The Unmentionables Film Festival Vol. 1: Menstruation

(The Unmentionables Film Festival is an annual theme-based festival that will focus on a different “taboo” topic each year. The inaugural Unmentionables Film Festival invites audiences to participate in a public discourse and celebration of all things menstrual.)
 

All-Access Pass for The Unmentionables Film Festival ($95)
Save money, receive free festival swag, and ensure that you have priority seating to all festival screenings. Priority seating for pass holders will be held until 15 minutes before show time. Pass holders will also receive tickets for our Live Storytelling event at the Triad (Monday, June 15th @ The Triad) and our special screening of Water Children, which will include a live performance and discussion with film subject, concert pianist Tomoko Mukaiyama (Friday, June 19th @ University Settlement). For more information on the Special Events, visit: www.UnmentionablesFilmFestival.com

Red Tent Market Place
The Red Tent is traditionally a sacred place for women to gather and be supported by each other, as they experience menses and childbirth. Our Red Tent Marketplace will honor the essence of the Red Tent, by creating a celebratory community event that will explore the wondrous world of menstruation. All are invited and encouraged to peruse the marketplace, and interact with vendors, educators, healing practitioners, and organizations, who will offer information about menstrual-related products, practices, and services.

Global Perspectives on Menstruation
In this program, screen three short films will be followed by an informative, and likely revelatory, panel discussion. Meet some of the NGOs, grassroots community groups, filmmakers and entrepreneurs that are working towards solutions to help women around the globe manage their menstrual cycles in ways that are affordable, attainable, hygienic, and convenient.

The Stranger Within: Fibroid Stories
Directed by Roderick Giles & PaSean Wilson-Ashley, USA, 2015
(Screening an excerpt from this work-in-progress)
In The Stranger Within: Fibroid Stories, Beverly Johnson, Rhonda Ross, PaSean Wilson-Ashley, and other women share their personal fibroid stories. The film also explores the varied treatment options, and sheds light on the medical establishment’s practice of performing far too many unnecessary hysterectomies for fibroid tumors. This program will include a dynamic panel discussion with the film’s directors, Dr. Millicent Comrie, and Queen Afua.

EndoTruths: Infertility and Mental Health
Directed by Casey Berna, USA, 2015, 38 min
Endometriosis and Infertility each can be devastating in their own right. But, experiencing both at once, often leaves patients to suffer for years through misdiagnosis and mistreatment from the medical community. In EndoTruths, licensed Patient Counselor and Advocate, Casey Berna, profiles endometriosis patients who share their experiences with the disease. The film will be followed by a panel discussion with an informed and committed team of Endometriosis activists.