The University of Delaware 29th Annual Women’s History Month Film Series Monday evenings from Feb. 23 through March 23.
Film screenings will begin at 7 p.m., and each will be followed by a discussion led by a speaker with expertise in the film’s subject matter. The series is free and open to the public.
Feb. 23: Anita: Speaking Truth to Power. Anita Hill courageously speaks openly and intimately for the first time about her experiences that led her to testify before the Senate and the obstacles she faced in simply telling the truth. Her graphic testimony concerning allegations of sexual harassment by Clarence Thomas, then a U.S. Supreme Court nominee, was a turning point for gender equality in the U.S. and ignited a political firestorm about sexual misconduct and power in the workplace that resonates still today. Hill has become an American icon, empowering millions of women and men around the world to stand up for equality and justice. Against a backdrop of sex, politics and race, Anita:Speaking Truth to Power reveals the intimate story of a woman who spoke truth to power. She also candidly discusses what happened to her life and work in the 22 years since. Speaker will be Carole Marks, UD professor of sociology. Trabant University Center Theatre
March 2: Highway of Tears. Since the late 1960s, at least 18 young women — many of them from disadvantaged First Nations communities — have disappeared or been found murdered along the 724-kilometer stretch of Highway 16 in northern British Columbia. None of these cold cases were ever solved until 2012, when a special Royal Canadian Mounted Police investigation was able to link DNA from one of the murder victims to deceased U.S. criminal Bobby Jack Fowler. But this single answer has done little to heal the wounds of aboriginal communities who have seen dozens of their young women vanish along the “Highway of Tears,” victims not only of murderous predators but of the systemic racism of a federal government that keeps them trapped on impoverished reservations and, as critics charge, evinced little interest in apprehending their killers. Narrated by Nathan Fillion, Highway of Tears not only movingly relates the personal stories of the victims and their families, but investigates how the legacy of generational poverty, high unemployment and endemic violence in their communities contributed to their tragic fates — and how contemporary First Nations leaders are striving to cure those ills. Speaker will be Justin de Leon, UD doctoral student in international relations. 204 Kirkbride Hall
March 9: Tales of the Waria. This documentary film intimately explores how a transgender community confronts issues of love, family and faith. Traveling to Indonesia, the world’s most populated Muslim country, the film shares the stories of several warias, biological men who identify as women and are a surprisingly visible presence in a culture normally associated with strict gender divides. Speaker will be Laurent Widjaya of hotpot! Philly, the Visibility Project. 204 Kirkbride Hall
March 16: Service: When Women Come Marching Home. The film portrays the courage of several women veterans as they transition from active duty to civilian lives and the challenges they face addressing their invisible, as well as physical injuries, their struggles to receive benefits and care and their accomplishments as they return home. The women wrestle with prosthetics, homelessness, post-traumatic stress disorder and sexual trauma. Women comprise 14 percent of today’s military forces and that number is expected to double in 10 years. Service introduces the issues faced by this wave of mothers, daughters and sisters as they return home. Speaker will be Jennifer Barnes, a master’s degree student in UD’s Biomechanics and Movement Science Program and a member of the Blue Hen Veterans student organization. 204 Kirkbride Hall
March 23: Saving Face. Every year hundreds of people — mostly women — are attacked with acid in Pakistan. Recently honored with an Academy Award as a best documentary short, Saving Face follows several of survivors of acid attacks in their fight for justice and reveals the work of a Pakistani plastic surgeon who has returned to his homeland to help them restore their faces. Saving Face analyzes the under-reporting of acid violence against women because of cultural and structural gender inequalities in Pakistan. The documentary also follows the effort to enact new legislation that imposes stricter sentencing on perpetrators of acid attacks. Speaker will be Raili Roy, assistant director of the South Asia Center at the University of Pennsylvania. 204 Kirkbride Hall
For additional information, call 831-8474.
The series is sponsored by the departments of Anthropology, Black American Studies, History, Political Science and International Relations, Sociology and Criminal Justice, and Women and Gender Studies, as well as the Faculty Senate Committee on Cultural Activities and Public Events (CAPE), the Student Centers Programming Advisory Board (SCPAB), the Office of Equity and Inclusion, the Sexual Assault Prevention and Education (SAPE) Committee
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