This week at 5th Avenue Cinema—Oregon’s only student-run theater—film curators will be screening Privilege, a film by Yvonne Rainer.
Rainer is known for creating thought-provoking films which empower women while challenging traditional storytelling techniques. Through a feminist lens, Privilege focuses on women over the age of 40 before and after menopause.
This 1990 documentary explores and exposes power structures which marginalize women by utilizing archival footage and staged confrontations. The film dares viewers to confront their own complicity within these systems of oppression and investigate their assumptions of identity and power, while subverting traditional forms of cinema.
Each term, the staff of 5th Avenue Cinema put together a selection of movies which students can watch on the big screen—for free—every single week. Privilege was chosen for screening by one of 5th Avenue’s projectionists, Alyssa Glaze. “When I watched it, I immediately knew I had to show it,” they said. Glaze had initially planned on choosing a different film for screening but realized there was no competition once they discovered Privilege.
This term, the staff selected films focusing on women in honor of Women’s History Month. Glaze said they discovered Privilege on a list of films found on Letterboxd. “The description was so strange,” Glaze said. “I just had to watch it.”
Glaze said they had never seen a movie representing older women the way this film does. “It just makes you want to hug your mom,” they said.
The film includes unsettling video clips of men talking to the camera as though they are teaching a class. They discuss their ideas of how women lose their value as they get older without having kids. “It is basically evidence of men mistreating women as they get older,” Glaze said.
Something that stood out to Glaze about the film was the sections which flash data and information as supporting evidence about what is being discussed. “It cuts to a shot of a TV that has statistics and facts about women,” they said, highlighting the film’s stylish approach. “Every time it showed on the TV, it would be something I haven’t really thought about before, and it really hits me.”
Glaze thinks the film displays an important perspective. “There’s definitely the idea as a whole that older women are a different group and are overlooked.”
Women in later life form a neglected demographic, and they are often underestimated. The statistics and evidence in the film struck Glaze, confirming their assumptions about society and validating their understanding. “I was really moved because I don’t usually see that,” Glaze said.
Having been with 5th Avenue Cinema for nearly a year, Glaze is very fond of their position as a projectionist at the theater. For digital films such as Privilege, their job can be as simple as pressing play, although the “really old DVD player” in the theater can give audio or visual issues, which can be challenging when setting up a movie. The real issues of the job are the reel issues—that is, projecting physical film in 35mm.
Glaze explains the fragile nature of the physical film, which can easily burn or split. “[The projector is] really big and scary,” said Glaze. “Such a huge mechanism, and it can literally blow up if you don’t do something correctly.”
They referenced a screening of Fight Club from a few months ago. Glaze said the audience experienced a loud, high-pitched noise as the projectionists tried to transition to the film’s final reel, which held the remaining 30 minutes. “It popped and then completely went white in the theater,” Glaze said. “Our hearts dropped.”
“We sat and looked at it in the lobby,” they said. “We had one of our regulars—John—he helped us conclude that they sent it to us flipped.” The film distributor had the film of the last reel incorrectly looped inside. “So we had to run it back onto a different reel and twist it—the last 30 minutes!”
Glaze explained that, while working for 5th Avenue Cinema, they have grown a great appreciation for physical film and can’t help admiring it as they stand beside the projector. “I get distracted,” they said. “I almost miss the cues because I’m watching the scene so intently.” The dot seen at the top right near the end of a film reel reminds them that they need to switch to the next one soon.
“It honestly took me a very long time to get acquainted with the projector,” Glaze said, mentioning the intimidating size of the system. “Now, I think I’m able to execute it well. I wrote an entire three pages of notes on how to set it up and do everything from start to finish, so I never forget.”
As for the screening of Privilege, Glaze hopes not only to gather an audience of older women who can resonate and identify with the experiences presented in the film but also that younger people come to appreciate it. “I was really very intrigued the first time I watched it, and I want everyone to feel what I felt, because it’s just so important to acknowledge,” they said. “It makes you want to love and care for all the older women in your life. It’s just really moving.”
Glaze mentioned how disappointing it is to see the lack of support from students for films that focus on minorities and marginalized groups. “It’s really sad to see,” Glaze said. “They want to ignore that it’s happening.” People seem only to want to see films that appeal to themselves, without wanting to peek into the lives of those who get very little attention, even when it comes to major issues.
“I think it’s important for people to know that film isn’t just for entertainment—it’s for education,” Glaze said. “It is a medium of all sorts.”
Students can catch a screening of Privilege at 5th Avenue Cinema for free this weekend. Showings are Friday and Saturday at 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., with a Sunday matinee at 3 p.m.
