[Wamvan] New blog on WAM!Van: Behind the Scenes at a Vancouver Film Festival: Why Promoting Media Created by Women Matters

[Joanna Chiu]

Hi everyone,

Many thanks to Emily Yakashiro who has penned another wonderful blog post
for our website. Please take a read and share it far and wide.

http://www.womenactionmedia.org/2014/03/04/behind-the-scenes-at-a-vancouver-film-festival-why-promoting-media-created-by-women-matters/

Don't miss the 9th Annual Vancouver International Women in Film Festival,
March 6-9th 2014. Learn more about the schedule
here<http://www.womeninfilm.ca/2014_Film_Festival_Schedule.html>,
check out the festival blog here <http://wiftv.wordpress.com/>.

Here's a message from Emily about the festival highlights.

Hey WAM! folks,

For the past few months I have been volunteering for the 9th annual
Vancouver International Women in Film Festival, which is put on by Women in
Film & Television Vancouver as a festival committee judge and the
submissions coordinator. I have a few things I wanted to share with you
WAM! members:

*Festival Line-Up Highlights*

I'm really excited about this year's lineup--our opening night film,
*Evangeline*, is a first for VIWIFF--never has the festival opened with a
thriller (a genre typically dominated by men), and this one happens to be
directed by a woman of colour, Karen Lam! Other highlights include Frances
Bodomo's short, *Boneshaker,*which stars Quvenzhané Wallis, *Finsterworld* by
Frauke Finsterwalder which has a very Wes Anderson-esque aesthetic, and *El
Regreso*, a powerful film by Patricia Ortega about the violence committed
against the Wauyuu, an indigenous community located at the territory split
between Colombia and Venezuela in 2004. Ortega will be flying out from
Venezuela to speak about her film following the screening which is very
exciting. Another must-see is Lisa Jackson's documentary *How People Live*,
which focuses on the  the forced relocation of the Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw
Nations. Jackson's documentary is one of the best of the festival in my
opinion, and she will be speaking about this film following the screening.
Check out the complete schedule and program notes
here<http://www.womeninfilm.ca/2014_Film_Festival_Schedule.html>
.

I volunteered for the festival back in August as a way to support women
involved in screen-based media. For a film to qualify for the festival,
women must hold at least three key creative positions including director,
producer, writer, editor, cinematographer, lead actor, composer, etc. The
importance of supporting women in these roles cannot be understated--a
recent report from Women in View showed that of 139 feature films released
in 2010-2011 in Canada, women comprised *less than 20% of directors and 21%
of screenwriters.*

*VIWIFF Panels of Interest to WAM!*

Also of interest to you all are two panels hosted by WIFTV which will take
place during the festival. The first is a panel focused on portrayals of
violence against women on screen, which will be moderated by Angela
MacDougall of BWSS (Battered Women's Support Services).The second is a
panel hosted
by WIFTV president Rachelle Chartrand, who will be exploring a recent
report by CUES on the statistics of women behind the camera in Canada.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Emily
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