Festivals

Laura Dern, Olivia Wilde, and Kasi Lemmons Among Mind the Gap’s 2019 Participants

Dern in "Big Little Lies": HBO

Mill Valley Film Festival’s (MVFF) gender equity program has announced its 2019 schedule. Laura Dern, Olivia Wilde, Kasi Lemmons, Women and Hollywood’s own Melissa Silverstein, and many more will gather for Mind the Gap with the aim of “changing the narrative that shapes our culture, [and] championing gender equity in the film industry,” a press release detailed. The fifth Mind the Gap initiative will take place during MVFF 2019, from October 3-13 in Marin County, California.

As previously reported, Swedish Film Institute CEO Anna Serner will be honored this year. She will be presented with the Visionary of the Year award given in recognition of her commitment to gender parity throughout her tenure at Swedish Film. Activist Betty Reid Soskin will receive the Trailblazer of the Year prize. An instrumental part of the establishment of the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park, Soskin, 98, is the oldest ranger in the National Park Service.

Dern, whose upcoming credits include Greta Gerwig’s rendition of “Little Women,” will accept the Actor of the Year award. Dern is also set to host a Master Class. The award-winning “Big Little Lies” star will look back on, and speak about, her acting career, especially her most recent performances.

Silverstein, Serner, Wilde, Lemmons, filmmakers Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Kristen Lester, and Rosana Sullivan, and more will speak at the Mind the Gap Summit, “an intensive session of presentations, discussions, panels, and networking” focusing on the theme of money. The Summit will conclude with a screening of “No Time to Waste,” a documentary about Soskin.

Lemmons — whose latest film, Harriet Tubman biopic “Harriet,” recently premiered at TIFF and will screen at MVFF — will also attend the Mind the Gap Directors Forum. She and fellow panelists Chinonye Chukwu (“Clemency”), Petra Costa (“The Edge of Democracy”), Zabou Breitman (“The Swallows of Kabul”), and Sippy Chadha (“Subira”) will discuss the role of filmmaker and what it takes to succeed in the profession.

Mind the Gap 2019 will also present a stacked lineup of women-driven and -made films. Among those screening are Sophie Hyde’s “Animals,” a comedic drama about an increasingly fraught friendship, and Céline Sciamma’s “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” an award-winning queer romance.

Last year MVFF signed the Gender Parity Pledge, committing to greater transparency and gender representation. According to the fest, MVFF 2019 “will showcase 48% women directors … a 3% increase from last year.”

If you’re interested in attending Mind the Gap or MVFF 2019, you can purchase tickets at the fest’s website.

Check out the films being screened as part of Mind the Gap below, courtesy of MVFF.


  • 3 Feet, narrative short, director Gisele Geney
  • 37 Seconds, narrative feature, director HIKARI
  • 39 ½, narrative animation experimental feature, director Kara Herold
  • A First Farewell, narrative feature, director Lina Wang
  • A Girl from Mogadishu, narrative feature, director Mary McGuckian
  • All That Remains, documentary short, director Eva Rendle
  • Amateurs, narrative feature, director Gabriela Pichler
  • Amir Ali, narrative short, director Shiva
  • Animals, narrative feature, director Sophie Hyde
  • Annie & Carola: My Best Friend (Span.), animated short, director Myriam Ballesteros
  • Aurora, narrative feature, director Miia Tervo
  • Ava in the End, narrative short, director Ursula Ellis
  • Backpedal, narrative short, director Dani Pearce
  • The Basket, animated short, director Suresh Eriyat
  • Belly Flop, animated short, co-director Kelly Dillon
  • Bike Bird, narrative short, co-director Kari Klyve-Skaug
  • Blue Hour, narrative feature, director Yuko Hakota
  • The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open, narrative feature, directors Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Kathleen Hepburn
  • The Bookmobile, narrative short, director Julie Zammarchi
  • Brewed in Palestine, narrative short, director Emma Schwartz
  • Bubblegum, narrative short, director Ella Fields
  • Carmilla, narrative feature, director Emily Harris
  • Cherry Blossoms and Demons, narrative feature, director Doris Dorrie
  • Chuskit, narrative feature, director Priya Ramasubban
  • Clemency, narrative feature, director Chinonye Chukwu
  • The Conductor, narrative feature, director Maria Peters
  • De Lo Mio, narrative feature, director Diana Peralta
  • Diary 2013-2018, narrative short, director Soyeon Kim
  • The Dog Doc, feature documentary, director Cindy Meehl
  • Don’t You Forget About Me, narrative short, director Lydia Ricci
  • Every Grain of Sand, narrative short, director Amanda Spencer
  • Flatland, narrative feature, director Jenna Bass
  • Flesh Out, narrative feature, director Michela Occhipinti
  • Good Mother, narrative short, director Sarah Clift
  • The Great 14th: Tenzin Gyatso, The 14th Dalai Lama in His Own Words, documentary feature, director Rosemary Rawcliffe
  • Hanged, narrative short, director Roqlye Tavakoll
  • Hard Shadow, narrative short, director Neda Kanifar
  • Harriet, narrative feature, director Kasi Lemmons
  • Hava, Maryam, Ayesha, narrative feature, director Sahraa Karimi
  • Honey Boy, narrative feature, director Alma Har’el
  • How to Be Alone, narrative short, director Kate Trefry
  • Intermission Expedition, narrative short, director Wiep Teeuwisse
  • It’s Been Too Long, narrative short, director Amber Schaefer
  • It’s Only Rock n Roll, narrative short, co-director Marcia Jarmel
  • Journeys Beyond the Cosmodrome, documentary feature, director Jeanne C. Finley in collaboration with Lyazzat Khanim
  • The Kingmaker, documentary feature, director Lauren Greenfield
  • Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl), documentary feature, director Carol Dysinger
  • Like An Elephant in a China Shop, animated short, director Louise Chevrier
  • Little Joe, narrative feature, director Jessica Hausner
  • Lizard, narrative short, director Emily Gularte
  • The Lure of This Land, documentary feature, director Alexandra Lexton
  • Mahalia Melts in the Rain, narrative short, directors Emilie Mannering, Carmine Pierre-Dufour
  • Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound, documentary feature, director Midge Costin
  • Mamma Mia!, narrative feature, director Phyllida Lloyd
  • The Miseducation of Bindhu, narrative feature, director Prarthana Mohan
  • My Brother Luca, animated short, co-director Catalina Serna
  • Perfumer, narrative short, director Paloma Lingwei Chen
  • Pomegranate Seeds: Voices and Visions from Iranian Women, shorts collection by seven women directors from Iran
  • Portrait of a Lady on Fire, narrative feature, director Celine Sciamma
  • The Remix: Hip Hop X Fashion, documentary feature, directors Lisa Cortés and Farah X
  • Right to Harm, documentary feature, co-director Annie Speicher
  • Sam’s Dream, animated short, director Nolwenn Roberts
  • Scheme Birds, documentary feature, directors Ellen Fiske and Ellinor Hallin
  • Selma After the Rain, narrative short, director Loli Menezes
  • Serendipity, documentary feature, director Prune Nourry
  • Show Me What You Got, narrative feature, director Svetlana Cvetko
  • Slow Death, narrative short, director Amen Sahrael
  • Song Without A Name, narrative feature, director Melina Leon
  • South Mountain, narrative feature, director Hilary Brougher
  • Stop the Presses!: Memos from the Fourth Estate, shorts collection by various women directors
  • The Story of Plastic, documentary feature, director Deia Schlosberg
  • Subira, narrative feature, director Sippy Chadha
  • The Swallows of Kabul, animated feature, directors Zabou Breitman and Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec
  • Take Me Somewhere Nice, narrative feature, director Ena Sendijarević
  • This Little Land of Mines, documentary feature, director Erin McGoff
  • Thousand Pieces of Gold, narrative feature, director Nancy Kelly
  • Trapped Ghost, narrative short, director Hui-Ying Hsieh
  • Under Covers, narrative short, director Michaela Olson
  • Varda By Agnes, narrative feature, director Agnes Varda
  • Wingmen, narrative short, director Nicole Emanuele
  • What Do You Believe Now?, documentary feature, director Sarah Feinbloom
  • Yellow Jubilee P260-5, documentary short, director Kate Lain
  • You Say You Want A Revolution, documentary feature, director Emily Harris
  • You’re Still Here, narrative short, co-director Katayoun Parmar

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