Cine-Sister launched on the 4th of March 2017 in Manchester UK with a short film screening featuring 7 female directed/produced films. The films in this screening deal with themes of gender, race, religion, body and identity. There is a mixture of drama, comedy, animation and documentary short films so there is something for everyone to enjoy and learn from.
This screening is part of Wonder Women 2017 at an event held by Traffic MCR and you can find out more here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1333296603410652/
Programme
Nasser
Directed by Melissa Martens
Nasser is a 13-year-old Moroccan- Dutch girl named Nassira. Her friends call her Nasser because she feels different than other girls. When Nasser has her first period, her mother thinks it is time for her to behave like a young woman. But Nasser struggles with the expectations of being female and her gender identity crisis.
Director, Melissa Martens (1986) was born in Emmeloord, the Netherlands. She directed her first film at the age of fifteen, for a school project. After graduating high school, she attended Deltion College in Zwolle to study ‘Photography and Video’ where Melissa learned more about the technical aspect of filmmaking. She graduated with a short film’ ‘Onder de Grond’ in 2009. Melissa decided that there was a lot more to learn about filmmaking and got accepted to study ‘Audiovisual Media’. In July 2015 Melissa graduated from the HKU University of the Arts Utrecht with honours as a writer and director.
The Bus Trip
Directed by Sarah Gampel
Sarah is invited to show her film in Israel as part of a film festival bus trip.She is hoping for political discussions and friendship, except the conversation stops each time she brings up the occupation of Palestine. So instead, Sarah talks to her dead dad over a noisy phone line.
Sarah Gampel is an independent animator from Stockholm, Sweden. She studied screenwriting in Copenhagen, as well as animation at Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts (SADA) and the School of Visual Arts in New York. Her films tell personal stories that often relate to specific political issues. Her work has been shown at the Nobel Museum in Stockholm, the La Havana International Festival of New Latin American Cinema in Cuba, as well as at film events in New York City, Givat Olga, and Ramallah.
Go Ahead And Take Left
Directed by Vaishnavi Sundar
In the north eastern state of Sikkim, women do not comprehend gender disparity. And that’s because it is not as rampant as it is in the rest of India. At the face of racial discrimination, sexual and physical abuses from the rest of India, north eastern women have stood out in teaching a lesson or two to the world, in compassion, education, career choices and intellectual freedom. Here’s Anju Chetri, a traffic constable, who holds together the city’s peak traffic at the stroke of her hand and a stern whistle of command.
Vaishnavi Sundar is an independent filmmaker, feminist and social activist. She launched her own production company, Lime Soda Films which saw the eminence of four successful films, numerous campaigns and social justice media projects. she is working on projects that are intended to empower women as well as break the glass ceiling in the cinema fraternity. She covers feminist topics such as contraception, stalking and the impact of Bollywood on behaviour within her films.
LYING WOMEN
Directed by Deborah Kelly
Reclining nude female figures from the western canon of art history escape from centuries of servitude to the colonial heteropatriarchy and form a revolution. LYING WOMEN imagines these images escape from centuries of servitude to a worldview in which decorative passivity is their whole purpose. The work proposes a great gathering of queer female energy, a revolution, a collective will to autonomy.
Deborah Kelly is an artist whose works have been shown around Australia and in the Singapore, Sydney, Thessaloniki, TarraWarra and Venice Biennales.Deborah Kelly is currently completing an MFA at UNSW Art + Design
Single Asian Female Online
Directed by Jaime Ekkens
The true unfiltered online messages received by one Single Asian Woman. Laugh out loud funny Jaime Ekkens brings to life the strange messages she receives from men on online dating apps.
Jaime Ekkens was born in South Korea and adopted by American parents in Grand Rapids Michigan. Having received a BFA from Kendall College of Art and Design majoring in Illustration in 2007, she moved to New York City and successfully pursued her MFA in Computer Arts.
America Heard: Refuge of Hope
Directed by Yasmin Mistry
Syracuse, New York is an unlikely home to over 10,000 former refugees. Two women at the forefront of this community reflect on what their presidential vote means to those whose only true home is the American town that took them in.
Yasmin Mistry is an Emmy-nominated animator and filmmaker. Her work has been displayed worldwide including recent showings at the White House and United Nations as well as at film festivals such as Cannes, SXSW, Tribeca and Clermont-Ferrand.
Sista In The Brotherhood
Directed by Dawn Jones Redstone and Produced by Roberta Hunte
Sista in the Brotherhood follows apprentice carpenter (Sidony O’neal) who struggles to prove herself on her first day at a new job site. An outlier in a white, male-dominated workforce, she’s forced to navigate the crew’s reactions to her. When tensions arise, she receives inspiration from a surprising source to help her decide to either make a stand or risk never being recognised as the skilled worker she has become.
Dawn Jones Redstone is an award-winning gay, Latina filmmaker living in Portland, Oregon. She has been making films for about 15 years creating media for the likes of Bitch Media, Current TV, Joy of Cooking, OPB, Metro, and several non-profits organisations. She worked as a union carpenter for six years before becoming a carpentry instructor at a non-profit called Oregon Tradeswomen. In 2012, she left to pursue her dream of filmmaking full time and started Hearts+Sparks Productions with a focus on community-minded media.
Roberta Hunte is an educator, facilitator, consultant, and cultural worker. She is an Assistant Professor in Black Studies and Women Gender and Sexuality Studies at Portland State University where she teaches courses on reproductive justice, inequality, feminisms, and the African American experience. She also facilitates training on equality, diversity and inclusion.
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