Join us at our Bechdel Film Festival Shorts #3

Cost: $10 ONLINE and $15 at the door

Olive and Lynn - In the summer of 1939, two young women - Olive and Lynn - wait for a man on a path in the woods. As time passes, Olive grows increasingly anxious and despondent about her situation - which is dire. Lynn tries to comfort her friend, but as the grim reality of Olive’s predicament sets in, both women are forced to face the frightening truth of what lies ahead. Helen Handelman is a writer/director based in New York. She is passionate about telling stories of women at critical junctures, on the precipice of making a big change or decision. Helen was a 2014 Core Company Member at The Orchard Project, and has developed work for the stage with Blue Man Group, LCT3, Ensemble Consensus, Shakespeare in the Park, Curtis Opera Theatre, Ars Nova, Clubbed Thumb, WP Theater, The Bushwick Starr, and Corkscrew Theater Festival. She graduated from Wesleyan University with double degrees in Theater and Religion. "Olive & Lynn" is her first film.

 

A Hard Pill To Swallow - Virginia Colmenares (Writer/Director) A recent Film & TV Production graduate of Sam Houston State University’s BFA program, Virginia is actively pursuing a career as a writer and director. She is passionate about every aspect of storytelling and ready to make her mark in the film industry.  As an immigrant of Caracas, Venezuela, and queer Latina, Virginia is passionate about making content that is honest, inspiring, unique, and most importantly, shines a light on underrepresented stories.

 

Our Home Here - Parallel stories of broken relationships between parents and their children striving for the American Dream all revolving around one explosive night at a fast food joint in Texas. Angela Chen (director) was born and raised in the heart of Texas with family roots in Taiwan and China. Her films have won numerous awards and premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, SXSW, Austin Film Festival, and more. Angela’s current narrative feature is the recipient of the Russo Brothers’ AGBO Films and AFI’s Development Grant and she was an Armed with a Camera Fellow at Visual Communications and a recipient of the ITVS Diversity Development Fund for her feature documentary. 
A graduate from the Master's Directing program at the prestigious American Film Institute Conservatory with a bachelor's in Film and a minor in Asian American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, Angela is also currently the Global Creative Director at HTC Vive (Virtual Reality)..

 

Project Girl  - A mom vies for her daughter's school project to be reconsidered, but she's met with larger challenges than she was expecting. Robyn Tomiko (Director).

 

The Maid - A maid arrives at a palatial home and discovers an evil living inside that has no intention of letting her leave. Kristin has directed for both film and stage in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York and taught acting at The Chicago College of Performing Arts in Chicago, IL and at DePaul University, The Theatre School. She is an award-winning screenwriter and playwright honored at numerous festivals including: The Austin Film Festival, The Nashville Film Festival, Screencraft, and The New York Screenwriting Contest. Kristin also wrote for the Emmy Winning web series Dropping The Soap. Kristin’s play #UnderTheInfluence, a dark comedy, will make its world premiere December 2021 at The Santa Fe Playhouse. 

When You Clean A Strangers Home - A first-generation high school student describes what she and her mom learn about people when cleaning their homes for a living. House decor and items left around convey a privilege that unveils her imagination, jealousy, and frustrations. Sharon Arteaga is known for When I Grow Up (2010), Plane Pretend (2019) and Trapitos Sucios (2013).

 

When She Was Good  When a young girl discovers that Santa is not real, she questions the lies told by adults and the terrible secret that she has been forced to keep.  Margarita Milne completed the Directing Fiction MA at the NFTS in 2021, where she was awarded a scholarship from the David Lean Foundation. After graduating, she was commissioned to do a video essay on Chloé Zhao for Birds Eye View as part of their Reclaim the Frame initiative. Her graduation short, WHEN SHE WAS GOOD, is currently doing the festival circuit and has been selected for the likes of Brooklyn, Manchester and Flicker’s Rhode Island. Her first NFTS short, BIRTHDAY, won the Grand Prize for Best Student Short at Flicker’s and her very first short, LA LA MEANS I LOVE YOU, was nominated for Best U25 Director at Underwire. Margarita is also a photographer and singer. She has been a Develop Ambassador for The Photographers’ Gallery and has a music project called MARGIE. She is currently writing a feature alongside two shorts.

You Look Amazing - is a comedy about three old friends who reunite and find out that each other's lives aren't exactly what they seem. It's about the alluring oppression of social media, facing outward when all you want to do is fold inward, and getting shitfaced. Jen Wineman is a theatrical director/choreographer based in Brooklyn. Her work has been seen at theaters in New York and across the country. New York credits include Less Than 50% (59E59); Surfer Girl (Animus); My Heart is in the East (La Mama); Fable (NYMF), The King’s Whore (Walkerspace); F#%king Up Everything (Elektra Theater) Estrella Cruz [The Junkyard Queen] (Ars Nova). Touring productions include Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Asolo Repertory Theatre). Regional credits include the world premiere of the new musical Game On (Pittsburgh CLO); Shakespeare in Love (Virginia Rep); Into the West (Tantrum Theater); Baskerville (Dorset Theatre Festival); The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (Asolo Rep & Miami New Drama); Sweeney Todd (Playmakers Rep); The 39 Steps, Shipwrecked (Triad Stage); The Hunchback of Seville (Washington Ensemble Theatre); Bubble Boy (American Theater Group); Aloha Say the Pretty Girls (Theatre Vertigo). Jen recently directed and choreographed Dog Man the Musical for Theatreworks USA, which is currently running Off Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. Education: B.A.Vassar College, M.F.A. Yale School of Drama.