Friday Harbor Film Fest: Short Films Screening

Be part of a unique double feature at the SJI Library March 8 at 7 pm! Friday Harbor Film Festival is excited to host directors Amy Benson (The Last Act) and Della Chen (She Marches in Chinatown), along with Patsy Benson, the focus of The Last Act, for an in-person Q&A session after the screenings. This is a rare chance to experience two compelling documentaries and engage directly with the creators. No ticket or RSVP is required as all Best of the Fest events are FREE.

The Last Act

Patsy Benson, a 92 year old retired actress, housewife and widow, lives alone. She cooks, shops, swims, laughs, walks, makes friends. Her eyesight and hearing are failing her. When the fire alarm went off in her apartment and she was unable to negotiate the dark stairwell by herself, she realized with a finality that it’s unsafe for her to continue to live on her own. There is no room for her in her daughter Amy’s apartment. They don’t know if she can afford an assisted living facility, but they schedule tours to check them out, although they don’t want to make the decision for Patsy to move. This film is lyrical, frank, poignant and funny. The camera was on for over a year, while they talked about the finances, as Patsy visits her best friend in hospice, as she says goodbye to photographs she will never see again, and as they to come to terms with her mortality.

She Marches in Chinatown
In 1952, Asian American girls had no extra-curricular activities until Ruby Chow created the Seattle Chinese Community Girls Drill Team, the only one of its kind in the world. Despite gentrification, Title IX, and a global pandemic, seventy years later the drill team continues to define, represent and celebrate the evolving Asian American experience of its dedicated multigenerational participants.