Spring Break
Lunafest celebrates womanhood through the art of film
Caitlin Mazzola
Issue date: 4/2/09 Section: Focus
Lunafest celebrates womanhood through the art of film
Women can do anything these days. They can live up to a hundred. They can officially wrestle in the Olympics. They can even become men, if they so desire.
Lunafest, a film festival comprised of films made "by…for…and about women" celebrates female empowerment. The UConn Women's Center presented the 8th-annual festival - UConn's second time hosting the event - on Wednesday in Konover Auditorium. UConn's Lunafest, established by Luna, the makers of nutrition bars specially designed for women, raised money and awareness for the Breast Cancer Fund and UConn's own Violence Against Women Protection Program (VAWPP).
According to Anoush Mushegian, an 8th-semester communication major and director of this year's Lunafest, this event's proceeds were split between the two programs. The Breast Cancer Fund works to raise preventive awareness for women by measuring the toxins in products women use that could cause breast cancer. Only 1 in 10 cases of breast cancer are genetic, Mushegian said. The rest are caused by the toxins women may be unknowingly exposing themselves to on a daily basis.
The festival itself, which screened 10 short films written, directed, and produced by women from all over the globe, was the culmination of four months of hard work done by the Women's Center and the VAWPP.
"We had a good attendance," said Kaila Most, an intern for the program and an 8th semester English and women studies major.
Kathleen Holgerson, director of the Women's Center, was also impressed by the numbers in the audience.
"There was a really good energy involved with the festival," she said.
Those in attendance were impressed by the film selection.
"It represented a wide range of women's experience," Most said. "That's what I was hoping for."
Each film was unique in its message and experience it conveyed to the audience. From "Big Girl," a film about a girl accepting her mother's new boyfriend, to "Kaden," about a transgender woman hoping to have a surgery to become as man as possible, the shorts were all impacting. "Fim-de-semana" dealt with teen pregnancy, "34x25x36" made a point about society's obsession with bodily perfection, and "The Ladies" featured two spirited elderly sisters, reflecting on their creativity as dressmakers and the importance of family, bickering all the while. There was even an animated film, "My First Crush," which reflected on the clumsiness of young love.
"All of the films were really engaging in their own way," Holgerson said. "It seemed like they were following a woman's life cycle."
The films were indeed arranged from youngest to oldest subject, starting with the young girl in "Big Girl" to the 100-year-old woman in "Kuna Ni Nanang (My Mother Said)," each reflecting on the stages women experience throughout their lives.
"The transgender one was interesting," said Alexander Schaefer, a 2008 UConn alumnus, who returned to campus to support the Women's Center. "It put a different perspective on the issue."
Whether going to support the cause or just to see some quality films, Lunafest engaged its viewers to celebrate women's achievements in a creative light.
"I didn't know what it was going to be like," said Steph Shea, a 2nd-semester animal science major. "It was interesting."
Women can do anything these days. They can live up to a hundred. They can officially wrestle in the Olympics. They can even become men, if they so desire.
Lunafest, a film festival comprised of films made "by…for…and about women" celebrates female empowerment. The UConn Women's Center presented the 8th-annual festival - UConn's second time hosting the event - on Wednesday in Konover Auditorium. UConn's Lunafest, established by Luna, the makers of nutrition bars specially designed for women, raised money and awareness for the Breast Cancer Fund and UConn's own Violence Against Women Protection Program (VAWPP).
According to Anoush Mushegian, an 8th-semester communication major and director of this year's Lunafest, this event's proceeds were split between the two programs. The Breast Cancer Fund works to raise preventive awareness for women by measuring the toxins in products women use that could cause breast cancer. Only 1 in 10 cases of breast cancer are genetic, Mushegian said. The rest are caused by the toxins women may be unknowingly exposing themselves to on a daily basis.
The festival itself, which screened 10 short films written, directed, and produced by women from all over the globe, was the culmination of four months of hard work done by the Women's Center and the VAWPP.
"We had a good attendance," said Kaila Most, an intern for the program and an 8th semester English and women studies major.
Kathleen Holgerson, director of the Women's Center, was also impressed by the numbers in the audience.
"There was a really good energy involved with the festival," she said.
Those in attendance were impressed by the film selection.
"It represented a wide range of women's experience," Most said. "That's what I was hoping for."
Each film was unique in its message and experience it conveyed to the audience. From "Big Girl," a film about a girl accepting her mother's new boyfriend, to "Kaden," about a transgender woman hoping to have a surgery to become as man as possible, the shorts were all impacting. "Fim-de-semana" dealt with teen pregnancy, "34x25x36" made a point about society's obsession with bodily perfection, and "The Ladies" featured two spirited elderly sisters, reflecting on their creativity as dressmakers and the importance of family, bickering all the while. There was even an animated film, "My First Crush," which reflected on the clumsiness of young love.
"All of the films were really engaging in their own way," Holgerson said. "It seemed like they were following a woman's life cycle."
The films were indeed arranged from youngest to oldest subject, starting with the young girl in "Big Girl" to the 100-year-old woman in "Kuna Ni Nanang (My Mother Said)," each reflecting on the stages women experience throughout their lives.
"The transgender one was interesting," said Alexander Schaefer, a 2008 UConn alumnus, who returned to campus to support the Women's Center. "It put a different perspective on the issue."
Whether going to support the cause or just to see some quality films, Lunafest engaged its viewers to celebrate women's achievements in a creative light.
"I didn't know what it was going to be like," said Steph Shea, a 2nd-semester animal science major. "It was interesting."
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