The Bridgeport Film Festival will take place July 23rd through July 25th in Bridgeport, Connecticut, with virtual and in person events.  2021 is its inaugural year, and the non-profit initiative organizing the festival aims to make ”philanthropy through film”. The festival focuses on showcasing diversity and intersectionality and at least 50% of the films screening this year are films by women and black, brown, and indigenous filmmakers. 

Several themed screenings in the programming include “The Future Is Female” (July 24th @ 5pm), “Black Stories Matter” (July 24th @ 6:45), and “You Are Who You Are” (July 24th @ 8:45).  Each category features 6-7 films focusing on that topic.

“The Future Is Female” category will highlight six films that discuss “resilience, intersectionality, believing women, and more”. First Kiss, a short film by Carline Patz, shares the humorous story of a girl’s crush on a boy. The lightheartedness of First Kiss is contrasted later in the evening by Soyka, a piece focusing on the experience of immigrating to the United States by Anastasiya Sergienya follows a young woman from Belarus as she tries to find a life for herself in New York City.

        First Kiss

“Black Stories Matter” features seven films centered around the “black experience in the United States” with films like Finding Elijah (dir. Yolonda Johnson-Young), and Peace (dir. Adomako Aman). Finding Elijah is told through a mother’s perspective as her son faces the disadvantages of mental illness through homelessness. Peace tells a short story of what it means to be at peace in a queer relationship.

“You Are Who You Are: Queer Stories” is just that, seven films highlighting the “profound, compelling, and dynamic narratives”  of LGBTQ+ storytellers. To You My Love, a short by Olivia Gastaldo, shows the audience the visual experience of reading a love letter. The category will also include longer pieces like Break In (dir. Alyssa Lerner), a story that follows a woman as she and her friend venture out to delete an accidental text sent to her crush.

Break In

Tickets to these enthralling screenings as well as many more narratives, documentaries, and short films, are available on the Bridgeport Film Fest website.  WIFVNE members receive discounts on tickets.