Pendance Film Festival 2019

still from In Reality

One of the best things about living in Toronto is how many film festivals there are. Sure it can be exhausting but the more film festivals, the more opportunities to discover fantastic filmmakers—is how we look at it.

And this weekend marks the second annual Pendance Film Festival. Running from January 31 – February 3 at the Regent Theatre, Pendance focuses on writing, story, acting, sound, and music and showcases independent cinema from all over the world. This year’s festival will feature 50 films and shorts, 16 (32%) directed by women) and 4 filmmaker workshops.

3 filmmakers will be in attendance at the festival, including Ann Lupo, who is hosting one of the aforementioned filmmaker workshops and whose feature film In Reality won Jury and Audience awards at Austin FIlm Festival; Cary Watsford, whose short Space Girls has screened at festivals like Rhode Island International Film Festival and Hollyshorts Film Festival; and Tori Larsen, who has worked as an associate producer on Handmaid’s Tale.

Since it’ll probably still be bitterly cold this weekend, we can’t think of anything better to keep warm than staying indoors and basking in the beautiful glow of women in film. You can check out the Pendance trailer and full list of women directed films below and get tickets/passes here.

In Reality (Ann Lupo; will be in attendance)
The Good Death (Tori Larsen; will be in attendance)
Space Girls (Carys Watford; will be in attendance)
Aria (Myrsini Aristidou)
Equally Red & Blue (Georgiana Moldoveanu)
Ambi (Marija Apcevska)
All Inclusive (Corina Schewingruber Ilic)
The Amazon (Alexandra Naoum)
Inanimate (Lucia Bulgheroni)
Piggy (Carlota Pereda)
Ready (Melissa Farman):
Red Dress, No Straps (Maryam Mohajer)
Run in Circles (Marion Reymond)
Schoolyard Blues (Maria Eriksson-Hecht)z
Vacuum Packed (Elena Fioenzani)
We the Coyotes (Hanna Ladoul w/ Marco La Via)