Socially Relevant Film Festival NY Tells Stories From Around the World

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Tuesday, 11 March 2025 14:35

Written by Brad Balfour

Film has the power to reflect the world around it and give voice to those without one. And that is the heart of the Socially Relevant Film Festival. The 12th edition of SR Socially Relevant Film Festival NY runs March 11 to 16 in NYC and opens at the National Arts Club and screenings at Cinema Village.  The Mission of the SR Film Festival is to spotlight filmmakers who tell compelling, socially relevant, human-interest stories without resorting to violence or violent forms of storytelling. SRFF believes in the power of film to raise awareness of social problems.

The official selection of documentaries includes films on combating disease (Rare), feminist restaurants (A Culinary Uprising: The Story of Bloodroot), the people of Beirut (We Never Left), and more. The festival also includes the Voices of Canada selection of films, with five works from Canadian filmmakers, with the US premiere of Calmer Waters, a documentary about the first quadriplegic woman in Quebec to give birth.

Narrative features include Love & Vodka, about an aspiring screenwriter who falls in love with a Ukranian woman trying to survive the Russian attacks on the country, the political drama Widowbird, and the women’s health dramedy Lady Parts.

Festival Founding Artistic Director Nora Armani says "Twelve years have speeded by. We are proud to have had the opportunity to present over 750 socially relevant films from 40 countries. The work of talented and dedicated filmmakers has offered us the bonus of learning about the human condition and filmmaking while engaging with an audience as a first step toward raising awareness of social issues. We could not have done it without the valuable support of our sponsors, partners, and friends." SRFF was founded by Actress/ Filmmaker Nora Armani in 2013 in response to the proliferation of violence and violent forms of storytelling in media and entertainment. Following a family tragedy that cost the lives of two of her dearest and nearest, namely her cousin Vania and uncle Jack Exerjian, Armani founded the festival to commemorate them meaningfully.

To learn more, go to: https://www.ratedsrfilms.org/

Socially Relevant Film Festival NY
March 11 - 16

Various venues in NYC

The 15th Anniversary Athena Film Festival: The Cinematic Voice of Women From Around the World

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Tuesday, 04 March 2025 21:41

Written by Brad Balfour

Empire Waist

Now celebrating its 15th anniversary, The Athena Film Festival is dedicated to celebrating and advancing a new understanding of what women’s leadership looks like. Held at Barnard College of Columbia University in NYC, the festival runs from March 6th to the 9th with shorts, documentaries, and features that  feature a woman or women protagonist at the center of the story. Along with the slate of films, the festival hosts filmmaker workshops, master classes and panels on a variety of topics relevant to women in the film industry. 

Features include Empire Waist, in which a clothes-loving teenager is about to set the world on fire with her own line of inclusive fashion designs. Lilly tells the story of a poor, Alabama tire factory worker whose  fight for justice takes her all the way to the Supreme Court and then the corridors of Congress. Tatami is the first feature film to have both an Iranian and an Israeli director, Leila, an Iranian judo athlete is put in political danger when her government tells her to fake an injury and withdraw from the world championships rather than face an Israeli rival in the final forcing her to make a life-or-death decision that could put the lives of her, her coach and her family in danger.

Screenings are complemented by panels, filmmaker Q&As, and other events that investigate the intersections of gender, power, culture and society.

To learn more, go to: https://athenafilmfestival.com/

The 15th Anniversary Athena Film Festival
March 6 - 9, 2025

Barnard College
3009 Broadway
New York, NY 10027

Rendez-Vous with French Cinema 2025: 30 Years of French Cinema in NYC

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Tuesday, 04 March 2025 02:14

Written by Brad Balfour

 Suspended Time

Now in its 30th edition the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema film festival brings French cinema by new and classic directors alike. Running March 6 to 16 at Film at Lincoln Center the festival features 23 films, some making their US premiere. This year’s festival includes newcomers to the fest as well as returning directors, including the U.S. premiere of In His Own Image by Thierry de Peretti, in which a photographer’s love affair with an activist intersects with Corsica’s fight for independence; When Fall Is Coming, François Ozon’s darkly emotional thriller about a retiree whose country life masks her more complicated past; Visiting Hours by Patricia Mazuy and starring Isabelle Huppert, the story of the unlikely friendship between two women; and Suspended Time, a disarmingly personal work of autofiction from the great Olivier Assayas, capturing two brothers and their romantic partners trying to maintain their sanity amid the extended isolation of the 2020 pandemic lockdown while cohabiting in their provincial family house.

Many of the films also include introductions and Q&As from special guests. Guests include: Elizabeth Becker, Ludovic and Zoran Boukherma, Gilles Bourdos, Claire Burger, Delphine and Muriel Coulin, Louise Courvoisier, Matt Dillon, Judith Godrèche, Vincent Lindon, Thibaut de Longeville, Patricia Mazuy, Jonathan Millet, Rithy Panh, Thierry de Peretti, Camille Perton, Michel Petrossian, Agathe Riedinger, and Anamaria Vartolomei.

Two free talks addressing current issues in filmmaking will be offered: “Producers Shaping the Future of Film” brings together four adventurous film producers from France and the U.S. to discuss storytelling and filmmaking in the current business environment; and “Frames of Change: Judith Godrèche and Moi Aussi,” a conversation with Judith Godrèche, features the filmmaker discussing how speaking up about sexual abuse in the film industry has impacted her career and made her a pivotal figure of the MeToo movement in France.

The festival is conducted with the help of Unifrance, an organization formed in 1949 with the intent of promoting French cinema and television around the world. “Unifrance is honored to be celebrating 30 years of French cinema with our partner, Film at Lincoln Center,” said Daniela Elstner, Executive Director of Unifrance. “Rendez-Vous with French Cinema is one of our biggest highlights of the year and we are grateful to our partner for providing a home to French filmmakers in New York for the past three decades.”

To learn more, got to: https://www.filmlinc.org/festivals/rendez-vous-with-french-cinema/

Rendez-Vous with French Cinema 2025
March 6 - 16, 2025

Film at Lincoln Center
165 West 65th Street
New York, NY 10023