Work of St. Petersburg Glass Artist Featured in 'Best of the Best' Film at Women's Film Festival

Filmmaker Karen Lavender works behind a camera. Glass sculptor Marlene Rose labors in front of a furnace. The tools of their craft are different, but both women share a common bond as artists working in male dominated fields.

Sarasota, FL (PRWEB) February 7, 2008 -- Filmmaker Karen Lavender works behind a camera. Glass sculptor Marlene Rose labors in front of a furnace. The tools of their craft are different, but both women share a common bond as artists working in male dominated fields.

Their work was featured in two Sarasota venues on February 2. Lavender's short film about Rose's glassmaking, From Fire: An Odyssey of Glass, was screened at the Through Women's Eyes film festival while Rose's sculptures were on display at the Hodgell Gallery on Palm Avenue.

Both Lavender and Rose will be in Sarasota to discuss their work with filmgoers following the 7:30 p.m. screening at Hollywood 20.

The 12-minute film captures the dangerous dance of creating hand cast sculptures from molten glass and uses musical imagery to transform it into visual poetry.

Lavender began her film career in South Africa when she directed a documentary about the controversial choreographer Robin Orlin. She later directed documentaries dealing with human rights, worked on a number of independent film projects and is actively involved in the Women in Film PSA production program.

Rose works from her studio in St. Petersburg, Florida. Her unique pieces, which often feature reclaimed objects, have been featured in group and solo exhibitions in major U.S. cities and in Johannesburg, South Africa.

From Fire: An Odyssey of Glass was chosen as one of "Best of the Best" out of the 18 documentaries and short films by women directors that were screened during the ninth annual Women's International Film Festival on February 1 and 2 at Hollywood 20.

The festival is the primary fundraising event of the Sarasota-based Gulf Coast Chapter of the US National Committee for UNIFEM, the women's fund at the United Nations. All net proceeds from the film festival support UNIFEM's Safe Cities Program to end violence against women and girls in Latin America.

For more information, visit www.ThroughWomensEyes.com or call 941-284-1027.

Presented by Gulf Coast Chapter

US National Committe for UNIFEM

©2008 Unifem. All rights reserved.

9th Annual Women's International Film Festival

Friday, January 4, 2008

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