Ferry Tales

Last updated
Ferry Tales
Directed byKatja Esson
Written byKatja Esson
Produced byKatja Esson, Sabine Schenk, Corinna Sager
CinematographyMartina Radwan, Katja Esson
Edited bySabine Hoffman, Moira Demos
Music byCassis, Robby Baier
Distributed by Women Make Movies
Release date
  • 2003 (2003)
Running time
40 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Ferry Tales is a 2003 American short documentary film written, produced and directed by Katja Esson. It follows the conversations of women in the powder room of the Staten Island Ferry during the morning commute from Staten Island to Manhattan. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short. [1]

Contents

Story

Ferry Tales exposes a secret world that exists in the powder room of the Staten Island Ferry—a place that brings together suburban moms and urban dwellers, white-collar and blue-collar, sisters and socialites. For 30 minutes every day, they gather around mirrors to put on their makeup – talking not as wives, mothers, or professionals, but just as themselves. Sassy and honest, they dish on everything from sex scandals to stilettos, family problems to September 11, leaving stereotypes at the door and surprising viewers with their straight-shooting wisdom.

In broaching such topics as divorce, single motherhood and domestic violence, Ferry Tales goes beyond the surface to show us the realities of life for working women. A rare and honest look at the intersections of race and class, this heartwarming film is utterly charming and often outrageous, FERRY TALES gives these unlikely heroines their moment in the spotlight.

Production

Inspired by an idea of Cassis Birgit Staudt, Katja Esson decided in July 2001 to create a sort of ‘working-girl’ documentary about the women who occupy the ladies bathroom on the ferry each and every morning. Coming up with a concept was simple enough, but trying to gain the confidence of these women and filming them in their element was quite another matter.

Then, just as filming had started, the tragic events of September 11 happened. At first, Esson felt she would have to scrap the project altogether. Instead, she kept filming. The resulting footage shows just how strong a sense of community exists between the many different women in the powder room.

Film Festivals & Awards

'Esson's film gives a fantastic glimpse into one of the countless secret sub-cultures of New York. Her brilliant portrayal rethinks class and gender and turns our ideas of the suburban/urban divide on their head'. (K.E. Flemming, New York University) [2]

Academy Award Nominee for Best Short Doc

Women's Network Awards - Best Documentary Film [3]

Underdog Film Festival - Best Doc

Annapolis Film Festival - Honorable Mention

Woodstock Film Festival - Honorable Mention

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kim Longinotto</span> British documentary film maker (born 1948)

Kim Longinotto is a British documentary film maker, well known for making films that highlight the plight of female victims of oppression or discrimination. Longinotto has made more than 20 films, usually featuring inspiring women and girls at their core. Her subjects have included female genital mutilation in Kenya, women standing up to rapists in India, and the story of Salma, an Indian Muslim woman who smuggled poetry out to the world while locked up by her family for decades.

The Santa Fe Film Festival is a non-profit organization which presents important world cinema that represents aesthetic, critical, and entertainment standards highlighting New Mexican film. The organization partners with educational groups, schools, and other non-profits to provide a forum for filmmakers, critics, educators, and historians. The award is in the form of a mounted original sculpture. The festival has been listed as one of the top independent film festivals in the United States.

Maureen Judge is a Canadian Screen Awards (CSA) winning filmmaker and television producer. Much of her work is documentary and explores themes of love, betrayal and acceptance in the context of the modern family, with the most recent films focusing on the dreams and challenges of contemporary youth.

Tanaz Eshaghian is an Iranian-born American documentary filmmaker. She resides in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Krzysztof Kopczyński</span>

Krzysztof Kopczyński is a Polish film-maker and author. He was born in 1959 in Warsaw. He is also a doctor of humanities, lecturer at the University of Warsaw, and an expert of the Polish Film Institute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirsten Johnson</span> American film director

Kirsten Johnson is an American documentary filmmaker and cinematographer. She is mostly known for her camera work on several well-known feature-length documentaries such as Citizenfour and The Oath. In 2016, she released Cameraperson, a film which consists of various pieces of footage from her decades of work all over the world as a documentary cinematographer. Directed by Johnson herself, Cameraperson went on to be praised for its handling of themes about documentary ethics interwoven with Johnson's personal reflection on her experiences.

<i>Cropsey</i> (film) 2009 American film

Cropsey is a 2009 American documentary film written and directed by Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio. The film initially begins as an examination of "Cropsey", a boogeyman-like figure from New York City urban legend, before segueing into the story of Andre Rand, a convicted child kidnapper from Staten Island whose known or suspected crimes in the 1970s and '80s may have inspired or been blamed on Cropsey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Final Cut for Real</span>

Final Cut for Real ApS is a film production company based in Copenhagen, Denmark specializing in documentaries for the international market. The two Oscar-nominated groundbreaking documentaries The Act of Killing (2012) and The Look of Silence (2014) helped establish the company as a recognized provider of independent creative documentaries on the international stage. The recent years, Final Cut for Real has also expanded to fiction films and virtual reality. In 2019 Final Cut for Real Norway was established.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arlington International Film Festival</span>

The Arlington International Film Festival (AIFF) is an annual nonprofit film festival dedicated to promoting and increasing multicultural awareness and showcases world cinema and independent films in their original language with English subtitles. Independent film producers, directors and actors within the US and abroad are invited to participate in engaging panel discussions and Q&A sessions after the screenings. Each year the festival greets more than 2,000 movie aficionados and shows about fifty films from all over the world with an impressive lineup of premieres. The Arlington International Film Festival also includes a year-round events such as poster contest competitions, pre-festival screenings and art exhibitions with local artists and performances by musicians, singers and dancers.

<i>Derby Crazy Love</i> 2013 Canadian film

Derby Crazy Love is a Canadian documentary film directed by Maya Gallus and Justine Pimlott of Red Queen Productions, and distributed by Women Make Movies. The film explores flat track roller derby, and its third-wave feminist empowerment. It was initially released on November 14, 2013, at the Montreal International Documentary Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olhares do Mediterrâneo - Cinema no Feminino</span> International film festival of films made by Mediterranean women directors

Olhares do Mediterrâneo - Women's Film Festival is an international film festival of films made by Mediterranean women directors. The 8th edition of the Festival took place in Lisbon, Portugal, on November 10-14 2021, at Cinema São Jorge.

Maya Gallus is a Canadian documentary filmmaker, and co-founder of Red Queen Productions with Justine Pimlott. Her films have been screened at international film festivals, including Toronto International Film Festival, Montreal World Film Festival, Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, Sheffield Doc/Fest, SEOUL International Women’s Film Festival, Singapore International Film Festival, This Human World Film Festival (Vienna) and Women Make Waves (Taiwan), among others. Her work has also screened at the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), Donostia Kultura, San Sebastián and Canada House UK, as well as theatrically in Tokyo, San Francisco, Key West and Toronto, and been broadcast around the world. She has won numerous awards, including a Gemini Award for Best Direction for Girl Inside, and has been featured in The Guardian, UK; Ms. (Magazine), Curve (Magazine), Bust (Magazine), Salon (Magazine), POV and The Walrus, among others. She is a Director/Writer alumna of the Canadian Film Centre and a participant in Women in the Director’s Chair. She will be honoured with a "Focus On" retrospective at the 2017 Hot Docs festival.

Katja Esson is a German-American filmmaker based in Miami, Florida. She was born and raised in Germany.

Nimisha Mukerji is a Canadian film and television director. She has directed episodes of The Imperfects, Mech-X4, and Gabby Duran & the Unsittables.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rokhsareh Ghaemmaghami</span>

Rokhsareh Ghaemmaghami is a Sundance Award-winning Iranian documentary filmmaker who was born in Tehran. She has directed one full-length documentary, four short documentaries and one animated documentary.

<i>Edith+Eddie</i> 2017 film

Edith+Eddie is a 2017 American documentary film directed by Laura Checkoway and produced by Thomas Lee Wright. It was distributed by Kartemquin Films. When singer and entertainer Cher learned about the couple from a local news story, she offered to pay for repairs to the couple's home as well as Edith's medical bills. Cher is also the executive producer of the documentary film. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject at the 90th Academy Awards.

Amanda Lipitz is an American director and producer of films and Broadway shows, including the documentary STEP. She's also a former voice actress, best known for voicing Zoey in the English localization of the Japanese anime series Mew Mew Power.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katja Gauriloff</span> Finnish-Skolt film director

Katja Gauriloff is a Finnish-Skolt filmmaker, director, and one of the owners of the Finnish production company Oktober.

Nuisance Bear is a Canadian short documentary film, directed by Jack Weisman and Gabriela Osio Vanden and released in 2021.

References

  1. Ramsey, Nancy (12 February 2004). "Sisterhood in a Floating Powder Room". New York Times.
  2. "KE Flemming". women make movies.
  3. "win awards". women's image network awards. Archived from the original on 2013-08-05.