5TH ANNUAL LUNAFEST™ BRINGS AWARD-WINNING FILMS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
June 1, 2006
Contact: Event Manager Marcine Raskin
E-mail: lunafest2006@yahoo.com
Sex, Child Care, Menopause and Cultural Pressures Encompassed In Film Event
to Benefit Local Non-profit and the Breast Cancer Fund
Alameda, CA: June 1, 2006: – LUNAFEST, which celebrates its fifth anniversary this year as the only national touring festival of films by, for, and about women, will take place here this year on Saturday, June 24. LUNAFEST, produced by LUNA®, the whole nutrition bar for women™, provides a national platform for emerging women filmmakers to share their stories.
The program, which begins at 2:30 p.m. at the Auctions By the Bay Theatre at Alameda Point, will include eight winning films selected from more than 200 submissions that made their way through a multi-stage judging process. Under the direction of LUNAFEST’s professional programmers, the submissions were initially screened on technical merit, then further judged by the LUNAFEST 40-member community panel, assuring winners’ widespread appeal. Final selection followed a review by the LUNAFEST Board of Advisors, a panel of nine women professionals in the fields of film, media, marketing and women’s advocacy.
As in previous years, the films shown at LUNAFEST embody a wide range of topics dealing with what it means to be a woman in the 21st century. (Films are suitable for students 12 and older.) Topics include:
• a short, animated documentary about senior citizens’ sexuality
• a woman soldier’s crisis to find someone to care for her children during her tour of duty in the Middle East
• the dilemma of an Egyptian housewife living in Los Angeles, whether to follow tradition and circumcise her daughter
• a daughter’s struggle to be understood by her mother
• a mother’s search for her missing daughter
• a young Asian girl’s internal battle to find herself or continue to try to be “perfect”
• the healing power of friendship between an old woman and a troubled young woman
• a humorous look at menopause
The festival also features a variety of genres, including documentaries and animated shorts. Starting with just eight stops on its inaugural 2001 tour, LUNAFEST is expected to top 100 markets this year as it celebrates its fifth anniversary.
The event is being held as a benefit for the Family of Women, a non-profit organization dedicated to building successful relationships between men and women, empowering women to reclaim responsibility for their relationships. The Family of Women serves women, men, families and communities. Price of admission is $20. To purchase tickets in advance or for more information send an e-mail to lunafest2006@yahoo.com.
LUNAFEST also raises awareness of, and contributions for, the Breast Cancer Fund. In total, more than $75,000 has been raised for the Breast Cancer Fund. This is the first time the event has taken place in Alameda.
BACKSEAT BINGO, by Liz Blazer,
An animated documentary about the romantic lives of senior citizens.
Awards: Official Selection Telluride Film Festival, Official Selection AFI Fest, First Prize Animation Magazine Student Award (5m25s)
ONE WEEKEND A MONTH, by Eric Escobar
Meg, a busy single mom receives a phone call that her National Guard unit will be activated for duty in Iraq in two weeks. She struggles to figure out who will take care of her children.
Awards: Official Selection Sundance Film Festival, Official Selection AFI Fest (11m30s)
TAHARA, by Sara Rashad
Amina, an Egyptian housewife in Los Angeles under pressure from her mother, must decide whether to circumcise her daughter or abandon the tradition.
Awards: Santa Barbara Int’l FF, Victoria Independent Film festival, DC Independent FF (17m30s)
BLESSING, by Suju Vijayan
Maya, home for her brother’s graduation, is forced to deal with their often overbearing, sometimes embarrassing mother, Asha, seemingly oblivious to her daughter’s feelings. Asha is not without surprises, forcing Maya to rethink her opinion of her mother.
Awards: Santa Cruz Film Festival, LA Film Festival, (14m)
TWILIGHT, by Victoria Gamburg
A story about loss, despair and the possibility of redemption, set in the Russian city of St. Petersburg during its strange White Nights, when darkness never falls. A woman, Masha searches fruitlessly, through morgues and down alleys, for a daughter who disappeared three years previous.
Awards: SF Int’l Film Festival, Telluride International Film Festival, Princess Grace Foundation’s Cary Grant Award (21m)
PERFECTION, by Karen Lin
From infancy, an Asian American woman learns the game of Perfection. But if your goal is perfection, will the game ever end? Milton Bradley’s game Perfection mirrors an Asian American woman’s struggle to achieve success and her parent’s approval. Ultimately she must decide whether to end the game.
Awards: LA Film Festival, San Francisco Int’l Asian America FF, Seattle Int’l FF, Vancouver Int’l FF (6m24s)
LAYING DOWN ARMS, by Carol Schreder
The story of two women who forge an unlikely friendship through a mistaken phone call. Janet, a troubled young woman, and Esther, an elderly Holocaust survivor, engage in a conversation that transforms both of their lives. (13m45s)
MABEL’S SAGA / LE VOYAGE DE MABELLE, by JoDee Samuelson
The film blends animation with a lush musical landscape in which Mabel, juggling the demands of work, teenagers and an elderly mother, is confronted with hot flashes and chin hairs. In a touching, funny film without words that celebrates menopause as a natural transition rather than a medical condition to be feared, Mabel finds herself the unassuming heroine of her own adventure of aging.
Awards: Winner- Montreal World Film Festival, Best Short- Atlanta Film Festival (15m3s)
LUNA , the top-selling nutrition bar in natural food stores, now contains 30 percent more fiber and 25 percent less sugar. Based in Berkeley, Clif Bar & Co., whose product lines include LUNA, is a leading maker of energy and nutrition foods committed to sustainability from the field to the final product.
For more information on the Alameda LUNAFEST, e-mail lunafest2006@yahoo.com. More information is also available at www.lunabar.com/lunafest.
June 1, 2006
Contact: Event Manager Marcine Raskin
E-mail: lunafest2006@yahoo.com
Sex, Child Care, Menopause and Cultural Pressures Encompassed In Film Event
to Benefit Local Non-profit and the Breast Cancer Fund
Alameda, CA: June 1, 2006: – LUNAFEST, which celebrates its fifth anniversary this year as the only national touring festival of films by, for, and about women, will take place here this year on Saturday, June 24. LUNAFEST, produced by LUNA®, the whole nutrition bar for women™, provides a national platform for emerging women filmmakers to share their stories.
The program, which begins at 2:30 p.m. at the Auctions By the Bay Theatre at Alameda Point, will include eight winning films selected from more than 200 submissions that made their way through a multi-stage judging process. Under the direction of LUNAFEST’s professional programmers, the submissions were initially screened on technical merit, then further judged by the LUNAFEST 40-member community panel, assuring winners’ widespread appeal. Final selection followed a review by the LUNAFEST Board of Advisors, a panel of nine women professionals in the fields of film, media, marketing and women’s advocacy.
As in previous years, the films shown at LUNAFEST embody a wide range of topics dealing with what it means to be a woman in the 21st century. (Films are suitable for students 12 and older.) Topics include:
• a short, animated documentary about senior citizens’ sexuality
• a woman soldier’s crisis to find someone to care for her children during her tour of duty in the Middle East
• the dilemma of an Egyptian housewife living in Los Angeles, whether to follow tradition and circumcise her daughter
• a daughter’s struggle to be understood by her mother
• a mother’s search for her missing daughter
• a young Asian girl’s internal battle to find herself or continue to try to be “perfect”
• the healing power of friendship between an old woman and a troubled young woman
• a humorous look at menopause
The festival also features a variety of genres, including documentaries and animated shorts. Starting with just eight stops on its inaugural 2001 tour, LUNAFEST is expected to top 100 markets this year as it celebrates its fifth anniversary.
The event is being held as a benefit for the Family of Women, a non-profit organization dedicated to building successful relationships between men and women, empowering women to reclaim responsibility for their relationships. The Family of Women serves women, men, families and communities. Price of admission is $20. To purchase tickets in advance or for more information send an e-mail to lunafest2006@yahoo.com.
LUNAFEST also raises awareness of, and contributions for, the Breast Cancer Fund. In total, more than $75,000 has been raised for the Breast Cancer Fund. This is the first time the event has taken place in Alameda.
BACKSEAT BINGO, by Liz Blazer,
An animated documentary about the romantic lives of senior citizens.
Awards: Official Selection Telluride Film Festival, Official Selection AFI Fest, First Prize Animation Magazine Student Award (5m25s)
ONE WEEKEND A MONTH, by Eric Escobar
Meg, a busy single mom receives a phone call that her National Guard unit will be activated for duty in Iraq in two weeks. She struggles to figure out who will take care of her children.
Awards: Official Selection Sundance Film Festival, Official Selection AFI Fest (11m30s)
TAHARA, by Sara Rashad
Amina, an Egyptian housewife in Los Angeles under pressure from her mother, must decide whether to circumcise her daughter or abandon the tradition.
Awards: Santa Barbara Int’l FF, Victoria Independent Film festival, DC Independent FF (17m30s)
BLESSING, by Suju Vijayan
Maya, home for her brother’s graduation, is forced to deal with their often overbearing, sometimes embarrassing mother, Asha, seemingly oblivious to her daughter’s feelings. Asha is not without surprises, forcing Maya to rethink her opinion of her mother.
Awards: Santa Cruz Film Festival, LA Film Festival, (14m)
TWILIGHT, by Victoria Gamburg
A story about loss, despair and the possibility of redemption, set in the Russian city of St. Petersburg during its strange White Nights, when darkness never falls. A woman, Masha searches fruitlessly, through morgues and down alleys, for a daughter who disappeared three years previous.
Awards: SF Int’l Film Festival, Telluride International Film Festival, Princess Grace Foundation’s Cary Grant Award (21m)
PERFECTION, by Karen Lin
From infancy, an Asian American woman learns the game of Perfection. But if your goal is perfection, will the game ever end? Milton Bradley’s game Perfection mirrors an Asian American woman’s struggle to achieve success and her parent’s approval. Ultimately she must decide whether to end the game.
Awards: LA Film Festival, San Francisco Int’l Asian America FF, Seattle Int’l FF, Vancouver Int’l FF (6m24s)
LAYING DOWN ARMS, by Carol Schreder
The story of two women who forge an unlikely friendship through a mistaken phone call. Janet, a troubled young woman, and Esther, an elderly Holocaust survivor, engage in a conversation that transforms both of their lives. (13m45s)
MABEL’S SAGA / LE VOYAGE DE MABELLE, by JoDee Samuelson
The film blends animation with a lush musical landscape in which Mabel, juggling the demands of work, teenagers and an elderly mother, is confronted with hot flashes and chin hairs. In a touching, funny film without words that celebrates menopause as a natural transition rather than a medical condition to be feared, Mabel finds herself the unassuming heroine of her own adventure of aging.
Awards: Winner- Montreal World Film Festival, Best Short- Atlanta Film Festival (15m3s)
LUNA , the top-selling nutrition bar in natural food stores, now contains 30 percent more fiber and 25 percent less sugar. Based in Berkeley, Clif Bar & Co., whose product lines include LUNA, is a leading maker of energy and nutrition foods committed to sustainability from the field to the final product.
For more information on the Alameda LUNAFEST, e-mail lunafest2006@yahoo.com. More information is also available at www.lunabar.com/lunafest.
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