Gender and activism explored

Grand Valley's seventh annual Women and Gender Studies Festival explores the theme Gender and Activism. The festival runs March 16, 18 and 19 and features films, presentations, prominent guest speakers, and interactive activities open to the public free of charge.

Film Festival: March 16, noon-9 p.m., Pew Grand Rapids Campus
The daylong WGS Film Festival on Saturday, March 16, features five films about women taking a stand in political or social events, from a 1950s mining strike to the Black Panther Party to the fictional chronicle of a female teen-age suicide bomber. Two of the films -- The Nasty Girl and Silkwood -- are Academy Award nominees. A schedule and description of films is listed below. Admission and refreshments are free.

WGS Festival: March 18 and 19, Allendale Campus
The seventh annual WGS Festival presents activities throughout Monday and Tuesday relating to the theme Gender and Activism. Most events are held at the Kirkhof Center; all are open to the public free of charge. Call 895-2325 for a complete schedule.

Presenting the keynote address on Tuesday, March 19, at 4 p.m. in the Cook-DeWitt Center are Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards, authors of Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism and the Future. Described as hip, funny and thoroughly engaging, the two women represent the face of feminism in the 21st century, say festival organizers, and appeal to a young audience that has learned to reject the word feminism while at the same time benefiting from and believing in feminist ideals.

Baumgardner and Richards, both writers for Ms. Magazine, will discuss themes in Manifesta, which documents the history of feminism in the United States and examines snags in the movement, such as the dissolution of the musical group Riot Grrrls into the likes of the Spice Girls. Rather than represent roadblocks to feminism, the authors contend, these snags illustrate the vibrancy with which the movement has evolved and detail important political goals that still need to be achieved.

Other festival sessions address Fosterparenting Refugee Children as Activism (by foster parent Catherine Frerichs, director of the Pew Faculty Teaching and Learning Center, 4 p.m., March 18); Title IX: Gender Equity in Math and Science and Intercollegiate Athletics (1 p.m., March 19); and many other topics. Call 895-2325 for more information.

Film Fest Schedule -- Saturday, March 16th
Loosemore Auditorium, DeVos Center, Pew Grand Rapids Campus, 401 W. Fulton St.
Admission and refreshments are free.

12 noon: Salt of the Earth (USA, 1954, 94 min., Herbert J. Biberman)
Hispanic zinc miner families in New Mexico fighting for economic and social equality in the 1950s.

2 p.m.: The Nasty Girl (Germany, 1990, 94 min., Michael Verhoeven)
The story begins as Sonja writes an essay titled My Hometown in the Third Reich -- an unpopular topic with her neighbors, some of whom were, in fact, Nazis. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.

4 p.m.: Still Revolutionaries (USA, 1998, 16 min., Sienna McLean)
Two women reflect on their days as members of the Black Panther Party. This student documentary premiered at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival.

4:20 p.m.: Silkwood (USA, 1983, 131 min., Mike Nichols)
Karen Silkwood, an employee in a facility that produces highly radioactive plutonium, works to expose the carelessness, corruption, and danger of the nuclear facility and the government agencies that monitor it -- at great personal cost. Based on actual events and starring Meryl Streep and Cher, Silkwood was nominated for five Academy Awards.

7 p.m.: The Terrorist (India, 2000, 95 min., Santosh Sivan)
Inspired by the events surrounding the 1991 assassination of India Prime Minister Rajiv Ghandi, the film features Malli, a hardened killer who has spent most of her 19 years in revolutionary training. The Terrorist is an intimate diary of the genesis and cultivation of a suicide bomber, one who must confront personal responsibility and maternal instincts in the face of duty.

8:30 p.m.: Audience/Panel Discussion
The Role of Film in Activism, led by GVSU film professors Barbara Roos and Pete Porter.