Feminist film "Miss Representation" to screen in Calgary

This film looks awesome. Miss Representation exposes how mainstream media contributes to the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in America. Please come down to The Globe Cinema on Wednesday, January 18 from 6 - 9 p.m. to check it out and meet other feminists in Calgary!

All the details are on the Facebook event - invite your friends.

African Americans bias towards dark-skinned women

This is a 9-minute trailer for the upcoming documentary Dark Girls, which explores the deep-rooted biases and attitudes about skin colour within Black American culture. 

As an outsider, I was unaware of the discrimination that goes on within the Black community towards darker skinned women. I was shocked and saddened to learn that Black women judge other Black women on the darkness or lightness of their skin. One woman in the video says, "If I had a little girl, I didn't want her to be dark. I remember saying that. I didn't want her to be dark like me." 

The film is due for release in the Fall or Winter of 2011. Follow Dark Girls Movie on Facebook to stay updated.

Dark Girls: Preview from Bradinn French on Vimeo.

Feminist Flicks & Fundraiser!

rebELLES Calgary is hosting a screening of two feminist documentaries as a fundraiser for the Pan-Canadian Young Feminist Gathering!



What: Two documentaries: (1) Itty Bitty Titty Committee, and (2) rebELLEs: The Movie. Feminism Uncensored - a documentary of the Pan-Canadian young feminist gathering, Waves of Resistance, that took place in Montreal in 2008.



When: Wednesday, March 9, 7:00–10:00 p.m.



Where: The Good Life Community Bike Shop in Eau Claire Market



Cost: There will be a small door charge, as the event is a fundraiser for reBELLES Calgary. There will also be baked goods and merchandise for sale.



For more info: Check the Facebook event.

Hip Hop Doc to Premiere in East Lansing

MSU filmmaker, Matt Ortlieb is premiering his first-ever, feature-length documentary Respiration: Feel the City Breathing this Saturday, February 12 in East Lansing.

In honor of Black History Month, the event begins at 6 p.m. and will be held at the RCAH Theatre in the basement of Snyder-Phillips Hall.

Click here to view an extended preview of the film.
Check out the Facebook event here.

Free film to honour World Aids Day on Dec. 1

In honour of World AIDS Day, AIDS Calgary Awareness Association, Fairy Tales Queer Film Festival and Club Sapien present:

SEX POSITIVE

A Documentary Film by Daryl Wein

Wednesday December 1, 2010 | 7:00 pm

Club Sapien | 1140 10th Avenue SW

Free admission

What if you knew a deadly epidemic was coming… and no one would believe you? Exploring the life of Richard Berkowitz, a revolutionary gay S&M sex worker turned AIDS activist in the 1980s, whose incomparable contribution to the invention of safe sex has never been aptly credited.



The film will be followed by an AIDS Calgary Safer Sex Game-Show and Sexy Carnival Games, all in support of AIDS Calgary Awareness Association.

The Women of Hockey: Video Podcast

As you may have noticed from my last two blog entries, I'm kind of obsessed with the Olympics right now. I'm constantly seeing these super-inspiring female athletes and it makes me proud as a Canadian, and as a woman!



Anyhow... I just found a really cool video podcast on the Vancouver 2010 website. The video, titled The Women of Hockey, is a neat little documentary (6 minutes) that features interviews with Olympic female hockey players from various countries such as Canada, Finland, Sweden and the USA. Whether you're a hockey fan or not, I think you'll find it interesting and inspiring.

Suburban Teen Sold as Sex Slave

Last week I watched a disturbing documentary on MSNBC about sex trafficking in America. Sixteen year old Shauna was your average suburban teenager when she was kidnapped by a friend’s father and sold on the internet as a sex slave for $300,000. For three days she was drugged, tortured and raped continuously. When her mother received a frantic phone call from Shauna saying “Help me, Mom!” she went to the police immediately. The police told her not to worry and that Shauna “probably just ran away.”

Luckily, Shauna was found and rescued (by community volunteers – not the police) before her captors had the chance to escape with her across the state border. To this day no one has been arrested with the kidnapping, rape and torture of Shauna. Her mother says this is because the police never believed her story.

The video below is a shortened version of the documentary.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Next Week's Show, All About Black Hair

This coming week's episode of Yeah, What She Said holds a lot of significance for me personally. We will be discussing black women and their hair, a subject of great intrigue for some and much devastation for others. I won't get into it too much here because I'd like to save all of my thoughts for the show, but there are tons of fascinating, sad and triumphant stories to be told about the complex relationships between black women and their hair (I've been chatting about it with some girlfriends over the last few days). In the past, Jennie and I have posted videos and links to articles regarding this subject on the blog; I've always thought that we should one day use this topic for an episode of the show and that it would be nice to have black women gather 'round and share their thoughts on this particular area of interest.

It looks like the show has been timed perfectly as it has been brought to my attention by a couple of friends that Chris Rock's new comedy/documentary film, Good Hair, is coming out shortly. The trailer tells all and I have posted it below, along with previous posts and clips on black hair from us here on the Yeah, What She Said blog.

Films About Black Women: Kiri Davis' A Girl Like Me

New Black Barbie Dolls: Fab or Flop?

Solange Knowles Chops It: Is She Insane?

Chris Rock's Good Hair (Trailer)


Tune in to CJSW 90.9 FM at 8:30 PM (MST) this coming Monday to catch the show live.

Free/Cheap Feminist Documentary!

"ReBELLEs: Feminism Uncensored" Film Screening; a documentary about Canada's first Young Feminist gathering.
-Admission to this event is on a $0-$7 sliding scale (pay-what-you-can-afford)
-There will be baked goods, t-shirts and buttons for sale
-Half of the proceeds from this event will go to the Calgary Anarchist Bookfair, and the other half will go towards travel subsidies for Calgary Feminists wishing to attend the 2011 Winnipeg RebELLEs gathering.

This event is scheduled to begin @ 7pm on Thursday November 12, 2009 at The Good Life Community Bicycle Shop: 202, 200 Barclay Parade SW (inside Eau Claire Market).

Visit www.goodlifebikes.ca for more information.

Films About Black Women: "A Girl Like Me" and "Say My Name"

"Stop that, you're starting to look African"... A young black woman in Kiri Davis' short documentary A Girl Like Me shares the statement her mother made when she began wearing her hair au naturale instead of perming it, relaxing it or adding extensions. In the film, Kiri speaks with young black women and girls about the dilemmas presented to them through notions of beauty and acceptance in black America. Having kinkier hair or a darker skin tone than others has been the basis of self deprecation among black women for ages; the subjects in A Girl Like Me share their first hand experiences with these things. Many black girls are taught from a young age that being light-skinned and having long, fine hair equates with being pretty. This myth has advocated the use of things like skin bleaching creams and relaxing kits (both tend to contain extremely harmful ingredients) while amplifying self-esteem issues among those with dark skin tones or kinky hair.

At one point in the film, an experiment is conducted asking young black children to choose the better between a white doll and a black doll. The results are alarming and by the end of it, had me caught in a moment of deep questioning. The film confronts stereotypes about black women and asks why it has become acceptable to be shameful or over-critical of something as simple as appearance. A Girl Like Me has been featured on television network, HBO and was recipient of the Diversity Award at the 6th annual Media That Matters Film Festival. Check out the film's profile on their site, watch it (below), and be sure to pass it along!

Another noteworthy film to watch out for is Say My Name by Nirit Peled. The film is a showcase on female hip hop artists and it delves deep into the female presence within hip hop culture. While featuring commentary from veterans like MC Lyte, Rah Digga , Jean Grae and Erykah Badu, the film is in no way shy of also spotlighting a number of up-and-comers. These women share their thoughts on both collective and individual responsibilities of female rap artists and lyricists to change the status quo by defying expectations and challenging the extremely male-dominated rap music industry with nothing but sheer talent and enviable street smarts. Watch the trailer and check out the film's profile on Women Make Movies' website for information on screenings and on how to obtain a copy.

A Girl Like Me - Kiri Davis (full)




Say My Name - Nirit Peled (trailer)