SHORTS - REEL STORIES: LADIES' DOCUMENTARY SHORTS

THIS IS THE WAY WE RISE
Director: Ciara Lacy
12 mins, English, USA, 2021

This Is The Way We Rise is an exploration into the creative process, following Native Hawaiian queer slam poet Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio as her calling to protect sacred sites atop Maunakea, Hawai`i reinvigorates her art.

SPARKING
Director: Beta Bajgart
7 mins, English, Ireland, 2021

Uplifting story about Dil Wickremasinghe, podcaster, speaker, mental health service provider and an activist who lives with her wife and kids in Dublin. Life hasn’t always been a breeze for this energetic, bubbly and dynamic woman. Her way of coping with life lessons is an inspiration for many of us. Don’t miss watching her story unravel as the day goes by.

PARTICULAR FRIENDSHIPS
Directors: Mark Padilla & Nelson Varas-Díaz
20 mins, English, USA, 2020

Susan entered the convent as a naive young woman. There she established a “particular friendship” that would send her on a path of self-discovery. Religion, transgression, sexuality, censorship, love and happiness, become intertwined in this short biographical documentary film. Through Susan, we revisit the importance of being unafraid, at all stages of our lives.

ELEVEN WEEKS
Directors: Anna Kuperberg & Julie Caskey
14 mins, English, USA, 2020

Carla Jean Johnson accepts her fast and aggressive cancer diagnosis with clarity and grace while photographer Anna Kuperberg, her long-time wife, documents their final days and weeks together. With mesmerizing footage and intimate recordings of the couple’s final conversations, Eleven Weeks is a story more about love than death.

FOR THE LAUGHS
Directors: Connie O’Connor & Barbara Citraro
11 mins, English, USA, 2020

For The Laughs is a documentary about comedy at The IO Theater in Chicago. Through the eyes of five queer women performers, it explores the joys and struggles of balancing identity with expression, and the freedom to be yourself on a stage that encourages you to do so.

THE LONG HAUL 100
Director: Christina Rosetti
24 mins, English, USA, 2020

What does it mean to push your body to its limits? The Long Haul 100 follows Katie Rozar on her training and race journey to run a 100 mile ultra-marathon for the first time. Katie approaches running from a scientific angle, turning her training into an equation to test her mental and physical abilities. As the race begins to weigh on her, we see there is no perfect calculation but the drive to finish and a strong support system.