LUNAFEST Coming to Manistee

Eight Award Winning Films to be Featured at LUNAFEST


For more information and film photos, go to:
www.lunabar.com/lunafest/


MANISTEE - - - - The Women’s netWork is hosting LUNAFEST as part of the 2006 Celebrate Women Festival. LUNAFEST will be held at the historic Ramsdell Theatre in Manistee Saturday, May 6th beginning at 6:00pm. LUNAFEST will be followed by cocktails and desserts at intermission, then guests will be treated to the DVD “Vagina Monologues” beginning at 8:15pm.

LUNAFEST was created to raise awareness about women's issues, highlight women filmmakers, bring women together in their communities and raise money for the Breast Cancer Fund.

LUNAFEST is a national film festival that showcases short films by, for and about women. LUNAFEST is a special evening where women (and their friends, families, partners, husbands and boyfriends) can gather to view a selection of diverse films. The films range from documentaries to animated shorts to dance narratives and cover topics such as women’s health, body image, sexuality, spirituality, sports, relationships, cultural diversity, breaking barriers and the environment.
LUNAFEST 2005-2006

The 2005 winning filmmakers come from around the globe and have won awards at film festivals from Sundance to Los Angeles with their inspirational films and stories. It is an honor to have them as part of LUNAFEST this year.

“We are very honored to have this opportunity to bring films of this quality to Manistee as part of the Celebrate Women Festival,” said Judy Ouvry, one of the event organizers. “If you appreciate quality award-winning films, this is an event you won’t want to miss. It is only fitting that the Women’s netWork bring this event to Manistee.”

As a special feature this year, LUNAFEST is turning 5, and in celebration they have compiled their top 8 films from the past 5 years for your viewing pleasure. Come celebrate with us on the 5th Year Anniversary of LUNAFEST!

Tickets are $25 per person ($50 per couple) and include LUNAFEST, cocktails and desserts and the Vagina Monologues. Tickets are available at the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau or the studios of Oldies 101.5 FM at 52 Greenbush. Doors open at 5:30 pm. The films will be shown in the historic Ramsdell Theater. Refreshments will be served in Hardy Hall. More information about LUNAFEST can be found at www.lunabar.com/lunafest/




The following films will be featured at part of LUNAFEST 2006

BACKSEAT BINGO
Liz Blazer
5 Minutes 25 seconds
Sexy Senior Seeks Same. Backseat Bingo is an animated documentary about the romantic lives of Senior Citizens.
Awards/Screenings: Official Selection Telluride Film Festival, Official Selection AFI Fest, First Prize Animation Magazine Student Award

ONE WEEKEND A MONTH
Directed by Eric Escobar
11 Minutes 30 seconds
Meg McDermott (Reneé O’Connor) is a busy single mom juggling time spent in the National Guard and time spent caring for her two young children. The film begins on a typical crazy Monday morning as Meg gets her children ready for school. She receives a phone call that changes her life. A friend informs her that her National Guard unit will be activated for duty in Iraq in two weeks. This begins the ride that is the film. We witness Meg unravel as she struggles through a series of phone calls to figure out who will take care of her children. She cannot turn to her friends, the fathers of her children or her mother. What will she do?
Awards/Screenings: Official Selection Sundance Film Festival, Official Selection AFI Fest

TAHARA
Directed by Sara Rashad
17 Minutes 30 seconds
TAHARA revolves around Amina who must decide if she will submit to family pressure to circumcise her daughter or abandon this age old tradition because of pressure she recieves from her mother when her husband's away on a business trip. Does Amina find courage to save Suha from the brutal physical and psychological effects of female genital mutilation?
Awards/Screenings: Santa Barbara Int’l FF, Victoria Independent Film festival, DC Independent FF

BLESSING
Directed by Suju Vijayan
14 Minutes
Maya, home for her brother Nealís high school graduation, is forced to deal with their often overbearing, sometimes embarrassing mother, Asha. For as long as she can remember, Maya has been frustrated by what she sees as her mother's inability to listen to her or understand her. The free-spirited Asha, however, is seemingly oblivious to her daughter’s feelings, and instead forces unwanted and sometimes misguided advice on Maya, from the spiritual to the romantic. But Asha is not without surprises, forcing Maya to rethink her opinion of her mother...
Awards/Screenings: Santa Cruz Film Festival, LA Film Festival

TWILIGHT
Directed and Produced by Victoria Gamburg
21Minutes
A story about loss, despair and the possibility of redemption, set in the mysterious Russian city of St. Petersburg during its strange White Nights, when darkness never falls. A woman, Masha (Maria Voronina) searches fruitlessly, through morgues and down alleys, for a daughter who disappeared three years previous. A bored policeman ignores her when she tries to file yet another missing person report. Doggedly scanning St. Petersburg's many discarded children, she focuses on her own task and ignores their cries for help.
Awards/Screenings: Best Narrative Short, San Francisco Int'l Film Festival, Best Student Live Action Over 15-minutes, Palm Springs Shorts Fest, Official Selection Telluride Film Festival and Toronto Int'l Film Festival

PERFECTION
Directed by Karen Lin
6 Minutes 24 Seconds
From infancy, an Asian American woman learns the game of perfection. But if your goal is perfection, will the game ever end? Milton Bradley’s game Perfection is “a race against time” where players must match shapes to a board in 60 seconds. The game mirrors an Asian American woman’s struggle to achieve success and gain her parent’s approval. Taught the game as an infant, she races into her teens winning competitions and getting straight A’s, only left to wonder whether or not her parents will love her even if she fails. Ultimately she must decide whether to end the game.
Awards/Screenings: LA Film Festival, San Francisco Int’l Asian America FF, Seattle Int’l FF, Vancouver Int’l FF

LAYING DOWN ARMS
Directed by Carol Schreder
13 Minutes 45 Seconds
This is the story of two women who forge an unlikely friendship through a mistaken phone call. Janet, a troubled young woman, and Esther, and elderly holocaust survivor, engage in a conversation that transforms both of their lives.

MABEL'S SAGA / LE VOYAGE DE MABELLE
Directed by JoDee Samuelson
15 Minutes 3 Seconds
Mabel is juggling the demands of work, teenagers and an elderly mother. Now, she is confronted with a new challenge: hot flashes and chin hairs! Before you can say "estrogen," purple-haired Mabel finds herself the unassuming heroine of her own adventure... the adventure of aging. MABEL'S SAGA is a touching, funny film without words that celebrates menopause as a natural transition, rather than a medical condition to be feared. The film blends animation with a lush musical landscape, offering a reassuring look at one of the most important passages in a woman's life.

Awards/Screenings: Winner- Montreal World Film Festival, Best Short- Atlanta Film Festival