news that barbie With director Greta Gerwig and lead actress Margot Robbie missing out on Academy Award nominations, the mainstream film industry is reeling from claims of persistent sexism in the industry and the quality of the year’s highest-grossing films. It went up in flames. The debate is likely to rage on until the Oscars ceremony on March 10th. Meanwhile, Vermont’s three upcoming film festivals offer a reprieve from international films, especially Hollywood dramas with an emphasis on works by women directors.
The Global Roots Film Festival, sponsored by the Vermont International Film Foundation, will be held from February 8 to 11 at the Film House and its new venue at Burlington’s Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center. The festival spotlights more than a dozen films submitted for Best International Feature Film nominations, giving moviegoers a chance to see regional Oscar nominees away from Barbieland. Steve McQueen, executive director of VTIFF, said seven of the films are directed by women, four of which are their feature debuts.
The White River Indie Film Festival will be held from February 15th to 18th at the Briggs Opera House and Junction Arts & Media in White River Junction and will feature international and local films, including those by women directors. That includes Vermont filmmaker Sierra Urich’s acclaimed documentary. Junamin the midst of a festival tour that spans the world.
Finally, Montpelier’s Green Mountain Film Festival, which was last held in 2019, will return from a hiatus due to the pandemic and flooding and will run from March 14-17. The film lineup will be announced on February 12th.
Ready to enjoy some popcorn and fascinating movies? Read on for highlights from each festival.
sister act
One of the hottest films shown at both Global Roots and WRIF is a bold and innovative documentary. four daughters, directed by Kauser Ben Hania. The film, nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature, focuses on the trauma and hardships of Tunisian matriarch Olfa Hamrouni and her daughters Eya, Tayseer, Rahma and Goughran Chikaoui. The latter two were separated from their families and swept into the radical religious movement of ISIS.
The film is a documentary featuring Orfa, Eya, and Taysil, and actress Hend Sabri also plays Orfa in some scenes. The absent Rahma and Gofren are played by Noor Karoui and Ikhlaq Mataru respectively.
“This is the kind of documentary that would have been laughed at and left out of the category in the ’80s and ’90s,” McQueen said. “It’s creative, almost a docudrama. It’s really clever and thought-provoking.”
four daughters , which opened the Global Roots Festival on February 8th and will be re-screened at WRIF on February 17th, is an experimental short documentary by University of Vermont student Mae Nagsky that explores challenging questions about motherhood. “Dear Mama” was selected as an emerging filmmaker. Film director Laura Plasencia will lead a post-screening discussion.
Another highly anticipated global roots film with a powerful theme of women’s collective experiences. smoke sauna sistersEstonian director Anna Hint won numerous awards, including the Best Director award in the World Cinema Documentary category at the Sundance Film Festival. This film documents important cultural rituals. Women gather in a sauna to connect and share their best-kept secrets.
Women’s intimate storytelling is also uplifting JunamDirector Urich conceived this documentary while working in the film industry and developing his own projects outside of Vermont. Junam It’s a Persian term of endearment, and it explores how her identity is shaped by her Iranian heritage, which remained in the background of her youth in Addison County.
Ulich’s mother, Mitra, immigrated to the United States from Iran in 1979, and her grandmother, Bejat, followed more than a decade later. For her director, she said, there was a sense of “mysticism” in her ancestral homeland. seven days; Iran was “for me a lost land of Atlantis, very fascinating, but a little out of reach.” Urich said, “It was a very simple desire to hear these stories from my grandmother.” I felt a kind of simple sense of mission.
Since its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, Junam has captivated audiences by revealing the power of family stories to foster deeper self-understanding. During the film’s global journey, Urich met audiences who responded to the story beyond the specifics of nationality and ethnicity.
“There’s something about heritage and a desire to feel connected to something bigger than yourself that a lot of people can relate to,” Urich said.
everything about the base
WRIF’s Junam The screening and Jülich’s post-screening talkback round out a festival program packed with cinematic events. Opening night, February 15th, will see the return of the popular Pitch Fest, where aspiring filmmakers share ideas and potentially land deals. In 2023, Lauren’s David Howard walked away from Pitchfest with his $1,000 toward his first feature film. administratorwill be screened this year following Pitchfest 2.0.
At WRIF, Jay Craven (stranger to the kingdom), Nora Jacobson (Ruth Stone’s vast library of women’s hearts), producer Bill Stetson, and other figures who have supported Vermont film production.
“We want it to be a good festival for people who love watching movies, but we also have the additional goal of encouraging people to make their own films,” said festival coordinator Cedar O’Dowd. Ta.
The focus on supporting filmmakers is consistent with WRIF’s commitment to expanding its audience. Like Global Roots and GMFF, WRIF will screen films that offer viewers perspectives not easily available on multiplexes or popular streaming services. In other words, as WRIF Programming Director Travis Whedon puts it, it’s “an opportunity to experience a different kind of cinematic language.” accustomed to. ”
Whedon said WRIF has strived in recent years to strike a balance between “socially critical documentaries and adventurous arthouse films” and “more engaging films.” The goal is to “earn people’s trust that they can come to us not just to be challenged, but also to have a good time,” he added.
The opening day gala will set the tone with a catered social event before director Tran Anh Yun’s acclaimed gourmet-themed historical drama. taste of thingsstarring Juliette Binoche and Benoit Magimel.
O’Dowd featured animation directed by Pablo Berger. robot dreamis an Oscar nominee for Best Animated Feature as a film that has the potential to move audiences of all ages, and has particular appeal to the vibrant animation community that is home to the Center for Cartoon Studies.
For horror movie fans, WRIF has the work of Ariane Louis-Seize. Humanist Vampire Seeking Suicide’s Consent — The vampire dance party ensues. O’Dowd describes the intersection of moviegoing and socializing as “ barbie It’s a movie, but it’s for freaks. ”
change the flow
GMFF’s lineup had not yet been announced as of press time, but advisory board chair Christopher Wiersema announced the return after a shake-up in leadership, a COVID-19 shutdown, and last summer’s devastating floods. I have given a rough outline of the venerable festival that is currently being held.
The revived festival will be spread throughout downtown Montpelier, with screenings and events held at the Savoy Theatre, Capitol Showplace, City Hall Center for the Arts, Kellogg-Hubbard Library, and the Crum Factory artist gathering space. Rabble Rauser Chocolate & Craft on Main Street will serve as a “non-programmed social space,” Wiersema said. “Almost every space we are in was affected by flooding but has since recovered.
“We were already excited to be back after a long hiatus,” he added, but felt the return after the flood was “even more important.”
The opening night party at City Hall Arts Center combines film and music as Evan Premo of Scruggs Mountain Music presents a new work by Vermont art photographer and filmmaker Andreas John. The song that will be the music for the short film will be performed for the first time. The Montpelier Chamber Orchestra will perform original music along with two other short works: “Chamberpeace” by Natalie Jones and “The Green Mountain Project” by Tori Lawrence.
On the programming side, festival programmer Sam Kang, who also organizes Burlington’s interdisciplinary Plex Arts Festival, said the revamped GMFF will “center young voices and diverse voices,” Wiersema said. is evaluated. As in past years, at this festival he will host a three-day Film Slam, a sprint to create short films based on genre prompts and a set of parameters.
Wiersema, who is also director of the Vermont Youth Documentary Lab, has already seen interest in the slum among youth groups. “It would be a lot of fun,” he said, noting that such support would bring “a much more exciting perspective than the traditional lens.”
VTIFF opens new screening room in Burlington
Organizers of this season’s in-person movie events are counting on patrons’ willingness to leave the small screen behind and sit shoulder-to-shoulder in front of the big screen.
“I think we’re creating something, but we’re redefining it,” said Steve McQueen, executive director of the Vermont International Film Foundation, referring to home viewing habits during the pandemic. . “There’s power in the communal experience of going to see something, and I think people understand that.”
In preparation for the 2024 Global Roots Film Festival, which takes place this month, VTIFF is opening a new screening room adjacent to its offices at Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center in Burlington, giving film fans the opportunity to interact. We plan to expand. The audience seats can accommodate approximately 35 people in 3 rows and 3 rows. The walls are painted bright red and feature “Dolby 7.1 surround sound – top of the line,” McQueen said. “It’s a great environment to watch movies.”
McQueen credits his predecessor, Ollie Yadin, with visioning the screening room and taking VTIFF to new heights, from monthly screenings to Global Roots and the spring Made Here Film Festival. . McQueen said VTIFF attendance has increased over the past year, and the 2023 flagship festival broke records.
The new screening room “is not about making a huge amount of money,” McQueen said, adding that the foundation wants to keep showings affordable. “We want to start showing movies, attracting and creating a film culture.”
He cited the room’s “free-form” programming potential and the opportunity it provides to “expand what we’re doing, but also step outside of what we’ve been doing.” I am excited. For example, he wants to involve new curators in the programming process.
“We want this room to be available to the entire community as a resource for filmmakers and filmmakers,” McQueen said. “Everyone has a movie that’s relevant to them that they want to share with others.”
He joked about screening a strong drama by Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, a personal favorite. screams and whispers, to more than a dozen people. “Two or three people liked it,” he said.
All jokes aside, McQueen believes people will continue to flock to the collective experience of watching a movie in a dark room. “I think there’s a longevity to doing it alone,” he says.