| Women’s Center offers national short film festival |
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| Written by Anne-Marije Rook - Argonaut | ||||||
| Thursday, 19 February 2009 | ||||||
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Every woman has a story, and LUNA ensures these stories are seen at the
hand of an annual women’s film festival. With the film festival, LUNA,
the makers of the whole nutrition bar for women take women’s health to
an all-encompassing level by including mind and creativity.
Founded in 2000, LUNAFEST is a national traveling festival of short films by, for and about women dedicated to promote women filmmakers, raise awareness for women’s issues and support women’s non-profit organizations throughout the U.S. and Canada. Tuesday, the University of Idaho Women’s Center will host the LUNAFEST film festival for the fourth time. All of the proceeds are donated to charity —15 percent to the Breast Cancer Fund and the remaining 85 percent to community non-profits hosting the event. “There’s no cost to host it,” said Lysa Salsbury, program coordinator of the Women’s Center. “So why not do it?” The film festival shows nine award-winning short films, three to 15 minutes in length, which have gone through the international festival circuit and cover topics such as women’s health, body image, sexuality, spirituality, sports, relationships, cultural diversity, breaking barriers and the environment. “They’re really high quality films,” Salsbury said. “And what is amazing is that these movies are not available for commercial distributing, so this is your one chance to see them.” Each year, the Women’s Center has seen an outcome of 100 to 200 people, and Salsbury said she wishes more people would attend. “I really enjoyed the festivals,” said UI alumnus Tara Malmquist, who attended the previous two festivals. “I enjoy seeing short films and we don’t get many opportunities in this area.” She said she is driven to see the festival by both the content and the opportunity to see up-and-coming filmmakers. Salsbury said the films will run just less than two hours with an intermission. Heather Shea Gasser and Salsbury have previewed the films and prepared discussion questions for the discussion session to follow each showing. “The films are generally really thought provoking, and I like to stay and talk about them,” Salsbury said. This year’s films deal with an array of topics from a Filipino woman celebrating her 100th birthday to female wrestlers competing in a male-dominated sport, to the story of Iranian immigrants coming to the U.S. A preview of the films featured is available at the LUNAFEST Web site, lunafest.org. “(LUNAFEST) is a great way to see the different side of the art and experience grassroots filmmaking,” Malmquist said. Festival goers will receive a free goody bag filled with LUNA bars, organic shower products and other goodies donated by local stores. Doors will open at 6:45 p.m. Tickets are $7 for students and $9 for general audiences.  Add as favorites (55) | Views: 770
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