FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Denver Film Media Contacts:
Ambriehl Turrentine: ambriehl@denverfilm.org
Marty Schechter: marty@schechterpr.com
DENVER – March 11, 2024 –
Denver Film has announced the line-up for the 2024 Women+Film Festival, opening April 10 and running through April 14 at the Sie FilmCenter, 2510 E. Colfax Ave. Full festival passes are $75 for Denver Film Members/$85 Non-Member, and individual film tickets are $15 for Denver Film Members/$18 Non-Member. Individual tickets and full festival passes go on sale March 11 at 10 a.m. at denverfilm.org.
The Festival’s Opening Night presentation is Every Little Thing, an intimate Sundance-screened documentary following a woman and her transformative journey as she nurtures wounded hummingbirds back to health. The Festival will conclude April 14 at the Sie FilmCenter with a presentation of COPA 71. Combining stunning archival footage and new interviews with former players, the film documents the extraordinary story of the unofficial 1971 Women’s World Cup, which remained unsanctioned and virtually erased from FIFA history for over 50 years.
“We’re thrilled to have a robust lineup of films and panels that speak to the complexities of womanhood, as well as demonstrate that women are not to be viewed as a monolith,” said Denver Film Programming Manager Ambriehl Turrentine. “This program truly has something for everyone, and we look forward to connecting our audience with stories, people and resources that set out to promote gender equality.”
In addition to an exceptional film lineup, this year’s festival includes an Opening Night reception with food and drinks on Wednesday, April 10 at 5:30 p.m., the Women in Film & Media Mixer, presented by WIFMCO on Friday, April 12 at 5 p.m., Film & Flow Yoga on Sunday, April 14 at 8:30 a.m., and a marketplace featuring gifts, artwork, crafts and novelties from local, woman-owned businesses on Sunday, April 14 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Sie FilmCenter lobby.
The festival will also feature two panel discussions, including Redefining Reproductive Rights, Health and Justice on Saturday, April 13 at 11 a.m. and Sexism to Solidarity on Sunday, April 14 at 11 a.m. Panel guests will be announced in the coming weeks.
Click to see the full schedule and purchase tickets and passes.
Members of the press interested in covering the Women+Film Festival may contact Denver Film’s Ambriehl Turrentine at ambriehl@denverfilm.org or Marty Schechter at marty@schechterpr.com.
EVERY LITTLE THING
Directors: Sally Aitken
Opening Night – Wednesday, April 10, 7 p.m.
Amid the glamor of Hollywood, Los Angeles, a woman finds herself on a transformative journey
as she nurtures wounded hummingbirds, unraveling a visually captivating and magical tale of
love, fragility, healing, and the delicate beauty in tiny acts of greatness.
Includes a pre-film reception featuring food and drinks at 5:30 p.m.
CHUCK CHUCK BABY
Director: Janis Pugh
Thursday, April 11, 4 p.m.
Chuck Chuck Baby is a film of love, loss and music set amongst the falling feathers of a chicken factory. Set in present day industrial North Wales, Helen spends her nights packing chickens and her days caring for a dying mother-figure Gwen. Helen’s world takes an unexpected turn with the return of Joanne. They were the objects of the other’s unspoken teenage passions twenty years ago. One night, encouraged by Helen, Joanne starts a playful wooing game that re-awakens their youthful feelings. As they fall in love and lust, Helen’s zest for life returns but Joanne feels the walls closing in as she faces something much darker from her past. Helen’s world is shattered when Gwen dies and Joanne’s painful memories cause her to flee. Separated and alone, will both women reflect on their unfulfilled chance to break their barriers and allow love to win?
BLACK BOX DIARIES
Director: Shiori Ito
Thursday, April 11, 7 p.m.
Black Box Diaries follows director and journalist Shiori Ito’s courageous investigation of her own sexual assault in an improbable attempt to prosecute her high-profile offender. Unfolding like a thriller and combining secret investigative recordings, vérité shooting and emotional first-person video, Shiori’s quest becomes a landmark case in Japan, exposing the country’s desperately outdated judicial and societal systems.
HUMMINGBIRDS
Director: Silvia Del Carmen Castaños, Estefanía “Beba” Contreras
Friday, April 12, 2 p.m.
In Texas, on the Mexican border, best friends Silvia and Beba dance through long summer nights. Stuck in the immigration process in a politically divided America, home seems fragile. But their bond is not. The half-light is a space for poetry and dreams.
THE MOTHER OF ALL LIES
Director: Asmae El Moudir
Friday, April 12, 4 p.m.
Young Moroccan filmmaker Asmae El Moudir wants to know why she only has one
photograph from her childhood, and why the girl in the picture isn’t even her. She decides to explore the past and its mysteries by creating a handmade replica of the Casablanca neighborhood where she grew up. There, she begins to interrogate the tales her mother, father and grandmother tell about their home and their country. Slowly, she starts to unravel the layers of deception and intentional forgetting that have shaped her life. The truth is hard to face, but in this sometimes surreal nonfiction film, El Moudir begins to draw what is real to the surface.
DANDELION
Director: Nicole Riegel
Friday, April 12, 7 p.m.
Dandelion, a struggling Cincinnati singer-songwriter in a downward spiral, takes a last-ditch-effort gig at a motorcycle rally in South Dakota where she meets Casey, a guitarist who walked away from his dream long ago. As Dandelion joins Casey’s nomadic group of struggling musicians, the kindred spirits make music together and strike up a whirlwind romance. The experience moves Dandelion from a narrow view of success to a deeper appreciation of her artistic journey, and the discovery of a voice that is authentically her own.
SHOW HER THE MONEY
Director: Ky Dickens
Friday, April 12, 7:15 p.m.
This is a story that’s never been told. The film addresses women getting less than 2% of venture capital and demystifies what venture capital is. Featuring rock-star female investors who invest in diverse women entrepreneurs with innovations that will change the world, Show Her The Money reminds us that money is power and women need it to achieve true equality.
CHOSEN FAMILY
Director: Heather Graham
Saturday, April 13, 12 p.m.
Ann (Heather Graham) is a yoga teacher struggling to achieve inner peace despite the fact her family is driving her crazy and her dating life is miserable. She doesn’t know how to say no and wants to fix everyone’s problems. In the meantime, Ann struggles to save her sister Clio (Julia Stiles) from addiction with disastrous results. With so many expectations on her, Ann leans on her good friends Max, Frances, Roz and Ella for support. They in turn set her up with a cute divorced dad Steve, who has an adorable 7 year old daughter. When Ann meets Steve’s daughter Lily, she is immediately smitten. But Lily does not feel the same, and as Steve and Ann get closer, Lily grows increasingly jealous and competitive. When Lily starts to misbehave, Ann sees that Lily can do no wrong in Steve’s eyes – she’s in the battle of her life with a 7-year-old.
SHORTS PROGRAM
Saturday, April 13, 2 p.m.
Films and presentations include Cecilia Brown and Winslow Crane-Murdoch’s Strong Grandma, Heta Jäälinoja’s Nun or Never!, May Ziadé’s Neo Nahda, McKenzie Chinn’s A Real One, Alexandra Myotte and Jean-Sébastien Hamel’s A Crab in the Pool, Amélie Hardy’s Hello Stranger, and Prairie Rose Seminole and Katrina Lillian Sorrentino’s We Ride For Her.
SEEKING MAVIS BEACON
Director: Jazmin Jones
Saturday, April 13, 4:30 p.m.
The most recognizable woman in technology lives in our collective imagination. Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing taught millions globally, but the software’s Haitian-born cover model vanished decades ago. Two DIY detectives search for the model while posing questions about identity and artificial intelligence.
MIDWIVES
Director: Léa Fehner
Saturday, April 13, 7:30 p.m.
After five years of dedicated learning in the noble profession of midwifery – often hailed as “the most beautiful job in the world” – Louise and Sofia are embarking on their professional journey, bracing themselves for substantial responsibilities. In a world that operates at a frenetic pace, they navigate the delicate realms of birth, motherhood, and occasionally, the solemnity of death. The question lingers: will their profound calling endure the tumultuous storm they are about to face?
LET THE CANARY SING
Director: Alison Ellwood
Sunday, April 14, 11:45 a.m.
Chronicling Cyndi Lauper’s meteoric ascent to stardom and her profound impact on generations through her music, ever-evolving punk style, unwavering feminism, and tireless advocacy, the film takes the audience on an engaging exploration of the world of a renowned and pioneering artist, who has left a remarkable legacy with her artwork.
THE QUEEN OF MY DREAMS
Director: Fawzia Mirza
Sunday, April 14, 2:15 p.m.
Queer Pakistani grad student Azra is worlds apart from her conservative Muslim mother. When her father suddenly dies on a trip home to Pakistan, Azra finds herself on a Bollywood-inspired journey through memories, both real and imagined; from her mother’s youth in Karachi to her own coming- of-age in rural Canada.
COPA 71
Directors: Rachel Ramsay, James Erskine
Closing Night – Sunday, April 14, 4:30 p.m.
It is August 1971. Football teams from England, Argentina, Mexico, France, Denmark and Italy are gathering at Mexico City’s sun-drenched Azteca Stadium. The scale of the tournament is monumental: lavish sponsorship, extensive TV coverage, merchandise on every street corner and crowds of over 100,000 hollering fans turn this historic stadium into ‘a cauldron of noise and heat’ match after match. A fawning media treat the players like rock stars. The atmosphere is reminiscent of the greatest moments in international footballing history. But this is a tournament unlike anything that’s happened before. The players on the pitch are all women. And it’s likely you’ve never even heard of it. This is Copa 71, the unofficial Women’s World Cup. Dismissed by both FIFA and domestic football associations around the world, this event has been entirely written out of history. Until now.
Sponsors
BOK Financial, COFTM, Liberty Global, SCFD, Serendipity Catering, Visit Denver
About Denver Film
Founded in 1978, Denver Film is a membership-based, 501(c)(3) nonprofit cultural institution that produces film events throughout the year, including the award-winning Denver Film Festival and the popular, summertime series Film on the Rocks. With a vision to cultivate community and transform lives through film, Denver Film provides opportunities for diverse audiences to discover film through creative, thought-provoking experiences.
The permanent home of Denver Film, the Sie FilmCenter is Denver’s only year-round cinematheque, presenting a weekly-changing calendar of first-run exclusives and arthouse revivals both domestic and foreign, narrative and documentary – over 600 per year, all shown in their original language and format. Denver Film’s one-of-a-kind programs annually reach more than 200,000 film lovers and film lovers-in-training.
