Cross-country journey focus of International Women’s Day Film Event

The fourth annual International Women’s Day Film Event will feature a documentary about a cross-country adventurer.

500 Days in the Wild, is an account of an epic journey from award-winning director, cinematographer, photographer and author Dianne Whelan.

She is the only person to complete this epic journey of discovery, hiking, biking, paddling, snowshoeing and skiing across the country. Whelan said she ended this journey a bit wiser, more hopeful, in love and with a passion to share her story.

For a woman in her 50s who is not an extreme athlete, it was sometimes gruelling, occasionally harrowing, often exhilarating and always surprising.

She started out alone, disillusioned with the state of the world and worried about climate change, to look for different ways of caring for the land and each other.

A virtual live Q&A will accompany the screening.

Presented by the Oakville Festivals of Film & Art, and held in conjuction with International Women’s Day, the goal of the event is to shine a spotlight on the accomplishments of Canadian women in the film and arts world.

A VIP ticket experience includes a ‘mood-ivational’ emcee, in-person musical performances, popcorn, beverages, 50/50 draw, and door prizes.

VIP tickets cost $34.99 and the first 50 ticket purchasers will also receive a signed copy of one of Dianne’s books, The Vanishing Land: A Woman’s Journey to the Canadian Arctic or Base Camp: 40 Days on Everest.

Partial proceeds from VIP ticket sales will be donated to The Women’s Centre of Halton

The event is Monday, Mar. 4, at Film.Ca Cinemas, 171 Speers Rd., from 6:15 to 10 p.m.