VCU news

By Brian McNeill

The seventh annual Southern Film Festival will be held Sept. 15-19 and will feature a slate of films connected by this year’s theme of “Screening Southern Women.”

“While our past films have certainly featured female leads and female storytellers, this year’s films specifically address how various women have contested their place in Southern society and culture in ways that move well beyond the conventional Southern belle,” said festival organizer Emilie Raymond, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of History in the College of Humanities and Sciences. “And we are thrilled to have so many writers and filmmakers involved in the festival.”

Launched in 2010 to explore how the distinctiveness of the South has been portrayed onscreen, the Southern Film Festival each year brings together films and those involved in their making with constructive commentary.

The festival is presented by VCU, in association with the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, VCU’s College of Humanities and Sciences, the VCU Humanities Research Center, VCU Libraries, the VCU Departments of History andEnglish, the Division of Student Affairs, the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the Richard T. Robertson School of Media and Culture.

All events are free and open to the public.

 

Thursday, Sept. 15

“Bastard out of Carolina” (1996)
Harris Hall Auditorium, 1015 Floyd Ave., 6 p.m.

Featuring special guest, author Dorothy Allison. Moderated by Elizabeth Canfield, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies.

Based on the award-winning novel of the same name, “Bastard out of Carolina” is the semi-autobiographical account of “Bone,” a young girl growing up in poverty in Greenville, South Carolina, in the 1950s and haunted by her illegitimate status and abusive stepfather. This powerful film explores themes of poverty, sexuality and abuse in the American South. It stars Jennifer Jason Leigh and was directed by Anjelica Huston. Free popcorn will be provided.

 

Friday, Sept. 16

“The Life and Times of Elizabeth Keckly” (2014)
VMFA Leslie Cheek Theater, 200 N. Boulevard, 6 p.m.

Featuring special guests Daphne Maxwell-Reid, writer and researcher Elvatrice Belsches, and co-producer Ken Roy. Moderated by Kimberly Brown, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies.

Elizabeth Keckly, born enslaved in Virginia, supported herself as a seamstress and dressmaker, and amassed $1,200 to purchase her freedom. After moving to Washington, D.C., in 1860, Keckly soon developed an elite clientele among the women of the nation’s capital. Her dressmaking skills brought her to the attention of first lady Mary Todd Lincoln. She became the first lady’s favorite dressmaker and personal confidante, and established a relief organization for freedmen and injured black soldiers. Directed and produced by the filmmaker Tim Reid, this documentary explores Keckly’s extraordinary life against the national crisis of the Civil War.

 

Monday, Sept. 19

VCU Student, Alumni, and Faculty Filmmakers Showcase
Grace Street Theater, 934 W Grace St., 4 p.m.

Moderated by Mary Beth Reed, professor in the Department of Photography and Film.

This showcase will feature works with a Southern sensibility by some of VCU's innovative women filmmakers. The audience will be led through a program of selected short films and animation by VCU Cinema, Photo/Film and Kinetic Imaging students, faculty and alumnae.

 

“Christmas Wedding Baby” (2014)
Grace Street Theater, 934 W Grace St., 6 p.m.

With special guest, writer-director Kiara C. Jones. Moderator: Brandi Summers, Ph.D., Department of African American Studies.

A bride to be discovers that her first love has been hired as her wedding photographer, while her two sisters reach similar crossroads in their personal and professional lives. “Christmas Wedding Baby” explores the distance between the perception of happiness and actual joy. Through these three women and their eccentric mother, it questions the societal definitions of success and re-evaluates the roles and responsibilities of today’s woman. It also examines the depth of passion and commitment of men who are often struggling and confused in this gender non-specific landscape. There are no villains in this film, just men and women who love each other, yet somehow fail terribly at communicating their emotions.

Shot on location in the director’s hometown of Jacksonville, Florida, and funded through a Kickstarter campaign, “Christmas Wedding Baby” is a touching story with a stellar cast, and an inspirational example of independent filmmaking in the current media landscape.