The Oswego Cultural Arts Commission celebrates women in the arts with the return of LUNAFEST, a fundraising film festival of shorts by, for, and about women Saturday, Feb. 3 in Oswego at the Oswego Village Hall, 100 Parkers Mill, 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.. There will be nine films.
LUNAFEST is a fundraising film festival dedicated to promoting awareness about women’s issues, highlighting women filmmakers, and bringing women together in their communities.
Tickets will be $25. at the door, subject to availability. In addition to the films, the festival offers artisan vendors, light snacks, wine for sale by the glass, and live music courtesy of Fox River Academy.
All proceeds from LUNAFEST will benefit Mutual Ground in its mission to create a community free of domestic and sexual violence through its shelter and education programs.
This unique film festival will highlight women as leaders in society, illustrated through nine short films by women filmmakers. The films range from animation to fictional drama, and cover topics such as women’s health, body image, relationships, cultural diversity and breaking barriers.
This year’s films will include:
• Girls Level Up (2016). Dir. Anne Edgar. A young Pakistani woman helps middle school girls in Silicon Valley in California realize their dream of designing their own video games.
• Buttercup (2017). Dir. Megan Brotherton. Maggie needs her best friend today more than ever, but never expected she’d actually show up.
• Toys (2016). Dir. Amanda Quaid. In 1930s farm country, a father tries to toughen up his little girl by giving her toys intended for boys, but his efforts backfire when she proves too capable.
• Fanny Pack (2016). Dir. Uttera Singh. A comedy about a young Indian-American woman who wants to follow her dreams and a fanny pack-clad Indian father who chases his daughter through an airport hoping that she will follow his dreams.
• Joy Joy Nails (2017). Dir. Joey Ally. In a Connecticut strip mall, Sarah manages a Korean-owned nail salon with an ever cheerful, K-pop pumping, manicured iron fist.
• Yours Sincerely, Lois Weber (2017). Dir. Svetlana Cvetko. A tribute to the highest-paid silent film director at Universal Studios in 1916.
• Jesszilla (2017). Dir. Emily Sheskin. Ten-year-old Jesselyn “Jesszilla” Silva is serious about boxing, and trains with dreams of becoming a professional fighter. Her father, Pedro, finds himself caught in between supporting her dream and worrying about her future as she tries to master a combat sport.
• Waiting for Hassana (2017). Dir. Ifunanya Maduka. In 2014, the extremist organization Boko Haram kidnapped 276 teenage girls from a town in northeastern Nigeria. Waiting for Hassana is a harrowing first-person account of one girl’s escape from captivity and a heart-wrenching lament for her closest friend Hassana, one of the many girls still unaccounted for.
• Last Summer, In The Garden ( 2016). Dir. Bekky O’Neil. Featured in the 18th Annual Animation Show of Shows, Last Summer, In the Garden recounts one woman’s journey through a joyful, fearful time of death and rebirth.
Tickets to this year’s LUNAFEST are $20. and are available at www.lunafest.org/screenings/oswego-il-020418.
For more information, contact Jenette Sturges, community engagement coordinator, at 630-551-2392 or jsturges@oswegoil.org.
—Village of Oswego
