“In Bed with a Mosquito,” the first video documentary produced and directed by Detroit-born and former Michigan resident Sarah Frank, will be featured at four different film festivals across the U.S. during the month of October.
The first showing will be at the Trade&Row Documentary Film Festival in Los Angeles, Saturday, Oct. 18. Frank’s work will be part of We, the People: A Documentary Film Festival that showcases portraits of American culture. Over the course of three evenings (October 16 – 18), the festival will screen films designed to inform Americans about economic and social issues.
The film will also be shown on the same date at the Flint Film Festival in Flint, Michigan. The one-day event began five years ago to celebrate independent films — long, short, fiction, documentary and animation — that express fresh voices and unique perspectives.
Frank’s work will also be part of the first-ever Cineminis Competition for Short Narrative and Documentary films sponsored by CMJ (College Media Journal), a music events/publishing company that serves the music industry and college radio stations in the United States and Canada. Being held in New York City on Friday, October 24, the competition looks for new documentary and narrative talent in films under 40 minutes in length.
Frank’s hometown will have an opportunity to view her work as part of the Detroit Docs International Film Festival in Detroit, Michigan, October 29 to November 2. The festival was started in 2002 by a group of documentary filmmakers and film lovers. It was re-launched in October 2007 with the support of Detroit Public Television, Wayne State University, The Detroit Film Theatre of the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Metrotimes weekly. Frank’s film will be shown at 8:30 p.m., October 31.
“In Bed with a Mosquito” is an intimate 18 minute portrait of activism and aging in New York City that focuses on the life of Betty Brassell, a 78-year-old anti-war activist living on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The film tells the story of how Brassell has spent nearly every day of her retirement protesting in the streets of New York City with other grandmothers. When an injury sidelines her from her busy schedule of protests and vigils, Brassell finds herself wondering how much longer she will be able to take it to the streets trying to make a difference in our democracy.
“I am delighted to have my work accepted by these four diverse festivals all at the same time,” said Frank. “When I met Betty protesting outside Rockefeller Center on a chilly October night, I knew I had the ideal subject for a documentary but I soon realized that this film could be more than just a portrait of an anti-war granny,” she continued.
“It is my hope that this film will inspire people to question their own activism or apathy about our democracy. Betty and her colleagues can teach all of us lessons about strength and passion that are invaluable to our future as citizens,” Frank commented.
Sarah Frank was born in Detroit in 1983. She earned a B.A. in journalism from Michigan State University and recently completed a Graduate Certificate in Documentary Media Studies at The New School in New York City. Before coming to non-fiction filmmaking, Sarah worked as a newspaper reporter and photographer. “In Bed with a Mosquito” is her first documentary short. She currently lives in Brooklyn, NY.
For additional information about Frank and her film, go to: http://inbedwithamosquito.tumblr.com.
A trailer for the film is available at http://vimeo.com/sarahfrank.
Information about the film festivals can at the respective web sites:
Trade&Row Documentary Film Festival; Saturday, October 18, Los Angeles, CA
http://www.tradeandrow.org/wethepeople/
Flint Film Festival; Saturday, October 18
Flint, MI
http://www.theflintfilmfestival.com
CMJ Film Festival – CineMini Short Film Contest; Friday, October 24, New York, NY
http://www.cmj.com/marathon/film-cinemini.php
Detroit Docs International Film Festival; Saturday, October 29 – November 2, Detroit, MI
http://www.detroitdocs.com
