Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Fears of racism faced by an Indian-American woman and her family were captured in the film, “Five O’clock Shadow,” that debuted over the weekend at Towson University’s 11th and maybe final Women and Minorities in Media Festival.
This was director Sangeeta Agrawal’s first foray into filming after a few years of acting in other people’s work. Agrawal was present at the screening with other directors, such as Valerie Genzano, Kristin Kinsey, and Titus J. Burrell – all young and unknown filmmakers who heartily embrace the opportunity provided by the WAMMFest. The filmmakers get honorariums to attend.
But Elsa Lankford, director of the festival that showcased a variety of films most of Friday and Saturday, said the lack of volunteers and assistance from other staff is taking their toll.
“The goals of the festival are to encourage and celebrate women and minorities in media production,” said Lankford. ”It is also to create more success stories from women and minority filmmakers and to create a diverse media industry.”
WAMMFest was created by the Electronic Film and Media Department with the help of Lankford in 2008. An associate professor in the department, Lankford settled at Towson after earning a bachelor’s degree from American University, a Master’s from Towson and a MFA from Goddard College.
The “Five O’clock Shadow” was one of the Mid-Atlantic emerging films. Genzano directed the experimental student film, “Inside She is Real,” while Kinsey directed the narrative student film,” Target.” Burrell was one of the directors of “Dissolving Contention,” an experimental dance film.
One documentary, “Family Rewritten,” was about a New York resident with Cystic Fibrosis, who had to join the foster care system when her family was unable to get her the care she needed. This film by Yasmin Mistry marks the third year she has presented.
Every film or audio story that is submitted by students or professionals must be under 20 minutes, Lankford said. The creative project is required to have a woman or a minority in a major creative role or the film must feature subjects that benefit women or minorities.
Not only is this a stage for budding artists, Lankford said the festival also hosts guest artists to lend their voice as inspiration for those climbing the ranks. However, she said she gets very little help judging the films since the demise of a Towson class that helped with the judging in the fall.
“In terms of successes, each year [the festival] happens, there is a community created and recreated,” Lankford said. “The dialog about films between screening blocks, networking between attending WAMMFest filmmakers, the laughing, the crying – it’s all part of the success of the festivals.”
Past presenters have included Sonja Sohn from the HBO series “The Wire,” and Davia Nelson and Nikki Silvia of the award-winning National Public Radio series “Hidden Kitchens.”
“I would like the festival to continue, but it is currently not sustainable for me to work on it doing this much work myself and with limited financial and other support,” Lankford said, pointing to a survey for volunteers that found if there is a 12th WAMMFest, it will be in fall 2019.
“I’m hopeful that other people will want to work on the festival,” Lankford said. “If not, it will have ended on a high note.”