February Spotlight
Spotlights on Wilmington women making news
Wilmington film releases digitally
Local Wilmington film writer and director Erica Dunton’s To.get.her was released digitally January 15.
The film, which won a Best of NEXT Audience Award at Sundance, was shot entirely in Wilmington and illustrates the life of five teenage girls on the verge of high school graduation. This film isn’t a flowery piece. Dunton brought it to life by incorporating issues such as abuse, suicide, sexual identity, and broken families.
“As a filmmaker and woman, the world of the teenage girl has always fascinated me. It is such a complicated time in our lives,” says Dunton. “I wanted to make a film and tell a story that represented that time, a story that a teenage audience could recognize and identify with.”
Roe v. Wade attorney talks at UNCW
Sarah Weddington, one of the attorneys who successfully argued the 1973 court case Roe v. Wade, gives a lecture at University of North Carolina Wilmington.
The talk will be at 7 p.m. on February 26 in the Burney Center.
Weddington was only 26 years old when she argued in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on the case that legalized abortion.
She then became the first woman from Austin elected to the Texas state House and later served as an assistant to former President Jimmy Carter.
Brown wins Miss Wilmington
Zelle Brown was crowned Miss Wilmington 2013 at the Miss Wilmington Scholarship Pageant on January 5.
Kyndall Westerbeek was named Wilmington’s Outstanding Teen 2013 at the pageant as well.
Raised in Wilmington, Brown attends Meredith College as a senior, graduating this spring with a degree in English.
As Miss Wilmington, Brown’s platform is ALS/Lou Gehrig’s disease awareness.
In June, Brown will travel to Raleigh to participate in the Miss North Carolina Scholarship Pageant.
“I am very excited to represent my hometown as Miss Wilmington. It’s an honor and a blessing to compete at Miss North Carolina representing the Port City,” she says.
Hamilton returns to Raleigh
Rep. Susi Hamilton, D-New Hanover, starts her second term, now the sole female member of the Wilmington-area delegation.
Hamilton serves as vice chairwoman of the House public utilities committee. She also sits on the commerce and job development, environment, finance, insurance, rules, and transportation committees.
“These committees are areas where I can put my background to good use,” she says. “My professional experience with city planning and economic development, as well as my long record of serving on a wide variety of boards and commissions, should help me contribute to progressive change in these important areas. As always, I will make sure women’s and children’s issues will be at the forefront as we consider how to best move forward.”
