Monthly Film Festival

June 06, 2020

NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (NFMLA) returns to celebrate up-and-coming female talent behind the camera with this month’s InFocus: Female Cinema, now Powered by Seed&Spark on their virtual festival platform. InFocus: Female Cinema will include two shorts programs rich with a variety of stories, genres and perspectives from female filmmakers, along with Romance Analyst, an exciting new feature by writer-director Rachel Wortell. Each screening will be followed by live Q&A’s via Zoom.

The day’s InFocus: Female Cinema programming begins with feature film Romance Analyst, a surreal, contemplative and undeniably funny look at one woman’s relationship with her mental health, written and directed by Rachel Wortell.

The line-up continues with InFocus: Female Cinema’s Shorts Program # 1 – Intuition & Tradition. This block tells stories of women and intuition, unlikely community, the frustrations of motherhood, intergenerational conflict, and challenges traditional narratives about women and sex. It includes Kirsten Vangsness’s directorial debut, the beautifully animated depiction of finding oneself suddenly physically vulnerable, Curtains.

Our evening concludes with InFocus: Female Cinema’s Shorts Program # 2 – Seeking Home, which presents a variety of perspectives from women behind the camera. The stories we delve into in this block include LGBTQ+ teen homelessness, deafness in Latinx communities, and Jessie Adler’s look at suicide in the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe in Boxers of Brule.

NFMLA showcases films by filmmakers of all backgrounds throughout the year in addition to its special InFocus programming which celebrates diversity, inclusion and region. All filmmakers are welcome and encouraged to submit their projects which will be considered for all upcoming NFMLA Festivals, regardless of the InFocus programming.

Schedule Details

Program #1 – InFocus: Female Cinema – Feature Program: Romance Analyst
2:00 PM – Program
3:30 PM – Audience Q&A
Program #2 – InFocus: Female Cinema – Shorts # 2 – Intuition & Tradition
5:15 PM – Program
6:45 PM – Audience Q&A
Program #3 – InFocus: Female Cinema – Shorts # 1 – Seeking Home
8:15 PM – Program
10:00 PM – Audience Q&A

InFocus: Female Cinema - Feature Program: Romance Analyst
Romance Analyst Thumbnail
Romance Analyst
Dir. Writ. Rachel Wortell
92 Mins | USA
InFocus: Female Cinema - Shorts Program # 1 - Intuition & Tradition
Pushing Buttons
Dir. Summer Rudas & Writ. Silvana Gargione
4 Mins | USA
Crimson Cuffs Thumbnail
Crimson Cuffs
Dir. & Writ. Madeline Vail
7 Mins | USA
Just One Night Thumbnail
Just One Night
Dir. & Writ. Sahar Jahani
12 Mins | USA
The Jessicas Are Turning 30
Dir. Maya Sugarman, Amy King
22 Mins | USA
He Wants To Know My Number Thumbnail
He Wants To Know My Number
Dir. & Writ. Sakinah Iman
4 Mins | USA
Red Ladies Thumbnail
Red Ladies
Dir. & Writ. Parida Tanti
9 Mins | USA
Curtains Thumbnail
Curtains
Dir. & Writ. Kirsten Vangsness
18 Mins | USA
InFocus: Female Cinema - Shorts Program # 2 - Seeking Home
Kama’āina (Child of the Land) Thumbnail
Kama’āina (Child of the Land)
Dir. Kimi Howl Lee
15 Mins | USA
Deaf Latinos Y Familias Thumbnail
Deaf Latinos Y Familias
Dir. Kathryn Boyd-Batstone
13 Mins | USA
Boxers of Brule
Dir. Jessie Adler
37 Mins | USA
Topanga
Dir. & Writ. Aycil Yeltan
15 Mins | USA