Tickets for the highly anticipated Reel Women International Film Festival are now on sale.  The festival, which was established to honor and advance the careers of accomplished and emerging female filmmakers alike, opens in Hollywood Thursday, March 17 and runs through Sunday March 20, 2005.  RWIFF includes a uniquely diverse lineup of features, documentaries, shorts including animation, as well as a student competition sponsored by Kodak and Final Draft software.

RWIFF proudly announces the internationally controversial film WHITE RAINBOW as its opening night presentation, which will screen at the Chinese Mann Theater in Hollywood, followed by a red carpet opening night gala. 

All other screenings and events will be held at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood.  Friday, March 18^th, RWIFF celebrates 30 years of AFI’s Directing Workshop for Women.  This special presentation and networking opportunity will feature a small sampling of films produced within the DWW.   Closing night includes the screening of Ganges: River to Heaven, a gripping reality of one of India’s sacred rivers, followed by a reception and closing note from the festival director.   The centerpiece presentation is COMING UP EASY, starring Meg Foster (The Man In The Iron Mask) and Robert Blanche (Thumbsucker).  COMING UP EASY is the feature debut by accomplished director, writer and producer, Rebecca Rodriguez. 

Other screenings include THE DEVIL CATS, written and directed by Anika Portier and produced by Sydney Protier, an IFC original movie, IN THE COMPANY OF WOMEN and the documentary JUVIES, directed by Leslie Neale and produced by Mark Whalberg.  Also featured at this year’s first annual RWIFF is a series of highly acclaimed documentaries presented by Women Make Movies, including AFGANISTAN:THE LOST TRUTH, THE BLONDS and SISTERS OF THE SCREEN:AFRICAN WOMEN.

Founder and director of the festival, Diana Means, has been working and volunteering for film festivals over the past five years, including the Los Angeles Film Festival, AFI and the Pan African Film Festival.  Landing in California at the age of seven, Diana’s

passion for film developed at an early age.  But at eighteen and the urging of her family she enrolled at Cal Poly Pomona as a Microbiology Major.  In her spare time she concentrated on drafting a stage play, leaving little time for her studies.  It didn’t take

long for her to realize that her love of the arts was what she needed to pursue.  She did just that, landing an internship with Dawn Steel at Disney Studios, where she worked on her first film set: COOL RUNNING.  Today, Means works at ABC Television Network and devotes her spare time on her two children:  her nine year old daughter Whitney and The Reel Women International Film Festival.   Her inspiration to build a festival geared towards female filmmakers came when she read the article “Celluloid Ceiling: Behind-The-Scenes Employment of Women in the Top 250 Films of 2001.”  After reading this book, she realized that the number of women employed in films was nearly non-existent. 

All tickets for events and screenings are available on the festivals website www.rwiff.com.  Opening Night Presentation and Gala tickets are available at the Grauman’s Chinese Mann Box Office at 6925 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, CA 90028.  For additional information on any event or film please visit www.rwiff.com.