California Women’s Film Festival

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January 2024 selections and Winners

Official Selections


A Girl From a Box

Dir. Alxis Ratkevich, Chloe Taylor

Saturday  1/6/2024 Block 2

Charlie is a dispirited bachelor on a losing streak whose only friends are his overbearing Catholic mother, Wendy the webcam girl, and Bill his pet fish. After countless rejections in the dating world, he stumbles upon a website selling companion robots. Intrigued by the idea of finally finding his perfect mate, Charlie designs his companion to meet all his specifications. Initially, the technologically advanced “April” fulfills all of Charlie's desires, but the honeymoon fades quickly when April's artificial intelligence allows her to evolve into a real woman. Feminism is awoken in April as she reads voraciously, makes new friends, and enrolls in a University. Soon April's lust for life begins to surpass Charlie and his lack of ambition. He finds himself lonely again and waiting on dinner with a sink full of dirty dishes. He begins to wonder if “perfectly designed love” is really so perfect.

A Moment of Your Time

Dir. Shannon Joy Rodgers

Friday  1/5/2024 Block 3

A Bible Salesman solicits a 1950's Southern Housewife.

A Trusted Space: Decoding Behavior

Dir. Tanner Woodley

Sunday  1/7/2024 Block 1

This urgent and impactful docu-training film for educators explores the intricate connection behavior has to developmental science, offering an essential lens through which educators can decode escalating behaviors and declining academic focus.

Barefoot

Dir. Julia Knox, Kasey Orthmann

Saturday  1/6/2024 Block 3

What should have been a routine appointment at the OBGYN for Molly Manzel, it spirals out of control when the doctor can't get to her vagina because the doctor is so distracted by her ugly feet.

Blue Hour

Dir. J.D Shields

Friday  1/5/2024 Block 2

Two personal journeys intersect when a struggling young photographer is hired for a cheap last minute portrait gig. The unfolding photo session, while transient, leaves an indelible mark on both women.

Bowler Up!

Dir. Hunter Hawkins

Friday  1/5/2024 Block 1

The headstrong captain of a bowling team must defeat her ex-teammate, turned DJ of the bowling alley, in order to make the league finals. The catch? Her team’s bowling success is dependent on the music playing in the alley.

Cats and Husbands

Dir. Grace Samson, Barry Samson

Sunday  1/7/2024 Block 1

Writer/Director Grace Samson brings us “Cats and Husbands,” a fun and touching dramedy about a young couples' challenges with In Vitro and the "unique: situation that results.

Dawn

Dir. Hunter Hawkins

Friday  1/5/2024 Block 3

A young, out-of-place musician must overcome her fear of standing alone.

Diana

Dir. Joy Tan

Friday  1/5/2024 Block 3

Sex worker Diana meets a new client.

Dinner with the Devil

Dir. Sydney Sheren

Saturday  1/6/2024 Block 2

A young woman’s attempt to summon the Devil is interrupted when her roommate comes home earlier than expected.

Elle

Dir. Mélodie Casta

Saturday  1/6/2024 Block 3

After getting physical during a fight with her boyfriend , Elle reluctantly decides to start therapy. Her boyfriend breaks up with her and advises her to address her grief and ''forgive people''. Elle 's dad, Charles, who she blames for her mother 's death was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's. He gets thrown out of the senior home he was in and Elle is forced to take him in. Incapable of dealing with the state of their relationship, she flees the scene to go stay at her best friend's Jamie's. The girls fight over a potential producing partner for their podcast. Charles left alone at Elle's runs away in the middle the night while having an episode...

Fate vs. Elena

Dir. Laura Sedlak

Saturday  1/6/2024 Block 2

Fate vs. Elena is the story of a jaded millennial psychic who doesn’t believe in fate until a premonition turns her life upside down.

Fault

Dir. Steph Martinez

Saturday  1/6/2024 Block 3

A couple discusses the dissolution of their relationship and the infidelity at its core.

Good Day

Dir. Gracie Todd

Saturday  1/6/2024 Block 1

Joanna Salisbury the 3rd, finally woke up having a good day...time to finally do all those chores! But will it last?

Have You Ever Wanted to Kill Somebody?

Dir. Sebastian Berenguer

Sunday  1/7/2024 Block 1

A pretty young woman, afraid of flying, strikes up a conversation with the man sitting next to her on the plane, during which she will confess more of what he would like to hear.

HE.R

Dir. Jarrett Craig

Saturday  1/6/2024 Block 2

Based on a true story, a young female musician comes face to face with her stalker and finds safety in an unsuspected hero.

Hell Week

Dir. Kassy Mahea

Saturday  1/6/2024 Block 2

Nikki's dark secret quickly unravels when her monthly monster comes knocking at her door.

How I Got Over

Dir. Valerie Udeozor

Sunday  1/7/2024 Block 2

Delores Gordon Alleyne now Age 90 is the first black woman to graduate from University of Louisville Medical School in 1957. In the short documentary narrated with rap music, her story is used to promote health professions in the black community

In the Gray

Dir. Alexandra Hensley

Sunday  1/7/2024 Block 2

When Tami, a 33-year-old wife of a pastor, becomes pregnant with what would be her sixth child. She realizes that another baby would be an impossible burden. With despair and the courage of her convictions, Tami makes the long and lonely drive to a clinic in order to terminate her pregnancy. Once inside, the fear and guilt overwhelm her and it is only through the strength and compassion of the other women that Tami is able to calm down, and for once in her life make a decision totally for herself.

INSIDE ME - YOU

Dir. Arina Rozova

Friday  1/5/2024 Block 1

17-year-old aggressive boxer Maria faces a choice: forgiveness or revenge when she finds out that her father released early from prison, where he was for murder.

Jailhouse To Milhouse

Dir. Buddy Farmer

Saturday  1/6/2024 Block 1

This is the courageous journey of Pamela Hayden, voice of the plucky, resilient Milhouse on "The Simpsons”: After surviving an abusive boarding school and juvenile jail, as well as other setbacks, Pamela now speaks to teen girls about overcoming obstacles and turning their dreams into reality. Her story is told with surprising humor and great candor.

Jasmine Flowers

Dir. Shaily Sanghvi

Friday  1/5/2024 Block 2

An elderly Indian woman who challenges the cultural norm of widows being bad luck, decides to go to a wedding uninvited but finds herself reevaluating the meaning of traditions and acceptance.

Just Passing Time

Dir. Brigid Marshall

Friday  1/5/2024 Block 3

Just pass time -- it’s what we all do in the dating game until we stop fucking around. This short film encapsulates the circuitous nature of dating people who don’t know what they want, while you yourself don’t know what you want.

Lady In Ermine Short

Dir. Donna DiGiuseppe

Saturday  1/6/2024 Block 2

The biopic short film Lady In Ermine dramatizes the day in which Sofonisba Anguissola found her inspiration as a portraitist amidst the occupation of her land by a foreign ruler - the ruler she would one day capture in paint.

Laughing Again

Dir. Sarah Knapp

Friday  1/5/2024 Block 2

A short film about grief, post-traumatic growth, & the power of Gorilla Glue.

Life of Riley

Dir. Lisa Datz

Friday  1/5/2024 Block 2

In the intriguing drama, Life of Riley, when Riley witnesses a suspicious act involving her boyfriend Juan Carlos, she begins questioning everything, launching her well-crafted world into a maelstrom of doubt, secrets, and ultimately, a devastating reversal of fortune.

Loganberry Lane

Dir. Cathy Cahlin Ryan

Friday  1/5/2024 Block 2

A group of women bond over a robbery in their neighborhood.

LOVE IS MY GUN

Dir. Valerie  Verseau

Saturday  1/6/2024 Block 3

"Love Is My Gun" is about what the World could be like if we replaced violence with Love. This music video speaks against mass violence and promotes the spread of mass kindness instead.

MÅNGATA

Dir. Maja Costa

Friday  1/5/2024 Block 2

Little Alya and her father are crossing the Mediterranean Sea on a boat that takes them from Africa to Europe in search of a safe place to call home. Tragically, the boat sinks. Thanks to Mångata—“the road to the moon”—the rescuers spot little Alya, the sole survivor. Many years later, we find her again as an astronaut on an important lunar mission. In the middle of the mission, a technical communication problem isolates Alya from the base. This is when she has an encounter that teaches her how Mångata, which already saved her life once, will now help her overcome her past trauma.

Maize

Dir. Corsica Wilson

Friday  1/5/2024 Block 1

Set in 1911 at an autumn festival, a neurotic young woman tries to forcefully rekindle a friendship through childhood traditions and struggles with the rejection.

Malti

Dir. Mrunal Mestri

Saturday  1/6/2024 Block 3

Malti, an ode to the silent women in relationships.  Malti is a story about a woman living in an illusional world, choosing to ignore the reality of her broken marriage.  But... until when can one hold on?

Matty Cat

Dir. Natalie Christine Rodriguez

Sunday  1/7/2024 Block 2

A nameless kitten learns the meaning of home when they get lost on a night walk.

Party Favor

Dir. Yasmine Gomez

Friday  1/5/2024 Block 1

A Filipino-American woman grapples with going behind her strict Catholic sister's back to buy condoms for her 14-year-old niece.

Please.

Dir. Chudi Zhang

Friday  1/5/2024 Block 3

After many years apart, a mother and daughter reunite and continue the story of the daughter's escape from family life in the first half of her life.

Relationship Rehab

Dir. Nikki Moore, Donna Grillo

Sunday  1/7/2024 Block 1

We follow Dr. Sally as she facilitates group therapy with relationship troubled women.

Sole Suspect

Dir. Maggie Castle

Friday  1/5/2024 Block 1

Just when a retired detective thought she was finally out, her son’s missing shoes pull her back in.

Specks of Red

Dir. Joseph Le

Saturday  1/6/2024 Block 1

A troubled young woman has a heart to heart with her dead mother.

Sugar

Dir. Alyssa Brayboy

Friday  1/5/2024 Block 2

Sugar is a drama exploring those involved in and around the sex work industry.

Sungazer

Dir. Alexandra Aristy

Sunday  1/7/2024 Block 2

Music video for the song "Sungazer"

The Early Bird

Dir. Coco Medvitz

Saturday  1/6/2024 Block 1

A frustrated receptionist is rejuvenated by thievery, but finds an ethical dilemma in her booty.

The Herring Girls

Dir. Rekha Garton

Friday  1/5/2024 Block 1

Annag is alone, lost, fighting for her sanity. Awake and dreaming, she is drawn to the shoreline, yearning for the deep coastal waters. By day she feels the eyes of The Herring Girls on her as she pulls and tears at the fish alongside them, trying to hide her slipping grasp of reality. Do they know something she doesn't?  Annag is losing herself to powers bigger than anyone would know.

THE PRANK

Dir. Maureen Bharoocha

Sunday  1/7/2024 Block 3

Overachiever, Ben, and his slacker friend, Tanner play a prank on their high school physics professor when she fails them on a test. They teach the imperious, demanding instructor a lesson by falsely accusing her of the murder of a missing student on social media.

The Promotion

Dir. Madison Hatchett

Saturday  1/6/2024 Block 1

Irene, a working mother, has never been able to move up in her career. When her young boss offers her a promotion at the expense of additional work, she stays up all night to finish a project with surprising results.

The Rising

Dir. Mila Perkins

Sunday  1/7/2024 Block 2

Joe Sutton, a Veteran, is blackmailed and becomes entangled with a conspiracy group. Fearing for his daughter's safety, Joe has no choice other than to assist the group in carrying out their dastardly plans of swaying the political climate through spread of misinformation.        When Joe discovers his college sweetheart is the group's next target, his mission becomes to save her but has no idea he is being watched. As Joe turn a corner to do the right this, he is defeated in his pursuit.     Kendra is captured and unveiled to their supreme leader, who exposes his plans to take over the world one facet at a time, with Kendra by this side.

The Rose Garden

Dir. Nidheya Suresh

Sunday  1/7/2024 Block 1

Upon the sudden death of their parents, two estranged sisters confront their fractured relationship.

True Love

Dir. Andres Bernal

Saturday  1/6/2024 Block 2

A pregnant teenager faces the violence of her abusive boyfriend and is forced to make a hard decision to obtain her freedom.

Underneath the Bodies

Dir. Peach Rosemary, Erin Montoya, Garrett Noone

Friday  1/5/2024 Block 3

On a summer break, Amber Lopez goes through a mental breakthrough with her schizophrenia, only with a twist, her imaginary best friend, Hazel, helps her go on a murder spree of her friends so that she can be the only one remaining, even though, she isn't real.

Vita

Dir. Callie Haun

Sunday  1/7/2024 Block 1

Narrative short film directed by Callie Haun

W.I.L.S.D.M

Dir. Chloe Samantha Rose Owens

Sunday  1/7/2024 Block 2

W.I.L.S.D.M is a short film written and directed by Chloe Owens. This unique and colorful film breaks down a simple stereotype: that all women need in life is a man to satisfy her physically. W.I.L.S.D.M challenges this universal misinformed ideology in a humorous and educational way.

When Girls Play Sports

Dir. Molly McCluskey & Jeremiah Kipp

Saturday  1/6/2024 Block 3

A former college soccer player lives out one of her lifelong fantasies: confronting a coach and athletic director from her past. This film explores the untapped rage that lives inside so many of us.

WOMP

Dir. Hannah Walsh

Sunday  1/7/2024 Block 1

The ocean is for everyone, but often surf lineups can often be rife with gender disparities. A group of deserving teen girls in North County San Diego are redefining that, showing that there’s a place in the lineup for everyone. Through Changing Tides Foundation’s Women’s Outreach Mentorship Program, these girls form a relationship with the ocean for the first time through surfing. As they develop their newfound confidence in and out of the water, the bonds of sisterhood, friendship and community begin to shift the Southern California surf scene on a foundational level.









11th Annual California Women’s Festival trophies provided by

Audience Award Winners

(Audience Winners will be posted by January 9th)

1st Place

Cats and Husbands  Dir. Grace Samson

& Barry Samson

2nd Place

Elle  Dir. Mélodie Casta

3rd Place

Sugar  Dir. Alyssa Brayboy


Jury Category Winners

(Category Winners will be presented at the end of the film’s screening block)


Best Feature Film

The Prank  Dir. Maureen Bharoocha

(Presented at the end of Block 3 on Sunday 1/7/2024)


Best Short Film

W.I.L.S.D.M  Dir. Chloe Owens

(Presented at the end of Block 2 on Sunday 1/7/2024)



Best Short Documentary

How I Got Over  Dir. Valerie Udeozor

(Presented at the end of Block 2 on Sunday 1/7/2024)


Best Student Film

In The Gray  Dir. Alexandra Hensley

(Presented at the end of Block 2 on Sunday 1/7/2024)


Best Foreign Film

The Herring Girls  Dir. Rekha Garton

(Presented at the end of Block 1 on Friday 1/5/2024)


Best Animation

Matty Cat  Dir. Natalie Christine Rodriguez

(Presented at the end of Block 2 on Sunday 1/7/2024)


Best Music Video

Sungazer  Dir. Alexandra Aristy

(Presented at the end of Block 2 on Sunday 1/7/2024)


Best Experimental Film

The Rising  Dir. Mila Perkins

(Presented at the end of Block 2 on Sunday 1/7/2024)


Best Feature Script

Closer To Fine  by Marisa Forrest

(Presented at the end of Block 2 on Sunday 1/7/2024)


Best Short Script

Second Set  by Candace Lee Egan

(Presented at the end of Block 2 on Sunday 1/7/2024)

___________________________


Feature Script Finalist

Benefit Of The Doubt by Assia Lau'ren

Once Upon Another Life by Carol Capomaccio

Outlaws by J M Stifle

Real, True, 100 Percent love by Jillie Simon

Searching For Grace by Lawrence Whitener

The Cottages by Erin Elizabeth Keefer

The Gunslinger Bride by Charmaine Colina

Wandering Star by Richele Caragianis

What No One Knows by Tope Laguda

Willa by Elizabeth Myer, Melanie Coffey


Short Script Finalist

Black Lullaby by Keely Dervin

Madam Professor by Catherine Schandl

Marky the Magnificent Fairy by Cynthia Kern OBrien

Perfection by Althea Tines Williams

Safe by Coale Coleman

The Day, Asteroid Comes by Xiangxi Kong

The Holidaze of Noelle Snow by Lauren B. Leigh

Two Good Turns by Judy Faulkner-Krause, Ariel DeSilvis

Whole Man Disposal Services, LLC by Dominique Mask

Ziva by Cécile Vernant




Jury Creative Winners

Best Director

Maureen Bharoocha - The Prank

(Presented at the end of Block 3 on Sunday 1/7/2024)

Best Actress

Rita Moreno - The Prank

(Presented at the end of Block 3 on Sunday 1/7/2024)

Best Supporting Actress

Ramona Young - The Prank

(Presented at the end of Block 3 on Sunday 1/7/2024)

Best Actor

Connor Kalopsis - The Prank

(Presented at the end of Block 3 on Sunday 1/7/2024)