SHORTS PROGRAM 3: Festival Director’s Cut: Breaking Down Walls
Wednesday, May 3rd at 7pm at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago.
Program Description: This program represents as a whole what Cinema Femme is about, elevating voices of female and non-binary filmmakers. All of these films create a ripple in our industry just by what you see onscreen and who’s behind the camera.
WATCH ONLINE APRIL 28 – MAY 4, 2023
Q&A with Shorts Program 3 filmmakers on May 1, 2023, 3 PM Central on our YouTube Channel. Moderated by Patricia Vidal Delgado (“La Leyenda Negra”)
Pigeon – dir. Kiki Allgeier
“Pigeon” is a dark comedy about Liz, a woman in her forties dealing with the aftermath of a breakup around the worst time of year to do such a thing: the holidays. After all, tis the season to experience depression. Juggling her emotionally-absent-but-trying father and her feelings, Liz is faced with the most unlikely mirror: a wounded Pigeon. The short stars Larisa Oleynik (Ten Things I Hate About You, The Secret World of Alex Mack). Chicago Premiere! https://vimeo.com/725508156 (trailer)
Kiki Allgeir (she/her)
Director Kiki Allgeier’s work features tactile and cinematic imagery seamlessly paired with honest and accessible portraits of the people in front of her lens and has been featured at numerous festivals, international theatrical runs, and celebrated television outlets. Her feature documentary “FEMMEfille, “based on the life of French Pop Icon Isabelle Caro, was chosen as part of the IDFA Forum, aired on ARTE, ZDF, YLE, SVT, and now streams internationally on Amazon. Other credits include her short narrative film Girl And A Gun which premiered at LA Shorts Fest and Pigeon, starring Larisa Oleynik (The Secret World of Alex Mack, “10 Things I Hate About You”) and James McCaffrey (Sex And The City, “Broken English”), which is set to premiere in the Fall of 2022.
In addition to her long-form storytelling, Kiki brings naturalistic elegance to the lifestyle commercial scene where she’s directed both branded and commercial campaigns for Cadillac, Le Labo, Lexus, Ray-Ban, Prada, Le Meridien, and others. Kiki’s commercially represented by Chicago-based production company Strange Loop.
Sulam (The Ladder) – dir. Noam Argov
When an immigrant teen in Central Florida must help her mother before a school exam, tensions of belonging in a new country bubble to the surface. Director Noam Argov will be in attendance. Chicago premiere!
Noam Argov (she/her)
Noam Argov is an Israeli-American filmmaker, National Geographic Explorer and MFA Directing Student at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Growing up between the Middle East and Orlando, Florida, Noam spent much of her childhood walking around barefoot and dreaming up strange stories. After five years of directing and producing documentary films in all parts of the globe, she’s spent the last two years staying still for a change while writing, directing and producing narrative films at Tisch. In graduate school she is a Film Futures Scholar and a nominee for the BAFTA US Scholars Program.
Overall, Noam’s films tend to center on faulty heroes who challenge the stereotypes of their reality, leaving on tough conversations about attitudes, identity and our relationship with the world. From presenting with Women in Media in LA to teaching film workshops for teen girls with Reel Stories, Noam is also active in organizations that elevate and mentor women in film. Her affiliations include NYWIFT, Free the Work, and Women in Media.
Pluma – dir. Clelia Goodchild
In Barcelona, the Pluma family of Drag Queens and Kings strives to build a community based on freedom of expression, artistic endeavor and mutual support. With the city as their stage, they share the essence of their duality, while navigating the challenges that life throws their way. Chicago premiere! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F0f834RmSo&feature=youtu.be (trailer)
Clelia Goodchild (she/her)
A filmmaker and ethnographer, I love to absorb the stories of others, not only observing the unique, but also daily life. My films delve into striking personal stories, exploring themes such as identity, gender, and immigration.
Forward Fast – dir. Lorraine Sovern
While embarking upon a process of archival and preservation, a filmmaker dives into a stark exploration of self as she discovers the seeds of patriarchy and misogyny already planted and steeping the imagery of her childhood films. Director Lorraine Sovern will be in attendance. Chicago premiere!
Lorraine Sovern
Lorraine Sovern is a Film MFA Candidate at the University of Central Florida, where she also received her Bachelor’s in Cinema Studies. Over the last few years, she’s been programming for Florida Film Festival, Brouhaha Film & Video Showcase, Central Florida Film Slam, and the popular local film series Uncomfortable Brunch. She also serves as a judge for BizarroLand Film Festival. Shifting from her background in screenwriting and narrative production, she currently specializes in experimental filmmaking with a focus on personal essay.
Julia – dir. Emma Duvall
A young girl faces a test of friendship at an orphanage in 1970 South Korea | Based on a true story. Director Emma Duvall will be in attendance! Chicago premiere! https://vimeo.com/739757395 (trailer)
Emma Duvall (she/her)
Emma Duvall is a Korean-American actress and filmmaker who has worked in the Portland film industry for the past three years. At the end of 2020, Emma was awarded the prestigious “Tell Your Story” grant from Oregon Made Creative Foundation for BIPOC filmmakers. She later received BendFilm’s “Underrepresented Voices” grant which supported the completion of her film. For her directorial debut, she will be telling a story from her mother’s childhood growing up in an abusive South Korean orphanage.
MI ISLA – dir. Sandra Lipski (online only)
Sammy is a single mother and high-demand film producer in Los Angeles, California. Her hectic life is disrupted when her favorite uncle Eddy dies and she inherits his bed and breakfast hotel on the Spanish island of Mallorca. Sammy and her 2-year-old daughter Alma embark on a journey into her past that might reveal a new future.
Sandra Lipski (she/her)
Sandra Lipski: Born in Berlin and raised in Mallorca Spain, founder, and director of the Evolution Mallorca International Film Festival (EMIFF), located in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, and the founder of THE FESTIVAL KEY; Film festival strategies for filmmakers and film festivals.
Sandra is an accomplished actress with notable credits such as CSI NY, Bruno (Sasha Baron Cohen), and Jane the Virgin (CW). Sandra splits her time between Mallorca and Los Angeles.
MI ISLA is Sandra’s latest short film as a writer, director, producer, and actress.It is currently screening in the 2023 Film Festival circuit. Currently, Sandra is preparing the 2023, 12th edition of EMIFF and consulting her international clients via The Festival Key.
She most recently moderated a panel at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival “Film Festival Strategy” in partnership with the Latino Filmmaker Network and MovieMaker Magazin.
She also taught a master-class on “Film Festival Strategy” at Slamdance Film Festival, spoke on a panel at Hollyshorts Film Fest about “Film Festivals” and enjoyed being on the Jury of the NÒT Film Festival in Santarcangelo, Italy.
Other speaking events include; the SCL (Society of Composers and Lyricists) event together with the AFI (American Film Institute) and being part of the feature film jury at the 2018 SEEFest and Cinema Without Borders Festival in Hollywood. In 2017 she joined the juries at the Mammoth Lakes Film Festival and Los Angeles Music Video Festival.
LIVE Q&A moderated by Patricia Vidal Delgado
Patricia Vidal Delgado is a Sundance Institute FilmTwo Fellow, an MTV First Time Directors Initiative cohort member and is represented by the talent agency Luber Roklin. ‘La Leyenda Negra’, her feature film debut, premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival in the NEXT category and streamed on HBO MAX. The film was a Top 20 Finalist for the Roy W. Dean Grant and was awarded the Frameline Completion Fund in February 2020. The 2021 Film Independent Spirit Awards nominated the film for the John Cassavetes Award and the GLAAD Media Awards also nominated the film for Outstanding TV Movie. Patricia is the writer and director of short films ‘Bué Sabi’, ‘Isa’, ‘Ico’, ’88’, ‘The Hood’ and ‘Caroline’. Her work has screened at both national and international film festivals including the Raindance Film Festival, TIFF Next Wave, Philadelphia Film Festival, Curtas Vila do Conde and the IndieLisboa International Film Festival. To date, Delgado’s films have garnered a total of 23 wins and 74 nominations.