Along with that film, which was co-directed by MCC students Lili Spieker and Ana Silva and written by Joaquin Ramirez, a wide range of other high school student films were shown such as South Tama County’s recent all-state entry “Beyond This Point.” Both Silva and Ramirez are Marshalltown High School (MHS) graduates, while Spieker originally hails from Ireland.

“This project means a lot to me. It did take a while to come up with… but I’m really excited with the help and everything, people that were involved, the interviewees, all the women in it, I appreciate them so much,” Silva said. “And I hope they enjoy and everybody enjoys the documentary.”

Ramirez wrote the questions that Silva and Spieker eventually asked the seven women they profiled in the film, and he praised Silva, who was born in Mexico and still holds onto that heritage proudly, for selecting a diverse group of subjects from a variety of backgrounds.

“Like Joaquin said, diversity is important, and it is important to me, especially (because) I’m a Hispanic/Latina woman. All my life, I grew up here, but I still want to keep my roots. And I want to embrace all ethnicities, cultures and types of women, and I just wanted to make it impactful,” she said.

Elle Wedeking and Marley Eickelberg walk the red carpet hand in hand and dressed to the nines during Tuesday night’s MCC Film Festival.

Spieker added that the experience of making the film informed her about other cultures and the importance of inclusivity and equality, topics she has learned a great deal about during her time in Marshalltown.

“I have more support groups than I’ve ever had before, and I’ve just met so many different and amazing people,” she said.

Her goal is to continue to create content in various forms well into the future and open windows to new opportunities, wherever they may lead. And for Ramirez, who is also a writer for Hola Iowa, projects like “The Existence of Being a Woman” have played a role in bringing him closer to the community he calls home.

“It really makes everyone closer, I would say. It’s a wonderful, (and) it’s a powerful message that we’re trying to put across,” he said. “We wanted to share everybody’s stories, how diverse the stories are (and) the backgrounds. It just brings light to a situation and truly brings awareness.”

Silva agreed “100 percent” with Ramirez’s assessment.

“At the end of the day, us women, we may not suffer the same, but we do have a heart. We are out there, and sometimes, we want to impact other women (with the message that) it’s OK to speak up and it’s OK to embrace yourself, be who you are,” she said.

Jo Frohwein is a professor of broadcasting and digital media at MCC and describes her role as “guiding” students as they come up with ideas and see them through to finished products.

“The only thing I dictate is deadlines,” she said.

After last year’s International Women’s Day panel on campus, Silva approached Frohwein about the possibility of making a documentary, and they began to explore their options, even consulting the local Bella Luna Production company for ideas. At first, the co-director wanted to interview 100 women, but Frohwein helped her chisel it down and brought Ramirez and Spieker into the mix as well to ensure that Silva, who works full time, had the help she needed.

“As far as the movie part and the editing goes, that’s more Lili’s part. The creation of the idea is more of Ana’s part,” Frohwein said of the co-directors.

Frohwein also spoke about how the seven women ultimately included in the film were chosen.

“It’s different connections and different things that they do in the community and what they do individually — their struggles, their triumphs, their sorrows, their sadness, their happiness,” she said. “And in fact, I ended up filling in for one spot because the person they were supposed to interview didn’t show up and they still needed that last person. I am one of the subjects. I didn’t want to be, but they were like ‘You have a really good story, just tell it.’ And I was like ‘Mmm, OK.'”

The initial festival, red carpet and all, seemed to be a hit with a host of snacking options and, of course, plenty of popcorn, and the organizers hope to make it a recurring event going forward.

“If you look around (at) everybody who’s helped out, I mean, we are just a global community,” Frohwein said. “We embrace everyone, and we allow everyone to tell their own story.”