Among the traffic, smog, blaring horns and careening commuters that crowd the intersections of Mumbai, India is Wahid, a 9-year-old mobile bookseller. While he does not read English, he deftly weaves in and around the cars selling international bestsellers, haggling over the price and recommending books to patrons sitting in their air-conditioned cars. It’s a dangerous “paper route,” but it provides his family of six with the extra income they need to survive in their one room slum. While the majority of all his book sales go to his mother, Wahid keeps ten rupees (approximately twenty cents) for himself in a piggy bank. One day he hopes to buy a bicycle. Wahid also dreams of becoming a doctor as he supports his family with his mobile bookstore.

-Anjoo Khosla-

2:15pm – After the 2nd Date – Kathryn L. Beranich 1996 (25 min.)

Fourteen New York City lesbians take a candid, no-holds-barred look at the ins and outs of lesbian relationships.  Hilarious as well as thought provoking, After the 2nd Date examines love, sex and dating among dykes at the end of the 20^th Century.

2:45pm –  Lesbian Centennial Project – Kathryn L. Beranich – 2003 (68 min.)

A stream-of-consciousness history lesson from an amazing range of 100 lesbians of all sizes, classes, colors and ages, all telling their part of our collective herstory. From the early 1900s when women gained the right to vote, to our modern fight for marriage equality rights, this is a relevant and riveting story of the struggle for equal rights for women and lesbians. Deftly weaving the testimonies from a 92-year-old “gentleman”, to an ordained minister, to a young riot grrrl, this film transforms the idea of what it means to look or act like a lesbian. As much an inspiration of where we are going as it is a document of how far we’ve come.

-Kathryn L. Beranich-

At nearly 80, sculptor Arlene Abend decides to have a retrospective exhibition.  The process forces her to take a hard look at her life, the choices she has made and the art she has created.  “I never thought that I would be defined by my work,” she reflects on camera.  For an added perspective on the woman and her sculpture, the camera turns towards Dick Case (Syracuse Post-Standard Columnist), Mary Cunningham (Teacher, S.U. Early Education and Child Care Center) Bill Delavan (Owner of Delavan Center), Anne Novado Cappuccilli (Curator of Limestone Art and Framing Gallery), Jim Hueber (President of Mack Brothers) as well as Arlene’s friend and painter Linda Bigness and Arlene’s two children, Les and Tema Abend.  The result is a well rounded portrayal of a woman who consistently stretched the boundaries of her life and the materials she worked with to create her art.

A Q&A with the filmmakers will follow the screening.

Courtney Rile and Michael Barletta both met sculptor Arlene Abend while creating and running art galleries in Syracuse.  In 2009, Rile and Barletta combined their skills and talents as videographers, photographers and designers to form Daylight Blue Media.  “Stretching Boundaries” is the second documentary film Rile and Barletta have produced together under the Daylight Blue Media name.  The first was “Syracuse’s 15th Ward and Beyond,” a film that was shown to a crowded audience at ArtRage in the summer of 2010.  To learn more, visit daylightblue.com.