2008 Woodie Awards
LunaFest celebrates women with short films
Ashley Herzberger
Issue date: 3/11/07 Section: Entertainment
- Page 1 of 1
Strange music, Indian women being set free, pregnant women giving birth on a golf course, a Chinese woman scuba-diving in a pool and a baby being abandoned because she is female.
These were some of the issues LunaFest addressed on March 8 in Humanities 150.
LunaFest, part of Body Acceptance Month, is a mini film festival featuring nine short films ranging in time from two minutes-34 minutes. All the films featured and were directed by women.
LunaFest has been around for six years and this is the second time the film festival has been shown on campus. The employees that work at Clif Bar and Co., the company that produces Luna Bars , have a strong connection to women's overall health and wellbeing and work with women's organizations such as the Breast Cancer Fund. They created LunaFest to help benefit the Breast Cancer Fund and to bring awareness to different issues faced by women.
"All the films celebrate women, their different experiences, different cultures and different ages," said Dana Friedman, a senior advertising major and intern for Luna.
The event was a fundraiser. Tickets sold for $10 and $7 for students.
"All the money goes to charity," Friedman said. "25 percent goes to the Breast Cancer Fund and 75 percent goes to (Feminists Address the Body, a student organization.) This is an important opportunity for people to give back to an organization on campus that has done a lot of things for body acceptance."
LunaFest started with a reception where the approximately 50 audience members could enjoy pizza from The Sink, chips and dip from Qdoba and Luna Bars. Audience members also were presented with gift bags that had coupons and small promotional products from some of the sponsors.
The films were all very different, some very conventional and others a little abstract.
The first film "Mann Ke Manjeeré" was a music video of an Indian woman trying to find freedom of her own away from an abusive environment.
Another film, "Slip of the Tongue," was based on a poem of the same name. It examined beauty through the phrase "ethnic make-up" and was set as a conversation between a man and a woman at a bus stop. It was narrated in a rap-like fashion by the male character.
One of the most powerful films was the story of a woman going through breast cancer shortly after giving birth to a new daughter. The camera was present in most parts of her experience including doctor's appointments, chemotherapy and intimate times spent with her daughter and other members of her family.
On a lighter note, the festival ended with a two minute animated film of a cow listening to an agricultural report about a new disease present in grass. The cow tries to do everything to stay away from the field of grass she is standing in, however, hunger overcomes her fear by the end of the film.
After the festival ended a raffle was held to give away prizes donated by the sponsors.
Kara Bulthaup, a senior psychology major, enjoyed the event.
"I really liked it," Bulthaup said. "I like coming to help breast cancer awareness."
Lindsay Miller, a student coordinator for the wellness program, president of FAB and a senior womens studies major, helped Friedman coordinate the event.
"It's important that men see these films as well," Miller said. "They have women in their lives. The more diversity you have, the more enriching [the experience] will be."
Justin Prugh, a junior advertising major and one of the few men in the audience, came because his mother is going through a remission of breast cancer. He felt it was important that men attend events such as LunaFest because men should be aware of women's issues.
"Campus events expose youths to new ideas," Prugh said. "It's nice to be informed about breast cancer early on in life. You can take that knowledge and apply it to life in the future with your family or friends."
Throughout the screening of the films, the audience experienced a wide range of emotions from amusement to true sadness.
"LunaFest is a good message for women," Miller said. "It's nice to promote something I feel strongly about as well."
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Ashley Herzberger at Ashley.Herzberger@thecampuspress
These were some of the issues LunaFest addressed on March 8 in Humanities 150.
LunaFest, part of Body Acceptance Month, is a mini film festival featuring nine short films ranging in time from two minutes-34 minutes. All the films featured and were directed by women.
LunaFest has been around for six years and this is the second time the film festival has been shown on campus. The employees that work at Clif Bar and Co., the company that produces Luna Bars , have a strong connection to women's overall health and wellbeing and work with women's organizations such as the Breast Cancer Fund. They created LunaFest to help benefit the Breast Cancer Fund and to bring awareness to different issues faced by women.
"All the films celebrate women, their different experiences, different cultures and different ages," said Dana Friedman, a senior advertising major and intern for Luna.
The event was a fundraiser. Tickets sold for $10 and $7 for students.
"All the money goes to charity," Friedman said. "25 percent goes to the Breast Cancer Fund and 75 percent goes to (Feminists Address the Body, a student organization.) This is an important opportunity for people to give back to an organization on campus that has done a lot of things for body acceptance."
LunaFest started with a reception where the approximately 50 audience members could enjoy pizza from The Sink, chips and dip from Qdoba and Luna Bars. Audience members also were presented with gift bags that had coupons and small promotional products from some of the sponsors.
The films were all very different, some very conventional and others a little abstract.
The first film "Mann Ke Manjeeré" was a music video of an Indian woman trying to find freedom of her own away from an abusive environment.
Another film, "Slip of the Tongue," was based on a poem of the same name. It examined beauty through the phrase "ethnic make-up" and was set as a conversation between a man and a woman at a bus stop. It was narrated in a rap-like fashion by the male character.
One of the most powerful films was the story of a woman going through breast cancer shortly after giving birth to a new daughter. The camera was present in most parts of her experience including doctor's appointments, chemotherapy and intimate times spent with her daughter and other members of her family.
On a lighter note, the festival ended with a two minute animated film of a cow listening to an agricultural report about a new disease present in grass. The cow tries to do everything to stay away from the field of grass she is standing in, however, hunger overcomes her fear by the end of the film.
After the festival ended a raffle was held to give away prizes donated by the sponsors.
Kara Bulthaup, a senior psychology major, enjoyed the event.
"I really liked it," Bulthaup said. "I like coming to help breast cancer awareness."
Lindsay Miller, a student coordinator for the wellness program, president of FAB and a senior womens studies major, helped Friedman coordinate the event.
"It's important that men see these films as well," Miller said. "They have women in their lives. The more diversity you have, the more enriching [the experience] will be."
Justin Prugh, a junior advertising major and one of the few men in the audience, came because his mother is going through a remission of breast cancer. He felt it was important that men attend events such as LunaFest because men should be aware of women's issues.
"Campus events expose youths to new ideas," Prugh said. "It's nice to be informed about breast cancer early on in life. You can take that knowledge and apply it to life in the future with your family or friends."
Throughout the screening of the films, the audience experienced a wide range of emotions from amusement to true sadness.
"LunaFest is a good message for women," Miller said. "It's nice to promote something I feel strongly about as well."
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Ashley Herzberger at Ashley.Herzberger@thecampuspress
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