Por Inspiración Femenina
Nos hemos
enterado de una iniciativa que se está produciendo online, que nos ha parecido
de lo más interesante: #SHEDOCS FESTIVAL. Un festival gratuito online que
muestra documentales realizados por mujeres, documentales que cuentan la
historia de mujeres que son portadoras de cambio a lo largo de todo el planeta.
Este evento se está produciendo a lo largo del mes de marzo. Online. En este
festival podemos encontrar historias como la de una mujer sioux divorciada que
trabaja para detener el ciclo de violencia, adicción y pobreza para ella y para
sus hijos, o la historia de un grupo de mujeres de Liberia que luchan contra el
régimen dictatorial de Charles Taylor durante la guerra civil en Liberia (Pray
The Devil Back to Hell). También podemos ver un documental sobre el complejo
legado de Benazir Bhutto, la primera mujer elegida para dirigir un país musulmán.
Podrás también, a través de este festival online seguir a un grupo de
estudiantes de instituto latinas y los obstáculos que se encuentran para
graduarse (Tha graduates-Girls Hour) Incluso tendrás tiempo para reflexionar
sobre la carrera de una supe heroína (Wonder Woman. The untold story of
American Superheroines)
Y muchos
más.
Desgraciadamente,
entrando a la pagina web de este evento: #SheDocs homepage no podemos tener acceso desde
España a la mayoría de las proyecciones online. Quizá en América latina si
puedan. Pero nos parece interesante pues nos da títulos y nombres de documentales
muy interesantes realizados por mujeres, de mujeres documentalistas y de
historias de las que todas y todos hemos de enterarnos.
Es por
ello que no queremos dejar de compartirlo con vosotros.
Aquí os
dejamos el artículo por el cual hemos conocido de esta actividad.
Ojala
podáis disfrutarla, si vivís en zonas desde donde se tenga acceso.
#SheDocs:
A Film Festival for the Future
By
Courtney Young | March 12, 2014
There
is a moment in Pratibha Parmar’s documentary Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth in which Walker
details the five-year period immediately following the publication of The Color
Purple, a season equal parts glory and trauma. We learn of the accolades
(winning both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, a cover story in
the New York Times Magazine, and a film adaptation by Steven Spielberg) and the
vitriol (verbal assaults on her as, among other things, a Judas, and protests
of her book and the film adaptation) that companioned her success. Walker’s
story is at once a unique and a familiar one, the blessing and the curse of women
who disrupt the status quo in favor of an alternative. Thus, it is fitting that
the #SheDocs festival, a free, online documentary
film festival featuring the stories of female change makers from around the
globe, would launch with Walker’s story.
Parmar’s
documentary is one of twelve that tell a panoply of narratives as diverse as
their protagonists. You will meet a divorced Oglala Sioux woman who labors to
break the cycle of violence, addiction, and poverty for herself and her
children (Kind Hearted Woman). You will bear witness to a group of Liberian
women who battle the dictatorial regime of Charles Taylor during Liberia’s
civil war (Pray the Devil Back to Hell). You’ll learn about the complex legacy
of Benazir Bhutto, the first woman elected to lead a Muslim country (Bhutto).
You’ll follow a group of Latina high school students and the obstacles they
face to graduation (The Graduates—Girls Hour). You’ll even take time to reflect
on the career of a superhero (Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American
Superheroines). These and more are the stories that constitute the #SheDocs
film festival, which runs throughout the month of March. The easiest way to
view the films is to visit the
#SheDocs homepage and scroll down the page until you see the subject
line “Films.” There, you will find a film list, complete with the trailer, a
link to each full-length film, and, for some, a discussion guide and additional
resources.
In
its second year, the #SheDocs film festival is a collaborative endeavor between
Eileen Fisher, Inc., and Independent Television Service (ITVS)’s Women &
Girls Lead campaign, a public media initiative designed to amplify the voices
of women and girls. Teams from both institutions co-curated the twelve
documentaries from the 50-film Women & Girls Lead catalog. Locsi Ferra, the
thematic campaign manager for Women & Girls Lead, remarked, “Our criteria
were both simple and broad. We asked ourselves, ‘What will our fan base most
appreciate during Women’s History Month? What films embody the spirit of
International Women’s Day, and of the millennium
development goals? What’s currently happening in the world?’” Given
that one of the 2015 millennial goals (objectives for global improvement set by
the United Nations) is to “promote
gender equality and empower women,” #SheDocs has certainly risen to
the challenge.
An
initiative like this is all the more significant when you consider that while
there are more women directors of documentaries than narrative films (34.5 percent vs. 16.9 percent), women are still
grossly underrepresented behind the camera. The issue of gender
inequity and the paucity of the female-oriented story was magnified
earlier this month when Cate Blanchett, accepting her Best Actress Oscar,
called out “those of us in the industry who are perhaps still foolishly
clinging to the idea that female films, with women at the center, are niche
experiences. They are not. Audiences want to see them, and in fact, they earn
money. The world is round, people!”
In
addition to the monthlong screening of formidable documentaries, the #SheDocs
film festival is initiating a social media campaign that makes it easy to
engage online in meaningful dialogue around the films, illuminating perhaps one
of the most powerful aspects of the festival—that anyone with access to a
computer and WiFi can view the films for free. ITVS’s Ferra says, “It is our
hope that these films are a source of inspiration for people to reach the stars
to become the people they want to be. So far, a lot of public television
[stations are] using this film festival. Also educators, local community
organizations, and local community media are using these films in a variety of
contexts to engage people.”
Like
all good art, these documentaries give rise to any number of emotions: anger,
laughter, sorrow, and joy, to name a few. But there is also hope—hope in the
power and value of each woman’s and girl’s story. One of the more poignant
films of the lot is The Interrupters, a film about a group of young former gang
members who “interrupt” violent situations, helping to mitigate the violence of
their neighborhoods. The power of the film lies not just in the courage of the
“interrupters” but in the visual evidence of grassroots initiatives by the
people for the people in their own communities. #SheDocs is a film festival
with serious bite and, hopefully, serious staying power. Women’s stories do
matter.
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