Womens Film Institute Shorts Tour

The San Francisco Women's Film Institute (WFI) presents the WFI Shorts Tour, "Films by Women that Entertain, Inspire and Motivate." Out of 300 inspiring entries, 11 films were selected to be premiered. The diverse selection of shorts at the tour celebrates the exceptional contributions of women in the world of cinema and represents a convergence of films from around the globe, including the U.S., Italy, France and China.  

The tour includes an Academy Award-winning short and a cross-section of socially conscious films that will entertain, inspire and motivate audience-goers to take action. The films explore the search for self-discovery, the pain of love and loss, and the struggle to meet society’s expectations of beauty. As well as a range of current political and social topics -- from the growing threat of climate change, to the plight of an orca whale forced to live in an aquarium, to education for undocumented immigrants. 

Screenings as follows:

Viola: The Traveling Rooms of a Little Giant Directed by Shih-Ting Hung  (USA, 2008, 9 min, Experimental/Animation)
On a stumble on slippery moss at the 4 o’clock bus stop, seven-year-old Viola, trying to discover the world, puts solitude in her suitcase and begins her dreamy journey.

The Girl with Liquid Eyes Directed by Charlotte Boulay-Goldsmith and Adam Smith  (United Kingdom, 2008, 5 min, Animation)
The Girl With Liquid Eyes is a rhyming tale about love and loss. A Girl cries over her lost love until her tears flood the entire world.

Larry and Roz Directed by Kristen Palana  (Italy, 2008, 4 min, Animation)
Larry, a 93-year-old widower confined to a Nursing Home, remembers a time when he had more spring in his step. Based on real audio recordings from 2002, animator Kristen Palana uses individually painted digital images to imagine and recreate her grandfather’s first attempts to woo his beloved Roz.

Perchance to Dream Directed by Lauren Kimball  (USA, 2009, 7 min, Animation)
Brutally taken from her family and home waters in Puget Sound, Washington and flown across the country to live in Miami, Florida, Miami Sea Aquarium’s star performer, Lolita the Killer Whale, is expected to perform daily after forty years in captivity. Based on true circumstances, this film dares you to reach over the boundary of social acceptance and embrace another living creature with empathy instead of applause.

Search Directed by Wang Ling  (China, 2008, 5 min, Live Action/Animation) 
Search forces its audience to confront modern society’s role in the growing threat of global warming. Through both animation and real-life images of an urban landscape, as well as a soundtrack that echoes the urgency that these images evoke, the film holds a mirror up to our behavior and its destructive consequences.

Silhouette Directed by Ashley Triplett  (USA, 2009, 2 min, Animation) 
Silhouette explores the idea of false self-image and the effects that society’s idea of beauty has on women. The film follows a figure in a mirror who, in her search for perfection, uses various tools to cut away pieces of herself only to remain unfulfilled and insecure.

Arresting Ana Directed by Lucie Schwartz  (France, 2009, 25 min, Documentary) 
Arresting Ana tells the story of the potential criminalization of the online pro-anorexia movement in France. The film follows two women: Sarah, an 18 year old college student with a "pro-ana," or pro-anorexia, blog, and Valerie Boyer, a passionate legislator who is proposing a groundbreaking bill that aims to ban pro-ana websites by issuing $30,000 fines and two-year prison sentences to members of this online underground movement.

Maria Desaparecida/Missing Maria Directed by Bethynia Cárdenas Íñiguez  (USA, 2007, 11 min, Narrative)
Based on the mysterious disappearances and tragic murders of hundreds of girls and women in Juarez, Mexico, Maria Desaparecida examines the grief of one family as they attempt to make sense of the senseless.

Mind the Gap Directed by Kristal Williams-Rowley  (USA, 2008, 16 min, Narrative)
When the realities of her father's job hit, Sara copes with her grief the best way she knows how. A story about the ways we handle grief and guilt, Mind the Gap reminds us of our need to feel useful and to make a difference. In the pitfalls of life, sometimes all we can do is mind the gap.

A Conversation Between a Mother and a Daughter Directed by Angelica Adams  (USA, 2006, 7 min, Experimental/Documentary)
A conversation between filmmaker Angelica Adams and her mother about Adams's sexuality forms the basis for this very honest and raw film. Using this conversation as a soundtrack for a series of layered images, Adams transforms something that began as A Conversation Between a Mother and a Daughter into an examination of acceptance and familial relationships.

Living to Dream Directed by Eva Kosmas (USA, 2009, 17 min, Documentary) 
A documentary that explores the issues facing undocumented college students, Living to Dream focuses on Andrea, a junior at Loyola Marymount University, and her struggles to achieve a higher education and fit in amongst the college crowd as an undocumented immigrant. Immigration experts, family, and friends discuss Andrea and the many difficulties facing undocumented youth in America today.