LUNAFEST to shine spotlight on female filmmakers, women’s issues

Credit: Lunafest.org

Credit: Lunafest.org

LUNAFEST, the annual fundraising film festival dedicated to promoting awareness about women's issues and highlighting women filmmakers, returns to Dayton on Sunday, May 20.

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The goal of the festival is to highlight women as leaders in society, illustrated through nine short films by women filmmakers. The films range from animation to fictional drama, and cover topics such as women’s health, body image, relationships, cultural diversity and breaking barriers.

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The event will be hosted by Dayton Women’s Rights Alliance on Sunday, May 20 from 3-5 p.m. at the Neon movie theater, located at 130 E. Fifth Street in downtown Dayton.

Last year, the event sold out, so advance ticket purchases at the Neon are recommended.

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This is the 9th year the Dayton Women's Rights Alliance has hosted LUNAFEST. The Dayton Women's Rights Alliance works locally to promote and protect the rights of all women through education and activism.

All proceeds from LUNAFEST will go to the Ohio Domestic Violence Network and also to Chicken & Egg Pictures, a nonprofit organization that supports women nonfiction filmmakers whose storytelling catalyzes social change.

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To date, LUNAFEST, which is created and funded by LUNA, The Whole Nutrition Bar for Women, has raised more than $3 million for nonprofit organizations across the United States and Canada.

LUNAFEST FILMS

The event features nine short films:

BUTTERCUP 

MEGAN BROTHERTON

Maggie needs her best friend today more than ever, but never expected she'd actually show up.

GIRLS LEVEL UP 

ANNE EDGAR

A young Pakistani woman who grew up in a conservative Muslim neighborhood in the Middle East helps middle school girls in the Silicon Valley realize their dream of designing their own video game.

TOYS 

AMANDA QUAID

In 1930s farm country, a father wants a son, but he gets a little girl. He tries to toughen her up by giving her toys intended for boys. His efforts backfire when she proves a little too capable for comfort.

FANNY PACK 

UTTERA SINGH

A comedy about a young Indian-American woman who wants to follow her dreams and a fanny pack-clad Indian father who chases his daughter through an airport hoping that she will follow his.

JOY JOY NAILS 

JOEY ALLY

In an upmarket Connecticut strip mall, Korean Sarah manages a Korean-owned nail salon with an ever cheerful, K-pop pumping, manicured iron fist. When Chinese Mia starts training as a manicurist, and looks to be stealing the boss’ son’s affections, Sarah gets her claws out — only to discover the terrible truth under the varnish at JOY JOY NAILS.

YOURS SINCERELY, LOIS WEBER 

SVETLANA CVETKO

A tribute to the highest-paid silent film director at Universal Studios in 1916.

JESSZILLA 

EMILY SHESKIN

Jesselyn “Jesszilla” Silva is serious about boxing, and at 10 years old trains seriously with dreams of becoming a professional fighter. Her father, Pedro, finds himself caught in between supporting her dream and worrying about her future as she tries to master a combat sport.

WAITING FOR HASSANA 

IFUNANYA MADUKA

In 2014, the extremist organization, Boko Haram, kidnapped 276 teenage girls from a town in northeastern Nigeria. WAITING FOR HASSANA is a harrowing first-person account of one girl’s escape from captivity and a heart-wrenching lament for her closest friend Hassana — one of the many girls still unaccounted for...

LAST SUMMER, IN THE GARDEN 

BEKKY O'NEIL

Last summer, in the garden recounts one woman’s journey through a joyful, fearful time of death and rebirth. Last summer, in the garden is featured in the touring program The 18th Annual Animation Show of Shows.

Want to go?

WHAT: 9th annual LUNAFEST

WHERE: 130 E. Fifth St., Dayton

WHEN: Sunday, May 20, from 3 to 5 p.m.

TICKETS: $10 at The Neon ($5 for students)

INFO: FacebookWebsite

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