LunaFest 2012

Ai! It's been a month and a half since I posted last! Gotta catch you all up on what this self-rescuing princess has been up to!

The goodie bag! Filled with lots of great stuff!

A dear friend very generously gave me her extra ticket to LunaFest 2012, and I had a blast (and spent way too much money)! It was wonderful to see so many local businesses out supporting such a wonderful event -- great movies by, for, and about women -- and helping local women!

I really wanted to win this sculpture. Sadly, I didn't.

I wish I could link all the films here for you to watch. They're all so important, so inspirational, so funny and moving. If you see them coming to your area, make it a point to go see them. They really are that good. These, though, were the four that really captured my heart:

Blank Canvas, by Sarah Berkovich

When Kim received a devastating diagnosis for uterine cancer, her world turned upside down. Through her treatment, she has struggled to cope with her changing body image in positive ways. Taking an unconventional route, Kim decides to turn her baldness into a blank canvass for self-expression, and in doing so creates a powerful statement that allows her to share her experience with others.

This one was really amazing. And empowering. I only hope that if I'm ever faced with something as traumatic and terrifying as Kim, I would have the same amount of grace and the same "f*** you" attitude.

Lunch Date, by Sasha Collington

2011 was supposed to be Annabel’s year. So why is she here, sitting in a restaurant, being told by a fourteen-year-old that her boyfriend, Thomas, doesn’t want to see her anymore. The small messenger is Wilbur. He has agreed to break the news as payment for borrowing Thomas’s tent. But dispensing with Annabel proves a bigger challenge than Wilbur had anticipated.

This film was funny and cute. It turns everything on its head, in a really charming way.

Flawed, by Andrea Dorfman

Artist Dorfman's drawings burst colorfully into life as she animates the story of her long-distance relationship with a man whose profession—plastic surgery—gives her plenty of fodder for thought about what makes a person beautiful. Flawed is less about whether girl can get along with boy than whether girl can accept herself, imperfections and all. Animated in timelapse, as an homage to the time-honoured tradition of storyboarding, the plot ofFlawed, unfolds like a storybook, one watercolour painting at a time.

This one was a bit heavy, tackling the tough subject of childhood plastic surgery. But the heaviness is offset by the animation style. It's sweet and thoughtful and really more what relationships really are about -- learning how to love ourselves in the context of the relationship.

Whakatiki - A Spirit Rising, by Louise Leitch

Kiri, an overweight Maori woman, takes a trip to the Whakatiki River where she spent many summers as a girl. With her goes her husband Dan, his friend Seb and beautiful newcomer, Josie. The place awakens powerful memories for Kiri, and as tensions mount she draws on her spiritual connection to the river to rise up and reconnect with her true self.

This got rousing applause. It was painful to watch, but the way it turned out was such a relief. And, frankly, this is the film that has stayed with me the longest.