Women in Media-Newark Celebrates Women’s History Month with Annual International Film Festival

Free Screenings March 29 – April 7

Women in Media-Newark will hold its seventh annual International Film Festival March 29 through April 7 in celebration of Women’s History Month.  The winner of the Imaging Women: Like Jazz (Women’s Work) cell phone video contest for youth will be announced during the festival. Working in conjunction with Rutgers University–Newark, their major partner, WIM-N will host their largest Women’s History Month Film Festival over nine days at six venues.  All events are free and open to the public.

“Each year our Festival brings high level content centered on global issues that confront women.  It presents an amazing array of independent films from around the world that celebrate the indomitable spirit of women. Our theme this year is Like Jazz and our focus will be on women and the musical art form of jazz, as well as jazz as a metaphor for women’s work,” said Pamela Morgan, Executive Director and founder of the Festival.   “We’re delighted with the quality and the breadth of the films that will be screened this year.  And, as always, we’re impressed with the talent and expertise of the filmmakers who take part in our Festival.”

The opening ceremony on March 29 at Newark Museum will include a red carpet New Jersey premier for the feature film In the Morning, directed by Newark native Nefertite Nguvu, who recently won the Jury Award for Best International Film at the Terra Di Siena Film Festival in Italy.  The Siena judges praised Nguvu for her “great ability in directing a convincing ensemble on sensitive matters such as love, friendship and marriage in modern times, with great skill and direction, penetrating into the depths of human soul.” Nguvu and the cast of In the Morning will be on hand for a discussion following the screening. Other Festival activities will include interviews with filmmakers, panel discussions, vendors, screening of winning Cell Phone Cinema Contest entries and a Silent Auction.  A few of the highlights include:

March 30

  • Film shorts screening program
  • A jazz concert by Mimi Jones’ Fantastic Four featuring Shamie Royston on Piano, Camille Thurman on Sax, Shirazette Tinnin on Drums and Mimi Jones on Bass/ Vocal

March 31

  • Screenings at WBGO radio station
  • Screening of Mimi Jones’ documentary on legendary pianist Bertha Hope followed by a panel discussion with Jones, Hope and musicians Amina Figarova and Camille Thurman. 

April 1

  • Screening of Reflections of a Blessed Soul: Tribute to Maya Angelou
  • Screening of Millie and the Lords, a film focused on a young woman’s life changing  experience with the Young Lords of Spanish Harlem

April 2

  • Screening of the Cell Phone Cinema Contest winning entry
  • Screening of Dukhtar, a film about early child marriage, followed by a panel discussion with  Fraidy Reiss, founder of Unchained at Last, an organization that helps women and girls leave or avoid arranged and forced marriages, and Dr. Ousseina Alidou, author and expert on women in Islamic societies.

April 4

  • Screening of BaddDDD Sonia Sanchez, followed by a panel discussion with poets Jim Haba, Evie Shockley and Ted Wilson

April 5

  • Screening of The Unforgettable Hampton Family with special guest Dawn Hampton

April 6

  • New Jersey premier of Mary Lou Williams: The Lady Who Swings the Band

April 7

  • Screening of the autobiographical film Look at Us Now, Mother by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Gayle Kirschenbaum

In addition, Morgan said, the achievements of six accomplished women will be celebrated during the Festival.  They are: Newark cultural activist Liz Deltufo; Wilma Grey, the recently retired Director of the Newark Public Library; Dorthaan Kirk, Newark’s First Lady of Jazz; Deborah Mitchell, Distinguished Tap Professional; Marjorie Perry, entrepreneur and motivational speaker; and the Hon. M. Teresa Ruiz, New Jersey Senator.

“It’s obvious that it’s a great thing to honor women for all their accomplishments.   What makes doing so even more important is that we are acknowledging people who are very talented but are often under-appreciated because of their gender.  Women’s history should be celebrated every month,” said Kirk, widow of the jazz improvisationalist Rahsaan Roland Kirk.

Another Women’s History Month activity in Newark related to women and jazz is Like Jazz…A Visual Perspective, an art exhibit featuring work by local women artists.  Curated by Gladys Barker Grauer, the exhibit is on display in the lobby of the Victoria Theater at New Jersey Performing Arts Center March 2 - 30.  The Women Like Jazz exhibit, also curated by Grauer, opened on January 30, will remain on display at the Paul Robeson Campus Center at Rutgers University–Newark until the end of June.

Co-sponsors of the Women In Media-Newark film series include the Rutgers University–Newark Office of University-Community Partnerships/Office of the Chancellor, the John Cotton Dana Library, Rutgers Institute of Jazz Studies, the City of Newark, the East Orange Public Library, the First Unitarian Society of Plainfield, Forever Newark, The MAAT Center, the Newark Museum, Newark Black Film Festival, New Jersey Performing Arts Center , Newark Celebration 350, Newark School of the Arts, and WBGO-Newark Public Radio.

The film festival is free and open to the public although donations are welcome. The schedule and more information can be found at www.WIM-N.com or you may call 973-996-8342 or email info@wim-n.com.

About Women In Media-Newark:
Women In Media – Newark is an organization that advocates for and educates the public about issues affecting the lives of women using film, video and new media as our platform. Merging culture and academia, we rally behind our sisters who courageously struggle to assume leadership roles in the film industry with their conscious effort to present a balanced image of women, dispelling the stereotypes and changing public perception of their sisters worldwide.

About Rutgers University – Newark
Rutgers University-Newark is a diverse, urban, public research university that is an anchor institution in New Jersey’s cultural capital.  Approximately 12,000 students are currently enrolled at its 38-acre campus in a wide range of undergraduate and graduate degree programs offered through the Newark College of Arts and Sciences, University College, the Graduate School-Newark, Rutgers Business School-Newark and New Brunswick, the School of Law-Newark, the School of Criminal Justice, and the School of Public Affairs and Administration. At a historical moment when our cities, our state, our nation, and our world desperately need higher education to fulfill its promise as an engine of discovery, innovation, and social mobility. Rutgers University–Newark is exceptionally well positioned to fulfill that promise. It has a remarkable legacy of producing high-impact scholarship that is connected to the great questions and challenges of the world. It has the right mix of disciplines and first-rate interdisciplinary centers and institutes to take on those questions and challenges.  It is in and of a city and region where its work on local challenges undertaken with partners from sectors resonates powerfully throughout our urbanizing world.  Most importantly, Rutgers University-Newark brings an incredible diversity of people to this work—students, faculty, staff, and community partners—making it more innovative, more creative, more engaging, and more relevant for our time and the times ahead. For more information please visit www.newark.rutgers.edu.

Photo
Image from HerStory; Educate a Woman, Educate a Nation, a short documentary that follows three girls as they navigate their last year of high school in Ghana. Screening at the Paul Robeson Campus Center, Rutgers University–Newark, 350 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., on Sat., April 2.