"Ayana" is an official selection at the 15th San Francisco Black Film Festival

"Ayana" - official selection at the 15th San Francisco Black Film Festival

It is quite an honor to announce that "Ayana" is an official selection of the 15th San Francisco Black Film Festival, as part of its selection of Student Films!
The screening is scheduled for Sunday, June 16th, at the Jazz Heritage Center, 1320 Fillmore Street, in San Francisco, at 7:25 pm.


More about the venue @:  SF Jazz Heritage Center at the Fillmore

Find out more details about the 15th San Francisco Black Film Festival @ schedule and program




Many thanks again for all your support and friendship for this project! :D

Follow news about "Ayana" and other works from the director @

 www.joanalimamartins.com

"Ayana" wins an Award of Excellence at the International Film Festival for Environment, Health and Culture

It is my pleasure to announce to "Ayana"'s cast, crew and supporting folks that we have been awarded one of the Awards of Excellence in the Newcomer selection at the International Film Festival for Environment, Health and Culture, in Jakarta, Indonesia, and are in competition for the Best in Category prize.

The award ceremony will be held on the next 8th of May, at the Blitzmegaplex theatre in Grand Indonesia, Indonesia, Jakarta, opening a film festival that will extend until July. "Ayana" will be screened at the Institut Français d'Indonésie, in Jakarta, on July 2nd of 2013. 

International Film Festival for Environment, Health and Culture - 2013 Winners

Many thanks and wishes of peace to all who made it happen :)

"Ayana" wins one of the Diamond Awards at the 2012 California Film Awards

"Ayana" is one of the Diamond Award Winners at the 2012 edition of the California Film Awards,

 in the Student Film Competition:

California Film Awards '12 - Diamond Award Winners

To all the people who collaborated and supported this project: 

Many, many thanks and congratulations!

Set Photo of "Ayana"'
(L. to R.: Dillon Siedentopf (talent), Jujuana S. Williams (talent),  Arye Michael Bender (talent),
 Joana Lima Martins (director)

Follow news about "Ayana" and other works from the director @

 www.joanalimamartins.com

About the movie

“Ayana” is a loose, non-commercial adaptation of the original short story by Stephen King, under the Dollar Baby Program. The short story was used with permission, with all rights reserved.

Synopsis

“Ayana” is a supernatural drama featuring the story of Ayana (25), an African-American blind woman who loves reading audio-books read by a particular voice. It focuses on her chance encounter with Dave (29), an American man who is attending to his dying father. While Dave is trying to find marijuana to ease his father’s pains, he runs into Ayana, and she recognizes her favorite reader. 

Ayana addresses issues of universal education and accessibility for the arts, namely accessibility of literature and visual media for the visually impaired youth. Crafted from scratch to incorporate audio-description in its sound design, it is intended to create awareness amongst the sighted audiences of the need to invest more time, strategies and technologies in providing more universally accessible art work for disabled audiences, craving for accessible informative and aesthetic experiences.

About the Director

About the Director

Born in Coimbra, Portugal, Joana L. Martins pursued her B.A. in Art History at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa. Right after finishing her degree in 2007, and after deciding to become a movie director, she was one of the few chosen to take part in the competitive Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation’s Film Directing Intensive Course, with the support of the Deutsche Film und Ferhenseakademie of Berlin. After winning a Special Mention of the Jury at the 2008 Festival Pontino del Cortometraggio, in Italy, Joana decided to pursue her graduate studies abroad, traveling to the U.S.A. that same year, to attend the MFA in Cinema program at the San Francisco State University. Since then, while being recognized for her will to produce and direct social responsible media, Joana has been able to garner the resources to complete her graduate program and her student films, namely with grants from the Luso-American and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundations. 
            Nods to Joana’s directorial work include the San Francisco Foundation Cadogan Award for Excellence in the Fine Arts and the Golden Palm Award for Best Student Film at the 2011 Mexico’s Film Festival and Awards for the short film “Pax America”. Her thesis film, "Ayana", a short literature to film adaptation has started its round of festivals in 2013, garnering a Diamond Award at the California Film Awards, in the USA, and an Award of Excellence at the International Film Festival for Environment, Health and Culture, in Jakarta, Indonesia.