Since launching in 2005, the CineMujer Film Festival has become a staple of Women's History Month in San Antonio, showcasing the struggles and triumphs of ordinary women via the power of film.

The fourth annual CineMujer Film Festival will carry on in that tradition March 28-29 and April 3-5 at the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center.

“Every year, films are made by women about women that address important social, environmental and economic justice issues — films from all around the world,” said Amanda Haas, a staff member at Esperanza Center.

Haas said the 20 or so films scheduled for screening at the five-day film fest include pictures from a plethora of foreign nations, including El Salvador, France and Germany. She was quick to highlight a couple of the films slated for inclusion at CineMujer:

‘ANTONIA': A Brazilian film that centers on four women who form an all-female hip-hop group with the hopes of escaping the poverty that surrounds them. Along the way, the quartet struggles to overcome racism, sexism and other forms of prejudice. “Antonia,” directed and co-written by Tata Amaral, was honored with the Special Jury Award (Fiction Category) at the 2006 Sao Paolo International Film Festival.

‘ENEMIES OF HAPPINESS': A documentary from Danish filmmaker Eva Mulvad that centers on Malalai Joya, who campaigned for a parliamentary position during the 2005 Afghanistan elections. Social activists praised Joya for speaking out against the nation's corrupt warlords.

“It's about understanding how (women's) struggles and experiences are all related, and it's about fighting,” Haas said of the film festival. “It's about women who have been at the forefront of those struggles, sexism, ending wars.”

CineMujer is also devoted to bridging gaps in the Alamo City.

“It's about building connections in the San Antonio community ..... and we'll show films next to one another that show how different issues are connected,” she said. “It's also nice to have space for films made by women.”

CLINT HALE | 210SA