East Bay filmmaker Karina Epperlein paid a visit to the seventh-grade classes of the Julia Morgan School for Girls to show her short film Phoenix Dance (SFIFF49) and discuss art, filmmaking, disability, body image, dance and women’s issues with the students. Before showing the 17-minute film about dancer Homer Avila—who lost his leg to cancer but continued dancing and performed a beautiful pas de deuxchoreographed by Alonzo King—Epperlein began with a movement exercise with the girls in which they practiced moving around the room on just one leg. After the screening, the students had many questions about what it was like to film such an emotional subject and how she became involved with the project. Epperlein also discussed her experiences and challenges as a female filmmaker and how she evolved into that role from being a dancer, artist and teacher. The students were so engaged by Epperlein and her work that they requested to view a portion of her first feature documentary, Voices from Inside, about a workshop she taught with women in a federal prison. After viewing the first 15 minutes of the film, the girls had a slew of questions about the women featured in the film, their stories and their current situations and what it was like for Epperlein to work with them. Epperlein’s key message to the girls was to truly learn to trust in themselves and not allow others to sabotage their better judgment, or their lives. The students and teachers will be viewing the DVD of Voices from Inside in its entirety after the winter break with the possibility of Epperlein returning to the school to further discuss the film with them. “I enjoyed how it touched my heart, and said, Anything is possible, even against all odds.” —student