The Feminist Film Series will be showing its fourth day of films in a series of nine this Friday, with themes pertinent to women’s rights.
The movies “Covered” and “Hollywood Harems” will be screened Friday by the Women’s Resource Center (WRC) and the women’s studies department (WSD) in the Multicultural Center in Smith Memorial Student Union, Room 228, from noon to 2 p.m.
Amy Shattuck, of the WRC, said the purpose of the series is to create a means and a space to learn and discuss important topics such as domestic violence, women and incarceration, women’s spirituality, and women’s activism.
“Covered” is a documentary “exploring the use of the veil by women and the lack of understanding of this custom by the West,” as advertised by the series flier. “Hollywood Harems” focuses on the misrepresentation of the East, especially in the areas of race, sexuality and gender, over the last several decades by Hollywood.
In the next three weeks, “Ventre Livre,” “Kinaalda-Nivajo Rite of Passage,” “The Desired Number” and “Ritshte” will be shown.
“We got the money to buy about 10 new videos with the generosity of the President’s Commission on the Status of Women at PSU,” Shattuck said.
The WRC received about $1,000 from the President’s Commission. “The commission wanted to use some of their small budget to purchase education around women’s issues,” Shattuck said.
Johanna Brenner, the chair of the WSD, helped Shattuck develop a list of films to purchase. Buying the films through the WSD, the WRC got “a good deal,” as Shattuck put it.
“We are putting on the film series because we have some great resources in our video library,” Shattuck said. “We want them to be viewed by as many people as possible and also want to advertise to the campus community that they are available to check out.”
The WRC plans to continue the series during the winter term. Shattuck encouraged interested students to come down to the Women’s Resource Center, located in the Smith Memorial Student Union basement.
“People can check them out for up to a week by coming to the Women’s Resource Center Monday through Friday,
9-5,” Shattuck explained. “Some of them are very popular, so we suggest calling to reserve one if you need it for a specific date.”