The 28th Annual Women’s History Month Film Series Schedule

Focus on Violence Against Women

Mondays, Feb. 24 – March 24, 2014

February 24: Until the Violence Stops

This award-winning film documents the story of the international grassroots movement called V-Day.  Dedicated to the goal of  stopping  violence against women and girls, V-Day witnesses groups around the world staging benefit performances of “The Vagina Monologues.” In 2002, women in 800 cities participated in V-Day. In Until the Violence Stops, women from Harlem to Ukiah, California, from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to the Philippines and Kenya, courageously reveal their intimate and deeply painful experiences with abuse, through revealing testimonies and emotionally charged interviews and performances. Until the Violence Stops is a film about empowerment and the importance of dialogue in the healing process.

Speakers: Jennifer Ferris, Department of History, University of Delaware and  V-Day at UD, local chapter of V-Day International

March 3: Saving Face (film postponed due to inclement weather)

Every year hundreds of people — mostly women — are attacked with acid in Pakistan. Recently honored with a Best Documentary Short Oscar®, Saving Face follows several of survivors of acid attacks in their fight for justice, and reveals the work of a Pakistani plastic surgeon who has returned to his homeland to help them restore their faces. Saving Face analyzes the under-reporting of acid violence against women because of cultural and structural gender inequalities in Pakistan. The documentary also follows the effort to enact new legislation that imposes stricter sentencing on perpetrators of acid attacks.

Speaker: Raili Roy, Department of South Asian Studies, University of Pennsylvania

March 10: Sex Crimes Unit

This film, from award-winning filmmaker Lisa F. Jackson, offers an unprecedented look at the Manhattan Sex Crimes Unit, the first unit dedicated to the prosecution of sexual assault to be established in the U.S.  The film tracks prosecutor Coleen Balbert as she prosecutes a rape case, demonstrating the process of collecting evidence and preparing victims and witnesses for trial.  The film also tells the story of Natasha Alexenko who was raped at gunpoint in 1993.  Almost a decade later, the Sex Crimes Unit’s cold case division took on Alexenko’s case, even though there had been no arrest.  Using an innovative legal strategy, the unit secured a “John Doe” indictment of the perpetrator’s DNA profile.  The strategy worked, allowing the identification and ultimately the conviction of Alexenko’s attacker.

Speaker: Natasha Alexenko, Natasha’s Justice Project

March 17: Trust: Second Acts in Young Lives

TRUST follows the story of a group of 25 teenage actors who participate in Chicago’s Albany Park Theatre Project as they transform the traumatic story of 12-year-old Hondureña rape victim Marlin into a daring, original play.  By means of a dual narrative, the film reveals both Marlin’s horribly painful experiences and the process by which the Albany Park Players transform her story into a theatre piece.  As the documentary unfolds, we see Marlin’s story evolve into a public performance project, and we witness the young performers overcome their own reluctance to discuss the difficult subjects of rape and incest. TRUST is about creativity and the unexpected resources inside people the larger world might discount because they are poor, young, or of color.

Speaker: Paul Hengesteg, Office of Equity and Inclusion, University of Delaware

March 24: Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines

Amazons, Goddesses, Warrior Princesses, Riot Grrls. Since bursting onto the American comic book scene in the early 1940s, Wonder Woman and her successors have challenged the stereotype of the superhero as male.  Whether represented as strong, powerful women capable of defending themselves or delicate creatures in need of protection, female superheroines have reflected changes in American ideas about femininity and power.  This delightfully engaging film traces the superheroines’ histories and asks crucial questions about women, empowerment, violence, and self-defense.