Director: Katja Esson

Producers: Katja Esson, Corrina Sager, Sabine Schenk

Running time: 40 min

For more information visit: www.wmm.com/filmcatalog/pages/c647.shtml

Awards:
• 2004 Academy Award Nominee for Best Documentary Short
• Woodstock Film Festival - Honorable Mention
• Annapolis Film Festival - Honorable Mention
• Underdog Film Festival - First Place

Official Selection:
• Sarasota Film Festival
• Seattle International Film Festival
• Florida Film Festival
• Palm Springs International Film Festival
• Brooklyn International Film Festival
• Dallas Video Fest
• New Orleans Film Festival
• Austin Film Festival
• Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival
• Rocky Mountain Women's Film Festival
• Adelaide International Women's Film Festival
• Frame by Frame Documentary Film Festival
• exground filmfest, Germany - European Premiere

For hundreds of commuters, it is just another routine trip from the quiet of Staten Island into the frenzy of Manhattan. Some spend the half hour traveling across New York Harbor anxiously waiting, suffering through the boat’s motions and sipping their third cup of coffee while burying their head in the newspaper. Some attempt a hopeless nap.

But not all. A few use up every precious minute of the ride preparing themselves in a very exclusive place: the Staten Island Ferry powder room.

FERRY TALES is a sneak peek into a culture that only happens 30 minutes a day in the women’s bathroom … a place where no men are allowed. As they put on their makeup, they are transformed from housewives to businesswomen, from mothers to lawyers, from sisters to socialites.

The women who step inside this room leave their race, social status, and net worth at the door. What starts as funny anecdotes turns into a deep and moving account as these women, one by one, draw each other out, solve one another’s problems and dish up the latest ferry gossip.

This is a story of the vibrant life that goes unnoticed in a place that’s often ignored.

Katja Esson, Director

Katja Esson is a German-born, New York-based writer/director who mixes documentary, narrative, and experimental genres. VERTICAL TRAVELER (2001), for instance, explores the pioneering spirit of New York City through the metaphor of the city's unique relationship with elevators; the film was broadcast on PBS and on Europe's ARTE Channel. Esson began her career in Miami as a production assistant for the notorious rap group 2 Live Crew. She has directed a variety of award-winning documentaries, short films, and commercials. Born and raised in Hamburg, she also works regularly for German television. In 1997, she received a fellowship for her screenplay EL ALEMAN at Berlin's Master School, and her narrative short film SPEECH LESS won the Gold Award at Houston and the Special Jury Prize at Nancy, France.

Additional credits include the documentaries MIAMI QUE LINDA ES CUBA (1994), SEARCHING FOR SENSE (2002) and ADAM, MADE TO ORDER SAVIOR (2003), which examines the thorny issues raised by preimplantation genetic diagnosis, by focusing on a child "designed" to be a perfect donor for his sister.

Esson just finished SIEGFRIED & ROY, which takes a look beyond the magic and is currently in preproduction with MOTHER'S MILK, a documentary on breastfeeding. She is also preparing the narrative short A SEASON OF MADNESS, which will be shot in New York in 2004.