Moondance and Women in Film, Writing and Music
By Elizabeth English
Now it’s your turn! You can settle for someone else’s vision of the world, or you can bravely embark upon a journey of your own. Moondance is about inspiration, encouragement, collaboration, stimulating self-confidence, learning new ways of perception and creative expression, and cultivating a whole new concept of success for women in the international film industry. There is purposely no elite-ism at Moondance; everyone associated with the film festival is both a student and a teacher. We seek to support and nurture dreams and to motivate creative artists to follow that dream, no matter the prevailing circumstances. Writers and filmmakers often perceive the world differently, and their reactions to these perceptions, expressed in the art of film, writing and music can invigorate and spark the creative imaginations of others in the world, especially that of our children and the future generations.
Women filmmakers, women writers and women music composers are vocal and active participants in the social forces that shape our culture. They portray women as three-dimensional, complex human beings, and thus defy the demeaning and pervasive stereotypes perpetuated by the mainstream media.
Moondance is dedicated to promoting visibility for women in the international film community and in Hollywood and their impact on the film industry. We see this as a means to disrupt and correct the misogynous, fantastical, passive, destructive and denigrating visual representation of females that has, historically, been rendered by men in all media and has for so long and so plentifully pervaded our visual culture.
Our work on reaching out toward women filmmakers, women writers and women composers everywhere in the world is primary and ongoing. Women writers and filmmakers from all six continents, and from a wide diversity of ethnic and linguistic groups are an integral part of our mission and goals. We seek to inspire and invigorate this creative potential of women to perceive, conceptualize, and produce their works for the benefit of the world society. We are dedicated to preserving their accumulated accomplishments and visions as expressed through the art of film, music and writings.
Moondance promises to raise awareness of the invaluable contributions of women to the entertainment community. Equity for women in the film industry does not mean stifling some voices so that others may be heard; it does not demand the compromising of personal standards to achieve success. Equity creates new standards, which accommodate and nurture differences. Equity fosters the individual voice, investing women with confidence in their own authority. Equity unleashes the creative potential. We see the equal treatment of all women and the equal respect for all responses they explore as essential to their and our ultimate goals.
Our film programs are always well rounded, entertaining, and enlightening, highlighting diverse cultures, opinions, and stories. We welcome individual expression and are committed to presenting diverse points of view. Moondance aims to entertain, increase awareness, provide multiple viewpoints, address complex social issues, provide forums for deliberation, and strengthen ties between a large variety of international audiences.
The long-term vision of the Moondance International Film Festival is to preserve and revitalize our intangible heritage, cultivate creative diversity, develop an intercultural dialogue, and stimulate this creative resource. Our mission is to present a vibrant and growing collection of films, writings, and music, which is an ideal means for communication across perceived boundaries of race, culture, place, age and gender. These works document the complexity and depth of men’s and women’s experiences that will become widely accessible within the world film industry and to the public, and will encourage and inspire others to write, compose music and to make films.
Moondance also encourages men writers and filmmakers to submit their work to Moondance, but in order to win or be a finalist, and/or to have their films screened at the film festival, we require that their work depict women and girls in a positive manner. The annual Moondance International Film Festival is for the benefit of both women and men, and all are encouraged to submit their work, and to attend and participate.