2018 Tough Broads Film Festival Program

The Lower Eastside Girls Club presents

October 11–14, 2018

Welcome to The Lower Eastside Girls Club

TOUGH BROADS FILM FESTIVAL 2018 The films in this festival represent the best examples of woman-power by celebrating the personal lives and decades long careers of inspirational activists and all around ‘bad-ass’ tough broads!

We are thrilled to share these important documentary works with the girls of today, so that they may learn by the examples of the women profiled in the films. So that they may learn from the women who made these films. So that they may understand that their lives’ work is to grow into ethical and passionate human beings, and become media savvy truth tellers!

This is the work of all women: to raise the next generation of ‘tough broads’! Because, as friend of the Girls Club, poet and activist Cleo Wade proudly states: “My favorite thing about girl power is that over time it turns into woman power!”

Thank you for coming to the launch of our Tough Broads Festival Series. In the New Year there will be a screening once a month. Please sign up for our e- newsletter to stay in touch.

Special thanks and shout outs to all of our participating filmmakers, discussants, performers, to Girls Club media staff Kelly Adams and Andrea Betanzos for organizing this event... and to the Original Tough Broad: Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer for providing the initial funds to launch this series.

SCHEDULE THURSDAY OCTOBER 11 4:00pm • Selects from: Girls Impact The World Film Festival 4:30pm • Panel Discussion & Reception

FRIDAY OCTOBER 12 6:30pm • RBG 8:30pm • Panel Discussion & Reception

SATURDAY OCTOBER 13 11:00am • BaddDDD Sonia Sanchez 1:00pm • Luncheon & Panel: The Power of Words Presentation of the Tough Broads Award Performance by LiKWUiD Styles 3:00pm • The Rest I Make Up 6:00pm • Dolores

SUNDAY OCTOBER 14 2:00pm • Chavela 4:00pm • What Happened, Miss Simone?

Day 1 — October 11 4:00pm

International Day of the Girl Party Selects from Girls Impact the World Film Festival

4:30pm

Panel Discussion featuring Aicha Cherif and Roxanne Lim, Moderated by Layla Yu

5:00pm

Dance Party

Day 2 — October 12, Opening Night 6:30pm

RBG dirs. Betsy West and Julie Cohen, 2018, 1hr 38 min.

An exceptional life and career lived through her service to the U.S. Supreme Court, Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s documentary traces the pivotal series of cases which established her as a trailblazer for women’s rights and equality.

Followed by Panel Discussion featuring: Shana Knizhnik and Irin Carmon, authors of Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg; Sara L. Estela, Litigation Associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP. Moderated by Louise Melling, Deputy Legal Director and Director of Center for Liberty, ACLU.

8:30pm

Opening Night Reception

Meet My Grandma shorts produced by Girls Club members will precede each screening!

Day 3 — October 13 11:00am

BaddDDD Sonia Sanchez dirs. Sabrina Schmidt Gordon, Barbara Attie, Janet Goldwater, 2015, 1hr 20min.

A documentary rich with Sanchez’s contribution to the world of poetry, her singular place in the Black Arts Movement and her leadership role in African American culture over the last half century.

1:00pm

The Power of Poetry : Panel Discussion & Luncheon Moderated by Kelly Adams and Andrea Betanzos featuring: Sabrina Schmidt Gordon, Co-Director of BaddDDD Sonia Sanchez.

Performance by LiKWUiD Stylez, Poet.Tough Broads Award presented

by Faye Ginsburg, Co-Director of NYU Center for Media, Culture and History, to Gale Brewer, Manhattan Borough President.

3:00pm

The Rest I Make Up dir. Michelle Memran, 2018, 1hr 19min.

Co-presenter: Loisaida INC What began as an accidental collaboration becomes a ten-year examination of one of the most acclaimed and prolific playwrights, who is still widely unknown. Filmmaker Michelle Memran traces the work of Cuban-American playwright Maria Irene Fornes and her visionary work through their travels and years of friendship.

In conversation following screening: Migdalia Cruz and Producer Katie Pearl

6:00pm

Dolores dir. Peter Bratt, 2017, 1hr 35min.

Co-presenter: Coalition of Immokalee Workers A social justice crusader whose work has largely gone unrecognized, Dolores Huerta is among the most important, yet least known, activists in American history. Fighting tirelessly alongside Cesar Chavez in founding the first farm workers unions, Dolores is an ode to her path in becoming one of the most defiant feminists of the twentieth century.

In conversation following screening: Alex Scheme, National Faith Co-Coordinator with Alliance for Fair Food and Nely Rodriguez, a member of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.

Day 4 — October 14 2:00pm

Chavela dirs. Catherine Gund, Daresha Kyi, 2017, 1hr 33min.

Co-presented by Cornelia Street Cafe Underground Cinema Through its lyrical structure, Chavela takes viewers on an evocative, thought-provoking journey through the iconoclastic life of game-changing artist and queer trailblazer Chavela Vargas. An arresting portrait of a woman who dared to dress, speak, sing, and dream her unique life into being.

In conversation following screening: Reynaliz Herrera and Neyda Martinez

4:00pm

What Happened, Miss Simone? dir. Liz Garbus, 2015, 1hr 41min Co-presented by Middle Collegiate Church Woven from rare archival footage and never-before-heard recordings, What Happened, Miss Simone? is an unforgettable glimpse into the life of black power icon and legendary musical genius Nina Simone.

In conversation following screening: Lyn Pentecost, PhD, Lower Eastside Girls Club Executive Director, and Rev. Jacqui Lewis, PhD (Middle Collegiate Church) Gospel Happy Hour Refreshments served following screening.

“The best thing about girl power is that over time it turns into woman power.”

—Cleo Wade

The Lower Eastside Girls Club (LESGC) connects girls and young women to healthy and successful futures. Our state-of-­the-­art center offers a safe haven with programs in the arts, sciences, leadership, entrepreneurship, and wellness for middle and high school girls. Programs are offered at no cost to girls and their families.

TOUGH BROADS FILM FESTIVAL IS PARTIALLY FUNDED BY