Screentime
The silver screen is getting the BFF treatment thanks to Joanna Wilson & Brit Charek, who’ve partnered to bring the Bechdel Film Fest to the
Wilson, Bechdel Film Fest's Project Manager, says she & founder Brit Charek are making sure it's the best event that they could put together.
The Bechdel Film Fest is a feminist film festival coming to downtown Akron, OH from May 29 -June 2, 2019. “The festival will offer women filmmakers an opportunity to showcase their stories, & it’ll spark a dialogue about gender inequality in the film industry,” details Wilson. She adds the all the films in the festival will pass the Bechdel Test,* which she explains as:
a minimum feminist standard (used in film & literature) that asks that each text include at least 2 female characters,
that these characters have names,
and they talk about something other than men & boys.
“We’re using this test because statistics show that less than half of all films made still don't meet this minimum standard, & we'd like to join the conversation about this disparity,” Wilson shares.
Akron's Bechdel Film Fest will include 5 days of screenings, with shorts & feature-length films, plus family screenings for the youngest of viewers. Wilson adds that the festival will also feature panel discussions & conversation opportunities for viewers to interact with the films & gender issues.
And for those eagerly awaiting the festival, Wilson reveals that they're also organizing a 24hr filmmaking challenge in the early spring.
The film festival come to be thanks in large part to Kickstarter campaign. Wilson says one of the things they learned since launching the crowdfunding campaign is that the residents of Akron & the wider Summit County are just as eager as they are to engage in this conversation.
Wilson shares how, “we feel like the discussions going on in Akron about the importance of inclusion & the value of women's stories is a part of the larger, national cultural conversation.”
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You can check out more about Akron’s Bechdel Film Fest by visiting them online (click here). And check them on Twitter: @BechdelFilmFest & Instagram: @BechdelFest. Plus, you can support BFF by signing up as a volunteer on their website here.
You can learn more about The Bechdel Test by checking out their Kickstarter video (here) OR Feminist Frequency’s video here.
*The Bechdel Test comes from a part of Alison Bechdel’s comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For (1985). It’s used to determine if a movie (or piece of fiction) has proper representation of women by using 3 criteria:
There are at least 2 women
The 2 women talk to each other
The 2 women talk about something besides a man
Photo credit: Unsplash
