The Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF) is commemorating the #MeToo movement. It’s been nearly a year since the Harvey Weinstein stories broke and #MeToo became part of our everyday lexicon. In order to pay tribute to the survivors who bravely shared their stories, HIFF is hosting a panel discussion, “Our Bodies: Our Stories,” on Friday, October 5, from 10-11am.
Moderated by Women and Hollywood Founder and Publisher Melissa Silverstein, the panel will feature women filmmakers talking “through how stories of the abuse and subjugation of women and girls must be told, now more than ever.”
The panelists are Cait Cortelyou, creator, producer, and star of “Ask for Jane,” an indie film about a ’60s underground collective of abortion providers making its world premiere at HIFF; Nancy Schwartzman, director of Steubenville, Ohio doc “Roll Red Roll”; and Sontenish Myers, a thesis student at NYU’s Grad Film program and the director of “Cross My Heart,” a short about a young woman’s family visit to Jamaica.
HIFF runs October 4-8, 2018. Check out the fest’s website for the lineup and other event information.
The panelists and Melissa’s bios are below, courtesy of HIFF.
CAIT CORTELYOU is the creator, producer, and star of ASK FOR JANE, an independent feature film making its world premiere at the Hamptons International Film Festival (Sunday 10/7 at 11:15am at the Southampton Arts Center). She is an alum of Barnard College, a proud member of the New York Women in Film & Television, a long-time activist with Planned Parenthood, and the co-host of the Pussy Power Podcast on iTunes.
NANCY SCHWARTZMAN is a documentary filmmaker and award-winning technologist based in New York. ROLL RED ROLL is her debut feature film. Her short “xoxosms” was broadcast nationally on PBS’s POV in 2013 and her first film THE LINE was part of a White House initiative on sexuality. Nancy created the White House award-winning mobile app “Circle of 6,” designed to reduce sexual violence used by over 350,000 people in 36 countries. She has presented her work at the White House, the United Nations, TEDx, the World Health Organization.
SONTENISH MYERS is an award winning writer-director based in Harlem, NY and a thesis student at NYU’s Grad Film program. In her work, racial identity, womanhood, power dynamics, and the heroic journey are often explored, and Sontenish intends to do so across genres. Her most recent short film, CROSS MY HEART has screened all over the world, including East End Film Festival in the UK, Seattle International Film Festival, LA Film Festival, Female Eye Film Festival in Toronto, BlackStar Film Festival, Urbanworld, and Hollyshorts. It was also included in Refinery29’s list of The Most Exciting Woman-Directed Films At 2018’s Palm Springs Shortfest, where she was awarded the Alexis Award for Best Emerging Student Filmmaker. She was recently accepted as a 2018-2019 IFP Marcie Bloom Fellow in Film.
MELISSA SILVERSTEIN is a writer, speaker and consultant with an extensive expertise in the area of women and Hollywood. She is the founder and publisher of Women and Hollywood, one of the most respected sites for issues related to women and entertainment. She is the Artistic Director and Co-Founder of The Athena Film Festival at Barnard College which is a weekend of inspiring films that tell the extraordinary stories of fierce and fearless female leaders. She has written for The Washington Post, NY Times, The Guardian, Forbes, More Magazine and has been featured on CNN, the BBC as well as in Newsweek, Salon, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, NY Times, and many other publications. She was a contributor to The Tattooed Girl: The Enigma of Stieg Larsson and the Secrets Behind the Most Compelling Thriller of Our Time.
