International Women's Film Festival

I had an opportunity to actually bring two divergent parts of my life together this weekend. Even though I try to explain the connection between filming in California and the economy and women's health issues, it never became easier for me to draw that connection than at the International Women's Film Festival.

The first night of the festival was devoted to showing "Pink Skies", a documentary about the successful achievement of a sky diving record when 181 women from all over the world, many of them breast cancer survivors, Jumped for the Cure together. It was a stunning sight. I can only imagine the intense connection these women must have felt as they linked hands in air high over the Arizona desert.

The opening of the festival benefited Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Los Angeles County, and we have Diana Means, President & CEO of the Alliance of Women Film Makers to thank for always supporting the cause. I spoke to the audience about the importance of what Komen has achieved, also against great odds; just like the women spread out across the summer sky, Komen has brought together hundreds of thousands of people across the world to join the fight to end breast cancer for ever.

During my remarks, I tried out a new tag line that I thought of one night when I couldn't sleep. Actually Stewart McKeough, head of Corporate Development for five of the California Affiliates asked me to think of a theme for a new campaign that he would like Komen LA to launch, to try to fill the gap between services available for screening and diagnosis and the actual need. If you think of the 1,144 people who will die of breast cancer in LA County this year, it's obvious that a lot of people are not being screened early enough. An Affiliate raises money, the majority of which stays in the community where those funds are raised to save lives. Yes, it's true that Komen has raised extraordinary amounts for research, but they also have a mission to keep people alive through early detection and encouraging healthy life styles. The tag line that I test drove is I Deserve to Know (if I have breast cancer). And that right to know extends to every person regardless of their situation.

I was pleased to speak to women in the film industry. They have a tough road to walk in an industry that has been an all-male boys club. You go girls. And please, try to film in California.
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Sharon