GRRRLS ON FILM
MARCH 18-20, 2016
MAYER THEATER and ALUMNI MALL
LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY LOS ANGELES
Grrrls on Film will be a weekend-long cinematic celebration of the feminist act of making noise. From the experimental movies of Lizzie Borden to Riot Grrrl documentaries to the rockudramas of Floria Sigismondi, this festival will offer a multi-decade tour of ways in which women have used the sonic, stylistic, and political tools of punk to create modes of expression that subvert gender and transgress genres. Grrrls on Film draws on both movies made by female directors, including Penelope Spheeris, Alix Sichel, and Abby Moser, and movies about noisemakers, such as the Bags and Bikini Kill. It particularly offers a triptych through LA punk, from the pioneering efforts of the Runaways, through the emergence of hardcore, to the Go-Go’s pop breakthrough, to Riot Grrrls’ reclamation of Southland moshpits. Many of the directors and musicians as well as other cultural and gender studies scholars will be on hand during the three-day festival to present and discuss these seminal works, which have never before been presented together. Student-made videos will also be shown.
Grrrrls on Film is a collaboration among faculty of the Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts, the School of Film and Television, and the College of Communication and Fine Arts at Loyola Marymount University. In addition to screenings and director’s talks, there will be a concert sponsored by KXLU and expert panels featuring filmmakers, musicians, and scholars. Organizations that promote and support women in film, music, publishing, the arts, and academia will be on hand to provide information and resources and present workshops on topics such as how to make fanzines, shoot video, or repair bikes. With the film industry under governmental and media scrutiny for gender and racial bias, we think it’s a great time to explore the history and future potential of Girl Power.
Grrrls on Film is presented by the Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts Bellarmine Forum and the School of Film and Television at Loyola Marymount University, with additional support provided by the Office of the Provost. In Search of Margo-go is presented by the College of Communication and Fine Arts.
Additional support provided by Women’s Studies, the English Department, the Fletcher Jones Chair for Literature and Writing, the William H. Hannon Library, the Committee on the Status of Women, and the Office of Intercultural Affairs.
Grrrls on Film is produced by Professors Evelyn McDonnell and Sharon A. Mooney.
Steering committee: Sue Scheibler, Lydia Ammossow, Mukta Mohan, Vanessa Newell, Judy Battaglia, Donna Gray, Alex Neel, Sina Kramer, Stella Oh, Charles Swanson, Emma Spiekerman, Jessica Langlois, Julie Porter, Katie Jones, Stacy Barnes, Sarah Harris, Zaq Tull, Melissa McAllister, Alexandra Lyon, Taylor Rowley, Marina Aguirre, Stella Stray Pop, Cassandra Marquez, Melanie Hubbard, John Jackson, Judith Scalin, Jane Chow, and Eisha Perry.
Special thanks to Robbin D. Crabtree, Stephen Ujalki, Joseph Hellige, Tim O’Neill, Barbara Rico, Maria Jackson, Judith Scalin, Joseph LaBrie, Bryant Alexander, Lydia Ammossow, Rubén Martínez, Abbie Robinson-Armstrong, Stella Oh, Katie Jones, Julie Porter, Melanie Hubbard and Arash Foroudi.
For press inquiries, please contact Julie Porter, Julie.Porter@LMU.edu. For programming inquiries, please contact Evelyn McDonnell, Evelyn.McDonnell@LMU.edu.