The St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival has announced the lineup for the 29th annual Festival this October.

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As the second longest-running women’s film festival in the world, the St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival will be celebrating its 29th annual Festival October 17-21, 2018 in St. John’s, NL.

The St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival has been leading the movement toward gender parity for nearly three decades, and is thrilled to be screening a diverse line-up of new shorts, documentaries and feature-length works written and/or directed by women from around the world.

The ExxonMobil Opening Night Gala launches with a local masterpiece by St. John’s native Deanne Foley?. Shot in beautiful Tors Cove, NL, ?An Audience of Chairs? is certainly an achievement in Newfoundland film. ?Adapted from the award-winning novel of the same name by Joan Clark, this moving drama will surely pave the way for female-centric films in the province. Lead actress ?Carolina Bartczak ?joins the team on the red carpet and will also be featured on the ?Lunch with the Filmmakers? panel the next day.

The Emera NL Closing Night Gala will be screening ?Hopeless Romantic. ?Fitting right at home in the Festival, this film blends the voices of six female directors from Atlantic Canada, four of whom live in Newfoundland & Labrador. With a talented writing team behind them, ?Deanne Foley, Latonia Hartery, Martine Blue, Megan Wennberg, Ruth Lawrence ?and? Stephanie Clattenburg ?each directed a segment in this anthology of bad romance stories. The entire directing team will also be featured at a ?Hopeless Romantic Brunch? event earlier that day.

Other exciting features include ?Falls Around Her,? a new feature fresh from TIFF from acclaimed Obijway director-writer ?Darlene Naponse, ?German director-writer ?Susan Gordanshekan’s ?A Dysfunctional Cat? ?which premiered at this year’s Berlinale, and ?Ordinary Days? by east-coast co-directors ?Jordan Canning, Kris Booth ?and ?Renuka Jeyapalan?. Feature documentary highlights include ?What Walaa Wants? directed by? ?Christy Garland, ?The Heat: A Kitchen (R)Evolution ?directed by ?Maya Gallus,? and the moving ?Love Scott b? y ?Laura Marie Wayne?.

The high number of local shorts is a testament that film is alive and well in Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as the talent that supports it. ?Kay Burns? shares the experimental ?Inquiry Into the Shape of the Earth,? Hot Docs Audience Favourite ?Prince’s Tale? by St. John’s nativeJamie Miller? and ?Emily Bridger? moves from writer ?(Hopeless Romantic) ?to director with Lamenting Pluto? and the 2017 ?RBC Michelle Jackson Emerging Filmmaker Award? winner Kerry Gamberg? premieres her film ?Crush ?as well as her local premiere of ?Askin’ For It?.

Festival week also features an internationally recognized ?Industry Forum?, welcoming luminaries to St. John’s for a series of panels, workshops and pitch sessions. The Festival will welcome the 2018 ?[Interactive] Incubator Project? ?winning teams who will be developing their first web series with us: ?Atong Ater ?with ?Jordan Steinhauer, Ireme Duma ?with ?Stacy Gardner, Sarah Gignac ?with ?Andrea Levesque, Kerry Gamberg, ?and? Shelley Thompson.

Special guests include: ?Anna Serner ?(Swedish Film Institute), ?Aisling Chin-Yee? (Co-creator #AfterMeToo), ?Merhernez Lentin? (CBC Films), ?Jordan Canning ?(Baroness Von Sketch),? ?Sue Kent ?(22 Minutes), C? arolina Bartczak ?(An Audience of Chairs), A? ndra Sheffer? (Independent Production Fund), ?Juno? ?Rinaldi? (?Workin’ Moms)? , ?Asinnajaq? ?(Three Thousand), ?Christy Garland? (What Walaa Wants), R?obin Mirsky? (Rogers Group of Funds), ?Jenna Dufton(InsideOut), ?Sonia Bonspille Boileau? ?(Skindigenous), C?arol Whiteman? (Women in the Director’s Chair), ?Aisha Jamal? (Hot Docs, Sierra Film Festival), ?Christy Garland ?(?What Walaa Wants),? ?Wiebke von Carolsfeld ?(Marion Bridge),? Christa Dickenson? (Telefilm Canada’s new Executive Director), ?and many more.

The 29th St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival is proudly sponsored by Canada Council for the Arts, Canadian Heritage, CBC Newfoundland and Labrador, Telefilm Canada, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, ArtsNL, City of St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador Film Development Corporation, ExxonMobil, Rogers Group of Funds, Women in the Director’s Chair, Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, NIFCO, Emera NL, Canadian Media Producers Association, Alt Hotel, Bell Fund, Super Channel, Sim International, Independent Production Fund, Canada Media Fund, AFBS, Stewart McKelvey, Quidi Vidi Brewery, Coast 101.1, Rocket Bakery and more.

Tickets are on sale via the ?LSPU Hall Box Office? as of September 20th at 11am (NDT). For more information, please visit ?www.womensfilmfestival.com?.