The Artemis Women In Action Film Festival (AWIAFF) celebrates its 6^th edition with a virtual film festival that continues its tradition of strong women characters. With official selections for narrative features, documentaries, shorts, screenplays, songs and compositions, the landscape of artistic work continues in the form of independent and unconstrained creativity. Every edition has brought incredible talent to the table, and this year is no different as the diversity of topics and indomitable strength of characters and physicality are consistently represented in this year’s official selections. The 2021 edition focuses on the creative, making this year’s festival all about the talent!

AWIAFF 6TH EDITION OFFICIAL SELECTIONS

With last year events, AWAIFF focuses on the talent . . .

I interviewed Melanie Wise, founder and director of Artemis Women In Action Film Festival. Wise had much to say about what’s different and what’s the same for this 6th edition. Last year’s events altered the landscape of filmmaking and festival going, but this incredible film festival’s mission has not change!

Interview by Kaylene Peoples | Responses by Melanie Wise

Kaylene Peoples: We’re coming up on edition 6. What’s different about this edition?

Melanie Wise: Our festival this year is going to be virtual. We’ve always done live events, brick and mortar. It’s hard to plan an edition when you can’t ascertain when things will be open. Watching 2020, what really stood out to the Artemis team was how we really felt this edition should be very focused on celebrating the talent of our filmmakers, musician/composers, and screenwriters.

What’s new: Affordable All-access tickets

Kaylene Peoples: It’s all about talent. No gloss. Please elaborate. What does a virtual film festival mean for Artemis? Explain that.  How will we access it, etc.

Melanie Wise: We are going to securely stream all of the official selections. We will offer, hopefully, a couple of places to stream. We won’t be selling individual tickets, but rather, we will be selling very reasonably priced all-access passes. We will have some interactive panels and other cyber events. We’ll probably do an open online greeting so everyone can get together in cyber space and toast each other. That will be open to all the official selections and any of the Artemis fans and supporters who would like to participate. Logistically, Artemis has built its own streaming platform, which will most likely stream from there. I am speaking with a couple of people to see about partnering for availability for a platform or two. We’ll see how that pans out. There are still things to figure out. Last year, festivals came to the table doing their virtual events. So it’s not 100 percent brand new, but it’s a highly adaptable, highly designable way of doing a festival.

AWIAFF 6th Edition festival goers, participants, fans, and more can also interact and network.

Kaylene Peoples: How do you feel about some of the entrees this edition?

Melanie Wise: As with every year, we always get an extraordinary variety, in terms of narrative, documentary, feature, shorts, but also we have an amazing range, from comedy action to drama. There’s just absolutely thigh-slapping stuff to serious stuff to some really cool pieces of history. We have a film about the old USO tours, and the women who’ve traveled overseas for US Troops. Really great pieces of history. This is the part of the festival that always makes me very excited, very pleased, and very proud, because we are showing pieces of history that really shouldn’t be unknown. We also will have amazing films that challenge social issues. Amazing stories of people positively reshaping perceptions of self-value, stepping outside comfort zones to redefine the human condition in ways that do leave ”the place” more beautiful.

Enjoy Panels, Think Tanks, Speakers, and focus groups at AWIAFF 2021.

Kaylene Peoples: I remember attending many of the screenings at the 5^th edition, and your diversity of content is just impressive, and this was reflected in AGENDA’s collector’s issue “Aretmis Women Kick Ass.”

Melanie Wise: It’s diverse on a number of levels. It’s not all documentaries, narrative content, it’s a smattering of diverse stories from many countries. The other cool thing is that we have literal diversity statistics that would make the largest festivals on the face of the planet, jealous.

Kaylene Peoples: I tend to agree with that. First of all, because it’s a platform of independents, they don’t have the restrictions that a lot of filmmakers have from big studio films. They can write what they want; their scripts are unedited, un-doctored or un-redacted. So they can film what they want to film, because they have no guidelines they have to follow. And I think that you’re getting more truth out of your films, frankly out of the films of these types of festivals, and particularly with strong women characters, we don’t see those that often.   But we see them in full in Artemis Women In Action Film Festival. It’s empowering for any woman.

Melanie Wise: You know I get the view from the moon every year. A lot of people show up, and they just watch a few things or they have a film in the festival. But when you get to see a broad field of content, and when you get to see the gravity of the stuff that’s presented, that’s where I think it gets very interesting.   I think that the most common compliment that people literally walk up to me and say at the festival is, “I’m so inspired.” I think that’s my favorite compliment of the festival, because I think the whole point of it is to inspire people. And it doesn’t matter if you’re a woman, a man, or a dog. We all need to be able to look out through life with a lighter lens.

AWIAFF 6TH EDITION OFFICIAL SELECTIONS

Kaylene Peoples: Yes, I frankly think that your festival provides that lens. It really is its own niche. In my opinion, it’s one of the strongest festivals that really focuses on strong women characters. I don’t see any others that do that to this extent. And I think to have that banner, it just puts you at a [top] level . . . virtual or not! Virtual or not, it doesn’t matter.

The fact is you’re highlighting and spotlighting talent that is going to empower women, and you’re going to do it in a way without propaganda. You’re going to do it in a way without protest.

Melanie Wise: We work really hard to come to the table and offer a program, where we’re not pushing agendas except that of showcasing positive, powerful women – we always have. And this year is one where it is completely about the talent Because it’s virtual, we will be stripping some aspects of the festival, and we are going to work very hard making every creator shine.

AWIAFF 6TH EDITION OFFICIAL SELECTIONS

Many films that have screened at AWIAFF have gotten distribution.  The opportunities for a filmmaker are endless.

Kaylene Peoples: That’s something you’ve been doing since day 1.

Melanie Wise: Thank you, that has always been our aim.

Kaylene Peoples: I really enjoyed the event last year. I was so moved by the panels, the content, everything. The festival just blew me away. You and your team have really set a high bar, Melanie.

Melanie Wise: Last edition’s program, I was exceedingly pleased with. And immediately after that event, two of the features that we screened got distribution. That was really awesome.

Kaylene Peoples: And that’s what people are encouraged by.

AWIAFF 6TH EDITION OFFICIAL SELECTIONS

Music submissions, sponsored by Bella Composers in AWIAFF 5th Edition, provides more opportunities for women composers, female artists and producers.

Melanie Wise: Both garnered distribution during the festival, were both award-winners. Sadly I have not kept up with the other ones [that got distribution]. I can say that we’re actually talking to a couple of distributors who are interested in looking at films in official selections this year. More to come on that one. And we’re going to have some really cool prizes and some really nice perks.

Distribution has always been a really tough one for me, because it is the land of a lot of sharks, it’s really difficult territory to navigate, and more often than not, the distributor gets your property, and filmmakers get fucked. Distribution is very tricky. Filmmaking is a business. And if creators do not make money making their films, they are not able to continue to do that. Having viable distribution, where filmmakers actually have the capacity to earn is of supreme importance.

MORE AWIAFF 6TH EDITION OFFICIAL SELECTIONS

Kaylene Peoples: That’s really great.

Melanie Wise: Yes it is. I’ve taken beatings on distribution.

Kaylene Peoples: Yeah I bet. Me too.

Melanie Wise: Yeah, I know.

The Artemis Women in Action Film Festival is April 22-25, 2021.  Screening, panels, and forums, and more . . . TBA.   Visit https://artemisfilmfestival.com for more information.

Want to hear the actual interview?  Check out the Talk Agenda Podcast.