Women in Film announced the winners of their 28th annual Film Finishing Fund. The Film Finishing Fund provides cash grants and in-kind production services to complete films that are by or about women.
Co-chairs Betsy Pollock and Nancy Rae Stone commented on the range of the 113 narrative, documentary and short films that had been submitted from around the world.
There was a real diversity of subjects explored in this year’s entries. The global status of women and the rights of minorities are consistent themes, but
this year we saw many more topics as well.
The 2013 WIFF Film Finishing Fund winners are below. All descriptions are courtesy of WIF. For more information on the filmmakers, visit the WIF site.
Narrative Feature Films
Dukhtar – Afia Nathaniel — Writer/Director/Producer
A Pakistani mother goes on an extraordinary journey to save her ten year old daughter from an arranged marriage. Based on a true story.
The Factory Girl – Mohamed Samir — Producer
A factory worker in a low middle class area has feelings for her supervisor despite class differences, but must deal with societal pressures when a
pregnancy test is found at work. An examination of life in Cairo for a working young woman with hopes, aspirations, and intelligence.
Documentary Films
LaDonna Harris: Indian 101 – Julianna Brannum — Director/Producer
Comanche activist LaDonna Harris has led an extensive life of Native political and social activism. The documentary explores how traditional cultural and
leadership values are passed on to new generations.
The Last One – Nadine Licostie — Director
The quest to sew the last panel into the AIDS Memorial Quilt would mean that the scourge of AIDS, the most devastating pandemic in the history of
humankind, has come to a close. The filmmakers explore the history of the quilt and the breadth and diversity of those AIDS has affected, through moving
portraits of the originators of the quilt and the quilt workers who maintain and contribute squares to the quilt.
Mia, A Dancer’s Odyssey – Maria Ramas and Kate Johnson — Co-Directors
A daughter’s promise to tell her mother’s story becomes the unfolding of the remarkable life of celebrated 20th Century ballerina, Mia Slavenska: a life in
dance, of exile and return, of failure and success, and coming to terms with the impermanence and impact of a life in art.
Spies of Mississippi – Dawn Porter — Director/Producer
A look at the State of Mississippi’s little known efforts to undermine the Civil Rights Movement using a network of both black and white spies who
pretended to work for civil rights, while betraying the heroes who fought for equality, and the impact that the betrayal had on the movement and on the
families of the spies and the activists themselves.
Narrative Short Film
The Bravest, The Boldest – Pelin Uzay — Producer
Two Army Casualty Notification Officers arrive at the projects in Harlem to tell Sayeeda Porter that her son has been killed in the war in the Middle East.
She eludes them on an inner journey to gather herself before she receives the news officially—news that she already knows from the moment she sees their
uniforms.
