Film Fest Finds Mutual Ground for Women

A midwife, the first female cable car driver and a table tennis champ are all coming to Oswego.

Their stories, along with seven others, will be part of Lunafest, a film festival “by, for, about women,” brought to town with the help of the Oswego Women's Topic Committee. Proceeds from the event go nationally to the Breast Cancer Fund and locally to Mutual Ground Inc. in Aurora, which provides services to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. Lunafest will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, April 15, at Pearce's Restaurant at in Oswego.

 “It is so cool; the films are so interesting,” said Judy Jacobson, director of development for Mutual Ground, which serves Kendall and southern Kane counties. “There might be subtitles. The film might be two minutes long so you have to watch carefully because there is a message. Some just are funny.

 “Where would we ever have an opportunity to see a seven-minute film?”

Lunafest is organized by Luna, which makes the Whole Nutrition Bar for Women. The film fest has been taking place for 10 years, and this is the third year the Oswego Women's Topic Committee has hosted a showing.

“The fest is gaining momentum, getting bigger every year,” said Patty Lariviere, village Building and Zoning Manager and liaison to the Women's Topic Committee

The first year, the committee held the event at Oswego East High School and there were about 40 attendees, Lariviere said. Last year, they moved to Pearce's, added a cash bar and appetizers and had about 100 people. This year, they are moving to the big tent, donated by the restaurant, and are hoping to sell out. There are 125 tickets available, either at the Village Hall or through a committee member.

The committee also included vendors last year, who were “all clamoring to come back,” she said. There will be eight local women selling products this year

“We try to be certain that vendors have fun products,” she said

So far, $570,000 has been raised through the fests, which take place across the county. All of the proceeds go to charity, with 15 percent headed to the Breast Cancer Fund and 85 percent to a local charity, in this case, Mutual Ground.

“Last year, we received about $1,400, which was excellent,” Jacobson said.

Mutual Ground was formed in 1975 “by a group of women across a kitchen table. They said, 'it's the '70s, women need to take care of women and we need to step up,'” she said.

Since then, the group has served tens of thousands of victims. In the last 1990s, it purchased the former Edna Smith home is Aurora, which had been a sanctuary, an orphanage and a school throughout the years. Mutual Ground uses it as a shelter for domestic violence victims and runs many programs out of it.

Some of the programs include support for people “who says they don't need to live in a shelter but are looking for options,” Jacobson said, follow-up help for women who have left the shelter, help for people filing for an order of protection, and aid for victims at hospitals and police stations. They run 24-hour hotlines for victims of sexual or domestic violence.

The staff also work with children at the center and at school “because we have to get kids' self esteem to where it needs to be so they feel safe,” she said. At the schools, there are also prevention programs for kindergarten through high school that cover bullying, self-protection, and domestic violence and sexual assault prevention.

“We don't help the batterer, but we help everyone else,” Jacobson said.

And when someone wants to help Mutual Ground, such as the Oswego Women's Topic Committee, “we are all about that,” she said.

The committee was formed about four years ago by a former trustee to focus on women's issues in the community, Lariviere said. The other event the committee organizes is Women's Day Out, which was held Feb. 6 at the There were vendors, health screenings and a fashion show.

The committee of six picked Mutual Ground for their charity when they first decided to host Lunafest.

“We all felt it was a highly regarded organization,” Lariviere said. “It's a place people can go for help when help cannot even be imagined.”

April is sexual awareness month, and Jacobson believes that is the perfect time for Lunafest.

“It's a good time to make people aware that people who need help can get it,” she said.

To purchase a ticket for Lunafest, call Village Hall at (630) 554-3618. Tickets will also be available at the door.

Mutual Ground's hotlines are operated 24 hours a day. To call about sexual assault, dial 630-897-8383 or call 630-897-0080 for domestic violence.