Director of ‘Losing Sight of Shore’ at screening in Sonoma

Sarah Moshman wasn’t looking for another project when she received an email from a British journalist about the self-named “Coxless Crew.” She had just finished promoting her first feature-length documentary, and called the four women expecting to give Go-Pro recommendations for their upcoming attempt to row across the Pacific Ocean.

“Less than three months from that first Skype meeting, I was standing on the dock in San Francisco watching them row away for the first time,” said Moshman.

The G3 (Gather, Grow & Go) conference series is back in Sonoma on Friday, March 16, for a screening of the documentary “Losing Sight of Shore,” based on the crew’s journey, and a Q&A with Moshman. Part of the monthly Women, Wisdom, and Wine speaker series, the event will be held at Vintage House.

A reception before the screening will begin at 6 p.m, with a presentation, wine and nibbles. General admission for the screening and Q&A follows at 7 p.m.

Moshman’s film fits well with the G3’s mission of helping women of any age, and at any stage in their career, “leverage their best selves from the inside out.”

“Losing Sight of Shore” tell the story of the Coxless Crew, double entendre fully intended. The four women rowed 8,446 miles over the course of nine months, traveling across the Pacific Ocean from America to Australia. .

“To me this was always a story that went beyond rowing,” said Moshman. “It was about the power of the human spirit.”

The three-stage row began in San Francisco, with stops in Hawaii and Samoa, before finishing in Cairns, Australia. The route had never been done by a team of four, and never as a continuous three-stage row.

“I didn’t even know if it was physically possible,” said Moshman. “They were my heroes.”

The crew used the row as an opportunity to “generate awareness of women who face extreme adversity and to raise funds to support their journey toward long-term health and well-being.” They encouraged those who supported to donate to Walking With the Wounded and Breast Cancer Care campaigns.

“The core of my passion is showcasing strong female role models,” said Moshman.

This is Emmy Award-winner Moshman’s second feature-length documentary. Her first, “The Empowerment Project,” focused on a global campaign to honor women. “Being a filmmaker has really always been my goal,” said Moshman.

Her parents gave her a video camera when she was 16. She created her first documentary while in high school. Accustomed to the world of film, with a father who worked as a filmmaker and television producer, she always saw it as a viable career path.

After film school, Moshman set off for Los Angeles and worked in reality television for a few years, before switching to documentary work. In 2013, she won an Emmy for the short documentary “Growing Up Strong: Girls on the Run,” about a Chicago-based afterschool program that worked to promote self esteem in young girls as they trained for a 5k run.

Moshman is already plowing ahead with a new project, examining sexual harassment in America. She started filming the documentary, titled “Nevertheless,” when eight months pregnant. ”I’ve personally been affected by sexual harassment,” Moshman explained. “As soon as I found out I was having a daughter, a fire ignited in me.”

Shortly after she began filming, the New York Times broke the story that filmmaker Harvey Weinstein had sexually abused dozens of women.

The documentary will be focused around the question: How did we get here as a society and where are we going? “A lot of what that means is how men can get involved,” said Moshman. “How they can be allies and show up for women.”

“I think men really want to be in the conversation but don’t know how,” she said.

Back in town for the second time, Moshman is excited to show her film to Sonomans on March 16 at Vintage House.

“[The Coxless Crew] were just these four ordinary women trying to do this incredible feat,” said Moshman. “I’m so glad I answered that call.”