Summer 07: Feminist Film Studies

For me the definition of feminist film has changed tremendous because before taking this I never thought about a feminist filmmaker. My previous thinking about feminist film was that it is a society of women; although, I have totally been mistaken all long with the terminology but after this class and learning through the process has taught me what it really mean. It means feminist film can include either men or women. It means someone who believes in being treated with equality or vise versa, believing in humanitarian and trading fairness among all regardless of gender difference. This class has taught me that discriminating women based of their gender role is not going to solve the gender issues rather we all have to work together to created a stable, global and social economy.
Some of the people who I think are feminist filmmaker includes Gurinder Chadha, Jane Champion, Laura Mulvey, and Sally Potter. I chose them because their work illustrate the fairness and equality in movies or documantarey and they portray the stories of reality.I also chose them because they believe in being humanatarian.
link: http://www.britmovie.co.uk/biog/c/014.html

http://www.fys.uio.no/~magnushj/Piano/campion.html

http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/490062/index.html

Posted by angelforever_22 at 7:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What is it that makes a feminist filmmaker a feminist filmmaker?

Continue reading "Femme Fatale Filmmakers" »

Posted by sarahchoy at 6:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The answer to this question is very completed on one level and very simple on another: the more simple answer is that any movie (or other form of media) that deliver or present feminist values and critiques racist, sexist, patriarchal and oppressive ways of thinking or practices. This relatively simple answer becomes more complex since there are many disagreement on what is “the feminist thing to do� in many cases, or what different feminism say on the same issue.

One such example can be the sex industry: Julia Query’s film Live Nude Girls Unite can be seen by a second wave feminists as a documentary that shows how oppressed women internalized their sexual oppression so much they are fighting for the right to continue be treated like sex-objects rather than whole and full human beings who deserve to maintain their physical and emotional dignity. A third-waver, on the other hand, may see this film as a documentary about women power and empowerment, and therefore a feminist film. Both of these views are feminist, and both have some valid point that are worthy of consideration. So is Live Nude Girls Unite a feminist film?

Continue reading "What Makes Media Feminist?" »

Posted by Athesit-feminist at 5:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Through the duration of this course, I have gathered what I feel to be the definition of feminist film. It is one that contains themes of feminist aspects (gender, race, class, etc) but shifts the majority of its thematic focus to that of gender. As we have learned, feminism has many facets, but ultimately within the word itself is the issue itself. I feel the other categories were initially shoved in with straight feminism because there was no legit humanism movement, which I feel better encompasses issues such as race and class. Not to say I wish to strip away those aspects from feminism, but now there are other fields in which they can be round up into. Like atheism and humanism, humanism gives a more-accepted term to similar issues, and this where I choose feminism over humanism. In order to break down the stereotypes about feminists and atheists, one shouldn't run to the protection of another term, but rather attempt to repair the damage done. Feminism is a complex field that has finally at least in my eyes found equilibrium, and I hope this balance equates to a more accepting public opinion of the theory and the films that come with it.

Posted by Darth Nep0wix at 5:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Before taking this class, I would never have associated myself with feminism. I thought that a feminist was only a female who is an extremely radical, angry, and loud individual who hate men. Now I realize that my perception on feminism was completely wrong. The feminist theory is all about intersectionality- considering all categories of identities from race, gender, class, age, money and education. And either man or woman can be a feminist. In some ways, I think the word "feminist" should be changed because of all the negative connotation that are associated with the term.

I think what makes a film a feminist film is any film, directed by man or woman, that displays resistant images that can decolonize peoples' minds and fight to end oppression, marginalization, objectification, and discrimination. Any movie that displays images that resist stereotypes and promote justice, I think, are feminist films as well. Although many directors do not associate themselves with feminists or describe their work as a feminist film, but rather a humanitarian film, some movies can definitely be classified as feminist. For instance, movies we watched in class such as The Piano, Missing Young Women, and Water were all feminist films, although Deepa Mehta denied her's as feminist.
Other movies I would consider feminist are

Frida
and
The Scarlet LetterDownload file

Posted by Amy at 4:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This class has taught me a great deal about feminism. I have never had any sort of women's study course so the feminism 101 that we kind of went through along with the film aspect was really beneficial.
I never really thought about what I thought I feminist was before, and had an image in my head of the stereotype at the start of the class. I never would have considered myself a feminist.
Now I feel like my definition has changed and it would make little sense to say that I'm not.

Continue reading "Feminist Film" »

Posted by Kelsey Marie at 3:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've learned that feminist film doesn't have to be about women. It deals with issues of social class, race, and gender. Feminist film can be a film that inspires a woman's intuition or a film that portrays woman in a meaniful way. It can also be films that address issues on social class, race, and gender. For example the film Senorita Extraviada. It was an issue that needed to be told to the public. Young women are being raped and murder and because they're poor their deaths are meaningless. This film helps inform the public about a real tragedy thats happening in our world. Men and women can create feminist films as long as they deal with the issues of social class, race, and gender, they have to be humanistic and understand the human life.

Link: Feminist Films
http://www.changesurfer.com/Acad/Films/Fem.html

Posted by De Vang at 3:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Whenever I mention this class to a particular friend of mine, she shudders and says "I hate those feminists!" Before I took this class, I would have agreed with her. The general perception of feminists are those radical, ofttimes lesbian, women who anger over the slightest detail. I now know better. I know feminism isn't just those loudmouths; feminism is also the women who become great successes by their own means, the women who stand up for any social change, and even the women who exercise their right to vote. I know feminism takes gender, race, class, sexuality, and the such in mind when analyzing works.

Continue reading "Feminism and Film" »

Posted by Dustin Savage-Rothmeier at 2:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, throughout this class I've come to a new awareness of what, exactly, a feminist fill is, or should include. Here is what I've come up with: a feminist film should challenge some kind of pre-set normative structure, it should include some sort of intersectional analysis about race, class, sexualities, gender, religion,etc.., it should also include a critique of the power structures holding those categories in place, it should challenge the naming of categories, and putting people into a box that they do not fit in. A feminist film does not need to be made by a woman, but needs to include all of the above things.

Posted by Anna feuerhelm at 2:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After taking this class i believe the purpose behind most "feminist" work is equality. To me a feminist filmmaker is someone who creates a piece of work with the intention of drawing attention to an issue and or coming up with ways to fix it. I don't think one needs to call themself a feminist filmmaker in order for them to produce a feminist product. One of the key quailities of feminism is getting away from lables so if an artist doesn't like that title i feel it should not be imposed upon them, but we should still take there work seriously.
Rutgers Univresity has a great exhibition going on now that i would consider to represent feminist values
I think the film, Real Women Have Curves is a feminist film that is often over looked. Another movie that cam out not tool long ago that i would consider a great feminist film is, Pam's Labyrinth. I feel a lot of time movie viewers are not aware when they are watching what could be concidered a feminist piece. As there is a certian stigma that goes a long with feminism i think that certian viewers tend to avoid feminist films.
I believe that feminist filmmakers have done a lot of great work and have helped so many people. It is clear that feminism is about so much more than bra burning!

Posted by kecakiwi at 12:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I think there are two versions of the word "feminist" when it comes to media, films, filmmakers, &c. I think media can be "feminist" -- that is, it was made for entertainment, profit, art, creativity, expression, &c, and also has some ideas/concepts/aspects that promote women's rights (the definition of feminism). But media can also be "feminist" -- that is, one of the reasons it was made was to promote women's rights. Not all feminist films are feminist ("The Piano", for example), but all feminist films are feminist. (Kind of like how all squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares.)

Continue reading "Feminism versus Feminism" »

Posted by Brook at 6:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As we’ve mentioned many times in class, I think that feminist filmmakers are quite abundant, it’s just that many resist from calling themselves that simply because of the “feminist stigma� (men haters, bra burners–which I heard may not have even happened at all, etc.) So, it seems as though a lot of filmmakers create work that lead toward some sort of feminism without explicitly saying so. It seems as though some people even go a roundabout way of doing it.

Continue reading "Feminist Film that Beats Around the "Bush"" »

Posted by ultimate leader of the usa at 6:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I really feel like I have gained a greater understanding of what makes film (or art, or prose...) feminist.

Continue reading "Feminist Film" »

Posted by Jaimee Towers at 4:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In this course we've done a lot of feminist analysis of media (films, TV, images...). I'm wondering now, after all of the critique, what you believe makes media feminist? Do you have a definition that outlines what makes a film feminist? Who are some feminist film and mediamakers that you've encountered?

Does a filmmaker/mediamaker necessarily need to say "I am a feminist filmmaker..." to count? Can you declare a piece of media as feminist even if the maker doesn't articulate a feminism?

Please, list (and/or link us to) films, shows, blogs, vlogs, film and media makers that you believe are feminist.

Posted by Rae at 8:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)