LUNAFEST Q&A with Kit & Suzy

Meet Kit Crawford, Co-Owner and Board Member of Clif Bar & Company and Board Member of Chicken & Egg Pictures, and Suzy Starke German, Program Director of LUNAFEST®. Kit and Suzy discuss the origins and impact of LUNAFEST and why films made by and about women are more relevant than ever. Above, Suzy (left) and Kit celebrate the LUNAFEST premiere for Clif employees in Twin Falls, ID.

What’s the impact of LUNAFEST?

Kit: To peek into stories that need to be told, that haven’t been told before. Something about short films gets into your soul—filmmakers are forced to tell a story briefly, and it makes you want to learn more about it later.

Suzy: We use the term “sparking conversations.” It’s not only the films, but also the nonprofits that host these events and the people these nonprofits support. Every year, we give them a vehicle to raise important funds. So far, we’ve raised over $6 million and reached 600,000 viewers and, in the next eight years, we want to increase that to $10 million and 1 million attendees.

Kit: It’s a beautiful model that reaches people in a personal way. It builds community around local groups that need a vehicle to make people aware. Because each nonprofit hosts their own event, they can put their own twist on it. They can raise money in a fun way to support a serious effort. We need more celebratory moments.

What’s different about these films?

Kit: They’re on the cutting edge of many different topics: gender fluidity, prejudice against elders, women in some places still dying in childbirth. We have not been afraid to talk about uncomfortable topics. I’m so proud of that part of LUNAFEST. And there’s also the pure art of it. We try a variety every year.

Suzy: If Kit hadn’t been a champion, some of these films probably would not have been shown, but each program is relevant. The films have staying power.

Read the full Q&A