Educating undergraduate women for leadership in the 21st century.

Past Screenings

Spring 2012

“Made in Dagenham”

This 2010 drama is based on the true story of how women in the UK fought for equal pay for equal work in 1968. The event included a discussion led by Prof. Sally Kenney, Executive Director of the Newcomb College Institute and Professor of Political Science.

“Defending our Lives”

Domestic violence is the single greatest cause of injury to women in America - more than muggings, rapes, and car accidents combined. A woman in the United States is more likely to be killed by her partner than by any other assailant. Sarah Buel, a district attorney, outlines the problem throughout this Oscar-winning documentary - not merely as a member of the criminal justice system, but as a former battered woman. This event was screened in conjunction with the course “Law and Politics of Domestic Violence.”

“The Sunken City: Rebuilding Post-Katrina New Orleans”

This screening included a discussion with filmmaker and Professor of History Marline Otte, about her documentary on Post-Katrina New Orleans as it oscillated between recovery and rebuilding over the course of two years (2006-2008). The film highlights the work of both local citizens and volunteers from all over the nation as they established grassroots organizations, set up food banks, provided medical care, gutted homes, and rebuilt schools and public libraries. The documentary follows these events, takes stock of the loss that defines the "storm generation," and features interviews with "third responders," who dedicate themselves to rebuilding morale among those dispirited by the slowness of recovery.

“Screaming Queens”
Friday, April 20
The EMMY Award-winning documentary "Screaming Queens" tells the little-known story of the first known act of collective, violent resistance to the social oppression of queer people in the United States - a 1966 riot in San Francisco's impoverished Tenderloin neighborhood, three years before the famous gay riot at New York's Stonewall Inn. This screening included an introduction by Gender & Sexuality Studies Professor Red Tremmel, and also included a discussion with Prof. Tremmel and members of the community group BreakOUT!

Fall 2011

"Miss Representation"

In this provocative, of-the-moment film, Writer/Director Jennifer Siebel Newsom interwove stories from teenage girls with provocative interviews from the likes of Dr. Condoleezza Rice, Lisa Ling, Rachel Maddow, Rosario Dawson, and Gloria Steinem to give us an inside look at the media and its messages for and about women today. This screening included a discussion with special guest speaker Professor Celeste Lay from the department of Political Science.

“Sin By Silence”

In honor of the 20th anniversary Take Back the Night event on October 26, the Newcomb College Institute screened "Sin by Silence," about a group of extraordinary women shattering misconceptions of domestic violence from behind prison walls. The event will featured special guest speakers Prof. Tania Tetlow, Director of the Tulane Domestic Violence Law Clinic, and Mary Baldwin Kennedy, Assistant Warden, Unit 1, LA Correctional Institute for Women.

“Business of Being Born”

Birth is a miracle, a rite of passage, a natural part of life. But birth has also now become big business. Compelled to explore the subject after the delivery of her first child, actress Ricki Lake recruited filmmaker Abby Epstein to question the way American women have babies. Epstein gained access to several pregnant women as they weighed their options which include doulas, midwives, birthing centers and C-sections. Along the way, Epstein conducted interviews with a number of obstetricians, experts and advocates about the history, culture and economics of childbirth. This screening included a discussion with filmmaker Abby Epstein.

Spring 2011

“The Canal Street Madam”

This documentary tells the story of Jeanette Maier, who was a successful New Orleans madam until an FBI bust upended her life. Her discreet clientele included a number of powerful, high-ranking politicians, who escaped exposure. The film documents Maier’s work to reinvent herself, to reclaim her public persona, and to protect her family. Introducing the film is Prof. Alecia Long, Assistant Professor of History at Louisiana State University and author of The Great Southern Babylon: Sex, Race, And Respectability in New Orleans, 1865-1920.

“Pray the Devil Back to Hell”

“Pray the Devil Back to Hell” chronicles the remarkable story of the courageous Liberian women who came together to end a bloody civil war and bring peace to their shattered coun¬try. Thousands of women — ordinary mothers, grandmothers, aunts and daughters, both Christian and Muslim — came together to pray for peace and then staged a silent protest outside of the Presidential Palace. Armed only with white T-shirts and the courage of their convictions, they demanded a resolution to the country’s civil war. Their actions were a criti¬cal element in bringing about agreement during the stalled peace talks.

“Exotic World and the Burlesque Revival”

The film is a documentary about former striptease dancer Dixie Evans (“The Marilyn Monroe of Burlesque”) who uses her social security check to transform a goat farm in the middle of the Mojave Desert into the world’s first and only museum and retirement home devoted to striptease dancers. Co-sponsored by Newcomb Sexuality and Gender Alliance, this event included a discussion with filmmaker and faculty member Dr. Red Tremmel.

Fall 2010

“Nobody Knows My Name”: Women in Hip-Hop

This screening featured a discussion with director Dr. Rachel Raimist about her documentary film, which tells the story of women who are connected by their love for hip-hop music.

“Poto Mitan: Haitian Women, Pillars of the Global Economy”

This special screening included a discussion with director Mark Schuller. Told through the lives of five courageous Haitian women workers, “Poto Mitan” gives the global economy a human face.

“Eat the Kimono”