from some of our past WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH EVENTS

NYWIFT, SAG-AFTRA, FF2 Media, HerFlix, and WomenArts celebrated SWAN Day (Support Women Artists Now!)

Saturday March 25 / 2-5pm at the SVA Theater / 333 West 23rd Street

SWAN Day is an international initiative designed to showcase the power and diversity of women’s creativity.

The short films were followed by a panel moderated by Terry Lawler, Past Executive Director of NYWIFT, with the Directors of the films: Annetta Marion and Estelle Parsons in person, and Dana Offenbach on the screen.

MIDAS' SON

directed by Annetta Marion

written by Tina Lee and Ela Thier

Inspired by the classic myth of King Midas, MIDAS' SON tells the story of Billy, a young man adrift in his life. As he prepares for his wedding, Billy returns to his childhood home to find out why his parents have not yet responded to the invitation to his wedding. The homecoming brings up old and unhealed resentments. During the trip home, Billy takes baby steps towards repairing broken relationships and, eventually, redemption.

6:18 TO OMAHA

directed by Dana Offenbach

written by Leah Curney

It's 1959, at a whistle-stop diner somewhere near Omaha. Ed Merriweather, a traveling salesman with a big heart and an empty wallet, just wants a cup of joe. But after a surprising encounter with two women – a mercurial housewife and a studious teenage waitress – Ed leaves with a new perspective.

A MAN OF HIS TIME

directed by Estelle Parsons

written by Kate Taney Billingsley

Two descendants of the infamous 1857 Dred Scott Decision meet in a cafe off the New Jersey turnpike. Jim Taney, a descendant of Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney who penned the opinion, offers an apology from his family to the family of Walter Scott, a descendant of the formerly enslaved Dred Scott. Through a vulnerable conversation about racism in America, Jim awakens to his own ignorance and discovers why an apology alone just won’t cut it.

Join NYWIFT, SAG-AFTRA, FF2 Media, Women in the Arts & Media Coalition (WAMC), HerFlix, ImageNation Cinema Foundation, 2020 One Woman One Vote Festival, and African-American Women in Cinema (AAWIC) for a screening of the new feature Tape in recognition of S.W.A.N. (Support Women Artists Now) Day, an annual event on the last Saturday of March that celebrates women artists.

Tape – 98 min (2020)

​​Based on true events, Tape follows Rosa (Annarosa Mudd), an actress who, in order to inspire her own courage, pierces her tongue, cuts her wrists, and shaves her head, as a ritualistic homage to Shakespeare’s Lavinia from Titus Andronicus, and secretly places hidden cameras on her body as well as in a dark studio. Rosa begins to stalk another actress, Pearl (Isabelle Fuhrman), who she identifies as the next “protege” of a successful producer, Lux (TarekBishara). But as Pearl and Lux enter the targeted studio, and Rosa collects and edits footage, she, and we, must all sit through an endless day of Lux’s screen test process, and the grey areas of pressure that women experience when being coerced by a powerful man. As Rosa peers into her own past experiences playing out before her eyes, she is forced to question ​​whether her revenge-fueled goal of revealing what goes on behind these closed doors is worth what it takes to do so.​​

Tape stars Isabelle Fuhrman (Orphan, Hunger Games, Hounddog), Tarek Bishara (The Tale, Time Out of Mind), Annarosa Mudd (Tape is her film premiere), Allison Wynn (Vox Lux, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Daredevil), Isabella Pisacane (Daredevil), Alexanna Brier (Small Time), Lolly Jensen (The Mountain), Sophia Adler (Split), and Kana Hatakayama (Orange is the New Black).

​​Tape is written, directed and edited by NYWIFT member Deborah Kampmeier (Hounddog, Virgin, Split) and produced by Deborah Kampmeier, Veronica Nickel (Moonlight, First Match) and Annarosa Mudd. Executive produced by Kenneth and Marie Romanski. Co-Produced by Sophia Harvey (Before You Know It, The Artist’s Wife), Christopher Woll (Split), Sean Smith (Alter Ego), Marcus Hart (An Honest Neighbor), and Minista Jazz (Fly By Light). Director of Photography is Valentina Caniglia ​​(The Amytal Therapy, Little Sicily). Production Designer is Mikaela Martin (Ramona). Costume Designer is Annie Simon (Can You Keep A Secret, Anesthesia, Crypto). Sound Designer is Chris Woll (Split). Composer is Leslie Graves (Hounddog, Split). Casting is by Stephanie Holbrook (The Kindergarten Teacher, Madeline’s Madeline).

Co-Sponsored by Jan Lisa Huttner

About the Film

Seventeen-year-old Ruby (Emilia Jones) is the sole hearing member of a deaf family – a CODA, child of deaf adults. Her life revolves around acting as interpreter for her parents (Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur) and working on the family’s struggling fishing boat every day before school with her father and older brother (Daniel Durant). But when Ruby joins her high school’s choir club, she discovers a gift for singing and soon finds herself drawn to her duet partner Miles (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo). Encouraged by her enthusiastic, tough-love choirmaster (Eugenio Derbez) to apply to a prestigious music school, Ruby finds herself torn between the obligations she feels to her family and the pursuit of her own dreams.

Join NYWIFT, IFC Films, SAG-AFTRA, FF2 Media, Women in the Arts & Media Coalition (WAMC), HerFlix, In Creative Company, Gotham Film & Media Institute (formerly IFP) and African-American Women in Cinema (AAWIC) for a screening of Coda in recognition of S.W.A.N. (Support Women Artists Now) Day, an annual event on the last Saturday of March that celebrates women artists. 

"Farewell Amor"

Farewell Amor, which premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, tells the story of Angolan immigrant Walter, who is joined in the U.S. by his wife and teen daughter after 17 years of separation. Now absolute strangers sharing a one bedroom Brooklyn apartment, they struggle to overcome the emotional distance between them. 

The film is the feature-film directorial debut for Ekwa Msangi, a Tanzanian- American filmmaker, who has previously directed award-winning shorts.

New York Women in Film & Television will do a free online screening of IFC Films' critically-acclaimed Farewell Amor as part of its annual SWAN Day celebration in partnership with eight other groups that advocate for women in film – SAG-AFTRA, FF2 Media, Women in the Arts & Media Coalition, HerFlix, In Creative Company, The Gotham, African-American Women in Cinema, and Women Make Movies.