The Through Women’s Eyes International Film Festival returns to Sarasota just in time for International Women’s Day to offer women’s stories and perspectives from around the world. Now in its 24th year, the festival will spotlight women facing Covid lockdown, women in wartime and as refugees, reproductive health and safety, gender roles, and also humorous approaches to taboo subjects through animation and creative storytelling. On Friday, March 10, organizers will host the first in-person North American screening of the documentary Shirin Ebadi: Until We are Free, featuring Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, at its opening celebration. Following the screening, festival organizers will present comments by Dr Ebadi and director Dawn Engle in a short program on the current state of the uprisings and struggle for human rights in Iran. The opening celebration will take place at Ringling College of Art and Design in the Larry R. Thompson Academic Center, Morganroth Auditorium.This year’s selections include 7 features, 21 shorts, and 10 Emerging Filmmaker films, with five that will be screened in-person, and the rest available online and on-demand through the weekend. They represent China, Ireland, Ukraine, England, Canada, Germany, South Africa, Belgium, the Philippines, UAE, and the USA. After receiving over 325 submissions from 43 countries, the selection committee chose 38 films that reflect a diverse array of experiences by and about global women and the LGBTQ+ community. A number of the chosen independent filmmakers are expected to attend the festival and meet with audiences to share what inspires them and how they created their films. The festival will once again celebrate excellence with an awards ceremony, shorts block screening, and meet-and-greet with filmmakers, this year on Saturday, March 11 from 1-4 p.m. at Fogartyville Community Media and Arts Center in Sarasota. The awards to be announced will include Best Feature, Best Narrative Short, and Best Documentary Short; local secondary students from the New Gate Montessori IB Global Program also participate in judging and presenting an Impact Award. Tickets and event passes are now available at the film festival website.

To learn more click here.