Philly Women's Film Festival 2019






the women's festival philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA: The Women’s Film Festival (TWFF) is celebrating its 5th anniversary with an exciting lineup up of films and events March 14-23, 2019

Opening night kicks off at the Kimmel Center with “This Changes Everything.” Nominated for “Best Documentary” at the Toronto Film Festival, “This Changes Everything” is a story of gender discrimination told by some of Hollywood’s leading voices in front of and behind the camera. Produced by Geena Davis and several others, and directed by Tom Donahue the film uses interviews, reenactments, film clips and hard data to delve into the issue of sexism in Hollywood and beyond. The doc features first-hand accounts by several of Hollywood’s leading voices, including Meryl Steep, Shonda Rhimes, Sandra Oh, Reese Witherspoon, Taraji P. Henson, Natalie Portman, Cate Blanchett and many more. Executive Producer Simone Pero will be at the Kimmel Center and will participate in a Q&A after the screening. Pero has been nominated for her work on HBO’s “The Tale” and is the President of the New York Women in Film & Television. 

Also in attendance will be Saturday Night Live alum Cheri Oteri. Oteri stars in the comedic short film “Turkey’s Done” which will also be screened opening night. Shot right here in the city, the hilarious film captures the heart and soul of South Philadelphia. The team behind “Turkey’s Done” Monique Impagliazzo, Jennifer Tini, and Krystal Tini and Oteri, will all be in attendance for the screening. NBC10’s Denise Nakano will be the host for the evening. 



The 10 day festival will run from March 14 to 23rd in various locations throughout the city.  Highlights include “This is America” a free screening and panel discussion led by 6abc’s Nydia Han. Sports fans will enjoy the documentary “Shut Out! The Battle American Women Wage to Play Baseball”. Those into the arts will love, “I am a Creative Animal” a film about innovative singer and conductor Barbara Hannigan (opera diva Cookie Diorio will perform live) and “The Quiet Rebel” a documentary that tells the extraordinary, controversial story of radical feminist Australian performance artist Casey Jenkins: her rise to internet fame--and shame. “Believe the Beat” is an upbeat film about a crew of Brazilian street dancers as they take their dance from city park to global stage. 

In the features department “Olympia” is a lighthearted drama featuring quirky animation and well drawn, likable characters, “Rendezvous in Chicago” is a comedic feature film comprised of three vignettes corresponding to the beginning, middle and end stages of a relationship and “Two in the Bush” is an unconventional romantic comedy about dungeons, a fish named Archimedes, and the many forms that love takes.

The National Liberty Museum is set to host two screenings on March 19th: “Hello Girls: The 100-Year Old Story of America's First Female Soldiers” and Who Runs the World? 4 short films about powerful women.

Some of the short film programs include: The Lighter Side; A collection of smile inducing shorts including “Turkey’s Done” with Cheri Oteri, Lasting Images; a program of quiet films with haunting visuals, #Them too, a serious look at the horrors faced by women around the world, Inappropriate Laughter; those things that we’re not supposed to laugh at… and many others including a program of short films with a queer bent. 

The Closing night film will be screened at the Philadelphia Art Museum Perelman Building and stars Academy Award winner Anna Paquin and Holliday Grainger in the film, “Tell it to the Bees”. A tender period drama of a shunned small-town doctor and beekeeper in postwar Britain who befriends a struggling mother and son in a town too small for secrets. 

The 10 days of programming will be peppered with special events and plenty of chances for film goers to meet the large number of filmmakers attending the festival. 

The mission of The Women’s Film Festival is to inspire and cultivate the power of women in the film and entertainment industry. This year more than ever we realize how important our mission is. It is imperative for women to see our stories told and to be in positions of power in the film industry if we are to gain parity. In addition to the film festival we run workshops and events throughout the year but the festival is the centerpiece of what we do. 

In a full circle moment, one of the films being presented this year is the comedy “Call Me Daddy”. The director, Amanda De Souza, attended our festival in 2017 and was given the opportunity to meet Susan Johnson, the director of our centerpiece film “Carrie Pilby”. De Souza was so inspired that she contacted Ms. Johnson who became a personal mentor. Amanda became her personal assistant on “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” coming out on Netflix this summer and Susan helped her apply for film school. The film being screened at this year’s festival was written and directed for her AFI application. Magic!

South Jersey LGBTQA Pride is a proud recurring sponsor of The Women's Film Festival, We are looking forward to celebrating our 5th year and hope you will join us!


he Women’s Film Festival: March 14 - 23, 2019
Media Contact:  Suzi Nash, The Women’s Film Festival, 267.240.4364, SNzebra@aol.com




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