Photo/Katelyn Firestein
By: KATELYN FIRESTEIN
Staff Writer
karfires@iu.edu
For the first time, LUNAFEST, a national women’s film festival, made its way to the Michiana area. People of all ages attended the event. Most the members of the crowd were women, but there were men in the audience as well.
The event included nine short films directed by women from across the nation and Canada. These films were “by, for, and about women” that varied in plot and setting. In general, they discussed issues about loss, relationships, friendships, and the dynamics of women’s lives at a variety of ages in a variety of situations.
April Lidinsky, the director of the Women’s and Gender Studies department at IUSB, attended the event and encouraged her students to attend as well.
“I think we’re starved for stories that show the complexity of women’s lives. It’s powerful to be able to hear over such a short period of time these stories of fear, loss, friendship…and being able to sit in a room of people applauding these stories,” said Lidinsky.
The event was sponsored by many local and national companies, and ticket costs served as a fundraiser for Chicken & Egg Pictures, St. Margaret’s House, and YWCA North Central Indiana.
The event was hosted by Barbara Williams and a few of her colleagues. Williams claimed that since attending her first LUNAFEST, it had been her dream to bring it to the area. Last Saturday, she finally accomplished this dream. For more information on LUNAFEST and their mission, visit https://www.lunafest.org.
