FEMINIST BORDER ARTS FILM FESTIVAL
April 18 5:00-7:00pm Hardman-Jacobs Learning Center Room 125
Sponsored by NMSU Women’s Studies & Interdisciplinary Studies Department
The Feminist Border Arts Film Festival defines “feminist border arts” as a practice where boundaries are constantly refigured and limits are always challenged. The films that make up this festival provide perspectives from the edge, never from the center. The festival actively spotlights films that seek to create new cinematic images and new ways of seeing, some of which are predicated on the reversal of familiar subject positions. The Interdisciplinary Studies Department/Women’s Studies has organized the film festival in an effort to expand the aims of Women’s History Month beyond March to participate in year-round, intersectional events. More directly, the festival endeavors to intervene in the representation of women, people of color, LGBTQ+, dis/abled, and nonU.S. or/and non-Eurocentric peoples and nations in contemporary U.S. film culture. The call for entries for this inaugural festival received 273 entries total. The films selected for the festival were determined through a process that gauged each film’s distinct contribution to the festival’s themes and artistic importance. With its emphasis on short film, the festival seeks to highlight the work of new voices generating subversive representations that are not already in widespread circulation in contemporary U.S. film culture. Many films in this festival make their New Mexico, Southwestern, and even U.S. debut. Women’s Studies at NMSU offers a B.A., minor, and graduate minor in the interdisciplinary, intersectional study of gender and sexuality. Our major, minor, and courses are offered online and face-2face. Requirements for the minor can be competed online. Women’s Studies is deeply connected with examining social structures and identity from decentered, decolonized positions. Skills gained from our degree and courses translate into vital career resources. Many people choose to double major and minor with us because the knowledge and experience gained from our field makes them more competitive on the job market and also equips them with the skills to confront some of the most pressing social issues of our time.
Animated Shorts Le Machino
France 2:50
Julie Rembauville
In the corner of a street, a scrap man turns the crank of an old barrel organ. Red Point
Iran
4:43
Motahareh Ahmadpou
In a surreal city, all is slow and sad until the red point appears. Last Judgment
USA 2:59
Junyi Xiao
50 years ago the Cultural Revolution took place in China. This film is a poetic meditation on resistance and difference during this time period. In Black
UK 3:57
Lai Wei
A young girl is faced with the issue of bereavement. Ignored by the adults in her family, she finds her own way to say goodbye. One Day in July
Italy 2:12
Hermes Mangialardo
A child plays in the sand on a beach, but a soldier comes with a gun. The Mask
Greece 1:30
Athina Kanellopoulou
"The Mask" is a surreal film that reimagines what it means to wear a mask. The Edge**
Russia 12:00
Alexandra Averyanova
An elderly woman lives at a small station. The only event she looks forward to is the train that passes without stopping. **First Prize in Animation**
Live-Action Narrative Shorts Autumn Leaves Iran 3:59 Saman Hosseinpuor Autumn arrives with its leaves.
Child Furkan Yazgeรง A little boy wants a new toy.
Turkey 5:08
A Hairy Tale India 5:30 Shivangi Mittal A little girl gets her first haircut.
Cradle Iran 3:56 Zanyar Lotfi Being in charge is not all that it is cracked up to be. Invisible People U.S.A. 2:53 Demar Gunter A short documentary on what Joan Cheever and the Chow Train do to help the homeless of San Antonio. Dishes/Trastes Mexico 6:32 Arely Ponce A woman washing dishes falls into desperation.
Discipline Switzerland 12:00 Christophe M. Saber In a moment of anger, a father disciplines his child is a grocery store. A shocked customer intervenes. Other customers join the conversation.
Sunday/Domingo*** Mexico 6:47 Erika Oregel Two women prepare to hear Sunday mass. ***Grand Jury Prize Winner***
Schleierhaft Germany 13:47 Tim Ellrich Adel tries to find his own understanding of the world.
Love Comes Later USA 10:00 Sonejuhi Sinha An unexpected discovery forces an undocumented motel employee to make a life changing decision.
The Salt Man Iran 14:59 Seyed Sajad Moosavi Sa'id 'Aram is an artist obligated to work in a salt mine to support himself and his six year old daughter.
About the Filmmakers: Motahareh Ahmadpouris (Red Point) is a director of animated and live action shorts. She is interested in surrealism as an expressive medium. She is currently writing a new book she is illustrating herself.
Alexandra Averyanova (The Edge) graduated from the Fine Arts Faculty, Graphics Department of the Herzen University in St. Petersburg. In 2014 she completed her first short animated film “Shades of Gray.” “The Edge” is her second work.
Tim Ellrich (Schleierhaft) is a German filmmaker studying directing at the Filmakademie BadenWürttemberg in Ludwigsburg. Since his childhood, he was fascinated by movies and started by in a cinema in his hometown. His films have been shown in more than 100 festivals around the world.
Demar Gunter (Invisible People ) is a 15 year old high school sophomore from San Antonio, Texas. She has been making narrative and documentary short films on diverse topics ranging from homelessness to Alzheimer's disease since she was 14 years old.
Saman Hosseinpuor (Autumn Leaves) was born in Iran in 1993. He is the director of three short films.
Athina Kanellopoulou (The Mask) is a Greek visual artist. She received her B.A. in Fine Arts & New Media from Middlesex University. Her film “The Mask” has been screened at AnimaSyros 8.0 (International Animation Festival).
Zanyar Lotfi (Cradle) is an Iranian filmmaker.
Hermes Mangialardo (One Day in July) was born in Copertino, a little town in the south of Italy. When he was 14 his brother took him to see The Wall and that event changed his life.
Shivangi Mittal (A Hairy Tale) is an Indian filmmaker.
Seyed Sajad Moosavi (The Salt Man) is an Iranian filmmaker.
Erika Oregel (Domingo/Sunday) is a Mexican filmmaker in film and television. She debuted as a director with the documentary “El Noveno Horno,” first prize winner of the "Identidad y Pertenencia” category of 2014 Guanajuato International Film Festival. Arely Ponce (Trastes/Dishes) was born on February 3rd, 1992 in Baja California, Mexico.
Julie Rembauville (Le Machino) is a French filmmaker. Christophe M. Saber (Discipline) is an Egyptian/Swiss filmmaker studying at the University of Arts and Design of Lausanne in Cinema in 2010. Discipline is his senior project.
Sonejuhi Sinha (Love Comes Later) is an awardwinning New York filmmaker. Her most recent narrative short is one of ten short films accepted to the prestigious 2015 Cannes Semaine De La Critique, a festival renown for discovering talents such as Wong Kar Wai and Alejandro González Iñárritu. Lai Wei (In Black), a student is exploring Animation area in Central Saint Martin’s College in London. She enjoys finding different ways to express narrative in 2-D and stop motion animation, and loves to try different materials to enrich her works.
Furkan Yazgeç (Child ) studies film & television production at Istanbul Kultur Universitesi.
Junyi Xiao (Last Judgement), a Chinese filmmaker and animator, is an MFA animation student at the University of Southern California. His films have been screened at international animation festivals. He was nominated for the 2015 Annie Award for excellence in animation.