Seven Lucky Charms

"Seven Lucky Charms" (16mm, 16 mins., 1992) is an experimental documentary that weaves together images of women, talismans, and weapons with domestic violence statistics and the true stories of female survivors who have killed their batterers in self-defense. The film intercuts gritty, visceral, black and white imagery with a fragmented, angry woman and her "lucky charms" which function as symbols of an internal support system and empowerment.

The final, dream-like sequence is an exploration of a river bottom filled with extinct, prehistoric skeletons. The subtitled text testifies to the inescapable continuum of abuse against the female gender, whether physical, emotional, cultural, or psychological.

This film has screened at many international and domestic festivals and theatrical venues, and it has won several awards:

Student Academy Award, Experimental Category, Silver medal
    Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
    Los Angeles, California, 1993
 
Best Experimental Film, Atlanta Film and Video Festival

Award of Excellence, Ann Arbor Film Festival
 
Silver Juror's Award, Charlotte Film and Video Festival
  
Juror's Commendation, Big Muddy Film Festival, Carbondale, Illinois

Seven Lucky Charms, 16 mins. (Clip)