Press Releases
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For immediate Release
October 6, 2019
FIRST EVER ALL GIRLS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Reel Girls Film Festival, the first-ever All Girls International Film Festival, will be taking place on May 17th at Imagine Cinemas in TORONTO, ONTARIO
Sophie Zawadzki, a 16-year-old from Toronto, Ontario, created the all-girls film festival, to encourage young girls to take a larger part in filmmaking. “Lack of diversity in Hollywood is a popular subject, yet there are few actions being done to improve participation during school years,” said Sophie Zawadzki founder of the Reel Girls Film Festival. In 2017, For every 1 female director, there were 24 male directors. Reel Girls Film Festival has set out to change this by supporting girls in film at a younger age, building a community of peers and role models that will demonstrate filmmaking is not just an industry for men.
The festival will feature a panel of female professionals as judges. “I think it is important to have the female perspective everywhere in the festival, especially in judging, to nurture girls' creativity and perspectives,” said the festival founder, Sophie Zawadzki.
The Reel Girls Film Festival will feature age categories (9-14 & 15-19) and a variety of short film categories including; narrative, documentary, music video, screenplay, and animation.
Submissions must be made online through Film Freeway (Free Entry) or submitted on the Reel Girls Film Festival website (www.reelgirlsfilmfestival.com). Awards will be given for Best Film in each category and for the Audience Favorite.
For more information about the Reel Girls Film Festival, visit www.ReelGirlsFilmFestival.com.
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For immediate Release
November 10, 2019
SUBMISSIONS FOR REEL GIRLS FILM FESTIVAL OPEN
Reel Girls Film Festival, the first-ever All Girls International Film Festival, opened for submissions on October 18th.
In a little less than a month, the festival has more than 45 submissions from all over the world, including: Canada, United Kindgom, Italy, India, Iran, Korea, Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Azerbaijan, Poland, Serbia, Sri Lanka, and Australia.
The film festival has a wide variety of sections for filmmakers to submit to: narrative short film, documentary, screenplays, animation, music video, and animation.
Reel Girls Film Festival is off to a great start and we can't wait to see more films as they come in.
For more information about the Reel Girls Film Festival, visit www.ReelGirlsFilmFestival.com.
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For immediate Release
January 9, 2020
SELECTION COMMITTEE ESTABLISHED
Reel Girls Film Festival, the first-ever All Girls International Film Festival, announced it's selection committee members.
Sophie Zawadzki, founder of Reel Girls International Film Festival, has chosen a diverse group of smart, creative and dedicated young women to work on the selection committee at the festival. Committee members are busy viewing the over 170 film submissions from around the world.
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Reel Girls would like to welcome; Chrishella Venushi Senadeera, Dahlia Elkhouly and Nina Butterfield Cowan to the committee.
For more information about the Reel Girls Film Festival, visit www.ReelGirlsFilmFestival.com.
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For immediate Release
January 20, 2020
REEL GIRLS IS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THAT NAOMI McDOUGALL-JONES WILL BE A JUDGE
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Award-winning actress, writer, producer, and women in film activist, Naomi McDougall-Jones has signed on to judge the Reel Girls International Film Festival. Naomi is an advocate and thought leader for bringing gender parity to cinema. She gave a virally sensational TEDTalk, "What it's Like to Be a Woman in Hollywood," which has now been viewed over 1 million times and can be seen on TED.com. She is the Founder and Chief Impact Officer of The 51 Fund, a venture capital fund dedicated to financing films by female filmmakers. Naomi's book, "The Wrong Kind of Woman: Dismantling the Gods of Hollywood," will be published by Beacon Press in January 2020.
Sophie Zawadzki, founder of Reel Girls International Film Festival, was deeply honored to have Naomi McDougal Jones as part of the Reel Girls Festival. "I know that Naomi will be an amazing judge and serve as an inspiration to our young female directors and screenwriters. Naomi's TedTalk “The Women In Film Revolution Begins With You” and writings have inspired me. In fact, they are one of the reasons that I was motivated to found this festival" stated Sophie
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For more information about the Reel Girls Film Festival, visit www.ReelGirlsFilmFestival.com.