Film center marks domestic violence awareness month
The Maine Film Center continues its new virtual series, “Cinema in Conversation,” where filmmakers, film experts, policymakers, and journalists from around the world converge on Zoom to discuss important films with the community.
The next event in the “Cinema in Conversation” series will take place on Sunday, October 18 at 2:00 p.m., and will be led by filmmakers Anna-Sophia Richards and Astrid Schäfer (IN MY SKIN), and founder/president of Finding Our Voices Patrisha McLean (producer, “Women in Windows”). Both films address the issue of domestic violence and will bring Domestic Violence Awareness Month into focus. To view the films and register for the discussion, visit RailroadSquareCinema.com. The screening cost is $10 for both films, and proceeds will be split with the filmmakers.
Made in Germany, IN MY SKIN (72 minutes) asks, “Why do women stay in violent relationships even when they have been abused for a long time?” The film chronicles the experiences of the daily lives of three women with different backgrounds as the camera takes on their point of view. We hear their thoughts and suffer with them as they struggle to become more independent and break free. Based on true events, all voice-over texts were taken from interviews with the portrayed women.
WOMEN IN WINDOWS (7 minutes) is a portrait of domestic violence in our own Maine community. As COVID-19 took hold, domestic violence started to spike. The non-profit Finding Our Voices responded with “Women in Windows”: a campaign of huge (2′ x 4′) banners in the windows of 70 downtown businesses in Midcoast Maine, each featuring one of 25 Maine Survivors of domestic abuse, a nod to the abuse and the woman’s transcendence of it, and the local domestic violence hotline phone number: Getting word to women trapped more than ever with angry and controlling family members: “You are not alone” and “There is help out there.” Award-winning film director Daniel Quintanilla captures and preserves this campaign, now touring the state, in this seven-minute film that has a woman taking in the actual words of the actual women in a drive through town, inspiring her own coming out of the darkness and into the light.
A slate of discussions over the coming months will consider a wide range of films: LA LLORONA (dir. Jayro Bustamante, 2019), BIG NIGHT (dir. Stanley Tucci, 1996), and CODED BIAS (dir. Shalini Kantayya, 2020). Each discussion will be led by either the filmmaker or a film expert.
A turkey pie sale, curbside only, will be held at the back entrance of the Madison American Legion Hall, on Saturday, November 7, 2020, from 3 to 6 p.m., at 20 S. Maple Street. Each pie is $10, and pre-orders are encouraged, call Charlotte at 696-3375 by October 30. For every purchase, your name will go into a drawing. Proceeds to benefit the local food cupboards. FMI: call Charlotte at 696-3375 or Harriet at 635-2051.
The Branch Mills Grange will host a chicken and dumplings and pie drive-up on Saturday, October 17, from 4 – 6 p.m., for $7 per serving. Pre-orders (optional) can be place from October 10 – 16, at 5 p.m., by calling Grange Master Ann Bako and (207) 445-2707. The grange is located on Branch Mills Rd., at the China/Palermo line.
