For its ninth year in a row, the Denver Film Society will host the Women + Film Festival at the Sie FilmCenter April 9 – 14. This event aims to open up a conversation about diversity and understanding through films that vary wildly in angle and content about women, directed by women and for all audience members willing to watch and listen.
“With the growing focus on the underrepresentation of women in the film industry, especially women with diverse backgrounds, the Festival is an important platform to shine the light on women working behind the scenes to create change,” said Founder Barbara Bridges.
The festival will feature over 15 different films including a documentary titled Knock Down The House that follows four politicians as they fight to make their mark on our political sphere. Media darling Representative Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez is featured alongside Amy Vilela, Cori Bush and Paula Jean Swearengin. Other empowering films being screened throughout the event include Naila and the Uprising that recounts the tale of a young woman, Nalia Ayesh, through an uprising in Gaza in 1987, Olympia, a documentary about famous actress Olympia Dukakis’ latest years and many more.
OLYMPIA from Olympia on Vimeo.
The festival will debut several panels throughout the different dates including a panel discussion and reception with Abigal E. Disney and Suhad Babaa after the screening of Naila and the Uprising. Disney, a documentary filmmaker, philanthropist and — yes — grandniece of Walt Disney, was an executive producer for the film and will lead the discussion alongside Suhad Babaa, a media strategist, producer, human rights advocate and the Executive Director of Just Vision, an organization that researches, documents and disseminates the stories of Palestinians and Israelis working to end the current occupation.
The six-day event is sure to dazzle audience — male and female alike — with its eye-opening perspective and powerhouse speakers. The festival goes beyond shedding a light on the industries much-needed gender power structure reformation, it allows for critical thinking on topics we often don’t expose ourselves to in our daily lives.