Dallas independent filmmaker Cynthia Salzman-Mondell will be honored for her body of work at the 2nd Annual Lois Weber Film Festival. The Film Festival, which screens movies and documentaries by female directors, is hosted by the Grand Prairie Public Library and held at Grand Prairie’s historic Uptown Theater.
At 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 19, the Library will award Salzman-Mondell the Lois Weber Award, for her impact on the Texas motion picture industry. Her movie The Ladies Room will be screened.
Salzman-Mondell is co-founder with her husband Allen Mondell of award-winning film production and distribution company Media Projects, Inc. www.mediaprojects.org.
The festival continues on Saturday, Oct. 20:
11 a.m.: Kung Fu Panda 2, by director Jennifer Yuh. 90 min. Rated PG. A murderous villain with a secret weapon that could end kung fu threatens Po, now the Dragon Warrior.
1:30 p.m.: Louie Louie, by director Cynthia Salzman-Mondell. 29 min. Unrated. From the director: this portrait of a man living with Parkinson's disease provides an extremely insightful look into the physical and psychosocial challenges of this illness and the human will to survive.
2 p.m.: Christopher Strong, by director Dorothy Arzner. 79 min. Stars Katharine Hepburn as Lady Cynthia Darrington, a record-setting aviatrix who falls in love with a married Member of Parliament.
3:15 p.m.: The Sari Soldiers, by director Julie Bridgham. 92 minutes. Unrated. Filmed over three years during the most historic and pivotal time in Nepal’s modern history, The Sari Soldiers is an extraordinary story of six women’s courageous efforts to shape Nepal’s future in the midst of an escalating civil war against Maoist insurgents, and the King’s crackdown on civil liberties. The Sari Soldiers intimately delves into the extraordinary journey of women on opposing sides of the conflict, through the democratic revolution that reshapes the country’s future.
5 p.m.: The Savages, by director Tamara Jenkins. 114 min. Rated R. Stars Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Two siblings still recovering from the abuse inflicted by their estranged father are forced into caring for him as his dementia increases.
Tickets each day for the festival are $5, or $3 with a Grand Prairie Library card. They are available at the Theater Box Office, 120 E. Main St.
The Grand Prairie Main Library is the site of the Lois Weber Collection, a circulating collection of more than 300 films directed by women, from all time periods and many countries. Library cards are free, even to non-residents. The Main Library is located at 901 Conover Drive, in Grand Prairie. Visit www.gptx.org/library for more information.
www.gptx.org/library
