Kiki at MIT

Directed by Sara Jordeno
March 1, 2018 from 7:00 - 9:00pm*
MIT Campus Building E-15 Bartos Theater

Film to be followed by Q&A discussion with Sara Jordeno, director of Kiki.

Kiki was directed by Sara Jordenö and is considered an unofficial sequel to the influential 1990 film Paris Is Burning, the film profiles several young LGBT people of color participating in contemporary LGBT African American ball culture. Jordenö was invited to create the film by Twiggy Pucci Garcon, a leader in the kiki community in New York. She co-wrote the film with him.

*pizza served at 6:30pm

Lady Bird at Emerson

Directed by Greta Gerwig
March 1, 2018 from 7:00 - 9:30pm
Bright Family Screening Room (559 Washington St., downtown Boston)

Christine "Lady Bird" McPherson (Saoirse Ronan) fights against but is exactly like her wildly loving, deeply opinionated and strong-willed mom (Laurie Metcalf), a nurse working tirelessly to keep her family afloat after Lady Bird's father (Tracy Letts) loses his job. Set in Sacramento, California in 2002, amidst a rapidly shifting American economic landscape, Lady Bird is an affecting look at the relationships that shape us, the beliefs that define us, and the unmatched beauty of a place called home. Discussion led by faculty to follow. W, F

Tupperware! at Brandeis

Directed by Laurie Kahn
March 6, 2018 from 12:30pm - 2:00pm
Brandeis Women's Studies Research Center

Tupperware! tells the story of Earl Silas Tupper, an ambitious but reclusive small-town Massachusetts inventor, and Brownie Wise, the self-taught saleswoman who built him an empire by training a small army of women to host Tupperware parties in living rooms across America.

Film to be followed by discussion facilitated by Laurie Kahn, Brandeis WSRC Scholar.

Pariah at Lesley

Directed by Dee Rees
March 6, 2018 from 4:00pm - 6:00pm
Sherrill Library, Room 350

Pariah is a 2011 American art drama film written and directed by Dee Rees. It tells the story of Alike, a 17-year-old African American embracing her identity as a lesbian. 

CANCELLED: Step at MIT

Directed by Amanda Lipitz
March 8, 2018 from 6:30pm - 9:00pm
MIT Campus Building E51 Bartos Theatre

This documentary chronicles the trials and triumphs of the Senior girls on the high school's Step Team as they prepare to be the first in their families to go to college – and the first graduating class of The Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women.

6:30pm Pizza
7:00pm film start time

**CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER!**

Please check the Facebook page for rescheduling.

And the Rest Is Drag + Guerita & Prietita at Northeastern

And the Rest is Drag Directed by Melisa Brittain, Shani Mootoo, and Danielle Peers
Guerita & Prietita Directed by: Kathy High and Shani Mootoo
March 28, 2018 from 6:00pm - 8:00pm
325 Shillman Hall

And the Rest is Drag explores gender from the perspective of drag kings who consciously and politically queer their gender, both on and off stage. Using an eclectic mix of performance footage, still photography, and interviews with members of the Alberta Beef Drag King Troupe and gender theorists, the film draws audiences into the sexy, rebellious, and sometimes humorous world of drag kinging. And the Rest is Drag questions how different experiences of race, class, size, sexuality, and ability inform our many-gendered identities, and invites viewers to do the same. Created by three gender-queer filmmakers (including a member of the Alberta Beef Drag King Troupe), this film examines a range of approaches to the performance of masculinity, and the meanings that these performances have for both the kings and the filmmakers.

Güerita & Prietita, are terms used in Oaxacan parlance to mean foreign white woman and dark skinned woman, respectively... "ita" is a suffix that connotes affection. 

A white New York woman (of Scottish descent) and a Canadian woman (of South Asian descent) are the quintessential post-colonial lesbian-videomaker-tourists. Through well considered framing, not-framing and editing choices the two women attempt to make themselves vulnerable to that elusive space between looking and forming an opinion. This assemblage of extended shots and ambient soundtracks of Oaxaca City (Mexico) is foregrounded alongside hints of a budding love affair between güerita and prietita.
Occasional brief poetic texts sensously reveal the dynamic between High and Mootoo and positions them not so much within the frame as companions along side of it.

Films to be followed by Q&A discussion with director Shani Mootoo

Birthright: A War Story at MIT

Directed by Civia Tamarkin
March 15, 2018 from 6:30pm - 9:00pm
MIT Campus Building E15 Bartos Theatre

This documentary tells the story of women who have become collateral damage in the aggressive campaign to take control of reproductive health care and to allow states, courts and religious doctrine to govern whether, when and how women will bear children.

Film to be followed by Q&A discussion with Luchina Fisher, co-executive producer and writer on the film Birthright.

In the Hills and Hollows at Emerson

Directed by Keely Kernan
March 15, 2018 from 7:00 - 9:30pm
Bright Family Screening Room (559 Washington St., downtown Boston)

The boom and bust coal industry that has dominated the landscape of West Virginia for over a century is being replaced by natural gas. In the Hills and Hollows documents the lives of rural West Virginians and their communities, steeped in history and heritage, responding to yet another uncertain future. Discussion with director and MFA candidate Keely Kernan to follow. W, SJ

Sighted Eyes, Feeling Heart at Emerson

Directed by Tracy Heather Strain
March 20, 2018 from 7:00 - 9:30pm
Bright Family Screening Room (559 Washington St., downtown Boston)

Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart is the first-ever feature documentary about Lorraine Hansberry, the visionary playwright who authored the groundbreaking A Raisin in the Sun. An overnight sensation, the play transformed the American theater and has long been considered a classic, yet the remarkable story of the playwright faded from view. With this documentary, filmmaker Tracy Heather Strain resurrects the Lorraine Hansberry we have forgotten—a passionate artist, committed activist and sought-after public intellectual who waged an outspoken and defiant battle against injustice in 20th-century America. The film reveals Hansberry’s prescient works tackling race, human rights, women’s equality and sexuality that anticipated social and political movements on the horizon. Discussion with director Tracy Strain to follow. W, SJ, POC, LGBT

Rescheduled: Trapped at UMASS Boston

Rescheduled!

Directed by Dawn Porter
Wed April 25, 2018 from 4:00pm - 6:00pm
Healey Library, 4th floor, room 031

Followed by a discussion with Prof. Shoshanna Ehrlich

What remains of a woman’s right to choose? US reproductive health clinics are fighting to remain open. Since 2010, 288 laws regulating abortion providers have been passed by state legislatures. In total, 44 states and the District of Columbia have measures subjecting abortion providers to legal restrictions now imposed on other medical professionals. Unable to comply with these far-reaching and medically unnecessary laws, clinics have taken their fight to the courts. Earlier this year, the US Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling (Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt) that prevents individual states from essentially outlawing abortion. Trapped follows the clinic workers and lawyers who were on the front lines of the battle to keep abortion safe and legal for millions of American women.

Unrest at Emerson

Directed by Jennifer Brea
March 22, 2018 from 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Bright Family Screening Room (559 Washington St., downtown Boston)

Followed by Skype conversation with Jennifer Brea, director of Unrest!

Jennifer Brea is an active Harvard PhD student about to marry the love of her life when suddenly her body starts failing her. Hoping to shed light on her strange symptoms, Jennifer grabs a camera and films the darkest moments unfolding before her eyes as she is derailed by M.E. (commonly known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome), a mysterious illness some still believe is “all in your head.” Panel discussion on myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome to follow. W, POC, D

Stepford Wives and Wonder Woman at Boston College

Stepford Wives directed by Frank Oz
Wonder Woman directed by Patty Jenkins
March 24, 2018 from 1:00pm - 6:00pm
McGuinn Hall Auditorium 121

1-1:10pm - pizza and snacks
1:10 - 2:45pm - The Stepford Wives
2:45-3pm - Break
3-5:20pm Wonder Woman
5:20-6pm - Discussion

You can join for one or both films! This screening is free, pizza and snacks will be served!

The Stepford Wives: Joanna Eberhart relocates with her family from New York City to the suburb of Stepford, Connecticut. Joanna has a hard time adjusting to Stepford's environment and begins to suspect that something is not right as she tries to uncover Stepford's secret.

Wonder Woman: Directed by Patty Jenkins, Wonder Woman follows the story of Diana, princess of the Amazons. When she hears about the massive conflict that's going on in the outside world, Diana leaves her home for the first time to fight in a war to end all wars, where she discovers her full powers and destiny.

Barracuda at Emerson

Directed by Julia Halpern and Jason Cortlund
March 27, 2018 from 7:00pm to 9:30pm
Bright Family Screening Room

A young British woman named Sinaloa comes to Texas to find Merle, her half-sister by way of their dead country musician father. It doesn't take long for Sinaloa to charm her way into Merle's life, and her singing awakens something in Merle and erases any lingering doubts about their shared bloodline. But an all-too-familiar chaos comes with it, which soon starts to unravel Merle's stable world. Discussion with director Julia Halpern to follow. W, F, EC

“Half the History” Short Film Series at Tufts

Directed by Jennifer Burton
March 29, 2018 from 12:30pm - 2:30pm
Tufts campus Alumnae Lounge Aidekman Arts Complex

12:30pm luncheon
1:00pm film screening

The HALF THE HISTORY project is a series of short films exploring the under-told stories of women in American history.  The series is produced by Jennifer Burton with Five Sisters Productions in conjunction with advanced film students at Tufts University.  The first short, Tell Her Story, introduces the richness and diversity of stories yet to be explored.  Belinda’s Petition builds on Belinda Sutton’s successful petition for a pension to the Massachusetts Legislature in 1783, filmed in the actual house where Sutton was enslaved.  Margaret Lothrop and the Wayside was created in cooperation with the Minute Man National Park, and tells the story of Lothrop commitment to historical preservation of the Wayside, formerly the home of Louisa May Alcott, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and best-selling children’s book author, Harriet Lothrop and their families.  A companion stop-action animation The Wayside Families details the organic growth of a living space over time.  Abstract Expressionists is a tryptic on the visions of painters Helen Frankenthaler, Joan Mitchell, and Elaine deKooning.  This spring’s film Shirley Chisholm explores a model of moral leadership.  Amy Beach on the social pressures inhibiting the full development of artistic talent is currently in development.  By highlighting these diverse stories, Half the History connects with current feminist efforts to enrich our understanding of the past and present, and open up new possibilities for the future.