Portland Oregon Women's Film Festival (POWFest)

The Mission

The Portland Oregon Women’s Film Festival (POWFest) places a spotlight on women directors by showcasing their work and strengthening the community of women in film.

POWFest empowers women to find their voice and to share their stories through innovative and quality filmmaking.

We feature the work of today’s top women directors, honoring the true pioneers while providing support and recognition for the next generation of leading women filmmakers.

The Goals

The goal of POWFest is to eliminate the gender disparity that exists for women directors and to create opportunities for all women working in the film industry. The festival has featured accomplished directors as-well-as dynamic young & up-and-coming directors, some from Portland’s burgeoning film industry. POWFest is dedicated to promoting and creating professional development and networking opportunities for women filmmakers of every discipline and skill-set/level. Beyond filmmaker participation we are also dedicated to bringing to Portland, programming that is thought-provoking and will engage the audience well beyond the theater. POWFest has the opportunity to connect films to local and national organizations that are dedicated to that particular film’s subject matter, enhancing the audience’s experience of the film and contributing to community building and social activism.

POWFest has had the honor of hosting a variety of emerging filmmakers as well as such accomplished Directors as Allison Anders, Irene Taylor-Brodsky, Kathryn Bigelow, Gillian Armstrong, Amy Heckerling, Barbara Kopple, Penelope Spherris, Ondi Timoner & Joanna Priestley. The 4-day festival, scheduled for March 3-6, 2016 will feature films offering attendees a variety of narrative and documentary programming from a women’s perspective. The experience is enhanced by filmmaker participation in post-screening Q&As & panels.

POWFest is produced by Sour Apple Productions in partnership with The Hollywood Theatre.