Women With Vision 2008: Past/Present

As we mark the 15th year of this festival, it seems fitting that we evoke the dramatic structure used so often in film of sliding forward and backward in time. This year’s festival is subtitled Past/Present, a theme many of the 2008 filmmakers have embraced. Each finds a way to reveal how the past has shaped the present—whether focusing on the legacy of women media artists from the 1960s, Native American boarding schools, human trafficking in Africa and Europe, or the way Jewish humor impacts today’s comediennes. A primordial forest becomes the source of new life in Japan and the Taliban’s destruction of the giant Buddhas has changed the way that Afghani children see the world.

Filled with international flavor, the festival also boasts a Minnesota premiere: producer Christine Walker and director Georgina Lightning present Older Than America. Global viewpoints come from Japan’s Naomi Kawase, with her Cannes Film Festival winner, The Mourning Forest, and a slate of films from Austria, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Iran, Brazil, and of course, the United States. At the Walker we show films by women throughout the year, but with this festival the month of March becomes a time to absorb the universal impact of women filmmakers.

With the Women with Vision International Film Festival, the Walker recognizes the unique contributions and perspectives women bring to the art of filmmaking, and we are deeply grateful to all the artists, filmmakers, and directors who have contributed to this event. We are pleased that this year’s sponsor is Faegre & Benson LLP, a firm committed to women’s success, in addition to its long tradition of pro bono representation and service to the community. We are also pleased to mark the 11th year of support by the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota. Special thanks to the ongoing encouragement and program support from Elizabeth Redleaf. . . .

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