SHE'S GOT THIS! SHORTS PROGRAM

SHE'S GOT THIS! SHORTS PROGRAM
Sunday, September 24, 2023 at 6:00 PM
SHORTS PROGRAM | 84 min
General Admission $10 | Student + Children $8

SWIMMING THROUGH
SHORT DOCUMENTARY | 15.5 MIN | ENGLISH | USA
Directed by Samantha Sanders

As the brutal Chicago winter draws near, Deirdre, Helen and Jennefer make a pact to continue swim through the snow and ice as the pandemic rages on. This intense commitment becomes their salvation from lockdown and helps alleviate each of their personal struggles.

About the Director, Samantha Sanders

Samantha Sanders has written/produced/directed documentary programs for networks including National Geographic, The History Channel, MSNBC, A&E and PBS. Her films and screenplays have won awards internationally. She has directed Emmy-winning short documentaries including Purpose Over Pain, centered around families who have lost children to gun violence and Youth in Music Festival, a celebration of cross-cultural music-making. Sam co-produced the fiction feature film American Folk. Set against the backdrop of 9/11, this road movie musical, starring musicians Joe Purdy and Amber Rubarth, was nominated for the Panavision Spirit Award at the Santa Barbara Film Festival and won Best American Independent Film at the Cleveland International Film Festival. She also produced the feature film, Chicago Boricua, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and is distributed by Screen Media. In 2018, Sam directed Ballhawks, a short documentary about the community of Cubs fans who spend games outside the stadium trying to catch home run balls. She, along with her husband, editor John Farbrother, founded and runs Green River Films, an Emmy-award winning Chicago-based production company. Sam teaches film at Columbia College Chicago, where she received an MFA in filmmaking, and at DePaul University. She is a passionate landscape photographer whose love of shooting Lake Michigan (especially in the winter) drew her to this project.

CRIMSON WAVE
SHORT NARRATIVE | 8.5 MIN | ENGLISH | USA
Directed by Monica Arsenault

In this comedy of errors, we follow Olivia through a milestone moment in her family's beach house rental bathroom circa 2008. This short dramedy is a hot pink love letter to our younger selves and the menstrual moments that we will never forget.

About the Director, Monica Arsenault

Monica Arsenault is a Brooklyn-based writer, director, and producer whose work addresses issues at the intersection of faith, womanhood, and sexuality. Her work could best be described as feminist, coming-of-age content with boundary-pushing themes and colorful aesthetics.

In 2018, Monica founded her production company, Soul Series Productions, with a mission to bring communities together through diverse storytelling. In Soul Series Productions' inaugural year, Monica wrote and directed Nun Habits, a six-part web series that follows a bisexual nun who befriends a high school student coming to terms with her sexuality as they navigate where they fit into the Catholic Church. After a wildly successful film festival run, Nun Habits received international distribution on The Roku Channel for a year before finding it's home on Stareable TV's YouTube channel.

Since then, Monica has conceptualized and directed Weekend, artist Lydian's first music video. She has also partnered with Katherine McClintock on her Ending the War On My Body project, a series of poem-driven short films that explore our relationship to mirrors and being kinder to our bodies. As part of this series, Monica directed two of six of the short films- The Mirror, which follows a woman who is interrupted by men taking photos of her while she's getting ready for her day; and Is That My Body? which follows a woman who emerges from her bathtub to find her bathroom transformed into a rainforest paradise before she realizes she is at home with herself and her body as well.

STAGE KIDS
SHORT NARRATIVE | 13.5 MIN | ENGLISH | USA
Directed by Lynn Chen

In this tense film by actor/director Lynn Chen ("Saving Face", "I Will Make You Mine" & "Grays Anatomy") two teenage actresses must decide if this is the life they want for themselves, or if they’re going to take their professional stress and family drama into their own hands.

About the Director, Lynn Chen

Lynn Chen made her filmmaking debut with "I Will Make You Mine," a feature film which she wrote, produced, directed and starred in. The movie was an Official Selection of the 2020 SXSW Film Festival and in 2022, Rotten Tomatoes featured it on their list of “81 Best Asian American Movies of All Time” (with a 100% rating). The film is now streaming on VOD and Paramount Plus.

She is best known as an actress, playing “Dr. Michelle Lin” on ABC’s "Grey’s Anatomy." Other credits include television shows ("Shameless," "Silicon Valley"), films ("Saving Face," "Go Back to China") audiobooks ("Crazy Rich Asians," "Land of Big Numbers") and video games ("Call of Duty: Black Ops III & IV", "Ghost of Tsushima"). Lynn won the “Best Actress” Award at the 2016 NBC Shorts Festival and a year-long talent holding deal with the network.

Lynn has produced, directed, and hosted non-scripted content for outlets like BuzzFeed, Tastemade, Hello Giggles, and ISATV that have seen over 40 million views. She created the blogs/podcasts The Actor’s Diet and Thick Dumpling Skin which have won numerous awards, including the BlogHer “Voices of the Year” and the Editor’s Choice for CBS LA’s “Most Valuable Blogger.” Lynn was selected in Marie Claire Magazine as part of their feature on the “Next Generation of Social Activists.” She was featured in Variety’s 2020 “Power of Women” Issue.

Lynn has also been a spokesperson for The National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), has worked with A+ (Time’s Up API arm), the National Organization of Women (NOW), and is currently an Ambassador for Miry’s List. She has spoken at Disneyland California Food and Wine, WonderCon, Stanford, Dartmouth, Princeton, and Wellesley University.

SCAM
SHORT NARRATIVE | 7.5 MIN | ENGLISH | USA
Directed by Julie Sharbutt

When a phone scammer makes one last late night call, she finds grandma gives her much more than she bargained for.

About the Director, Julie Sharbutt

JULIE SHARBUTT is a filmmaker and writer from New York City, now living in Los Angeles. She is currently in production on her award winning short horror film script SCAM. Her most recent film credit, CUPIDS, a comedy short film she co-wrote with Director Zoey Martinson, premiered at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival, screened at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival American Pavilion Emerging Filmmaker Showcase and was nominated for a 2022 NAACP Image Award. Her narrative comedy feature screenplay EXCELLENT FANCY was selected for the 2022 WScripted Cannes Screenplay List. Her narrative horror comedy feature screenplay, GHOSTIES, was a 2021 Nantucket Film Festival Tony Cox Screenplay Competition Top Three Finalist. Her short horror film 3 DAYS, screened at over thirty film festivals including 2019 Fantastic Fest and Atlanta Shorts Fest (Best Screenplay), and is now on premiere horror channel ALTER. Co-Writer of SWIPE NIGHT: SEASON TWO for Tinder. Her debut feature film debut as a writer and director, MOVED, was distributed by 1091, as was the improvised feature film she co-created and starred in, THE WEEKEND. In addition to acting in Theater, Film, TV, Julie was a regular performer at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, and her humor writing has been featured in The New Yorker: Shouts & Murmurs and McSweeneys. Her feature and short film have won or placed in competitions and festivals, as have her original pilots SALVAGED (2022 Austin Film Festival SemiFinalist, 2022 Broad Humor Film Festival Winner Audience Award Best Pilot, 2022 Orchard Project Episodic Lab Finalist) THE SKID (2020 ScreenCraft Best Drama Finalist), PLAYERS (2019 Broad Humor Festival Winner Best Pilot) and more. Julie is a member of Film Fatales, Alliance of Women Directors and Women In Film, and has been a regular volunteer at Write Girl LA, Inner-City Arts, Opening Act and the 52nd Street Project. She enjoys gardening, hiking, taking pictures of animals with her phone, and ghost stories. BA in Theater and English Literature from Vanderbilt, MFA in Acting from NYU. 2018 Warner Bros Discovery OneFifty New Storyteller Artist.

CARPOOLING
SHORT NARRATIVE | 12.5 MIN | FRENCH | FRANCE
Directed by Nicolas Liberman

A car pooling app pairs up Nina with handsome stranger Paul for a long distance trip. Things are going well until Paul decides to take a detour...

Director, Nicolas Liberman

Born in Paris, Nicolas studied history and politics before taking acting courses at Cours Florent for two years. He also worked in short films production, and in 2022 starts working on his first film as screenwriter and director: CARPOOLING. He is currently working on his next short film project.

WOMEN IN AVIATION
SHORT DOCUMENTARY | 10.5 MIN | ENGLISH | USA
Directed by Keith Famie and Brendan Martin

Four Michigan female pilots tell the history of the courageous women that flew before them and reveal a bright future of possibilities for aspiring young girls in aviation.

About the Director, Keith Famie

Director/Producer Keith Famie was, for many years, known as a celebrity chef and a metro Detroit restaurateur. Famie was also a finalist on the 2001 reality television series, "Survivor: The Australian Outback."

Keith hosted his own Food Network series, "Keith Famie's Adventures," traveling the world documenting cooking styles from the plains of Africa to monk monasteries of Taiwan, to the lifestyle of Key West. In 2004, the Adventure Chef embarked on a new journey - documentary filmmaking. "I didn't want to be the 'Adventure Chef' guy anymore. I wanted to help people tell their stories."

Since that life-changing decision, Famie has been awarded eleven Michigan Emmys and been nominated several other times for his rich, human-interest storytelling, from ethnic documentaries to military tribute films. He and his team at Visionalist Entertainment Productions create informative, entertaining films that touch a wide audience.

SHE MEANS BUSINESS
SHORT DOCUMENTARY | 15.5 MIN | ENGLISH | USA, CAMEROON, GHANA, KENYA
Directed by Tiffany Steeves

Being a female business owner is not easy — or at the very least, it's different. In Africa and South Asia, the unique challenges of leading a company and team are all the more. In this short film, women business owners from across the two continents share their personal stories.