BABES FEST 2017 LINEUP
~comedy~
featuring sketch, improv and stand-up by:
Taji Senior
Taji Senior is a journalist, writer and performer based in Austin. Her credits include Doper than Dope (Heckle Her), As You Like It (Shrewd Productions), The Get Together (Riot Studios) and Robin Hood: An Elegy (Generic Ensemble Company).
Nikita Redkar
Nikita Redkar is a comedian living in Austin, Texas. She has performed at venues and clubs across the country and has been a part of the LA Funny Women's Festival 2015 and Out Of Bounds Comedy Festival 2016. She currently hosts a variety open mic called Playpen every Tuesday at The New Movement theater. She is also a published writer whose work has been featured in Reductress, Fusion, Huffington Post, and more.
That Time of the Month with Meghan Ross
Meghan Ross is the host of That Time of the Month, a late-night show hosted by women that your heart has long desired, but broadcast networks have never delivered! Once a month (assuring both are not on their periods so they can make clear-minded hosting decisions), Meghan Ross and a guest co-host will showcase all types of talented acts including music, stand-up, characters, sketches, jokes, and general weirdness from humans who happen to be women. Each episode also features an interview with a Strong Female Lead(er) in Austin.
RoundHouse
RoundHouse is a group of all-female teens who often perform longform improv shows in Austin, TX. Their talents include energetic group scenes, spontaneously breaking into song, and impeccable frat boy impersonations. This improv troupe was born out of ColdTowne Theater's "Excused Absence" program and has performed at BettyFest2016.
Kim Tran
Kim Tran is a writer, actor and upcoming Michener fellow. She does improv and sketch in Austin and has written for Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls. She used to rock a mohawk!
Alyssa Dillard
When she’s not performing or fighting to crush the patriarchy, Alyssa writes everything from podcasts to puppet shows. An Austinite for 7 years, she strives to support local artists and designers. In the fall she’s headed to Prague to get an MFA in Devised and Object theatre. If anyone has a jacket send it over.
Loverboy
Loverboy is an Austin-based improve troupe that uses real dating and relationship stories to inspire their fast-paced and exciting improv show. Each performance features a different guest storyteller that will delight the audience with their most shocking, cringe-worthy and downright hilarious tales of dating gone wrong (or right!)
Carina Magyar
Carina Magyar has been performing stand-up comedy in Austin since 2010. In 2015, she participated in Hell Yes Fest (New Orleans), the inaugural Crossroads Comedy Festival (Indianapolis), and the 10th annual Fun Fun Fun Fest (Austin).She’s just a girl who used to be a boy. Some people find that pretty funny. For everyone else, she tells jokes.
Elizabeth Spears
Elizabeth Spears is a comedian from Austin, Texas. She first performed stand-up in a church talent show at age 6, but took a 13-year hiatus to focus on her parents’ divorce. Now, at the age of 23, she is blossoming into a hot young professional who is constantly afraid. Lucky for you, her jokes have punchlines. Elizabeth was a finalist in the 2016 Funniest Person in Austin contest, and she co-hosts the monthly Damn Dirty Filthy Show at Nasty’s. If you try hard enough, you can find her performing frequently at shows all over Austin.
Linzy Beltran
Linzy Beltran is a writer/improviser based out of Austin, Texas. She is a member of such troupes as SheSheSheShe, Minority Report and Migas, which performs improv comedy in Spanish and English. Linzy is also a writer/producer/director of Trance, a sketch comedy duo with her friend/soulmate Kim Tran. In her spare time, Linzy works a full-time job at C3 Presents.
Kim Lowery
Kim Lowery is an Austin-based actor, producer, and comedian. She is the Community Director of ColdTowne Theater where she graduated from their Advanced Studies Program. She is a writer and coaches teen improv troupe, RoundHouse Comedy Additionally, Kim is one of the producers of BettyFest ATX, an annual all-female comedy festival that celebrates the diverse female voices empowering the Austin comedy community.
Yola Lu
Yola Lu is a stand up, improviser and writer originally from Seattle, now based in Austin. She is a member of the sketch troupe, Pendulum, and also produces her own monthly stand up show, the Brixton Comedy Hour. She is one of the co-founders of Disoriented Comedy, the first all female Asian American stand up comedy tour. In her spare time, she likes to be on her phone at the dog park while her dog chases everyone else's balls.
Avery Moore
Avery was born is San Antonio, Texas, and would give up everything if only she were allowed to live at The Alamo. However, she currently resides in Austin. She’s a charmer with a 1200 dollar smile. Her fast wit, sarcasm, and whimsical story telling has won over audiences all over. She’s now a regular in the Austin scene, and hosts The Late Slot on Friday nights at The Velveeta Room. She has performed at Fun Fun Fun Fest, as well as Hell Yes Fest in Nola, and was recently selected to audition for Last Comic Standing in Las Angeles. Avery currently plays the supporting role of Valerie in the upcoming web series Pretty Awful. She’s also the drummer for the world famous comedy/synth/goth/pop band Brandon Lee and The Crows (@BLeeAndTheCrows).
Ngozi Kim
Ngozi Kim is an actress and assistant director, known for Nneka the Uber Driver (2016), Six Pack Sam (2017) and My Mother's Eyes (2015).
The Dynamite Sisters
The Dynamite Sisters are comprised of Texan-grown duo and creative scalawags Juliet Robb and Katie Folger. After becoming quick best friends and discovering their artistic synergy in college at UT Austin, Robb and Folger moved into a tiny apartment and began to envision an interactive sketch comedy platform that was satirical, timeless, boundary-bending, and sexy. And with that... The Dynamite Sisters, the bolder and braver and joy-chasing versions of themselves, were born— and they got to work! Together they crafted a television pilot that was in the finals for the Sundance Episodic Story Labs. Then, Katie and Juliet jetted off to Albuquerque, New Mexico for five months to workshop and shoot their first leg of work before returning to Austin to launch Dynamite Sisters Comedy in May 2017. After a successful crowdfunding campaign, the girls can’t wait to shoot the next leg of content with the talent and resources of their beloved hometown.
~film~
presented in partnership with the Austin School of Film, featuring:
No Sleep, No Breaks from Fum-Fum Ko
Fum Fum Ko is the photographer and director of Art is Cool; she is also the director of Nneka the Uber Driver.
O, My Aching Heart by Illyana Bocanegra
Illyana Bocanegra is a queer, latinx, documentary filmmaker living in Austin, Texas. She was born and raised in McAllen, Texas, a city near the border of Mexico. Her work is focused on community, women, and giving a spotlight to people and their stories. She's currently working on a film about The Year of The Blue and a web series about three young, latinx adults living their parent's American dream with local poet Julian Copado.
Loyce Gao Loyce Gayo, Ilbersalle Fallon and LaKiza from Austin While Black
Austin While Black is a webseries sharing the stories of Black Austinites. These are the stories that often get left out of discussions about Austin’s past, present, and future. There have always been Black people doing amazing things in Austin, and there always will be. Created by two UT Austin journalism grads, Evelyn and Doyin., Austin While Black's just reminding people that we outchea.
Leather Daddy for Sailor Poon by Allie Lane
"Leather Daddy" is an official music video for Sailor Poon directed by Allie Lane. Allie Lane is an intersectional feminist and voyeur, interpreting her political views into art to disseminate into the creative community through various formats: short films, music videos, dance performance and installation art. Additionally, she runs an art gallery collective in Austin, TX called MILK + cereal, where she has independently designed and directed various activist installations and performances.
Huerta de San Vicente
by Patricia Vonne
Directed by Patricia Vonne, Huerta de San Vicente is a homage to Federico Garcia Lorca. Lorca was a Spanish poet, playwright and theatre director who, in a career that spanned just 19 years before his untimely death, resurrected and revitalized the most basic strains of Spanish poetry and theatre.
Blue Flower and Slumberland by Terry Winchell
Terry Winchell is a singer songwriter who grew up on the East End of Long Island, NY, surrounded by farmland and the ocean. From the beginning, her love of nature , activism and her experience as a traveling balladeer have infused her music, as well as her filmmaking. On the heels of finishing her 2016 album release, “Blue Flower,” Terry moved to the Southwest and makes her home in Austin, Texas.
Bubblegum for Capyac from Helmut Studio
Urzulka is a photographer and art director based out of Austin. She is a visual designer with Helmut Studio.
Beta and Move directed and produced by B.B. Araya
B. B. Araya is a filmmaker based in Austin, TX. Born and raised in Dallas, TX to Eritrean & Ethiopian parents, she started catching the feels from movies at an early age. Her film Beta premiered in Issa Rae's YouTube series #ShortFilmSundays in March 2017. She is currently working on a film series titled We Are that will premiere on a computer screen near you in Fall 2017.
Petals and Stems preview by Alison Week
As a freelance field producer and production manager based in Austin, TX, Alison Week recently started Third Voice Productions to support under represented voices in both narrative and documentary films. PETALS AND STEMS is a short film inspired by real life experiences having grown up in a flower shop in Hawaii. Alison previously wrote and directed the narrative short film PUSHING OUT DAISY which premiered at the Alaska International Film Festival 2015.
Project: Girl Episodes I & II by Kate Tolo and Connie Saltzman
Project: Girl is a new film series about girlhood and identity, a movement for female empowerment and self-expression and the perfect place to overshare. Project: Girl was started by a group of women who found that sharing their most personal stories led to their deepest connections. We want to tell these stories to create community, dispel shame, and deepen the conversation around what it means to be a girl.
Doctor Foster,
Nevermore (Toad's Home)
and Oracle of Ambrosia
by Jeanne Stern
Jeanne Stern creates bizarre cinematic worlds using a hybrid of animation and puppetry. Her work has screened internationally at venues including the Smithsonian, Heather Henson's "Handmade Puppet Dreams," South by Southwest, PBS, Berlin’s Werk-Raum Gallery, the Toronto Film Festival, Savannah College of Art and Design, Athens Video Art Festival, Moving Things Festival in Capetown South Africa, and UMIMA World Puppet Day in New Delhi India. She animated Ruth Fertig’s documentary “Yizkor,” which won the Student Academy Award Gold Prize for Documentary, and the CINE Gold Eagle Prize in 2010.
Naive for Monte co-directed by Jinni J
"Naive" is the official music video for Monte co-directed by Jinni J and Garson Ormiston. Jinni J is a contemporary filmmaker, photographer and art director based in Austin, Texas.
The Boy from Mireydi Nunez
Mireydi is an Austinite filmmaker. She's a Writer/Director who is dedicated in spotlighting POC stories that are often ignored. Mireydi is currently working on "The Way It Goes" web series and her next short film. This web series depicts Queer-Latinx Austinite's who are attempting to navigate their professional and personal lives in a very different city than the one they grew up in.
Plans directed by Lauren Bruno from Shape Agency
Shape Agency is an advocate, a resource, and a support system. Our mission is to nurture the creative spirit of our clients, and provide a pathway to shape and reveal visionary success. We offer management, consulting, and photo/video production.
Maisie Crow's Jackson
Jackson is an intimate, unprecedented look at the lives of three women caught up in the complex issues surrounding abortion access. Set against the backdrop of the fight to close the last abortion clinic in Mississippi, Jackson captures the essential and hard truth of the lives at the center of the debate over reproductive healthcare in America.
Beach Dance by Brittany Reeber
Brittany Reeber is a filmmaker who uses a variety of different visual approaches including music video, installation, narrative film and documentary. Her most recent project, You Are When You Sleep, is a 4 piece video art installation examining identity crisis and the divided, gendered self. It just completed its exhibition with Co-Lab projects in Austin, Texas. Her short narrative films, Psycho Billy (2013) and The Rapture and Gammy Gwen (2014), have been honored at the university level and screened around the U.S. She also works as a production manager, line producer and coordinator for feature films, music videos and commercials. She produced visual artist Mark Flood’s double-feature film project, Art Fair Fever, that has played in galleries worldwide including San Francisco, Berlin and London.
Without and Untitled by Faiza Kracheni
Faiza Kracheni (Education & Programming Director at Austin School of Film) is a born and raised Texan who currently serves as Austin School of Film's Education & Programming Director. In October 2015, Faiza founded two new programs for the Central Texas community including a sister-program to premiere under the Motion Media Arts Center umbrella, Austin Cinemaker Space in 2016. Austin Cinemaker Space will merge media arts education and community, demand fluency with ever evolving technologies, create and foster a more active learning process and directly serve as a reflection of the changing norms in educational and creative environments in digital media and film for the Austin Community. In addition to her involvement with MMAC, she is an active artist and musician within the Austin community.
Keep the Fire Lit Trailer produced by Fox Redsky
A Independent documentary that promises to expose the cultural history of Texas’ indigenous people that has secretly survived the brutal occupation of Spaniards. A window into the hearts and minds of Indigenous people of Texas. Though many tribes have been annihilated due to the historic colonization, many still practice their spiritual ceremonies. Passing on traditions through oral stories; educating the younger generations about their family’s rich history. Keep the Fire Lit will dive deep into this fascinating society with interviews from the people of these descendants. Connecting the dots of the social, political, and environmental implication of a lost identity re-emerging. First-time filmmaker, Texas veteran, and full-time mom. Fox RedSky is a member of the Austin Film School and the Austin Film Society. Inspired by her involvement with Native American church and her own Texas indigenous heritage; she found the courage to come forward with her idea for this film.
Santa Madre Sálvanos by Andrea Zarate
Andrea Zarate is a Latina director and cinematographer whose work examines the hardships in women’s lives. In creating her films, she gravitates towards abstract imagery, archives, and cinéma vérité to uniquely tell her stories. Her most notable projects include the short documentary, Susana Almanza: The Life of an Activist and short experimental film, Santa Madre Sálvanos. She is currently filming an experimental documentary following three Tejana artists.
Fembeat Episode 4 : Counter Balance Premiere
Based in Austin, Texas, FemBeat is a documentary series that amplfies the stories, perspectives, and work of feminists and self-identifying women. From musicians and magazine editors, to fashion designers and grassroots organizers, the feminists we follow are out to dismantle the everyday discrimination and marginalization faced by women with their tact and craft.
Token Support Group by Alexandra Thomas
Alex Thomas is a writer, director, film teacher, and executive director of the Austin Youth Film Festival here in ATX.
~music~
Femina-X
Femina-X is an alternative, Latin band from San Antonio comprised of members Daniela Riojas (vox), Alex Scheel (guitar), Jeff Palacios (bass), Darian Thomas (violin), and Jai Roots (drums). Femina-X identifies as "New Alternative" and creates unconventional fusions with electronic beats, samples, synths, and live instruments. They draw musical influence from progressive tribal and ethnic dance, hip-hop, jungle, Caribbean, industrial, punk, and drum and bass.
The Reputations
The Reputations is a sunshine pop / soul band based in Austin, Texas.
SIGNY
Named after the Norse myth of two heroines in connected legends, SÍGNY creates alluring pop songs laced with elastic beats, ethereal soundscapes, and pristinely melded arrangements. Reminiscent of Sia, Lana Del Rey, and Florence + The Machine with a hint of Massive Attack, the duo wanted to create a “gorgeous landscape in a new world that you won’t want to leave,” so they teamed up with Grammy and Oscar nominated producer Bartholomew for their forthcoming debut album, WATER.
Sailor Poon
Sailor Poon is a "garage, psych, punk, poonrawk, cumwave" band based in Austin, Texas.
Darja
![Darja [pronounced Daria] is a singer-songwriter from Belgrade, Serbia living in Austin, Texas. Her debut EP "Serenity," which featured mostly piano and voice, explores the ideas of finding peace within and following one's dreams. She released her fi…](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5688a8bdcbced60d3b3a50fd/1497227618945-WV2CTG8P7NINC1ERBX6W/Darja)
Darja [pronounced Daria] is a singer-songwriter from Belgrade, Serbia living in Austin, Texas. Her debut EP "Serenity," which featured mostly piano and voice, explores the ideas of finding peace within and following one's dreams. She released her first music video for "Feed" earlier this year, and is preparing to release a new song, "9 to 5," which is weaving her into new musical directions. With a powerful, soulful voice and captivating stage presence, Darja is gaining recognition among the music community in Austin.
Francine Thirteen
Francine Thirteen is: "Wild restoration(13)(1+3=4) & beats that growl. Magic of sacred virgins & holy whores. Sound of a Rose when she grows. The rhythm of a hero when he is born."
Polly Anna
Based in San Antonio, Texas, Polly Anna is your favorite jazz cochina.
Sam Lao
Sam Lao is a rapper/singer in Dallas, Tx. Although an artist from birth - mainly drawing, painting and sculpting, she only recently began creating music. "I turned to music when my other creative outlets ceased to be satisfying anymore. I always sang just for fun but rapping was something new for me and I really took to it."
Melat
Born in Austin, Texas, Mélat is the eclectic soul of RnB. Mélat tells a story that is both challenging and inspiring crafted from her very own life experiences. It is a pure and honest reflection of her soul. From love, lust, success, to failure Mélat sings of what it means to be a human being simply longing to “be."
Amea
Amea is a rapper and performance artist based in San Antonio, Texas.
Magna Carda
From their humble beginnings on a college campus four years ago, Magna Carda has steadily risen to the top of the Austin music scene as the premiere hip hop act of 2016. Described by Mashable as “Austin’s answer to The Roots,” Magna Carda is led by the city’s most dynamic MC-producer duo — Megz Kelli and Dougie Do — whose work pairs like a fine wine with the meat-and-potatoes backbone of the group’s signature live instrumentation. With their genre-defying blend of rap-meets-jazz-meets-R&B-meets-electronic, the band has quickly captured the imagination of listeners and the attention of critics alike in Austin and beyond.
Triplets
Triplets is an eletronic dance duo based in Austin, Texas.
Screening Lust Heals
for Francine Thirteen directed by Dominic G Jones
Dom G. Jones is an American filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist. She attended Columbia University in New York City, where she studied cinema, art, literature and Russian language. Her work spans various mediums as she engages audiences in questions of selfhood, spirituality, and everything in between.
Alesia Lani
Every so often we can experience and artist who has an inherent star quality to them that makes them special, Midwest born, Austin raised soul singer Alesia Lani is one of those rare few. Combining a distinctive soulful voice with electric performances, the southern songbird has put many on alert that she is here to stay.
Anastasia
Anastasia discovered her passion for rap as a young girl in Austin, TX, where her father taught her to deliver MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech with a rhythm and clarity designed to get an audience on its feet. Learning the confidence required to deliver such a powerful message can take a lifetime. Anastasia found it as soon as she stood before a microphone. With the launch of four well-received projects: “Pretty Color Bad News" (2011), "The Unkind Summer" (2012), “CAKE” (2016), and Kale & Yoga” (2016), Anastasia has worked hard to establish herself with fans and followers as a true force and a new direction for Hip Hop. She has worked alongside legendary artists, perfecting her performance by opening for acts like Dead Prez, Raekwon, Boosie, GZA, Scarface, Aesop Rock, Azizi Gibson, and Astronautilis.
Chulita Vinyl Club — Austin
Chulita Vinyl Club was launched in December 2014 as an all-girl all-vinyl club for self-identifying womxn of color in the context of providing a space for empowerment and togetherness. They stand united as a female DJ collective spanning 7 national chapters bringing together a community of vinyl loving girls.