CANTON -- SUNY Canton will host a test screening for a documentary film produced by alumna Lea-Ann W. Berst, class of 1982, titled “Pioneers in Skirts.”

The screening will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, at the Richard W. Miller Campus Center’s Kingston Theater. The event is free and open to the public; however, RSVPs are required to maintain the documentary’s film festival eligibility.

Berst’s daughter, Ashley-Maria Sullivan, directed the film and has been recognized by the Director’s Guild of America as a director who represents “the future of women in film.”

“Pioneers in Skirts” explores the phenomena of why many women in the U.S. experience career burnout shortly after graduating from college. The film takes the viewer on a journey across the United States to meet successful women who found ways to overcome unique obstacles, such as UNC Chapel Hill’s Women’s Basketball Coach Sylvia Hatchell; Focus Brands Group President Kat Cole; MOZ CEO Sarah Bird; Major General Heidi V. Brown; and famed film and television actor/director Joan Darling.

“This is a film about solutions, change and empowerment,” said Sullivan. “It’s not acceptable for strong, educated young women to just ‘figure it out,’ generation after generation. It’s not acceptable for experienced professional women to suddenly lose all the energy they had when they started out.”

Berst is a business consultant and the owner of Sleddogg Marketing. Sullivan is based in Los Angeles. Both women were invited to Washington, D.C, to participate in the White House Summit on Working Families in 2014.

RSVP: stopa@canton.edu or 386-7446. Current SUNY Canton students, faculty and staff are not required to RSVP. Both Berst and Sullivan will be available for questions immediately following the test screening.

More information can be found at www.pioneersinskirts.com.