This
festival is the first of its kind to put the spotlight on film
comedies by women. We have no idea what we would get when
we started. Nobody did. The view from traditional
channels is that women don't make comedies.
Why the void? Is it lack of encouragement, lack
of exposure, lack of market, or lack of talent? Or are we
using the wrong yardstick, measuring lack of nothing in the women's
work but rather of vision in the moviemaking world? The
first reason to have this festival is simply to collect what is
out there and begin to answer these questions.
The second reason is to give recognition to the
women making movies that deserve to be seen but for whom there
is no venue. A movie that is finished but never gets a chance
to speak to an audience is like a stillbirth. How can anyone,
man or woman, become a master of their craft without the vital
dialog with spectators and critics?
The third reason for this festival is to help women
build a community. Joking is not done by the meek. Comedy
is not ladylike. Who knows what will happen when a bunch
of funny broads gather in one place.
The final reason is personal. I love to laugh.
I am charmed by the absurd. And it has been women who have
mostly made me laugh. I miss this laughter in the culture
at large and I think everyone is the loser for it.
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