Women are involved in the film industry in all roles, including film directors, actresses, cinematographers, film producers, film critics, and other film industry professions, though women have been underrepresented in creative positions. “Women in cinema” is the non-competitive program of the 6th Short Movie Club Film Festival.
MARCH, 15
CULTURAL HUB “OK16”
WOMEN IN RAGE
Sara Chong, Yanyun Chen (Singapore, 5 min)
Women in Rage imagines the anger of mythical female monstrosities—Medusa, Pontianak, Rokurokubi, Venus, Lilith and many other ladies—from whom we have inherited the figure of the supernatural woman. By turning the lens away from the myth towards the antagonist, this animated short film rages with their injustices, prejudices, subjugation, and bodies.
Stories are our inheritance. To dismiss the formation of a hero or villain is to lose an understanding of our culture and values. We know of female monstrosities, yet rarely hear of the suffering that made them the antagonist. By foregrounding their pain and anger, we learnt to listen deeply and give consideration to their bodies and pain. Art is a humane practice in imagining the Other.
ZOO
Veine (France, 7 min)
As the spectators in a zoo watch an animal, it wakes up. From the inside of its cage, the animal becomes the spectator of the questions and curious glances.
HERE AND NOW LIKE NEVER BEFORE
Ioana Ciobanu (Romania, 8 min)
A girl recalls a meaningful encounter that now is only present in her mind. The film is like an inquiry on the ephemerality of life and the transitory yet saddening nature of things.
Y CONTROL
Aubry Villaver Bratcher (United States, 4 min)
A quasi-experimental, personal documentary quietly and intimately exploring a strain on a mother-daughter relationship.
SYNCHRONIZATION
Anna Kasińska (Poland, 20 min)
In 2084, when the male sex is near extinction, four women wait for their menstrual cycles to synchronize. They all want to become mothers and there can only be one donor. When the day comes, Donor finally appears at their doorstep. During a dinner he suffers an accident and seems to be dead.
LA LUCHA SIGUE: MARICHUY IN MEXICO CITY
Brenda Contreras (Mexico, 5 min)
A brief portrait of María de Jesús Patricio Martínez in Mexico City as she campaigned for the presidency of Mexico. The first indigenous women in Mexico’s history to run for the position and, although she did not win, the campaign has been marked as a success with helping bring light to issues surrounding women and the indigenous communities of Mexico.
FOX SPIRIT
Min Ding (China-USA, 5 min)
Fox Spirit is a stop-motion animation based on a Chinese novel Liaozhai. The story follows a shop owner, a fox who transforms into a woman and collects beautiful male customers to turn them into mannequins. Through the lens of intersectional feminism, I revisit and recontextualize a traditional Chinese mythological story using animation.