BY DUSICA SUE MALESEVIC | Now in its third year, the Chelsea Film Festival has a fresh theme, and is launching two new programs. This time around, the Oct. 15–18 festival is setting its sight on women in film and media.
“It’s something that we decided to focus on this year,” Ingrid Jean-Baptiste, the festival’s co-founder, explained in a phone interview. “However, it’s always been an element that was never really named. We tried to make it equal in terms of having work from male and female filmmakers.”
The festival, which focuses on global issues, has always had the tagline “Making the World a Better Place,” she said. That phrase is how the whole festival started — making the world a better place through cinema by screening films that share a specific message.
Much of the work presented in the lineup this year, Jean-Baptiste said, finds women writing, directing and producing. Women directed five films, produced eight of them, and wrote six.
Ruth Berdah-Canet, for instance, directed the documentary “For You Were Once Strangers,” which looks at three South Sudanese families that fled their country for Israel.
“The closing film and opening are really gorgeous as well,” observed Jean-Baptiste.
The festival opens with “Solitary,” directed by Sasha Krane, and starring Katharine Lee McEwan, who also wrote the screenplay. Jean-Baptiste called the thriller, which explores what happens when childhood secrets are revealed, “very powerful.”
“Valley,” directed by Sophie Artus, will close the festival. In Artus’ debut feature, she portrays the lives of three teenagers dealing with violence in an isolated Northern Israel town called Migdal HaEmek.
Films for the festival are carefully chosen. A selection committee reviews all the films that are submitted — this year Jean-Baptiste said there were 1,000 — from Jan. to the end of the July. The committee also looks at a film’s premiere status, as Jean-Baptiste said it is important for the festival to feature New York premieres.
This year, over 60 works will be shown, including features, documentaries and short films. Fifteen of them will compete for the festival’s Grand Prix.
The idea for the Chelsea Film Festival was spurred by wanting to “promote films from emerging directors,” Jean-Baptiste explained. After thinking about how that could be accomplished, it was decided that some type of event would be needed, she said.
“It came about that it would be a film festival,” she said. “And I live in Chelsea…hence the name.”
Jean-Baptiste moved to Chelsea from Paris in 2010.
“I was working as a journalist in Paris and then I came to New York to do something different,” she said. “I enrolled in the Actors Studio with Lee Strasberg. I graduated from there and decided to go further into this learning of the acting, and the craft of acting.”
After a terrible car accident, Jean-Baptiste focused on creating a festival. She asked her mother, Sonia Jean-Baptiste, to help — and together, they founded the festival.
“My mom and I are really close, and we do a lot of things together. It just seemed logical for her to be involved,” she recalled.
The theme of women in film and media carries over to the festival’s Q&A sessions. Jean-Baptiste noted that it is important not just to screen films, but also to engage in conservation afterwards.
In film, the “magic hour” refers to the period shortly after sunrise or before sunset, frequently used for shots — which is where the Reel Magic Hour derives its name. This new program, to be inaugurated at the festival, is a series of five panels that will feature high-profile industry insiders, from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., on Sat., Oct. 17, said Jean-Baptiste.
The lineup is yet to be released, but it will be held at the Fashion Institute of Technology (227 W. 27th St. at Seventh Ave.).
Another new program established in conjunction with the festival is the Kino & Vino Series at Bow Tie Cinemas Chelsea (260 W. 23rd St. btw. Eighth & Ninth Aves.), a monthly event.
The first installment will take place on Nov. 9 at 7 p.m., when the festival’s 2015 Grand Prix Winner will be screened at the Bow Tie, and followed by a Q&A and a wine reception.
The series will take a break in Dec. and Jan., but will resume in Feb., Jean-Baptiste said.
Jean-Baptiste highlighted a number of the festival’s best offerings.
A film called “PTSD: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder” follows Jason, who returns from Iraq and tries to adjust to life after war. “Imminent Threat” takes a look at how the United States’ War on Terror has affected its citizens’ civil liberties.
Other films, like “Drawers,” touch on completely different subjects. A Turkish film set in the ’70s, “Drawers” is about Deniz, a woman who rebels against her father, an eminent actor and writer.
“This year…will be very special because of the quality of work that we’ve received,” Jean-Baptiste said. “It’s really gorgeous work from first-time filmmakers.”
Oct. 15–18 at the SVA Theatre (333 W. 23rd St. btw. Eighth & Ninth Aves.) and other locations in Chelsea. For more information, visit chelseafilm.org.
