HIGHLIGHTS: October 2023 Toronto Female Film Festival

Showcase of the best FILMS in the world today.

Audience Award Winners:

Best Feature Film: KILL DOLLY KILL

Best Short Form Short Film: GIVE US A SMILE
Best Long Form Short Film: THE NIGHTINGALE
Best Cinematography: SKEDADDLE
Best Direction: IF THEY CAN’T BE LOVED
Best Performances: AMEND

Best Sound & Music: BEYOND THE DOOR

Watch the Audience Feedback Video for each film:

GIVE US A SMILE, 13min., USA
Directed by Alessia Fionda
A humorous retelling of the sitting of the Mona Lisa featuring the master himself, Leonardo da Vinci and his not so talented pupil, Alessio.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt20850030/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
https://instagram.com/alessiafionda

WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!

IF THEY CAN’T BE LOVED, 22min., Singapore
Directed by Hattie Lee
Elaine, an abused housewife looking for redemption and Regina, guilty over the death of her lover, find each other and attempt to heal from their trauma.

WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!

AMEND, 19min., USA
Directed by Jianna Maarten Saada
Rachael lives an isolated existence, haunted by an unspeakable past. But when a young boy upends her tightly controlled world, she’s forced to face her own demons.

https://www.amendshortfilm.com/
https://www.facebook.com/amendfilm
https://twitter.com/amend_film
https://instagram.com/amend_film

WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!

THE NIGHTINGALE, 37min., UK
Directed by Robbi Stevens
Set in London and inspired by real-life events, The Nightingale follows Grace, a second-year university student, on her reckless and dangerous path through the different stages of PTSD. With unflinching honesty, the film explores the lasting impact of sexual assault and the courage it takes to overcome it.

https://raawlondon.org/the-nightingale
https://instagram.com/thenightingalefilm_

WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!

SKEDADDLE, 20min., Ireland
Directed by Valeria Patarushina
A young woman named Anastasia finds herself fleeing the chaos of Ukraine and finding refuge in the Irish home of Miguel, a dedicated and methodical type who lectures in the nearby business school.

WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!

BEYOND THE DOOR, 12min., USA
Directed by Gregory Klino, MJ Palo
When a man buys a cuckoo clock for his wife, he discovers that there is more behind the cuckoo’s door than just the cuckoo.

WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!

KILL DOLLY KILL, 100min., USA
Directed by Heidi Moore
BENJI is back. Now living as his alter-ego DOLLY DEADLY, he’s all grown up and ready to kill…AGAIN.

WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!

By femalefilmfestival

The irony of this festival is that its goal is to not be around in 5 years time. To eventually not be relevant because there is zero need to have a festival geared for female talent and female stories because the stories presented in Hollywood and around the world are a balanced showcase of the human experience from both sexes. Our goal is to achieve a lot of success and then fold into oblivion simply because there is no need for this festival. This festival was created by the FEEDBACK Film & Writing Festival as a simple reaction to a strong need to showcase female talent from around the world in a more profound way. When putting together the weekly festival, the administration noticed a lack of a female presence in the stories being shown at the festival. A classic example and analogy to the frustration is how the festival noticed that even the smaller roles in a screenplay were written for a man to play. There was zero reason for this in many stories. How a police officer, or a political campaign manager, for example with 3-4 lines in a screenplay was a "HE" character. Why? And these are the screenplays written by the winners! The talented one who have obtained agents and have began/beginning their careers as a writer.

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