Tough cookies

Some good gynocentric flick options this weekend.

If you'll be at SXSW in Austin, don't miss Troop 1500, directed by UT prof Ellen Spiro, a new doc about an Austin Girl Scout troop whose common bond is that their mothers are in prison.  It premieres at 4 p.m. March 12 at the Paramount.

Since the drop-out rate for adolescents with incarcerated parents is high, the program also teaches the girls about the importance of staying in school and also how to avoid early pregnancy and lessons in substance abuse prevention.             

"And social skills—like not yelling at potential Girl Scout cookie customers!"

In Atlanta this weekend, the first Women of Color International Film Festival unspools, and looking over the line-up, they take the international very seriously. Two homegrown films I can recommend are Ayoka Chenzira's16-minute animated short Hair Piece: A Film for Nappy-Headed People, and Yvonne Welbon's documentary Sisters in Cinema, which the cinetrix improbably caught on Starz while channel-surfing one night. Did you realize that Julie Dash hasn't made a feature since her acclaimed full-length debut Daughters of the Dust? That's just fucked up.

Finally, they're old, they're bold, and they'll change the way you think about aging. That's right, the toughest cookies of all have been held over at Cinema Village, so New Yorkers should get off their asses and show some love to Sunset Story. [Bostonians will have their chance next weekend at the Brattle.]

There aren't enough films about women's friendships at any age, which makes this one about two aging leftists who meet at a "retirement home for the free-thinking elderly" that much more amazing. It even cracked Manohla Dargis's critic's picks. [As it turns out, director Laura Gabbert is friends with some L.A. pals, who sent an email urging everyone to go that said "I think even my Republican friends will enjoy this film." So no excuses, now.]