UNCA’s feminist film festival returns March 21-26

Announcement from UNCA:

UNC Asheville’s annual F-Word (Feminist) Film Festival: A Celebration of Images By and About Women But For All Audiences, returns March 21-26 with screenings on campus of “Miss Representation” and three other films, and discussions featuring university faculty, students and distinguished leaders in the community, including Asheville Mayor Terry Bellamy. All F-Word Festival events are free and open to the public.

The festival begins at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 21, in the Humanities Lecture Hall with three short films, “Tea and Justice,” “Arresting Ana: Anorexia Online,” and “The F-Word: A Video about Feminism.”

“Tea and Justice” examines contrasts between male and female policing styles through a look at New York City’s first Asian American female officers. “Arresting Ana” tells the story of two young women in France – a pro-anorexia blogger who shares an anorexic’s tips and tricks online, and a passionate legislator who seeks to criminalize “pro-ana” websites. “Arresting Ana” won the 2009 Margaret and Will Hearst Prize for Documentary Excellence. The third work, a 10-minute film, provides a provocative look at the power of the word feminism. The screenings will be followed by discussion with UNC Asheville faculty and students.

“Miss Representation,” a 90-minute documentary which premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and had its broadcast debut on the Oprah Winfrey Network last October, will receive two screenings on campus; both will be followed by discussions, with a different panel each evening.

“Miss Representation” includes interviews with Condoleezza Rice, Nancy Pelosi, Katie Couric, Rachel Maddow, Margaret Cho, Rosario Dawson, Gloria Steinem and others. Claiming that the “mainstream media contribute to the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in America,” the producers say their film “challenges the media’s limited and often disparaging portrayals of women and girls, which make it difficult for women to achieve leadership positions and for the average woman to feel powerful herself.”

The first showing, at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 22, in Humanities Lecture Hall, will be followed by a discussion led by Anne Slatton, UNC Asheville lecturer in Mass Communication, and Catherine Frank, director of the N.C. Center for Creative Retirement.

The repeat screening will take place at 5:30 p.m. Monday, March 26, in Sherrill Center Mountain View room 417. The panel discussion, titled “Women Standing Up & Standing Out: WNC Distinguished Leaders in Politics, Media and Education Discuss ‘Miss Representation,’” will begin at 7 p.m. and will feature Asheville Mayor Terry Bellamy, WLOS News Anchor Darcel Grimes, VERVE magazine Editor Jess McCuan, UNC Asheville Sociology Lecturer Keith Bramlett and UNC Asheville student Kalen Fry . A reception with greetings from UNC Asheville Chancellor Anne Ponder will precede the panel discussion.

Sponsors for these events include UNC Asheville’s Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program, T.H.E. Center for Disordered Eating, N.C. Center for Creative Retirement, HOLA (Herman@s Orgullos@s en Las Americas), UNC Asheville’s Feminist Collective and the university’s Student Activities and Integrative Learning program. For more information, call Lori Horvitz, UNC Asheville associate professor of Literature, at 828/251-6590.