2023 19th Annual International Queer Women of Color Film Festival

19th Annual International Queer Women of Color Film Festival

Community

Historias de Cultura: Oaxaca en Santa Cruz (Comida)
Megan Martinez Goltz

For Indigenous elders, Oaxacan traditions nourish and support their community to heal.

Bio: Working to eliminate erasure of indigenous traditions and practices, Megan shares stories to promote collective and individual healing. They work with the LGBTQ community to share stories that celebrate the authentic identities of individuals in ways that invite inclusion for folks to feel a sense of belonging. Megan is passionate about learning ancestral ways of cultivating the earth for food and medicine and weaving these practices into the stories they share.

Website: goltz-m.myportfolio.com

Closing Night Screening: Mycelial Care

Sunday, June 11, 2023
5 pm

GOLDEN VOICE
Mars Verrone

A transgender man returns to a village where queer and trans community bloomed during the Cambodian genocide.

Content Warning: Mentions of genocide, homophobia, trauma

Bio: Mars Verrone is a filmmaker from Los Angeles, CA, now based in Brooklyn, NY. In 2019, they graduated magna cum laude from Brown University with honors in Modern Culture and Media (Production) and Phi Beta Kappa membership. They are producing their first feature documentary about the Amazon Labor Union, a group of workers who made history by successfully unionizing the first Amazon warehouse in the United States (directed by Steve Maing, Brett Story). They are a 2022 NBC Original Voices Fellow, PGA Create Fellow, and Brown Girls Doc Mafia Sustainable Artist Fellow.

Website: camaseanyouthfuture.com/golden-voice-documentary
Instagram: @varsmerrone

Closing Night Screening: Mycelial Care

Sunday, June 11, 2023
5 pm

Liberating Movement: Black, Brown, & Queer All Over
Helen Aldana & Megan Martinez Goltz

Dance blooms a celebration of community and identity in Santa Cruz, CA.

Content Warning: Mentions of racism

Bios: Helen serves the community through collective celebration, preservation, and care. They’ve worked to increase the presence and participation of QTBIPOC-led organizations in national archives, developed bilingual outreach programs to build community power in museums, and co-led efforts to distribute financial resources to peoples excluded from government aid. Little did they know that these relations would lead them to create short films centering stories of cultural healing and love. With their family as a guiding star, Helen's work is committed to honor home, trust, and tequio. Helen is an abuelita-in-training learning to steward land and connections for a world where Indigenous, trans, and immigrant communities thrive as their full selves.

Megan Martinez Goltz is a documentary filmmaker, editor, and audio recordist based in Santa Cruz, California. Working to eliminate erasure of indigenous traditions and practices, Megan shares stories to promote collective and individual healing. They work with the LGBTQ community to share stories that celebrate the authentic identities of individuals in ways that invite inclusion for folks to feel a sense of belonging. Megan is passionate about learning ancestral ways of cultivating the earth for food and medicine and weaving these practices into the stories they share.

Website: goltz-m.myportfolio.com

Opening Night Screening: Magic at the Root

Friday, June 9, 2023
7 pm

Femme Rage
Sarah Taborga & Aïma Paule


A poetic rendering of QTBIPOC femme anger and raw expressions of rage in response to multiple oppressions.

Content Warning: Emotional pain

Bios: Sarah Taborga is an award-winning filmmaker who helps companies and indie artists meaningfully connect to their audiences through producing, directing, cinematography, sound design, editing, and photography. Sarah has worked at Netflix, Marvel, and HBO on content like Sense8, Ant-Man, and Looking, which provided her with incredible training in the structures and workflows of professional filmmaking. She has produced, directed, filmed, and edited stories for numerous organizations including MACLA, Advancement Project National Office, The Port of San Francisco, San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association, BAYCAT, Puente Human Rights Movement, Causa Justa/Just Cause.

Website: sarahtaborga.com
Instagram: @sarahtaborga

Aïma Paule aka Aïma the Dreamer, They/Them, is a multi disciplinary artist, musician, and activist. Aïma has been exhibiting art, performing, producing, and hosting events for over 20 yrs locally in the Bay Area, CA, nationally and internationally. As a cultural curator, they create safer spaces for Women, QTBIPOC, and Immigrant communities to explore identity and intersectional justice issues through creative outlets, music, film, visual arts, fashion and culture.

Instagram: @aimathedrmr

Instagram: @wearefemmerage

Opening Night Screening: Magic at the Root

Friday, June 9, 2023
7 pm