LUNAFEST Women's Film Festival Coming to Danville 9/17

Women Supporting Women: LUNAFEST Film Festival Comes to Danville for First Time

How much impact can a short film have? As it turns out, short films can deliver big societal impact in a snack-sized bite. LUNAFEST, a traveling film festival featuring short films by, for and about women was created on the premise that women’s voices and stories have been long under-represented in film. The festival, now in it’s 19th year, was created by the makers of Luna Bar, a division of Clif Bar.

The 2019 LUNAFEST lineup features eight short films, each about 10 minutes long. A wide range of topics are represented in different genres such as comedy, drama, autobiography and animation. The eight filmmakers get right to the point; short films uniquely develop around a concise plot, weaving story lines quickly. The themes showcased in this year’s films ask audiences to reflect on their own views about friendship, life choices, prejudice and bias, parenting, equal opportunity, immigration and self-compassion.

Each year women filmmakers from around the world submit films to LUNAFEST for a coveted spot in the annual festival. LUNAFEST organizers carefully curate films to highlight a range of voices and viewpoints. The selected films are then packaged together and made available to non-profit organizations to host a screening as a fundraiser. Danville will join 190 cities from across the United States in screening this year’s selected films. The screening is one night only at The Village Theater and Art Gallery in Danville. Films start at 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, September 17 with a pre-party at The Vine at 5:30 pm. Tickets are available in advance online through Eventbrite.

Danville’s first-ever LUNAFEST is being organized by businesswomen and community members Vicky True and Lisa Wood, who invited She’s All That! as their non-profit hosting partner. She’s All That!, an annual conference specifically for local 5th – 8th grade girls, is run by the Soroptimists International of San Ramon Valley. Now in its 17th year, She’s All That! is a full day of workshops, friendship and teen empowerment—all here in our community. Since its inception more than 4,400 middle school girls and 1,100 adults have attended She’s All That!, enjoying more than 330 workshops on topics like nutrition, managing money, tools for stress, inventing and entrepreneurship, and unleashing your “superhero.”

She’s All That! members Eileen Sheridan and Teresa Karlson jumped at the chance to work with True and Wood on their vision of bringing LUNAFEST to Danville. “The empowerment of girls is the main focus of She’s All That!,” said Karlson. “Between 5th to 8th grade, girls become conscious of what it takes to thrive and prosper as women. An aspect of this development is to have our voices heard and to understand there is so much we do for societies globally. LUNAFEST takes this further by making women and their stories visible.” Vicky True previewed the films and notes that, “LUNAFEST isn’t shy about storylines that stay with you, hopefully provoking conversation about the diversity of experiences and characters that exist in women’s realities.”

Sheridan’s work through the years with teens since the formation of She’s All That! gives her a unique perspective. “I have seen how increasingly important it is to empower, uplift and inspire girls as the social and cultural landscape becomes more challenging,” said Sheridan. “LUNAFEST embodies this spirit by celebrating the accomplishments of women filmmakers and their meaningful films.”

How did True and Wood find LUNAFEST? On a whim they hosted an indie film in San Ramon last year to bring women together for a night of inspiration and friendship. “To our surprise over 200 women attended and so many asked us when we’re going to host more events in the community that we’ve been looking for just the right one ever since,” said True.

According to Wood, “I happened to be the chairperson of LUNAFEST Orinda last year. Orinda loved the festival and it quickly sold out. It was such a special night that it occurred to me to bring LUNAFEST to Danville.” After Wood and True talked it over they both agreed it was a perfect fit as their next event. “And raising money for She’s All That! at the same time—what an honor,” added True. Eleven local sponsors are supporting LUNAFEST Danville. “We are incredibly grateful to the local businesses making LUNAFEST a reality,” notes Wood. “We can’t wait to tell you more about them on the night of the event.”

Special guest for the evening is Renee Morgan, Danville Council Member/Mayor. Tickets available only online and in advance. Search “LUNAFEST Danville, CA” at Eventbrite. Proceeds from the evening benefit “She’s All That!.”

She’s All That! will be held in spring 2020 with dozens of workshops for girls and adults. Visit https://soroptimist-sr.org/.

Visit www.lunafest.org/our-story to learn more about LUNAFEST.