A festival of short films created by Muslim women takes place this weekend in Los Angeles, showcasing 98 films chosen from over 200 submissions. The film festival, according to its own description, “will highlight pro-women voices from within the Muslim world and present an unfiltered and honest account of these women’s stories–the experiences that shaped their lives, the challenges that must be overcome before freedom and gender equality becomes the status quo, and the people who are making this transformation happen.” All the short films are available for viewing on WomensVoicesNow.org. In fact people from 139 countries are currently watching, commenting on, and rating these films. The top films, alongside panel discussions, are being screened at the Los Angeles Film School this weekend.

Uprising host Sonali Kolhatkar spoke with Catinca Tabacaru, Executive Director of Women’s Voices Now, Alka Sadat, Afghan film maker, and Laila Hotait Salas, Spanish-Lebanese film maker.

Watch a video of the interview here:

The top films will screen March 16-19, 2011, at the LA Film School, 6363 Sunset Blvd in Los Angeles.

View the full schedule and RSVP for the film festival here: http://womensvoicesnow.org/events

View all films here: http://womensvoicesnow.org/watch

Martina Steiner recorded this interview