The Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival is dedicated to representing the work of women filmmakers as a critical part of its programming.
Join us for a special presentation on women and film where we will take a look into the history of women in the world of cinema, provide insight into what it is to be a woman filmmaker today, and encourage a lively discussion about what the future holds for filmmakers.
Panelists
BETH PACUNAS: MODERATOR
Beth Pacunas is an independent filmmaker, and content developer with a long list of writing, directing and producing credits in independent film, cable television, PBS and the web. Pacunas is a distinguished alumna of the American Film Institute’s Directing Workshop for Women, and a member of the Alliance of Women Directors in Hollywood. She is currently Executive Producer for a Minnesota Legacy funded feature documentary entitled “Cracked Ice” about the sport of Ice Racing and how it gave a troubled young man a second chance at life.
TESSA BLAKE
Tessa Blake is an award-winning writer and director. Her films have premiered at SXSW, won the Nantucket Film Festival, been honored by the Academy, been released theatrically, and have played on Showtime, PBS and ShortsHD. She and her husband Ian Williams are a writing team for film and television and have enjoyed script deals with ABC, NBC, FOX and Warner Brothers. Currently, Tessa is a fellow with the American Film Institute’s Directing Workshop for Women.
ELIZABETH MANASHIL
Elizabeth Manashil earned her B.A. in Film and Media Studies at Washington University in St. Louis, and her M.F.A. from USC's School of Cinematic Arts. She has worked under John Morrison of the California Film Institute, Michael Shamberg of Double Feature Films and Adam Goodman at Paramount Film Group. She currently works with distribution consultant Peter Broderick, and had spent the past four years being an on-air film critic for Just Seen It. Bread and Butter is her debut feature. She resides in Los Angeles with her dog, Laura Palmer.
LAURENS GRANT
Laurens Grant is an award-winning filmmaker whose career spans numerous awards, including 3 Emmys and a Peabody. Grant produced the feature-length documentary The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution which premiered at Sundance. The film represents Grant’s third appearance at the festival. Previously, Grant directed the documentary Jesse Owens, which won an Emmy for Outstanding Research, and received 2 Emmy nominations for Outstanding Historical - Long Form, and Outstanding Music and Sound. Grant also produced the documentary Freedom Riders, which premiered at Sundance; won a Peabody and 3 Primetime Emmys, was featured on Oprah and influenced Hollywood films including Selma and Lee Daniels’ The Butler.
MELISSA SILVERSTEIN
Melissa Silverstein is a writer and speaker with an extensive expertise in the area of women and Hollywood. She is the founder and editor of Women and Hollywood, one of the most respected sites for issues related to women and film as well as other areas of pop culture. Women and Hollywood educates, advocates, and agitates for gender parity across the entertainment industry. She is the Artistic Director and co-founder of the Athena Film Festival -- A Celebration of Women and Leadership -- at Barnard College in NYC. The 6th annual festival will take place in February 2016. She recently returned from India where she was a film envoy for the American Film Showcase, the major film diplomacy program of the U.S. Department of State. She also published the first book from Women and Hollywood, In Her Voice: Women Directors Talk Directing, which is a compilation of over 40 interviews that have appeared on the site. She has a regular column on Forbes.com, and has written for The Washington Post, NY Times, More Magazine and has been featured on CNN, the BBC as well as in Newsweek, Salon, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, NY Times, and many other publications. She was a contributor to The Tattooed Girl: The Enigma of Stieg Larsson and the Secrets Behind the Most Compelling Thriller of Our Time.
NORAH SHAPRIO
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR Norah Shapiro left a decade-long career as a public defender to pursue the adventures of documentary filmmaking. Her first short film about Minnesota Poet Phebe Hanson won the Emerging Filmmaker Award in the Minnesota History Center's Greatest Generation Film Festival. Her first feature, If You Dare about an inner-city theater company working with at-risk children, premiered at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, aired on Twin Cities Public Television, and has been collected by universities and libraries around the US and Canada. Her newest documentary, Miss Tibet: Beauty in Exile had its world premiere at the prestigious 2014 DOC NYC Film Festival and is currently on the festival circuit. Norah was awarded the McKnight Filmmaking Fellowship in 2012 and has received grants from funders including the Jerome Foundation, the Minnesota State Arts Board, and the Minnesota Filmmakers Legacy Fund. She is currently co-directing and producing a documentary about Minnesota 13 Moonshine, which also received funding from the Minnesota Filmmakers Legacy Fund. Her production company, Flying Pieces Productions also produces freelance documentary-style short videos to help non- profits, artists, and businesses throughout the Twin Cities harness the power of video to tell their stories.