Women in Cinema 2013 Festival at SIFF

There's always a ton of stuff going on at SIFF Cinema these days - and the coming week is no exception. In addition to the either brilliant or ridiculous Holy Motors this week brings the Women in Cinema series which runs from January 23rd through the 27th. Tickets are just $6 for SIFF members and a pass covers it all for $60 ($40 for members) including the opening night film and reception. There certainly seem to be some interesting looking films on offer - so I definitely recommend taking a closer look.

I'm somewhat intrigued by the  opening night film German language film Hannah Arendt which if time permits I'll be making my way to this Wednesday night. Another showing of wide interest will likely be Midnight's Children the new film from Deepa Mehta based on a Salman Rushdie novel.

It's not just film - there's also an education component. Specifically a free forum "Beyond the Director" on Saturday morning - it's a panel discussion with women working in film production - across many disciplines. Tickets can be reserved for the event - here.

I've only pre-screened one of the films. Snuck in between things are a couple of screenings of Vanishing Waves which was a favorite amongst many attendees at last year's Fantastic Fest. It's a strange and extremely visual tale that's worth seeing on a large screen. The concept involves the testing of a new device that allows people to mind meld. They test it on a comatose women using one of their scientists. He begins to so enjoy the sexy-time frolics he has in this virtual space that he lies about it to everyone involved. Either a beautifully shot ode to the danger of lies or an equally attractively shot cautionary tale of future cybersex. Think soft-core pornish 2001 vibe. Either way I was more bored than apparently everyone else at Fantastic Fest where it won a top prize. But you might want to take everyone else's word for it and add it to your screening schedule while the opportunity is right in front of you.

 

Oh ... and during the Women in Cinema festival but apparently not part of it is one of my favorite documentaries from SXSW - Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines. It's a fascinating and important review of female heroines that remains positive as it points out obvious and unfortunate gaps in female role models in pop culture. Most of the focus is on the Wonder Woman character. But there's a lot more mixed in ranging from other heroines to the Riot Grrl movement. Not to mention a good section on the incredible media program from Seattle's own Reelgrrls. Oh, and just a bit about the fascinating originator of Wonder Woman and why she always seems to be tied up in early editions of the comics. Worth seeing by comic fans .... and everyone else. It's funny, it's insightful, it'll make you want to twirl around to see if you become a superhero. Not that I ever tried that as a kid...