New York Women in Film & Television Screening Series Returns to Document the NYC Immigrant Experience
By: Macon Prickett Apr. 12, 2018
Women Filmmakers: Immigrant Stories, the acclaimed screening series featuring films directed and/or produced by women telling the stories of NYC immigrants, returns for a fourth season. Funded by the city's Department of Cultural Affairs, City Council Member Robert Holden and City Council Member Joseph Borelli as part of the Cultural Immigrant Initiative of the New York City Council, this year's Immigrant Stories Series has expanded to include programs in both Queens and Staten Island.
Back by popular demand, the compelling and topical series runs through June. The program was created in 2015 to highlight and promote works by women filmmakers focusing on the immigrant experience in New York City. This season's first screening, of Jan Oxenberg's 1991 surrealist documentary Thank You and Goodnight, was produced by NYWIFT in partnership with the Queens World Film Festival on March 20th.
The next program, on April 13 at 6:30 PM Maspeth Town Hall in Maspeth, Queens, will focus on the experiences of immigrant children and will feature four short films: Ladders (written and produced by Susan Locascio), Zainab and Nirmeen (directed by Sriyanka Ray), Bienvenido (directed by Teresa Torchiano), and Dear Pope Francis (directed by Gauri Adelkar).
Upcoming screenings include:
April 19th, 2018 at 6:30pm - New York Irish Center
(1040 Jackson Ave # 3, Long Island City, NY 11101)
Green Card Narratives
The Somasundarams - 6:25 mins, directed by Amrita Singh
Katcha's Unexpectedly Long Journey to the Beach - 9:50 mins, directed by Nada Stjepanovic
Johnny Loves Dolores - 27 mins, directed by Clarissa de los Reyes
April 26th, 2018 at 6:30pm - The Museum of the Moving Image
(36-01 35th Ave, Queens, NY 11106)
LGBTQ Narratives
Nowhere - 15:21 mins, directed Apoorva Charan
Nobody's Watching - 102 mins, directed by Julia Solomonoff
June 14th, 2018 at 7pm - Onderdonk House
(1820 Flushing Ave, Ridgewood, NY 11385)
Immigrant and First Generation Women's Workshop Films Screening
When We Meet Again
Before David
Future screenings to be announced.
Screenings are at community locations in Queens and followed by Q&As with the filmmakers and receptions featuring local foods sourced from neighborhood businesses and connected with cultures presented in the films. All screenings are free and open to the public. The program will also include a one-day production workshop on May 12th for immigrant and first-generation women taught by professionals from Third World Newsreel at Maspeth Town Hall. Applications for this free workshop will be available at www.nywift.org later this Spring.
Screenings in Staten Island will take place in May and June, including in Richmondtown. A program of films by Italian immigrants will be shown, followed by a pizza party, as well as a festival of works by Staten Island filmmakers.
"I'm thrilled that we were able to bring this program to Staten Island. The film screenings in Richmondtown this summer are really exciting and I hope they will encourage and inspire the current and future women filmmakers in our community," said Council Member Joseph Borelli.
"NYWIFT is proud to help these vital stories reach a wider audience," said NYWIFT Executive Director Terry Lawler. "We are grateful to Council Members Holden and Borelli and the City of New York for their support in giving a platform to these underrepresented voices."
In 2015 NYWIFT debuted Immigrant Women: Sharing Our Voices Through Film, as it was then titled, to audience acclaim with highly attended screening events. The series returned in 2016, and then expanded from its original five screenings to ten in its 2017 incarnation.
Immigrant Stories: Children's Stories - April 13 Program
Ladders (Written/Produced by Susanna Locascio
When a Dominican teenager attends a fundraising gala for her youth mentorship program it forces her to face some uncomfortable truths about her place in the world.
Zainab and Nirmeen (Directed by Sriyanka Ray)
Zainab and Nirmeen are two teens with an unlikely friendship. Zainab fled the war in Yemen and arrived in New York in 2015. Nirmeen is Palestinian American and a born and raised Brooklyn girl. They disagree on most things, including the wearing of the Hijab. They are also young Muslim activists fighting Islamophobia and racism in today's political climate. In this piece, we follow the two friends and get a glimpse into their lives as they balance their activism and religion with being teenagers in Brooklyn.
Bienvenido (Directed by Teresa Torchiano)
A family is targeted with a hate crime following the 2016 U.S. Presidential elections.
Dear Pope Francis (Directed by Gauri Adelkar)
When her best friend is TAKEN AWAY during an immigration raid, on the day of the Pope's visit to their city, Adriana decides to take matters into her own hands.
About New York Women in Film & Television:
New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) advocates for equality in the moving image industry and supports women in every stage of their careers. As the preeminent entertainment industry association for women in New York, NYWIFT energizes women by illuminating their achievements, presenting training and professional development programs, awarding scholarships and grants, and providing access to a supportive community of peers. NYWIFT brings together nearly 2,500 women and men working both above and below the line. NYWIFT is part of a network of 50 women in film chapters worldwide, representing more than 15,000 members. NYWIFT is a nonprofit 501c3 public charity.
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