Guest Blogger: Allen Braude - Behind The Curtains Of Breast Fest Part 3

Glowing Stars, Saturday Nov 20th at 2:00 pm

The second half of the amazing programme at the  Breast Fest Film Festival on Saturday November 20th begins with the screening of Glowing Stars, a feature film from Sweden that I programmed at another festival. I am thrilled that the programming team agreed it is a great fit for Breast Fest. Based on the award winning book by Johanna Thydell, the film tells the story of fourteen-year-old Jenna, who is navigating adolescence while coping with her beloved single mother who has cancer. Jenna’s difficulty facing her mother’s illness leads to a new friendship with Ullis a popular girl who introduces Jenna to the world of partying and boys. But as Jenna begins to realize, running away from your problems doesn’t make them go away, and she must come to terms with the fact that her mother’s health isn’t getting better. Glowing Stars is filled with brilliant flashes of humour, is truly moving, and wonderfully authentic thanks to director Lisa Siwe’s warm and sensitive direction and the uniformly excellent performances from the cast.

Following the screening of Glowing Stars, there will be a panel discussion titled "Is it my child, or is it my cancer?" about understanding and supporting children and youth whose parents are experiencing cancer. Rethink Breast Cancer, who presents Breast Fest, is committed to drawing attention to and providing education on issues facing younger women with breast cancer that are not always being addressed. The films at Breast Fest are an ideal starting point to explore important and timely topics and respond to feedback from women experiencing breast cancer, such as the feedback received from those raising teens who have experienced a gap in the support available for their adolescent children. I look forward to the awareness and dialogue this panel discussion will stimulate. This and other panels during the festival are being recorded, and will be available on the Rethink website after the festival.

Pink Paddlers, Saturday Nov 20th at 5:00 pm

Saturday at Breast Fest concludes with Pink Paddlers, an uplifting documentary about Singapore’s breast cancer survivor Dragon Boat team. I first encountered Dragon Boating when I moved to Vancouver in the early 1990’s, but it was only recently that I learned about the important role that Dargon Boating is playing in the lives of breast cancer survivors internationally. I really enjoyed hearing the stories from the diverse group of women on the team, and the warmth of the bonds between them that cross ages and cultural backgrounds coupled with the joy they bring to Dragon Boat racing is wonderfully inspiring. A fitting way to conclude an outstanding day of films and discussion at the world’s only film festival dedicated to breast cancer awareness and education.

My next (and final post) will be an overview of Sunday’s amazing programming, which includes a documentary and discussion of the environmental links to cancer, a panel exploring the complex issues that women of colour often encounter when dealing with a breast cancer diagnosis, and a moving love story from Japan.

See you at Breast Fest!

Allen Braude
Founding Member – Breast Fest, the world’s only film festival dedicated to breast cancer awareness