WSFF REWIND: A Virtual Film Festival

CAMPAIGN UPDATE:

While my original project, the WSFF Roadshow, is sidelined by COVID-19, I am doubling-down on my commitment to take the Women Sports Film Festival to audiences everywhere by creating WSFF REWIND, a virtual monthly film series featuring encore screenings of films from our first four years plus live post-film conversations with filmmakers and athletes. 

WSFF REWIND launches on July 16th and runs through July 26th.  For full list of featured films and to purchase tickets or passes, visit us HERE. 

Like so many, the independent film community has been hard hit by the economic impact of the pandemic. Your support will be used to pay well-deserved screening fees to filmmakers and to pay our all-female and non-binary team of moderators, designers and creatives who will bring the virtual festival to life. Contributions will also be used to make the festival accessible to students free of charge via our scholarship program. 

My plans may have changed but my mission to reimagine sports with women and girls at the center of the story remains the same. Thank you for your support of my campaign // Susan Sullivan, Founder

_{Post-film Q&A, Hardball: The Girls of Summer, World Premiere, WSFF 2019}

meet the women sports film festival

The Women Sports Film Festival curates and amplifies documentary films about female athletes from around the world. We are re-writing an outdated script and ushering in a new narrative of women's sports that is strong, sovereign and self-defined. 

Building on the success of our annual San Francisco-based festival, we are launching the Women Sports Film Roadshow to connect athletes, filmmakers and audiences at live, in-person events that celebrate storytelling, face-to-face conversation and local community. 

^{_{San Francisco Bay Sox Girls Baseball,  WSFF 2019}}

the problem

Women and girls represent over 40% of participants in sport and yet we receive only 4% of all sports media coverage. Even when these stories are told, they are often defined in relation to the dominant masculine ideal of men's sports.

Study after study shows that women are underrepresented on screen and behind the camera. Only 10% of the top grossing films of 2019 were directed by women. This is a problem because filmmakers are our cultural narrators revealing who and what we believe matters by the stories that get told. The good news is when women and girls are better represented behind the camera, they are better reflected on the screen.

I started the film festival because I love movies about badass women smashing stereotypes and breaking barriers. I kept finding amazing documentaries that most people had never even heard of. Athletes living extraordinary lives and filmmakers working tirelessly to get the story to the screen. I felt it was my duty to pick up the ball and take it down the field by getting these films in front of audiences that would love them as much as I did.

^{_{Venus Vs., Directed by Ava DuVernay, WSFF 2017}}

our solution

The Women Sports Film Festival solves these problems by showing films that capture the true lived experience of women and girls in sport. These stories create their own context rather than being defined by the dominant narrative of sports.

Knowing that identity transcends gender, we center stories of athletes and filmmakers of diverse race, class, sexual orientation, age and ability, using sport and film as entry points to explore and address many of the most urgent issues impacting women and girls around the world. We invite all filmmakers to the table to tell these important stories - with over 50% of our films being created by women directors.

The festival is more than just a collection of films. It is an intentional, supportive, feminist community that creates an affirming viewing experience unlike any other. We value the emotional impact that comes from gathering in community to watch movies together and the potential it has to transform us, individually and collectively.

Launched in July 2016 leading up to the Rio Summer Games, we have held four annual film festivals and dozens of community screenings. The fifth Women Sports Film Festival will be held on September 24-26, 2020 at the Brava Theater in San Francisco, California. Watch trailers from our festivals here.

^{_{Afghan Cycles, Directed by Sarah Menzies, WSFF 2018}}

why crowdfunding

My mission is to expand the festival from a local event to a global movement that showcases existing films about female athletes, facilitates the creation of more films and supports the next generation of female athletes and filmmakers.

Given the enthusiasm I've seen in San Francisco for an event dedicated to these stories, I want to take the Women Sports Film Festival to audiences everywhere. I am raising money on IFW to launch a 12-city Roadshow of short films and community gatherings to rally and connect athletes, filmmakers and audiences in local communities.

Your support will be used to pay well-deserved licensing fees to independent filmmakers, creating a new source of income that helps make their careers sustainable. It will also allow us to pay our all-female and non-binary team of designers, developers and creatives who will make this new initiative a reality.

The Roadshow creates a new, ongoing revenue stream that adds to our overall financial sustainability and helps move us from start-up to a more established business.

^{_{Papercut illustration, Anna Brones, Artist, WSFF 2019}}

the founder

I am a big fan of crowdfunding and have backed many campaigns over the years. Common to everything I have supported was my belief in the creative idea at the heart of the project and my desire to see it exist in the world. Whether in person or from a distance, I hope you'll join us in creating the movement that female athletes and filmmakers deserve.

how you can join our movement

contribute: By supporting this campaign you are joining a community of people that love women's sports and powerful storytelling. 

share: Do you know a person, organization or team that would love to be involved in bringing the Roadshow to their community? Tell them about our campaign and share this page. 

join us: Sign up for our newsletter and follow us on social media (instagram, twitter, facebook, vimeo, flickr)

_{Featured Video Cover Image 📷 FIBA Allow Hijab, Futbolistas4Life, Little Miss Sumo, T-Rex, Quincy} 

thank you!

FUND THIS CAMPAIGN & GET ADIDAS CREATORS CLUB POINTS

Everyone wins when you support women who reimagine sport. 

Help us fund their projects and earn Creators Club points. 

Not a Creators Club member? Sign up here 

By funding this campaign, you agree to the Terms of Use associated with the Reimagine Sport Contest.

Creators Club members based in the United States will be rewarded with points according to contribution amount through March 22nd:

 $1-25: 250 points, $26-50: 500 points, $51-99: 750 points, $100+: 1000 points.