Thomas Edison Film Festival 41st Annual Season – Women’s HERstory Month Marathon, celebrating women, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming filmmakers, in collaboration with the Hoboken Historical Museum

PROGRAM THREE – Streaming March 14 – 31, 2022

To reach the 3 programs, go to https://tefilmfest.org/curations.php, scroll down and click on “2022 Seasons Curations” to open list, and then select “Women’s HERstory Month Marathon”, Part 1, Part 2 or Part 3.

A conversation with filmmakers Ellen Smith Ahern and Shayna Strype, including a screening of their films and selected works by filmmakers from Belgium and across the US.

Clear Creek – Screen Dance 8 min. by Ellen Smith Ahern, Lebanon, NH, US and Kate Elias, Seattle, WA, US

A dust storm, a shoot-out, and endless horizons. Two women dance through iconic western images and into something new: a moving portrait of home, land and memory as illuminated by the voices of a rural Wyoming community.

Our Mine – Experimental 10 min. by Shayna Strype, Brooklyn, NY, US

In a handcrafted world where nature exists in harmony, a handful of greedy businessmen exploit a mountain’s riches. The female body becomes both landscape and character in an exploration of what happens when man considers himself separate from nature. This ecofeminist tragicomedy blurs the line between fable and reality.

A Hand to Hold – Animation 2 min. by Stacey Davis and Ali Clark, Homewood, AL, US

Told from alternating points of view, “A Hand to Hold” explores the connective thread of handholding between parent and child. When mother and child release hands – and enjoy the freedom that comes from letting go – they do so knowing they will always be joined.

Forestkeeper – Animation 7 min. by Alisa Karo, Gent, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium

This film follows a character closely through her journey in an isolated forest where the only other living creature seems to be unconscious. The borders between caring and controlling become thinner with every thread.

Of This Beguiling Membrane – Experimental 5 min. by Charlotte Pryce, LA, CA, US

The story unfolds on the Eve of Midsummer: on the day when the threshold between worlds is porous, and an idle gesture can tempt fate. Inspired by Robert Kirk’s The Secret Commonwealth (1671).

The Inconvenience Store – Animation 3 min. by Chelsea Pitti-Fernandez, Wayne, NJ, US

A girl stops at a convenience store to use the bathroom during her trip across the Arizona desert. Her visit there will be less than convenient.

The Mirror – Animation 13 min. by Mimi Chakarova, Berkeley, CA, US

“The Mirror” weaves personal stories, experiences, and reflections of nine Black women talking about their interactions with white people. On swimming, “Black people have no buoyancy,” says one white woman with assurance. “Your people have an inability to master the proper use of the English language,” says another. “The Mirror” is a revealing and unapologetic take on what it is like to be a Black woman in America.

Whisper, Rustle – Animation 5 min. by Maureen Zent, Atlanta, GA, US

Order gives way to chaos. Chaos generates ferment. Ferment spurs fecundity. “Whisper, Rustle” depicts this cycle with animation of natural and stylized elements drawn primarily from Yeats’s poems and prose. Stop motion animated objects include sand, pebbles, flower petals, oak bark, leaves, gravel, sponges, seeds, eggshells, a rotting log.

To learn more about the Thomas Edison Film Festival and the Thomas A. Edison Media Arts Consortium, visit www.TEFilmFest.org, Jane Steuerwald, Executive Director, +1 201.856.6565, Jane@TEFilmFestival.org