Last night was the first official night of the 2014 DC Independent Film Festival. All the hard work finally has paid off and we were able to show two amazing feature-length films and two shorts at the Navy Memorial. The first was Partners for Peace, a documentary highlighting the invisible efforts of Israeli and Palestinian women working together to advance peace. Following the film, director Ed Kucerak, Nobel Laureate Jody Williams and women’s media activist Jaclyn Friedman (WAM!) joined our festival director Deirdre for a Q&A that was so popular, discussions continued after the film.

Following Partners for Peace, we packed the house for the East Coast Premiere of The Toastmaster  along with screening of two wonderful short films, animated Girl Meets Boys and live-action The Well.

Director Eric Boadella along with cast member Sevag Mahserejian and others involved in the film’s creation joined Deirdre for another Q&A covering the Armenian Toastmaster tradition, working with child actors and location scouting, just to name a few topics.

Deirdre then called up a professional local Toastmaster on stage to read a lovely poem and ring in our Post-Screening Toasting Party.

The party carried into the night as the filmmakers, actors and festival attendees joined us for our Toasting Party, provided by our many wonderful sponsors. Be sure to check out all our wonderful photos from the event on our Flickr page and check back for more updates as the festival goes on.