Castleton Film Festival Returns this March with Women-Directed Films

Castleton, VT (02/22/2023) — Castleton University's Film Festival returns this March with a series of films directed by and centering on women. The films feature themes of identity, womanhood, and coming of age from across the spectrum, each with a unique perspective. The Film Festival spans four days over the course of two weeks. Screenings will take place in Herrick Auditorium at 7 p.m. These events are free and open to the public.

Feature Films include:

"Aloners"

March 7

"Aloners" follows Jina, the top employee at a call center. Despite talking to customers all day, she has shut out the world beyond her headset; she lives alone, eats alone, sleeps alone, and her cell phone is her constant companion. When she's tasked with training a friendly and naive new hire, her icy armor is threatened. At the same time, she must navigate an incessantly ingratiating new neighbor, and an increasingly urgent call from her father, leaving Jina on the edge and forcing her to confront why she has isolated herself all these years.

"Where The Lionesses Roar"

March 9

"Where the Lionesses Roar" explores a remote village in Kosovo, where three young women see their dreams and ambitions stifled. In their quest for independence, nothing can stop them. Time to let the lionesses roar.

"Sirens"

March 14

"Sirens" highlights the struggles of Lilas and her thrash metal bandmates, Shery, Maya, Alma, and Tatyana (Slave to Sirens) on the outskirts of Beirut, as they cope with the less-than-life-changing response to their appearance at a UK musical festival. Following the festival, Lilas returns home to Lebanon on the brink of collapse. At the same time, the relationship between Lilas and her fellow guitarist Shery starts to fracture, and Lilas faces a crossroads. She must decide what kind of leader she will be, not only for her band but also as a young woman struggling to define herself in Lebanon, a country as complex as each of the Sirens themselves.

"Honeyland"

March 16

"Honeyland" follows Hatidze as she cares for her ailing mother in the mountains of Macedonia, making a living cultivating honey using ancient beekeeping traditions. When an unruly family moves in next door, what at first seems like a blam for her solitude becomes a source of tension as they, too, want to practice beekeeping - while disregarding her advice. Honeyland is an epic, visually stunning portrait of the delicate balance between nature and humanity.