Les Femmes Underground International Film Festival
OFFICIAL JURY AWARD SELECTIONS
Samantha Gurry Psychotropic Films Official Selection 2016 A celestial journey in the spaceship of imagination meets evolution, Meena Kumari, and rhythm itself. (4:36)
Alexandra Velasco & Alexander Kahan Youth and Altered States Official Selection 2016 A girl entering womanhood discovers a dissonance between what she really wants and what society expects of her. (4:00)
Araeia Robinson Femme Fatales Official Selection 2016 When a high profile politician makes a controversial speech on immigration reform, walked undisturbed alongside her. (10:10)
Ya-Ting Hsu & Geoffrey Hughes Sexual Reduxxx Official Selection 2016 An experimental short, documenting the repetitively traumatic nature of pregnancy. (16:14)
Catherine Taylor Femme Fatales Honorable Mention Official Selection 2016 In rural Louisiana, 11-year-old Sabine is livid when her widower father misses Ash Wednesday Mass, and pushes him to give up drinking for Lent. However, when he fails to keep his vow, he evokes the wrath of the Rougarou, a local mythical beast that punishes bad Catholics. To save her father, Sabine must go into the bayou to vanquish the monster.... (15:00)
Marinah Janello Social Deviance Official Selection 2017 United States An eccentric musician/filmmaker navigates self expression based on his experiences living and growing up in the South. (11:42)
Caitlin Craggs Psychotropic Films Official Selection 2017 United States A juicy moving picture about words, history and a beloved, oft overlooked fruit. Tomatois the first in a series of bite-sized, visually punny films that reconsider some of the most humble and ubiquitous foods on our plate— the ways we define and consume them, and also how those foods might be defining us. (02:43)
Irene Marco Youth and Altered States Official Selection 2017 Veracruz Quetzal is a coming of age film about a young boy who is sent into the jungle to catch the bird that represents the essence of his tribe and step into adulthood. Fearfully, he sets himself into a journey of self-discovery, understanding and forgiveness when he accidentally shoots a birdwatcher. (24:00)
Elena Passani & Jade Touron Femme Fatales Official Selection 2017 United Kingdom Morgan Woods is a young nurse caught in a struggle between the world of medicine and magic. Her mother is dying but as a witch she refuses medical care, insisting that magic is the only thing that will cure her. When their attempts to heal her fail, her mother demands Morgan to perform a sacrifice to save her. (20:02)
Eliane Lima Sexual Reduxxx Official Selection 2017 United States Sherry is an experimental documentary film which witnesses the private life of Robert, a 75 years old gentleman from Orange County. Every day, Robert transforms himself into a living doll, Sherry. (24:00)
Kelly Jean Karam Screen Play: Brew Master Official Selection 2017 Kelly Jean Karam is an emerging talent whose screenplays have won high acclaim from multiple industry sources including Best Script Miami International Science Fiction Film Festival, 2017; Best Horror and Original Concept Depth Of Field Film Festival, 2017; Best Feature Script California Women's Film Festival, 2016; Winner Best Feature Chicago Horror Film Festival, 2016;
Tiffany Rhodes Screen Play: Naked in the Dog Park Official Selection 2017 Tiffany Rhodes is a San Francisco Bay Area Native Her first comedy feature screenplay NAKED IN THE DOG PARK is an official selection in several festivals awaiting final judging. In 2016 she created a documentary, BELIEVERS which follows Rhodes as she explores exotic spiritualism. She co-directed and produced this film that is now in contract to be optioned for a tv series.
OFFICIAL LEFUFF JURY ALUMNI
Sundance/Non-Plussed Ultra Psychotropic Films Official Jury 2016 Born in Brazil, Ana Souza was raised in Amsterdam. She holds a BA from the University of Warwick and an MA from USC. Souza has produced a number of shorts and has contributed to numerous film-related publications, including Indiewire, We Eat Film, Front Row Reviews, and The Artifice. She is currently working at Sundance in the programming department.
Slamdance Programmer Youth and Altered States Official Jury 2016 Jeanne Jo is a visual artist and filmmaker who writes and directs narrative films, media art installations, and music videos. Her award-winning work has been shown in galleries and festivals all over the world. She was educated at the Rhode Island School of Design and the University of Southern California.
Etheria Film Night Programmer Femme Fatales Official Jury 2016
Slamdance Programmer Sexual Reduxxx Official Jury 2016 Oates Yinchao Wu is a film director, writer, and editor. He graduated from California Institute of the Arts with an MFA in Film Directing. He is an autobiographical filmmaker, his films screened at Film Festivals around the world, including Seattle International Film Festival, Asian American International Film Festival, OutFest, Inside Out Film Festival, and more.
Social Deviance San Diego Asian Film Festival Official Jury 2017 Cynthia Kashiwagi serves as the Development & Engagement Director at Pacific Arts Movement (Pac Arts), presenters of the San Diego Asian Film Festival, and has worked with the organization for four years. A graduate of #UCSD, Cynthia holds a double major in Ethnic Studies and International Studies.
Psychotropic Films Seed&Spark Official Jury 2017 Gerry Maravilla is an independent filmmaker and the Head of Crowdfunding at Seed&Spark, a subscription video streaming and crowdfunding platform with the highest crowdfunding success rate in the business (75%!). As an independent filmmaker, Gerry ran a successful campaign on Seed&Spark for his short film, “Cross”, the story of Filipino-American backyard boxer in the San Fernando Valley. It recently completed a cross country festival run.
San Diego Italian Film Festival Youth and Altered States Official Jury 2017 Diana Agostini is the Associate Executive Director at the San Diego Italian Film Festival, a local non profit arts organization with the mission to provide a different perspective (the Italian one!) on universally shared themes and feelings through movies. She combines her passion for cultural studies to the one for arts, trying to find creative ways to express messages.
Horrible Imaginings Film Festival Femme Fatales Official Jury 2017 Christine Schindel has worked in content marketing for the last 10 years as a copywriter, copyeditor, and digital marketer. She is currently the marketing director for a national mortgage broker and also for San Diego's Horrible Imaginings Film Festival. Christine has been a film enthusiast since childhood and likes to spend her free time reading books, watching movies, and eating sauerkraut with her cat, Mr. Norman Bates.
So's Reel Thoughts Sexual Reduxxx Official Jury 2017 So Yun Um is a Korean-American Film Critic and Filmmaker. She runs the film website & YouTube channel, So’s Reel Thoughts which highlights international, independent, and genre films. She writes a bi-weekly column called Badass Femmes for Crome Yellow & is the creator of the Girl Talk Series. She is affiliated with various LA Film Festivals and is part of the Women Film Critics Circle.