LUNAFEST- Flms About, By and For Women

Last Thursday, I was invited to attend the world premiere of LUNAFEST at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. LUNAFEST is a national traveling film festival featuring short stories of women, by women, for women. The event is presented by LUNA Bar, whole nutrition for women, and all tickets sales from that night benefited the Breast Cancer Fund. 

The film festival—by, for, and about women—has  raised 2.5 million dollars to date for the Breast Cancer Fund and other nonprofits around the country. It is also rare in that it is one of the few recognized and heralded avenues reserved for women filmmakers, and enables them to get their films out into the world and to impact and inspire other women filmmakers and their audiences.

I was able to attend the LUNAFEST VIP Reception before the screening of the films and had the chance to hear the songs of the all-female mariachi band Flor de Toloache. I had seen the LUNAFEST trailer before the event and realized when I saw them that they were the band featured in one of the films. They were amazing to hear in person and it was very inspiring to not only hear their music live but also to hear their story and how they are changing the gender norms of mariachi.

I attended the event solo, but luckily I ran into a few of my blogger friends such as Jessica from Fab in Lombardia, Elise from WTFAB! and Aimee from The Ohio Transplant. Jessica and I arrived at about the same time and that made the whole experience for me a lot more fun. We took photos at the photo booth and enjoyed the food, wine and s’mores desserts before we headed in to the theater to find our seats. 

After filing into the auditorium and hearing the opening remarks, I was really excited to watch these short stories featuring women in film. All of the filmmakers were in attendance and they took a bow before the screening. This part was pretty inspirational to me because it felt good attending this event and supporting women who are changing the game in film. Out of the 8 films, it is hard to say which one was my favorite since they all featured a great narrative. If I had to pick a favorite film, I would say it is a tie between Chica’s Day and A Good Match because they both featured similar themes of friendship. 

Chica’s Day revolved around what appears to be a mother and daughter living a life of luxury having a day of fun with no rules. The plot twist when the father returns home from work at the end is unexpected but really makes you wonder about the deep relationship the woman and child have. 

A Good Match featured a girl named Ann who spots her Ex with his new Fiance and his mother at dinner and reveals she does not miss her ex, but instead misses her ex’s mother. She then sets out to give her relationship with her ex’s mom another try. The film seems to ask if splitting up with an ex means the end the relationship with your ex’s mother.

After viewing the films, attendants had the chance to meet with the filmmakers and ask questions I met with the woman behind the lens of A Good Match, Lyn Elliot.  I was able to express how easy it was relating to the main character Ann and how people do have some type of expectations of what a persons mother will be like. If you get along and become friends, shouldn’t the friendship continue even if the relationship with the boyfriend runs south. 

I am very happy I had the chance to attend the LUNAFEST festival and would definitely recommend checking out their website for tour dates to see if they’ll be in your city next.  You can always request to host LUNAFEST in your city if you don’t see a tour date near you anytime soon and this festival  can benefit local charities along with the Breast Cancer Fund. You’ll definitely feel inspired when you leave the screening.

I left the event thinking about the women in my life and which of them inspires me the most. Is there a woman that is game-changer/inspiration to you? I’d love to hear about it and if you plan on attending LUNAFEST. I’ll be sharing who I think is a game-changer in my life in my next post.

Until next time,