CASCADIA International Women’s Film Festival presents 27 exceptional films directed by women from around the world. You can also find our Official Selections of 2020 here.
2021 Festival Selections
Short Films
2 DOLLARS
sponsored by Virginia Money
DIRECTED BY ROBIN CLOUD (U.S.)
As a black queer masculine-of-center artist, Syd deals with the daily slights from ignorant co-workers, an oblivious boss, and a killer workload. Louise, a gambling-addicted coworker, pressures Syd into contributing to the office lotto pool.
7 AM WEDNESDAY
DIRECTED BY JULIE HERLOCKER (U.S.)
A normally prompt teen shows up late at his therapist’s office totally freaked-out. Can she gain his trust to find out what happened, or is her life in jeopardy?
THE PLUMBER
sponsored by Sue Bender Esq.
DIRECTED BY CATE CARSON (U.S.)
In this fresh take on WWII, inspired by the true story of Irena Sendler, an everyday heroine risks it all in a smuggling operation from Nazi-occupied Poland
THE BOMB
DIRECTED BY DIMA HAMDAN (GERMANY)
Wasim and his mother haven’t been getting along for a while. When the police ask them to evacuate their home in Berlin for one night so they can excavate a long-buried WWII bomb, feelings of anger and hurt also come to the surface
DRIVING LESSONS
sponsored by Anne Hildebrand
DIRECTED BY MARZIYEH RIAHI (IRAN)
According to the laws of Iran, Bahareh must have her traditional, chauvinistic husband accompany her to driving lessons so she and her instructor will not be alone
graceland
sponsored by Debby and Barry Meyers
DIRECTED BY BONNIE DISCEPOLO (U.S.)
Anna Camp stars as a southern mom whose life is all-shook-up when her fourth-grader claims to be a reincarnation of “the king of rock-n-roll.”
SUGAR CRASH
DIRECTED BY LIAT GLIK (ISRAEL)
Aviva, 60, regularly goes to the local supermarket for candy and junk food. On one visit, she encounters Dror, a theatre director, who reminds her of her dream to become an actress. But it’s her complex relationship with the scale that stands in her way.
PILE POIL / BY A HAIR
DIRECTED BY LAURIANE ESCAFFRE & YVONNICK MULLER (FRANCE)
In three days, Élodie will sit the hair removal exam of her beautician diploma. Her father, Francis, a butcher, would prefer it if she helped him more in his butcher’s shop
nouvelle saveur / HAUTE CUSINE
Runtime 24 minutes. French w/ subtitles.
DIRECTED BY MERRYL ROCHE (FRANCE)
Since Marie joined Bruno Mercier’s restaurant, a multi-star chef, she only thinks to perfect her skills. But Thomas, the sous-chef, is wary of this possible rival. During a service, Mary cuts herself, letting a few drops of blood mix with her sauce. When Bruno tastes Marie’s dish, he considers it perfect.
LA PLAYITA / THE LITTLE BEACH
DIRECTED BY SONIA BERTOTTI (ARGENTINA)
The City of Corrientes in summer. On the shores of Paraná, in the shadow under General Belgrano Bridge, thousands of families compete for space for their umbrella and chaise lounge. Priscila, a 7-year-old girl no one pays any attention to, sets out in pursuit of an elusive toy vendor, getting further away from her family and closer to adventure
AND THEN
DIRECTED BY JENN RAVENA TRAN (U.S.)
“And Then” is a short film about two women who meet and grow closer to each other through insomnia, exploring a new city, and art.
It is a story about missed connections, loneliness, adventure, longing to be accepted, art, finding purpose, and the possibility of reconnecting with those we’ve lost touch with. The short film follows Mana, a Japanese-American woman who arrives in Tokyo seeking to find a break from her life as an artist, and Haru, a Japanese woman from the countryside who dreams of becoming an artist herself one day. They meet under unique circumstances, and their story unfolds.
HARRIA HERRIA / ROCK COUNTRY
sponsored by Women of Morey Avenue
DIRECTED BY JANIRE EXTABE (SPAIN)
The aesthetics and spectacular nature of vertical dance, set in a quarry, a place destroyed by humankind. The beauty of dance substitutes the crudeness of the rock. Attention is focused upon the figure of a woman, demanding a leading role –as is happening in today’s society–. Women that dance, women that climb, women that even lift rocks, as if they were heaving high a country. Harria is the rock, Herria the country.
QU’IMPORTE SI LES BÊTES MEURENT / SO WHAT IF THE GOATS DIE?
DIRECTED BY SOFIA ALAOUI (FRANCE)
High in the Atlas Mountains, the young shepherd Abdellah and his father are hemmed in by snow at their goat pen. Their animals are wasting away. Abdellah must go to find supplies at a market village more than a day’s walk away. When he arrives with his mule, he finds the village abandoned due to a strange event that has wreaked havoc on the lives of all believers.
JUST A GUY
contains violence, language, sex
DIRECTED BY SHOKO HARA (GERMANY)
“Just A Guy” is an animated documentary film about love. Three women share glimpses of their affection attraction and relationship with Richard Ramirez: A serial killer and rapist they contacted after his conviction in the 80s. Through their perspective, we revisit exchanged letters and emotions that are as obsessive as they are hauntingly familiar.
Student / emerging Directors
PLAQUÉ OR / GOLD PLATED
Sponsored by Virginia Money
DIRECTED BY CHLOÉ LEONIL (FRANCE)
Inès, 16 years old, is determined to find a job when she meets Martin, a boy from the nice neighborhoods of Brussels. Feeling something between shame and fascination, she becomes brutally aware of social injustice.
(Trailer not available)
HEADING SOUTH
Sponsored by American Association of University Women–Whatcom County
DIRECTED BY YUAN YUAN (MONGOLIA)
Eight-year-old Chasuna travels from her home on grassland to visit her father who lives in the big city. However, during her father’s birthday party, Chasuna finds out he has remarried a Chinese woman. Chasuna has to learn how to accept her as part of the family.
APPLE OF MY EYE
Sponsored by Virginia Money
DIRECTED BY SHIRA FARBER (ISRAEL)
The “Cottage Cheese” protest in Israel 2011 was named due to the rising prices of housing and basic products. Lee (45) puts up a tent together with all the young protesters. When her daughter gives her an ultimatum to come back or else she will move to live with her father, Lee must decide what to do.
(Trailer not available)
YOU HAVEN’T SEEN WHAT I’VE SEEN
Sponsored by American Association of University Women–Whatcom County
DIRECTED BY EWA LANG (POLAND)
End of summer in a secluded lake house. Seven years old, Misia struggles to save herself from her abusive father. Realism blends with the colorful and mellifluous world of fantasy. As the balance between them shifts dangerously, Misia is starting to lose her sense of security and faith in adults’ loyalty.
RIO
DIRECTED BY ZHENIA KAZANKINA (RUSSIA)
Paulina lives and works in a small hotel in the northern town near the border. She and her friend Nadia dream of a different, paradise, and exotic world. One day a stranger arrives at the hotel. Torn between a man and a friend, Paulina is trying to understand who she really is and what she wants most in her life.
FEATURE FILMS
MY DONKEY, MY LOVER, AND I
Sponsored by Bob & Sheila Goodwin
DIRECTED BY CAROLINE VIGNAL (FRANCE)
Antoinette, a school teacher, is looking forward to her long-planned summer holidays with her secret lover Vladimir, one of her pupils’ father. When she learns that Vladimir cannot come because his wife organized a surprise trekking in the Cévennes National Park with their daughter and a donkey to carry their load, Antoinette decides to follow their tracks, by herself, with her own stubborn donkey.
Trailer
A SHOT THROUGH THE WALL
Sponsored by Daniel Larner
DIRECTED BY AIMEE LONG (U.S.)
Inspired by a true event, “A Shot Through the Wall” is about an Asian American police officer who accidentally discharges his weapon, killing a black teenager through an apartment wall. The case spirals out of control as the incident is deemed police racial bias. His fiancée is African American, but his reluctance to involve her as part of a PR defense unleashes a series of mishandled opportunities for him to defend himself.
BLACK GIRL IN SUBURBIA
Sponsored by Days For Girls
DIRECTED BY MELISSA LOWERY
Filmmaker Melissa Lowery shares her own childhood memories of navigating racial expectations both subtle and overt. Through conversations with her own daughters, teachers, and scholars who are experts in the personal impacts of growing up a person of color in a predominately white place, this film explores the conflicts that many Black girls in homogeneous hometowns have in relating to both white and Black communities.
DROUGHT
Sponsored by Megan Taylor and Kent Stoddard
DIRECTED BY HANNAH BLACK &
MEGAN PETERSEN (U.S.)
There’s no such thing as normal.
It’s 1993 and North Carolina is experiencing a historic drought. Autistic teen Carl, fascinated by weather, predicts that a storm will soon hit nearby. His sister Sam crafts a plan to help him chase the storm, stealing their mother’s ice-cream truck to embark on a road trip about family, forgiveness, and following your dreams.
FAR EAST, DEEP SOUTH
Sponsored by Patti Imhof
DIRECTED BY LARISSA LAM (U.S.)
Far East, Deep South explores the seldom-told history of Chinese immigrants living in the American South during the late 1800s to mid-1900s through the eyes of Charles Chiu and his family as they travel from California to Mississippi to find answers about his father, K.C. Lou. In the span of just several hours, a simple family trip leads to unexpected and emotional encounters with local residents.
MONKEY BEACH
Sponsored by John Blethen
DIRECTED BY LORETTA TODD (Canada)
Waking up in her East Van apartment, Lisa is visited by her cousin’s ghost, “Your family needs you.” Reunited with her Haisla kin in Kitimaat Village, she realizes that she’s meant to save her brother, Jimmy, from a tragic fate she’s foreseen since childhood. Of course, there’s also the matter of contending with the mystical creatures lurking in the woods in this captivating allegory of coexisting with both the ghosts that haunt and the spirits that enlighten.
persona non grata
Sponsored by Anonymous
DIRECTED BY LISA JESPERSEN (DENMARK)
“Persona Non Grata” is a humorous drama about Laura who has distanced herself from her family in the countryside and has moved to Copenhagen to be a writer and live the bohemian lifestyle. When she is forced to return to her childhood home to participate in her brother’s wedding, she discovers that he is about to marry her worst childhood enemy, Catrine
WALCHENSEE FOREVER
DIRECTED BY JANNA JI WONDERS (GERMANY)
If there is such a thing as a family memory that carries forward over the course of history, then it determines the actions of every generation. The director tells the story of the women in her family, set amongst Walchensee, hippie dreams, and the commune surrounding Rainer Langhans.