Sunset Story (USA, 2003, 72 min., English) Directed by Laura Gabbert Irja and Lucille are old, bold, and ready to change how you think about aging. Director Laura Gabbert captures the feisty friendship and everyday adventures of these two women in her intimate and funny documentary about Sunset Hall, the retirement home for political progressives in the heart of central Los Angeles. Irja, the eighty-one-year-old eternal idealist, and Lucille, the nintey-five-year-old irreverent skeptic, explode stereotypes of nice, old ladies with their sharp-witted and often provocative opinions about men, sex, gender roles, and attitudes toward the elderly. Click here to read the 2005 Program Book essay on this film.

and The Klarsfelds (France, 2003, 52 min., French, German w/subtitles) Directed by Elisabeth Citroën In 1968 Beate Klarsfeld publicly slapped West German Chancellor Kurt Kiesinger. Her subsequent trial nailed Kiesinger as a Third Reich propagandist and launched her nearly 40-year-career as a professional Nazi hunter. This expertly-crafted documentary illuminates the intense bond between Beate, a Protestant German, and her husband, Serge, a Jewish survivor and historian, and their shared quest for justice. As a team, they spent a decade pursuing Klaus Barbie, the Butcher of Lyons, while raising their children, both now active participants in the family business. A Nobel Peace Prize nominee now in her 60s, Beate continues to inspire as a wife, mother, and activist. Click here to read the 2005 Program Book essay on this film. In person: The Klarsfelds director Elisabeth Citroën (photo, right) Women Filmmakers Forum sponsored by Fore Street/Street & Co Additional support from the Maine Humanities Council and the Maine Arts Commission, Maine Women's Fund, and USM Women's Studies

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