protests from tens of thousands of citizens from around the world. The issues raised by Trade Off are those faced by civil society - the effects of global trade policy on the environment, food and agriculture, labor and human rights, and the future of democracy around the world.