Feature Films #DirectedbyWomen in the festival include:

A League of Their Own
USA 1992 128 min.
Director: Penny Marshall
Free showing: Thursday, 7:30pm, Taylor Street Outdoor Theatre
(Not available for streaming)

Tom Hanks and Geena Davis star in this big-league comedy based on the real-life exploits of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. As America’s stock of athletic young men is depleted during World War II, a professional all-female baseball league starts up. Two competitive sisters, Dottie and Kit, join the league’s Rockford Peaches. Coach Jimmy, usually drunk, brings their skills up to snuff while starting to clean up his own act, and they all find themselves surrounded by drama and troubles. You may find yourself yelling “Go, Peaches!” along with the crowds.

 

The Art of Rebellion
USA 2022 79 min
Director: Libby Spears
Showing live:
Saturday, Rosebud Cinema, 3:15pm
Sunday, Cotton Building, 3:15pm
Streaming online: September 26 – October 2

She was told her art would never hang in galleries and that street art was for men, but LA-based muralist Lydia Emily is not used to accepting limitations. Far from a typical street artist, Lydia is 40-something and a single mother with two daughters. While her bold work shocks and challenges, Lydia disarms those around her with humor and street-tough charisma. Then Lydia learns she has a debilitating disease. Now, she must fight an unforgiving health care system while she battles her symptoms. Inspiring and fun, and Oh! The murals!

Daughter of a Lost Bird
USA 2021 66 min.
Director: Brooke Swaney
Showing live:
Friday, Cotton Building, 6:15pm
Saturday, Rosebud Cinema, 9:15pm
Streaming online: September 26 – October 2

This film follows Kendra in her journey from adopted, privileged young woman to the inheritor of an ancient tribal ancestry. Kendra, an adult adoptee, reconnects with her Native American birth family, discovers her lost heritage and confronts issues of her own identity. Kendra is refreshingly candid about her fears and confusion. Her story will resonate with the many whose lives are affected by the Indian Child Welfare Act and Indian Adoption Project. Involving the nearby Lummi tribe, this story strikes close to home for Port Townsend.

Preceded by:
Long Line of Ladies
USA 2022 22 min.
Directors: Rayka Zehtabchi, Shaandiin Tome
(Not available for streaming)

A girl and her community prepare for her ihuk, a coming-of-age ceremony of the Karuk Tribe of northern California. Come along on this journey as a girl is reborn as a woman.

Fashion Reimagined

United Kingdom, USA 2022 95 min.
Director: Becky Hutner
Showing live:
Saturday, Rose Theatre, 12noon
Sunday, American Legion, 12:30pm
(Not available for streaming)
When designer Amy Powney (of cult label Mother of Pearl) wins the Vogue award for the Best Young Designer of the Year, she decides to use the large cash prize to create a sustainable collection – from field to finished garment – and transform her entire business. This film takes us behind the curtain and deep into the fashion industry (which is the largest polluter in the world). The photography is outstanding, and the editing is top-notch. Learn to love your wardrobe and the planet at the same time.

 

Finding Her Beat – Advance Screening
USA 2022 89 min.
Directors: Dawn Mikkelson, Keri Pickett
Showing live:
Friday, Rosebud Cinema, 6:15pm
Saturday, American Legion, 3:30pm
(Not available for streaming)
For thousands of years, Japanese women have been told they cannot drum. Tiffany and Jennifer conspire to bring the world’s best female taiko drummers together for the first time. They dream of filling the stage and claiming a spotlight that has been previously reserved for men. In the dead of a Minnesota winter, Asian drumming divas smash gender roles and redefine power on their own terms. FINDING HER BEAT dives into the rhythms and struggles that lead to an electrifying historic performance – women coming together to create powerful, moving music with a message of peace and acceptance.
Japanese, English

Girl Talk
USA 2021 91 min.
Director: Lucia Small
Showing live:
Saturday, American Legion, 9:30am
Sunday, Rosebud Cinema, 12:15pm
Streaming online: September 26 – October 2
Set in the cutthroat, male-dominated world of high school debate, where tomorrow’s leaders are forged, GIRL TALK tells the story of five girls on a diverse, top-ranked Massachusetts high school debate team as they strive to become the best in the United States. This film paints a very realistic picture of this often ignored “sport.”

 

Master of Light
USA 2022 84 min.
Director: Rosa Ruth Boesten
Showing live:
Friday, Starlight Room, 9am
Sunday, Cotton Building, 6:15pm
Streaming online: September 26 – October 2

George Anthony Morton spent 10 years in federal prison for dealing drugs. While incarcerated, he nurtured his craft and unique artistic ability as a classical painter. Now, he journeys back to his hometown of Kansas City, where he tries to heal the broken relationship with his mother by painting family members in the style of the Dutch Old Masters. It’s a film whose intensely personal message stays gently in the mind.

The Pez Outlaw
USA 2022 87 min.
Directors: Amy Bandlien Storkel, Bryan Storkel
Showing live:
Thursday, Cotton Building, 9:15pm
Friday, American Legion, 12:30pm
(Not available for streaming)

This is a hoot with a lot of heart, a spy thriller wrapped in a fascinating oddball comedy. We follow the true adventures of Steve Glew, a small-town Michigan man, who boards a plane for Eastern Europe soon after the fall of the Berlin Wall. His mission is to locate a secret factory that holds the key to the most desired and valuable of collectibles: Pez dispensers. Glew becomes the hero of his own adventure, smuggling these rare goods into the U.S. and making millions in the process. It was all magical, until his archnemesis, The Pezident, decides to destroy him.

Still Working 9 to 5
USA 2022 96 min.
Directors: Camille Hardman, Gary Lane
Showing live:
Thursday, Cotton Building, 6:15pm
Sunday, American Legion, 3:30pm
Streaming online: September 26 October 2

When, 9 TO 5, one of the highest-grossing comedies ever, exploded on the cinema screens in 1980, the laughs hid a serious message about women in the office. Forty years later, we still have the same issues. Filled with interviews from the film’s cast (which stars Jane Fonda, Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin and Dabney Coleman) and cuts from the movie, STILL WORKING 9 TO 5 explores why workplace inequality wasn’t a laughing matter then, and isn’t a laughing matter now.

Surf Nation
USA 2022 88 min.
Directors: Jessica Q. Chen, Jeremiah M. Bogert Jr.
Showing live:
Thursday, American Legion, 9:30pm
Friday, Rosebud Cinema, 12:15pm
Streaming online: September 26 – October 2

Until recently, China could claim only about 100 surfers. In a culture that values collectivism and conformity, the individualistic sport best known for its spirit of independence was not encouraged. However, with the announcement that surfing would become an Olympic sport in 2021, that sentiment changed. Can China’s infamous, state-owned Olympic training program succeed in this traditionally free-spirited sport? SURF NATION follows the trajectory of two promising young Chinese surfers, Alex and Lolo, in an attempt to navigate the complicated clash between the freedom embodied in the sport and the Chinese expectation of conformity.
English, Chinese with English subtitles

The Thief Collector
USA 2022 89 min.
Director: Allison Otto
Showing live:
Friday, Rose Theatre, 9am
Saturday, American Legion, 12:30pm
Streaming online: September 26 – October 2

In 1985, Willem de Kooning’s “Woman-Ochre,” one of the most valuable paintings of the 20th century, vanished after being cut from its frame at the University of Arizona Museum of Art.  More than 32 years later, the painting is rediscovered in the unlikeliest of places. THE THIEF COLLECTOR unravels the layers of this infamous heist, exploring the complicated dynamics of family, the contours of criminality and just how far people are willing to go to weave their own grandiose narratives. A grand heist, indeed.

Balloon Animal
USA 2022 88 min.
Director: Em Johnson
Showing live: Saturday, Rosebud Cinema, 9:15pm
Sunday, Starlight Room, 3:00pm
Streaming online: September 26 – October 2

Poppy, 24, lives and travels with her father’s circus – a world of balloon animals, bright lights and a lot of hard work behind the scenes that makes the it all work. While on a quick night out to let loose and have some fun with her friends, she finds herself captivated by the idea of a life in small-town America. Where will Poppy find the magic she is looking for? This quietly lovely coming-of-age story has more than one trick up its sleeve.

The Falconer
USA 2022 99 min.
Directors: Seanne Winslow, Adam Sjöberg
Showing live:
Friday, American Legion, 9:30pm
Saturday, Starlight Room, 3:00pm
Streaming online: September 26 – October 2

Inspired by true events, THE FALCONER is the story of two best friends. Tariq is the son of a poor beekeeper, and Cai is a privileged Westerner. They both work at a dilapidated zoo in Oman. Their carefree friendship is challenged when Tariq promises to help his sister, Alia, escape from an abusive marriage. Cai’s world view and love for animals are pitted against Tariq’s daring plan to steal animals from the zoo and sell them on the black market to raise money for the divorce. Will the friends bridge the vast distance between their worlds?

The Forger
Germany 2022 116 min.
Director: Maggie Peren
Showing live:
Thursday, Rosebud Cinema, 6:15pm
Sunday, Rose Theatre, 9:00am
Streaming online: September 26 – October 2

Twenty-one-year-old Cioma has the misfortune of being a Jewish person in Berlin in the 1940s. Since the best hiding places are often in plain sight, Cioma decides to step into the light to escape detection. Using the forged identity of a marine officer he created, he throws himself into the city’s nightlife and along the way, finds a fragile hope for love. During the day, he forges IDs – and saves the lives of many. His talent puts him in more and more danger, however, and at some point, his only hope is a last forged ID – with his own name on it.
German, with English subtitles

Hard Shell, Soft Shell
France 2021 100 min.
Director: Emma Benestan
Showing live:
Saturday, Starlight Room, 9:00pm
Sunday, Rosebud Cinema, 9:15am
Streaming online: September 26 – October 2

Madly in love with the wrong person – it’s an age-old story, yes? Oyster farmer Az thinks he’s got it made. But when his elaborate proposal goes awry and his girlfriend, Jess, turns him down, Az is forced to reevaluate. To win Jess back, he hatches a plan to have a friend teach him to dance. The plan predictably, but delightfully, goes wrong. A charming, funny and smart comedy.
French with English subtitles

I’ll Show You Mine
USA 2022 102 min.
Director: Megan Griffiths
Showing live:
Friday, Starlight Room, 6:00pm
Saturday, Rose Theatre, 3:00pm
Streaming online: September 26 – October 2

Author Priya Sura has made a career of exploring her trauma through a feminist lens. Having hit a wall in her personal revelations, Priya turns to mining someone else’s story, scheduling an interview with Nic about his tumultuous career as a gender-nonconforming model. But Nic isn’t comfortable “putting it all out there” without Priya doing the same, so to get to the most hidden parts of his story, she must dig into areas of her own that she has managed to avoid. Note: Frank language and graphic pornographic cartooning are used as a creative element to help tell the story.

Róise & Frank
Ireland 2022 88 min.
Directors: Rachael Moriarty, Peter Murphy
Showing live:
Saturday, Cotton Building, 3:15pm
Sunday, Starlight Room, 6:00pm
Streaming online: September 26 – October 2

Grief-stricken Róise lost her husband, Frank, two years ago. Her son worries that she has distanced herself from the world and her closest friends. But the arrival of a mysterious dog brings happiness to her life once more. Róise soon comes to believe that the dog is, in fact, Frank reincarnated. He has returned to be with her again – and to coach the local sports team. Irish with English subtitles

Run Woman Run
Canada 2020 100 min.
Director: Zoe Leigh Hopkins
Showing live:
Friday, Cotton Building, 12:15pm
Saturday, Rose Theatre, 6:00pm
Streaming online: September 26 – October 2

Single mother Beck’s “breakfast of champions” is a five-cream, five-sugar coffee – with doughnuts. Something has to give and it does when Beck finds herself in a diabetic coma, visited by a ghostly ancestor, the legendary Indigenous marathon runner Tom Longboat. Longboat becomes her wise-cracking new life coach. Told with a lighthearted touch, RUN WOMAN RUN is a feel-good rite-of-passage dramedy about a woman who has to tackle the ghosts of her past before she can run toward a new future.

Sweetheart
United Kingdom 2021 103 min.
Director: Marley Morrison
Showing live:
Friday, Rose Theatre, 12:00noon
Saturday, Starlight, 9:00am
Streaming online: September 26 – October 2

Ah, the summer romance we can never forget. In SWEETHEART, a socially awkward, environmentally conscious teenager named AJ is dragged to a coastal holiday park by her painfully “normal” family. Determined to have the worst week of her life, AJ becomes unexpectedly captivated by a chlorine-smelling, sun-loving lifeguard named Isla. With echoes of MY SO-CALLED LIFE and JUNO, SWEETHEART is a quirky, nostalgic coming-of-age tale for a new generation.