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FRIDAY-SUNDAY
The word “sepia” conjures images of faded family photographs and the mysteries that lurk under the sea. For SEPIA, Sisters Empowered to Promote Interest and Opportunities in the Arts, a nonprofit whose REEL Shades Film Festival showcases women of color, the connotations are more than apt. Many of the films in this year’s festival find their themes in the depths of memory and family relations. (Carole Mayes’ Tendrils is pictured.) In The Water Ghost, directed by Elizabeth Sung, a beautiful ghost woman helps a Chinese-American girl mourning her mother’s death to find closure (screened with The Gift, Girlfriends, and A Luv Tale at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 28, at the American Film Institute’s National Film Theater). The four chic Latinas in Evelina Fernandez’s feature-length Luminarias share their innermost feelings on work, family, sex, and the search for love in Los Angeles (screened with Traveling Light at 4 p.m., Sunday, April 30, at the District of Columbia Jewish Community Center). Due to audience demand, Dianne Houston’s Tuesday Morning Ride, a standout from last year’s festival, will be shown again this year. The Academy Award-nominated short tells the story of a loving black couple in their twilight years who decided to take one last ride in their beloved vintage convertible (screened with The Shangri-La Cafe and A Litany for Survival: The Life and Work of Audrey Lorde at 4 p.m., Saturday, April 29, at the AFI). And in addition to the festival’s 17 films, two panel discussions offer advice on financing films and finding work in the film and video industry (at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, April 29, at the AFI, and Sunday, April 30, at the DCJCC). At the American Film Institute’s National Film Theater, in the Kennedy Center’s Hall of States, and the District of Columbia Jewish Community Center, 1529 16th St. NW. $8 (the panel discussions are free). (202) 639-9286. (Holly Bass) NOTE: THESE ARE UNCORRECTED. PLEASE SEE GREENS AND LASERS FOR CORRECTIONS.