Clips from our first
Independent Film Night
May 1, 2003
Clips from our second
Independent Film Night 6/26/2003
Highlights from our third
Independent Film Night 3/26/2004
Clips/Highlights from Indie Film Night 4 4/17/2004
3/5/2005
7:00PM
Following up on their successful evening with award-winning cinematographer Haskell Wexler and Pamela Yates, the Woodstock Film Festival and WAMC/Northeast Public Radio's Independent Film On The Air project presents Until the Violence Stops, directed by Abby Epstein, and featuring appearances by Tantoo Cardinal, Rosario Dawson, Eve Ensler, Jane Fonda, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Salma Hayek, Amy Hill, Rosie Perez, and Isabella Rossellini.After the screening, Director Abby Epstein will answer questions from the audience.
This event made possible through the generous support of the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), a State Agency.
Tix available by calling the WAMC Performing Arts Studio at 518-465-5233 ext. 4
About the film:
Until the Violence Stops features playwright and activist Eve Ensler in a powerful film that documents how The Vagina Monologues grew into an international grassroots movement called V-Day to stop violence against women and girls. In 2002, eight hundred cities around the world participated in V-Day by staging benefit performances of The Vagina Monologues. Until the Violence Stops shows women from Harlem to Ukiah, California; from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to the Philippines and Kenya, uniting and courageously revealing their intimate and deeply painful experiences with abuse ranging from rape to female circumcision.
Director Abby Epstein takes us on a poignant journey into the hearts of women and includes revealing testimonies from men, who expose social and cultural attitudes that perpetuate the pervasive violence against women. In emotionally charged interviews and performances, everyday women and celebrities like Rosie Perez, Salma Hayek, Tantoo Cardinal, Jane Fonda, and LisaGay Hamilton embrace their bodies, reconcile their past, and bond together to break the silence that surrounds abuse.
More than just testimonies and performances, Until the Violence Stops is a film about empowerment and the importance of dialogue in the healing process. A celebration of women reclaiming their bodies and lives, this moving documentary leaves us with hope that change can happen.
In 2004, Until the Violence Stops world premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and broadcast premiered on Lifetime Television. It has been screened at the Amnesty International Film Festivals in Amsterdam and Vancouver, as well as at the Miami and Maui Film festivals. In September, Toni Childs, David Ricketts, and Eddie Free received the 2004 Emmy award for "Best Original Song" for "Because You Are Beautiful" and in November, the film won top honor the Gold Audience Award - at the Amnesty International Film Festival in Vancouver.
About the the filmmaker - Abby Epstein (Producer/Director)
In February of 2000, Abby Epstein became the Associate Director of Eve Ensler's Obie-winning Off Broadway play, The Vagina Monologues, going on to direct subsequent productions in Canada and Mexico. Through her work on the play and as Artistic Director of V-Dayıs Worldwide Campaign, Epstein learned about Ensler's V-Day movement to end violence against women and girls. V-Day originated out of Ensler's conversations with women who approached her after early performances of The Vagina Monologues, to tell her of their own experiences of violence. Ensler began to use performances of the play to raise funds for organizations working to stop violence. Epstein assisted Ensler on the biggest of these benefit performances at Madison Square Garden and soon began to witness firsthand that V-Day was quickly transforming into a worldwide social and activist movement. Epstein approached Ensler about making a documentary about the global impact of the movement in motion. She proposed filming several international communities who were holding V-Day events to capture the transformative energy of this play-turned-social movement. Epstein and Enslerıs vision was that the film itself would become an educational and fundraising tool to end violence against women.
Epstein has been producing and directing theater internationally for the past twelve years. Broadway productions include Rent (National Tour, Mexico City, Barcelona) Off-Broadway, The Vagina Monologues (National Tour, Toronto, Mexico City,) Platonically Incorrect (New York, Los Angeles.) Ms. Epstein has worked extensively in Los Angeles at the Improv, Groundlings and Odyssey Theaters as well as for Warner Brothers Television. She is the founding Artistic Director of Chicago's acclaimed Roadworks Theater Ensemble, which is now entering its twelfth season. Ms. Epstein is the recipient of four Joseph Jefferson Awards, an LA Weekly Award and a National Broadway Award Nomination for her theatrical direction. Until the Violence Stops is Ms. Epstein's first documentary and marks her debut as a feature film director.
About The Woodstock Film Festival
The Woodstock Film Festival has established itself as one of the best independent film events in the country by premiering exceptional films, hosting the most talented emerging and established people in the movie industry, presenting A-list concerts, parties and panels and creating innovative and stimulating programming. The festival has drawn rave reviews nationwide from filmmakers, industry members, film lovers and the media alike. In its yearly Top Ten Film Festival Getaways, Film Festival Reporter wrote, "Sure, youve heard about the historic rock shows, but film is the reason to come to Woodstock." The festival is also proudly listed in the travel guide 1,000 Places to See Before You Die. For more information on the Woodstock Film Festival, call (845) 679-4265.
The Woodstock Film Festival is a not-for-profit, 501 (C)(3) organization
with a mission to present an annual program and year-round schedule of film, music, and art-related activities that promote artists, culture, inspired learning, and diversity. The Woodstock Film Commission promotes sustainable economic development by attracting and supporting film, video and media production.