Athena Film Festival

March 2021

Girl Unbound

  • Director: Erin Heidenreich
  • Type: Documentaries
  • Year: 2017
  • Country: Pakistan and Canada
  • Language: English, Pashtu, Urdu
  • Length: 80 Minutes

At only 25, Maria Toorpakai Wazir is an internationally-celebrated squash player, but in her home country of Pakistan, she faces opposition for her rejection of customary gender roles and refusal to conform to tradition. Erin Heidenreich’s feature film debut is a portrait of a young woman raised as a free spirit within a restrictive society, and the opportunities gained through her boundless view of life’s possibilities.

Date: Saturday, February 11, 3PM
Location: Lehman Auditorium, 202 Altschul Hall
Q&A session following screening with Director Erin Heidenreich and Producer Cassandra Sandford-Rosenthal

 

Filmmaker Bio:

Director-Writer-Producer of documentaries, short films and branded content, Erin’s voice has been shaped by the cultures she has immersed herself in across the globe. Set in the Tribal Areas of Pakistan, Girl Unbound (Toronto International Film Festival 16’) is her first feature length documentary (Awarded Tribeca Gucci Grant and Abigail Disney’s Fork Films Grant). Erin directed the short documentary Rising Sons in The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DOC NYC ‘16), a short film The Stories We Tell Ourselves (’14) and worked as a video journalist for Time in China, Vietnam and Indonesia. Erin 2nd Unit directed Doug Pray’s Levitated Mass (Los Angeles Film Festival ‘14), Produced Mission Congo (Toronto International Film Festival ‘13), Executive Produced The Other Shore (SXSW Film Festival ‘13), and Executive Produced Made in India (Hot Docs ‘10). Erin has conducted filmmaking workshops in Jarkata, Indonesia and Yuncheng, China, and has been a panelist at film festivals across the world. She previously worked Miramax Films, Cary Woods’ Independent Pictures, and co-founded Cinetic Media.Erin is a graduate of Northwestern University.

Producer, Cassandra Sanford-Rosenthal develops and produces documentaries, narrative feature films, and television. She has been inspired by the many cultures growing up between the East and West. She produced GIRL UNBOUND (Toronto International Film Festival ’16), feature length documentary set in the Tribal Areas of Pakistan (Awarded Tribeca Gucci Grant and Abigail Disney’s Fork Films Grant). In October 2009, she collaborated with Sturges Karban, creating Blackacre Entertainment, where they produced SHADOWS AND LIES (Tribeca Film Festival ’10) starring James Franco and Julianne Nicholson. Blackacre is currently in development on several projects including a co-production with Amblin Partners for an episodic series. Cassandra is also involved with a handful of foundations dealing with education, women’s rights, and human trafficking.