Female directors were a hot topic of conversation in 2023. Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” shattered box office records, seemingly heralding a new era for women in Hollywood — but statistics indicate Gerwig is the exception, not the norm. According to a survey by USC Annenberg, in 2023, just 12.1% of top-grossing directors were women.
This disparity highlights the continued importance of Cascadia International Women’s Film Festival. Now entering its eighth year, the multi-day event is “a Bellingham-based film festival with global perspective, dedicated exclusively to showcasing the films of women directors from around the world.” It screens April 25–28 at the Pickford Film Center.
Executive director Cheryl Crooks said Cascadia is one of just a handful of film festivals with this mission. Including this year’s event, it has presented films by 250 women since 2017.
The 2024 festival includes seven feature films and 20 short films from a range of genres, all carefully curated by a panel of industry professionals. Cascadia will also introduce the inaugural Shirley Jo Finney Featured Filmmaker recognition, an art exhibition at Dakota Art Gallery and an event at Mount Baker Theatre with this year’s honored guest, director Catherine Hardwicke.
“Thousands of years under the male gaze has had a major impact, suppressing women inside and outside of the film industry,” Hardwicke said in an email. “As female filmmakers, we want to put out interesting and diverse stories about empowered women, showing their plights and victories.”
2024 film lineup and featured filmmaker
Beyond the U.S. and Canada, the 2024 festival has attracted directors from countries including Iran, Brazil, Germany, Switzerland, the U.K., Belgium and Palestine. Crooks said this year’s films bring diverse perspectives to a variety of timely issues.
Two features, “Preconceived” from the United States and “Power Alley” from Brazil, deal with issues surrounding abortion access. Short films explore topics ranging from migration (“Mangata”) to cultural identity (“Stitched”), missing and murdered Indigenous women (“Evanescence”) and even killer whale conservation (“Call of the Orcas”).
Thursday, April 25 marks the U.S. debut of Canadian director Dr. Jules Arita Koostachin’s feature film, “WaaPaKe,” which translates to “tomorrow” in Cree. The screening will be followed by a discussion with Cascadia’s program director, Claudia Puig, and a filmmaker reception at the opening night party.
“WaaPaKe” is a deeply personal documentary about the legacy of residential schools in Canada, dealing with themes of intergenerational trauma, healing and forgiveness. Koostachin includes interviews with three generations of family members, including her mother, Rita Okimawininew, who is a residential school survivor.
“WaaPaKe” is Koostachin’s first feature to show at Cascadia. She is a member of the Attawapiskat First Nation, and she holds a doctorate from the University of British Columbia with a focus in Indigenous documentary methodologies. Koostachin has presented numerous short films, including “OchiSkwaCho” and “MisTik,” in previous festivals.
“I’ve been [attending Cascadia] since the first film festival,” Koostachin said. “It’s a real community, you know; when you visit, you build relationships, you see the same faces when you come back. I love seeing how big it’s gotten.”
Koostachin is the first-ever recipient of the Shirley Jo Finney Featured Filmmaker designation, which honors the eponymous actress and theater director. Finney served as a Cascadia advisory board member, program selection committee member and script studio panelist. She died Oct. 10, 2023 of complications from multiple plasma cell myeloma.
The Featured Filmmaker designation marks new territory for Cascadia, as the festival does not issue traditional awards. Rather, Crooks said this recognition is meant to honor Finney’s legacy and further the development and growth of young filmmakers.
Koostachin said the festival has been mindful of highlighting underrepresented talents — namely Indigenous filmmakers — since the very beginning. “They do make such a huge effort in terms of making sure that all voices are heard,” she continued.
Events and honored guests
In addition to film screenings, the festival lineup includes a script studio for up-and-coming screenwriters, panel discussions and a special event with Hardwicke at Mount Baker Theatre.
Hardwicke broke box office records with “Twilight,” which grossed $69.6 million during opening weekend — the highest-ever opening for a female-directed, live-action movie at the time. She’s also notable for projects such as “Thirteen,” “Lords of Dogtown,” and the British romantic comedy “Miss You Already.”
The April 26 event at Mount Baker Theatre will focus on Hardwicke’s “creative process, the art of storytelling and the delicate balance between passion and pragmatism” according to a news release. While her “fun behind-the-scenes stories” will be interesting to all audiences, she especially encourages those with an interest in film to attend so they can gain the tools necessary to create their own projects.
“We know from statistics by the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative that female representation in front of the camera and behind it is not a straight line! We’re actually going backwards, so we must keep fighting,” Hardwicke said in an email. “As Geena Davis says: see it, be it. Once young women see themselves on screen and behind the camera, it’s easier to take those first steps. Attend film festivals. Go to film school. Make a short film.”
Hardwicke will be present at two screenings on Saturday, April 27: “Miss You Already,” presented by the festival at 6:30 p.m., and “Twilight,” co-presented by the festival and the Pickford Film Center at 9:15 p.m. (The “Twilight” event is separate from the festival, and tickets must be purchased directly through the Pickford.)
In addition to Hardwicke’s events, most screenings are followed by directors’ Q&As, allowing audiences to learn more about the industry from professionals in various stages of their careers.
Passholders will also have the chance to mingle with filmmakers at the opening night party, the directors’ party and the no-host wrap dinner. Cascadia board president Audrey Sager said these events allow attendees to “meet the very people who made the film, to ask questions and to hear insight on how it was all put together.”
Global reach, local impact
As Cascadia’s reputation spreads, Crooks said Whatcom County is gaining prominence as a destination for film enthusiasts and directors alike. Simultaneously, locals are “waking up” to the festival’s scope and influence.
She cites the International Women’s Day showing of “Love Letters,” presented on March 8 in partnership with Western Washington University. The event drew in nearly 650 attendees — an impressive feat for a movie screening.
Additionally, Crooks said Cascadia’s first art exhibition, “Women Rising: Expanding Visions/Diverse Perspectives,” drew a crowd of more than 400 during the opening reception on April 5. The exhibition, presented in partnership with Allied Arts, is on view at the Dakota Gallery until May 25. It was curated by Barbara Matilsky, Whatcom Museum’s former curator, and aims to “highlight the multiplicity of women’s voices, styles and interpretive approaches of artists living in the Pacific Northwest.”
Both Crooks and Sager hope the community will show this level of enthusiasm during festival weekend. It is a rare opportunity to connect with worldwide talent — and these connections aren’t necessarily limited to festival weekend.
For example, Crooks said the festival’s home host program (where community members volunteer to host visiting filmmakers) results in “friends that go beyond the festival.” These initiatives provide directors with a built-in community in Bellingham, prompting talents like Koostachin to return year after year.
Given its expansive programming, Sager is surprised when she encounters local women who aren’t yet familiar with the festival. She hopes the community continues to embrace the cultural and educational opportunities the festival provides. But even as Cascadia continues to grow, its core mission remains simple: to foster new perspectives through cinema, and to celebrate the diverse women bringing these stories to the big screen.
“We laugh together, we cry together, and there’s a commonality that surfaces when you share the film experience in theaters,” Sager said. “And what I would like to see is our community come out, fill those seats, and share the stories together that the filmmakers are offering — and which are so very important to tell.”
Cascadia International Women’s Film Festival, not affiliated with Cascadia Daily News, runs April 25–28 at the Pickford Film Center and online May 2–12. (Not all films screened during the live festival will be available online.) Visit cascadiafilmfest.org for information about tickets, schedules and programming.
A previous version of this story misstated how many years the Cascadia Int. Women’s Film Festival has been occurring due to incorrect marketing information. The festival is in its eighth year. This story was updated to reflect this change on April 15 at 5 p.m. Cascadia Daily News regrets the error.
Cocoa Laney is CDN’s lifestyle editor; reach her at cocoalaney@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 128.
