Chicago, IL Center on Halsted is pleased to welcome renowned filmmaker Cheryl Dunye on February 14th, 2014 at 7:00 p.m. for a screening of Stranger Inside with a conversation following afterwards. Stranger Inside is the story of Treasure Lee ( Yolanda Ross ), a young African American woman who has moved out of 'juvenile' prison to the State Pen in search of Brownie ( Davenia Mc Fadden ) the mother she never knew. Based on four years of research into the lives of incarcerated women, the film is an authentic study of American prison life in the 21st century. Once again Dunye creatively mixes documentary and narrative filmmaking styles. Also featured are images from Dunye's collaboration with renowned photographer Catherine Opie. Dunye will discuss how her identity as an African-American lesbian has influenced the making of this film and her work more broadly.
About the Filmmaker
Cheryl Dunye is a native of Liberia, and holds an MFA from Rutgers University. In 2010 her fourth feature film, THE OWLS, was celebrated at national and international film festivals. Her third feature film, Miramax's MY BABY'S DADDY, was a U.S. box office success. Her second feature, HBO Films' STRANGER INSIDE, garnered her an Independent Spirit award nomination for best director. Dunye's debut film, THE WATERMELON WOMAN, was awarded the Teddy Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1997. Her other works have premiered at film festivals and museums worldwide. Dunye has received numerous awards and honors for her work. Presently based in Oakland, CA, Dunye is an Associate Professor of Film at California College of the Arts.
About Center on Halsted
Center on Halsted is the largest, most comprehensive community center in the Midwest dedicated to advancing community and securing the health and well-being of the LGBTQ community in the Chicagoland area. The vision of the organization is one of a thriving LGBTQ community living powerfully in supportive, inclusive environments. For more information, visit www.centeronhalsted.org .
gallery400.uic.edu/events/a-double-feature-of-feminist-film .
A Double Feature of Feminist Film
Marielle Nitoslawska's "Breaking the Frame" with Carolee Schneemann and Cheryl Dunye's "The Watermelon Woman"
Thursday, February 13, 2014 — 5:30PM to 10:30PM
Gallery 400 Lecture Room
400 South Peoria
Gallery 400 is pleased to partner with the UIC Gender and Sexuality Center and Team 101 Chicago to present A Double Feature of Feminist Film. The screening begins with Breaking the Frame, a documentary by filmmaker Marielle Nitoslawska with artist Carolee Schneemann. After a brief reception with refreshments, we will resume the program with Cheryl Dunye's film The Watermelon Woman. Cheryl Dunye will be in attendance!
Breaking The Frame (2012, 100 minutes) is a feature—length documentary portrait of the New York artist Carolee Schneemann by Canadian filmmaker Marielle Nitoslawska. A pioneer of performance and body art as well as avant-garde cinema, Schneemann has been breaking the frames of the art world for five decades. Working across media, she challenges assumptions of feminism, gender, sexuality, and identity.
In a rich variety of film and hi-definition formats, Breaking The Frame can be described as a kinetic, hyper-cinematic intervention, a critical meditation on the relation of art to the physical, domestic, and conceptual aspects of daily life and on the attributes of memory. The film uses Schneemann's autobiographical materials to narrate the historic upheaval within Western art in post-war America.
The Watermelon Woman is Cheryl Dunye's debut feature that follows an artist (played by Dunye) as she struggles to make a video-documentary about a beautiful 1930â€"s film actress popularly known as "the Watermelon Woman." Cheryl, a young, black, lesbian working in Philadelphia, tracks down the Watermelon Woman's real name and surmises that the actress had a long affair with Martha Page, a white woman and one of Hollywood's few female directors. As she's discovering these things, Cheryl also becomes involved with a white woman. The film features many notables from the lesbian and gay community, including Guin Turner (Go Fish), Sarah Schulman, and Camille Paglia, and highlights the photography of Zoe Leonard.
Schedule
5:30pm-7:20pm - Breaking the Frame, film and video, 2012, 100:00 min.
7:20pm-8:00pm - Reception
8:00pm-10:30pm - The Watermelon Woman, film, 1996, 90:00 min.
Total running time: 190:00min.
See more at: gallery400.uic.edu/events/a-double-feature-of-feminist-film .