Free Screenings – Wednesday, March 4 – Saturday, March 8, 2014
Women In Media-Newark will celebrate Women’s History Month with its fifth annual Film Festival on March 4 through March 8. The theme of the festival is Salubrious Justice and it highlights film and fine art created by and about women that reflect the intersection of health and justice.
In addition, winners of the international Imaging Women: Respect cell phone video contest for youth will be announced during the Festival. Entries were received from young filmmakers aged 16- to 22-years-old from Spain, France, Singapore and the United States.
The festival opens with a Women’s History Month Film Festival for Youth at the Paul Robeson Student Center at the Rutgers University-Newark campus, 350 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Newark NJ. The next day, the festival travels to the East Orange Public Library, where Patrice Johnson’s Hill and Gully, a film that examines the mental health concerns of an urban family, will be screened. The festival then returns to the Paul Robeson Student Center at Rutgers University-Newark. All screenings in the festival are free and open to the public.
A Salubrious Justice art exhibit curated by Gladys Barker Grauer that features the works of six local women artists will also be on display at the Paul Robeson Student Center during the course of the film festival.
“The festival presents an amazing international array of independent films that celebrate the indomitable spirit of women,” said festival founder Pamela Morgan. “We are very pleased with the quality and the breadth of the films that will be screened during the festival. And we are continually impressed with the talent and expertise of the filmmakers who take part in the festival.”
Films featured this year include: the Make A Film Foundation’s The Magic Bracelet, a project that fulfills the dream of Rina Goldberg, who was just 15 when she lost her battle with mitochondrial disease; Robyn Symon’s Behind the Blue Veil, which examines the destruction of the Tuareg culture; Nevline Nnaji’s award winning Voices Unheard: Black Women and Civil Rights, which looks at the role played by black women in the civil rights and feminist movements; Laura Checkoway’s Lucky, a five-year history of Lucky Torres, a homeless mother who longs to rise from a life of darkness; Shokran, Toni, a film made by Sudanese women to thank writer Toni Morrison for her support; and Dawn Porter’s critically acclaimed Gideon’s Army that explores the public defender’s office.
The festival will also screen First Sight, a full-length feature film by award winning journalist Joya Dass that investigates blindness in India and the challenges and opportunities to cure it. A full listing of films that will be screened during the Festival is available at www.wim-n.com.
Morgan said the achievements of several accomplished women also will be celebrated during the festival. Those honored will be: Deborah Vincent, executive director of Gilda’s Club North Jersey on Thursday, March 6; Dr. Abena Busia, a poet and chair of the Department of Women's and Gender Studies at Rutgers University and a founder of the African Women’s Development Fund on Friday, March 7; and Emmy-Award winning journalist Vanessa Tyler and attorney and community activist Khabirah H. Myers, Esq., on Saturday, March 8. Festival activities will also include interviews with filmmakers, panel discussions, vendors and a silent auction.
About Women In Media-Newark
Women In Media – Newark is an organization that advocates for and educates the public about issues affecting the lives of women using film, video and new media as our platform. Merging culture and academia, we rally behind our sisters who courageously struggle to assume leadership roles in the film industry with their conscious effort to present a balanced image of women, dispelling the stereotypes and changing public perception of their sisters worldwide.
Co-sponsors of the Women In Media-Newark film series include the Rutgers University-Newark Office of University-Community Partnerships, Rutgers Center for African Studies, and Rutgers GAIA Center, in partnership of the East Orange Public Library.
The film festival is free and open to the public although donations are welcome. More information can be found at our website at www.WIM-N.com or you may call 973-996-8342 or email info@wim-n.com.
Salubrious Justice Women's History Month Film Festival Agenda
Please note: Screening times noted are approximate.
Wednesday, March 5, 5 p.m.
East Orange Public Library
21 S Arlington Ave, East Orange, NJ 07018
Hill and Gully by Patrice Johnson
March 6, 7 & 8
Paul Robeson Student Center
Rutgers University - Newark Campus
350 Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd.
Newark, NJ 07102
Thursday, March 6, 5 p.m.
Dedication to Hauwa Ibrahim, Esq.
Honoring Deborah Vincent
To The Bone by Erin Li
Rina Goldberg’s The Magic Bracelet
Busted on Brigham Lane by Talibah Newman
This Trenton Life by Susan Ryan
Lucky by Laura Checkoway
Friday, March 7, 2014, 5 p.m.
Honoring Abena Busia, PhD., and Michellene Davis, Esq.
Winning Video From Cell Phone Cinema Contest
Shokran, Toni by Nahid Toubia
This Colour That Disturbs Me/Cette Couleur Qui Me Dèrange by Khardiata Pouye
Joy, It's Nina by Jane Thorbun and Joy Elias-Rilwan
Reflections Unheard: Black Women In Civil
Rights by Nevline Nnaji
Saturday, March 8, Noon
Honoring Vanessa Tyler and Khabirah Myers, Esq.
Winning Video From Cell Phone Cinema Contest
Where Are We? by Heather Hillstrom
First Sight by Joya Dass
Behind The Blue Veil by Robyn Simon
Gideon's Army by Dawn Porter
March 13, 5 p.m., – Rutgers New Brunswick
Gideon’s Army by Dawn Porter
MEDIA CONTACT: Pamela Morgan, 973-996-8342, info@wim-n.com
