The Rosa Goddard International Film Festival

photo of the Kentucky Theater's marquee announcing past Rosa Goddard showtimes

Since 2011, SQecial Media has sponsored the Rosa Goddard International Film Festival every fall at the Kentucky Theatre. Rosa Goddard was a longtime fan of international film and the festival was originally founded to celebrate her love of cinema. We have been proud to continue the tradition in her name.

The posters for our festival are designed by local artist Ed Franklin, who also curates each year's films.

You can follow the Rosa Goddard International Film Festival on Facebook!

COMING IN SEPTEMBER 2023

For this year's Rosa Goddard International Film Festival, we're showcasing women telling their own stories. All three of this year's films were directed by women, about women's experiences, across a range of cultures. We generally shy away from screening films made in the United States, because although we believe they are a valuable part of the international film landscape, we frankly see enough of them! However, this year we're shifting our focus because we wanted the opportunity to show the recently restored Drylongso, a riveting forgotten classic of Black American cinema currently celebrating its 25th anniversary. In fact, all three of our directors currently live and work in the United States, and while two of the films are set in other countries, all three were produced here, either in whole or in part.

All films show on Wednesday evenings at 7:15 PM at The Kentucky Theatre in downtown Lexington. Tickets are $6.50 and available at the box office or in advance from the Kentucky's website. We will also have a free drawing for prizes right before the film -- please plan to show up a little early if you'd like to participate!

SEPT. 13 | MONSOON WEDDING

(2001, directed by Mira Nair)

"Cultures and families clash in Mira Nair’s exuberant Monsoon Wedding, a mix of comedy and chaotic melodrama concerning the preparations for the arranged marriage of a modern upper-middle-class Indian family’s only daughter, Aditi. Of course there are hitches—Aditi has been having an affair with a married TV host; she’s never met her husband to be, who lives in Houston; the wedding has worsened her father’s hidden financial troubles; even the wedding planner has become a nervous wreck—as well as buried family secrets. But Nair’s celebration is ultimately joyful and cathartic: a love song to her home city of Delhi and her own Punjabi family.” – Janus Films

SEPT. 20 | DRYLONGSO

(1998, directed by Cauleen Smith)

"A rediscovered treasure of 1990s DIY filmmaking, Cauleen Smith’s Drylongso embeds an incisive look at racial injustice within a lovingly handmade buddy movie/murder mystery/romance. Alarmed by the rate at which the young Black men around her are dying, brash Oakland, California, art student Pica (Toby Smith) attempts to preserve their existence in Polaroid snapshots, along the way forging a friendship with a woman in an abusive relationship (April Barnett) and experiencing love, heartbreak, and the everyday threat of violence. Capturing the vibrant community spirit of Oakland in the nineties, Smith crafts both a rare cinematic celebration of Black female creativity and a moving elegy for a generation of lost African American men.” – Janus Films

SEPT. 27 | A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT

(2014, directed by Ana Lily Amirpour)

“Strange things are afoot in Bad City. [...] The first Iranian Vampire Western, Ana Lily Amirpour's debut feature A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night basks in the sheer pleasure of pulp. A joyful mash-up of genre, archetype and iconography, its prolific influences span spaghetti westerns, graphic novels, horror films, and the Iranian New Wave. Amped by a mix of Iranian rock, techno and Morricone-inspired riffs, its airy, anamorphic, black-and-white aesthetic and artfully drawn-out scenes combine the simmering tension of Sergio Leone with the surrealism of David Lynch.” – Kino Lorber