Local film showcase spotlights work from women and queer filmmakers

Room Tone. // Courtesy Alyson O’Hara

Ryan Njenga has hosted several local short film showcases in recent years. One of them, back in February 2022, even sold out the large auditorium at the Glenwood Arts Theater. The latest in the series, “A Seat at the Table,” which plays at Glenwood Arts November 3, is different from the others the local filmmaker has helped organize. It’s specifically focused on shorts by women and queer filmmakers.

Courtesy Ryan Njenga and Berkley Hays

“It’s inspirational to see your work on a screen, especially now when you normally just put something out on YouTube, and maybe it’s big for like a week and then dies off,” Njenga says. “It’s nice for me and the other organizers to put something together that helps the filmmakers get something back from their work. It’s bringing the community together and giving the filmmakers a bigger platform.”

The 90-minute showcase, sponsored by the Kansas City Underground Film Festival, features filmmakers from the Kansas City area, as well as Iowa and Texas. 

“We reached out to friends of ours who we knew were talented but hadn’t gotten into film festivals,” Njenga says. “I like the idea of creating a united front for midwestern filmmakers.”

Filmmaker Berkley Hays, who organized the showcase with Njenga, says the resulting program is exciting and thematically diverse.

“The showcase really shows off how diverse and creative and interesting female and queer filmmakers can be,” Hays says. “We have fun, quirky serial killers, religious trauma, arthouse, and beautiful visuals, all in one place.”

As the Crow Flies. // Sophia Baldwin

That lineup includes clever genre entries like Brydie O’Connor’s impeccably designed and darkly funny Going Steady, in which mid-century dating expectations take a macabre turn, and Jack Holly’s dreamlike art film Big Yellow Horse, which features a series of surreal images that appear side by side in a split frame.

“Art for me is a way to channel how I’m feeling and challenge myself as well as other people,” Holly, whose nonbinary identity is one of the themes that powers their work, says. “I work with themes of gender and what it’s like to be someone who was raised Baptist evangelical as a man, then grew up and realized everything I’d been taught was not something I believe in. Film is something I can use to communicate how confusing and psychological that challenge can be.”

Holly says that while Kansas City’s film scene is still small (and particularly so for women and queer filmmakers like them), they’re encouraged by the growth that’s starting to happen.

Charlie. // Jacqueline Kerr

“Within the queer sphere, it’s independently driven, guerilla-style, and very spontaneous,” Holly says. “It breeds a lot of innovation, and you get really close with people because you’re just putting your heads together to make something happen, and that’s a beautiful thing.”

Big Yellow Horse. // Courtesy Jack Holly

Njenga says that among the filmmakers he’s worked with for the showcase, he’s noticed a refreshing sense of authenticity and playfulness.

“A lot of male filmmakers I know want to be like Kubrick, which is fine, but sometimes it’s like, can we have some fun?” Njenga says. “These filmmakers aren’t afraid to be strange or queer in both senses of that word. (Holly’s film) Big Yellow Horse is a great example of not forcing a narrative and trusting that the right audience will catch on.”

In addition to the film showcase, “A Seat at the Table” will feature an audience award and a networking reception, with visual art featured from female and queer artists. 

Hays says she’s proud the showcase allows for perspectives that defy the stereotypes she often feels forced into as a creative woman.

“So often, female filmmakers get pigeonholed into what kind of content they’re expected to create,” she says. “The goal is to show younger people and filmmakers every direction you could possibly go in. Everything in this showcase pushes the envelope of what filmmaking can be.”