San Francisco Women's Film Festival Call for Entries & Press Release

Contact: San Francisco Women’s Film Festival
Email: admin [at] womensfilmfestival.us
Website: http://womensfilmfestival.us/


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Call for Entries for Women Filmmakers for the 2006 San
Francisco Women’s Film Festival

San Francisco, CA, 22 August 2005—The San Francisco
Women’s Film Festival (SFWFF) has announced its call
for entries for the 2006 festival, which will take
place in the Bay Area, April 3-10, 2006. Films of all
lengths and genres are being accepted, including
documentaries, feature films, animation and
experimental works that are either directed or
co-directed by women.

Festival founder Scarlett Shepard was inspired to
create the festival while studying film at San
Francisco State University. “At school we study the
top ten male filmmakers—they beat them into you until
you’re senseless, until you know everything about
them. When it comes to studying female film
directors, that’s kind of a side note,” Shepard said.

The lack of women directors in the curriculum left
Shepard feeling unrepresented and wondering where her
place was in the industry.

Through creating the festival Shepard hopes to
minimize the cultural costs of mostly male
perspectives of women in film—perspectives that create
a fantasy of what women think, say or feel, but do not
represent women’s authentic experiences.

In the spirit of creating a community of women
filmmakers, Shepard founded the SFWFF, which debuted
in April 2005. The first annual festival boasted an
international list of women directors, thirty entries
and a panel of veteran women filmmakers that included
Lise Swenson, Judy Irving, Karil Daniels, Xandra
Castleton and Kari Nevil.

Only four months out from the first festival, it is
already clear that the growth from the first festival
to the second is going to be significant. Shepard’s
wish to create a community of women filmmakers is
already bearing fruit in that more people are already
getting involved to help bring the next one to
fruition. Shepard says that the festival has already
secured several sponsorships and is seeking additional
scholarships to help women make or finish their films.
Programs for young filmmakers and breast cancer
awareness are also being added.

“For me [producing the festival is] about building
careers and helping women get their films out there
that wouldn’t necessarily be able to do it without
this vehicle. My biggest vision is to have a space
where we can help more women filmmakers get their
movies made and awarding people and giving them a
stepping stone to just keep going up.”

The San Francisco Women's Film Festival is a community
for the advancement, celebration and representation of
women filmmakers, showcasing films directed or
co-directed by women from around the globe. SFWFF
screens short and feature-length films representing a
cross section of genres.

Additional activities scheduled for the event are
lectures, panel discussions, and educational programs
led by filmmakers, professors, and other notable
figures in the world of film. The festival offers
audience prizes, film-related product demonstrations,
and more.

For more information about how to submit a film, visit
the SFWFF website at
http://womensfilmfestival.us/submit_your_film.html.

Contact: San Francisco Women’s Film Festival
Email: admin [at] womensfilmfestival.us
Website: http://womensfilmfestival.us/
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