SF Women's Film Festival - April 2, 6:00 PM

Hi all,
We're having another WATA outing on April 2nd at 6PM to the San Francisco Women's Film Festival

Hope you can make it!

Women in Theatre: April Edition

Here are some of the plays opening/playing this month here in the Bay Area written by women playwrights.

Distracted by Lisa Loomer, TheatreWorks, April 1 - 26

Rita Moreno in Conversation, by Rita Moreno, Berkeley Rep, April 20

This is Not a Torture or an Engine by Erin Bregman, staged reading, Playwrights Foundation, April 28

War Music by Lillian Groag at A.C.T., March 26 - April 26

Women's Will 24 Hour Playfest, featuring local playwrights, Women's Will, April 6


I know this list is far from exhaustive, it's a first pass. I'll try to add on more plays as i find them.

Evolve and Vocalize: A Spotlight on Next Generation Leadership

An interesting looking event for emerging artists in the Bay Area sponsored by San Francisco Bay Area Emerging Arts Professionals that's being held on Sunday, April 11. Details about the event are here

San Francisco Bay Area Emerging Arts Professionals

The San Francisco Bay Area Emerging Arts Professionals is a newly-formed peer-based membership organization dedicated to evolving the professional capacities of arts administrators, managers, cultural workers and artists within the Greater San Francisco Bay Area. We work collaboratively to provide professional development and networking opportunities, as well as a fresh exchange of ideas, practices, and knowledge.

We act as a connecting point, drawing upon collective strengths and interests, to develop peer-generated solutions. By fostering strategic partnerships; and investing in the leadership capacity and literacy of members; we work for a sustainable, diverse, and progressive arts and culture sector.

Woman's Will 24 Hour Playfest April 6, 2009

For the past three years I've participated in the Woman's Will 24 Hour Playfest, but unfortunately due to an out-of-state trip I'll not be one of the playwrights writing a brand new 10 minute play overnight.



Here's how the playfest works:

• The artists (playwrights, directors, and actors) meet at 10 pm at the Julia Morgan Theatre where and when they are given their theme. (You see you have no idea what you'll be writing about prior to the event).
• The playwrights have until 7 am the next morning to finish their script and email it in. Around 10 am the directors and the actors meet and begin rehearsal.
• The actors must be off book and have all their blocking down by 8 pm when the show begins.

It's a fantastic experience as a writer and always fun to meet other artists. And the ticket sales and silent auction benefit Woman's Will Theatre.

San Francisco Women's Film Festival

The 5th Annual San Francisco Women's Film Festival is set to kick off on April 1, 2009.

The festival celebrates women in all areas of fill in select theaters and community centers across the Bay Area.

Checkout this year's schedule and films online.

WATA Monthly Meeting Tonight at Koko Cocktails

Sorry for the short notice here on the blog, but WATA is having its monthly meeting tonight at Koko Cocktails at 7pm.

Hope to see you there.

Women’s Cinema from Tangiers to Tehran

The Pacific Film Archive presents a series of films directed by women from North Africa, the Middle East and European Diaspora.

A celebration of women filmmakers from North Africa and the Middle East, as well as the diaspora in Europe, this series represents a remarkable geographic, cultural, and stylistic range. In documentaries, features, and experimental works, the directors depict urban attitudes and rural traditions, the dream of escape and the isolation of exile, and the comforts and entrapments of family. But as James Neil, co-curator of the British series that inspired this one, has said, a common theme runs through the films: “They are about women who struggle and strive against their surroundings, and they’re directed by women who have had those experiences themselves.”

Learn more about the film series online.

AB700

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world.
Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.

~ Margaret Mead

California Arts Advocates sponsors AB 700
The Creative Industries Revitalization Act

Introduced by Assembly Member Paul Krekorian
Assistant Majority Leader and
Chair, Select Committee on the Preservation of California's Entertainment Industry

Dear Windy,

What will AB 700 do? INVEST IN THE ARTS AND CALIFORNIA'S COMMUNITIES

• Establishes the Creative Industries & Community Revitalization Fund (CICRF)
• Transfers 20% of sales tax collected on specific arts-related lines of business, identified by two Board of Equalization (BOE) categories to the CICRF
• Authorizes local assistance program grants for organizational support
• Encourages joint partnerships between applicants
• Provides oversight by the state Legislature
• The California Arts Council administers grants program and allocates funds from the CICRF. (The BOE predicts AB 700 will generate $30+ million annually.)

What can you do? TAKE ACTION!

• Visit the CAA AB 700 information page at www.CaliforniaArtsAdvocates.org.
• Download the AB 700 sample letter.
• Fax your organization's support to Assembly Member Paul Krekorian (916) 319-2143
• Fax copies to Asm. Tom Ammiano and Sen. Mark Leno and to CAA (916) 979-1116 and lobbyist, Kathy Lynch (916) 445-7353 Contact information for your legislator can be found at the CAA Take Action Center

Make sure your organization is recognized in the upcoming Assembly committee analysis.

Fax your support letter to Assembly Member Krekorian at (916) 319-2143.
Send copies to CAA (916) 979-1116 and Kathy Lynch (916) 443-7353.

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Help us to build on the momentum of the arts victory in our nation's Capitol by contributing to California's statewide advocacy efforts for success in the state Capitol. There is not a moment to lose. You will ensure that the arts voice stays strong and is heard loud and clear by California's elected officials and policy makers when you join CAA as a TAKE ACTION member today for only $10. Go to CAA Website now and join! BECOME A CAA MEMBER TODAY AND HELP US REACH OUR $10,000 GOAL

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Keep the arts at the forefront of public policy. Join CAA online at www.CaliforniaArtsAdvocates.org

Women's History Month at the San Francisco Public Library

Some interesting events happening at the Main Branch of the public library in SF for Women's History month. Not all arts-related, but nevertheless they look interesting!

The Library marks Women’s History Month with several events that look to the past, the present and the future to illustrate the way women’s lives have evolved.


Testimonios: Early California through the Eyes of Women 1815-1848
In the early 1870s, when Hubert Howe Bancroft sent interviewers out to gather oral histories from the pre-statehood gentry of California, he didn’t count on one thing: the women. When the men weren’t available, the interviewers collected the oral histories of the women. All but forgotten until now, these women’s stories have been collected in Testimonios: Early California through the Eyes of Women 1815-1848, translated with introduction and commentary by Rose Marie Beebe and Robert M. Senkewicz, who will both be at this special event to tell the stories of these women of the pre-Gold Rush California era. A book sale and signing follow the presentation.
Tuesday, March 3, 6:30 p.m.
Main Library, Lower Level, Latino/Hispanic Community Meeting Room
100 Larkin Street (Grove)

Exploring Womanhood and Transformation with Kirya Traber
Traber, a poet and activist will lead a combined discussion and personal exploration of womanhood, migration and transformation in a racially complex world. Traber, a nationally awarded spoken word artist, is currently serving as program manager at Youth Speaks, where she develops and facilitates spoken word workshops for Bay Area teens and is a member of the Brave New Voices College Tour.

Thursday, March 12 at 6:30 p.m.
Bayview/Anna E. Waden Branch
5075 3rd Street (at Revere)

This event is presented in partnership with the International Museum of Women.

Creating a Business with a Mission: A Delicious Talk from Cowgirl Creamery’s Sue Conley
A pioneering cheesemaker and business owner, Conley opened Cowgirl Creamery in 1997 with partner Peggy Smith. Started in an old barn in Point Reyes Station, their mission was to provide a market for agricultural goods from the Tomales Bay region so that farmers might stay in business and prosper. Today, Cowgirl Creamery has additional stores in Petaluma, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., produces about 3,000 pounds of cheese each week and distributes delicious artisan cheeses from small, farmstead cheesemakers.
Wednesday, March 18, 6:30 p.m.
Mission Bay Branch
960 4th Street (at Berry)

This event is presented in partnership with the International Museum of Women.

What do the Women Say - Golden Thread Productions

Interesting event in Berkeley that Golden Thread is putting on this Sunday in honor of International Women's Day. Details below:

Golden Thread Productions presents

What do the Women Say?

Sunday, March 8th, 7pm
Le Pena Cultural Center
3105 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley
$10 in advance; $12 at the door

Golden Thread Productions, in partnership with Sunbula: Arab Feminists For Change and ASWAT Bay Area Arabic Music Ensemble, present its annual celebration of International Women's Day with What do the Women Say? An evening of poetry & performance of the Middle East. This year's program is dedicated to the women of Gaza.

Featuring the poetry of Deema Shehabi & Dina Omar, staged reading of writings by Majeda Al Saqqa and performance by Al-Juthoor dance company.

International Women’s Day (March 8) began in the US in 1909, and is an occasion marked by women’s groups around the world. This date is also commemorated at the United Nations and is designated in many countries as a national holiday. When women on all continents, often divided by national boundaries and by ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic and political differences, come together to celebrate their Day, they can look back to a tradition that represents at least nine decades of struggle for equality, justice, peace and development. Golden Thread Productions annually celebrates this occasion with a weekend of live performance.

Proceeds will go to support women in Gaza.

Event website