Last month was Women’s History Month, but we don’t have to stop celebrating just because it’s April. The second annual Cascadia International Women’s Film Festival is April 12–15 at Pickford Film Center in downtown Bellingham. This festival screens films directed exclusively by women, honoring their strides in a predominately male dominated field
Cascadia will spotlight a variety of feature films, documentaries, and animated pieces, directed by women around the globe. Among them will be Seattle-based director Lynn Shelton’s newest feature, “Outside In,” filmed in Snohomish. You can see it on the first day of the festival.
The festival will also be premiering multiple foreign films, such as the West Coast premiere of “Women of Silk Road,” directed by Iranian American Yassamin Maleknasr.
“We are not just a Bellingham film festival, we are an international festival based in Bellingham,” said festival executive director Cheryl Crooks, emphasizing the importance of screening films from diverse backgrounds
This year’s honored guest is Cheryl Boone Isaacs, former president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The third female president and the first AfricanAmerican president of the Academy, she will be participating in the festival throughout the weekend, as well as hosting a talk on Friday.
“The impact of film empowers women, supports local and global ideas and creates opportunities for community members, as well as filmmakers, to participate in the collaboration that is film,” Crooks said. “Cascadia is part of a larger movement to allow women’s voices to be heard.”
CASCADIA International Women’s Film Festival
360.543.0149 | cascadiafilmfest.org
