October 10, 2003

Sisters are filming it for themselves

by Kaizaad Kotwal

Columbus-Over three Thursdays in October, the Wexner Center, is presenting Sisters in Cinema, a film series exploring work by and about African-American women filmmakers.

The series was selected by Chicago historian, producer and director Yvonne Welbon, who has made an invaluable contribution to understanding of American film with her 2003 documentary Sisters in Cinema. Welbon also produced and directed Living with Pride: Ruth Ellis at 100, an intimate look at the lesbian centenarian, a legend in Detroit's LGBT community.

Welbon introduced and discussed her film on the opening night of the series.

"I began this project because I only knew the name of one African American woman director when I started film school in 1991," Welbon writes on her web site. "While I knew the name Julie Dash, I realized that I had never seen any of her films, had no idea why or how she became a filmmaker and I didn't know what she looked like. I learned that I was not alone. I heard over and over again, 'I didn't know there were any black women filmmakers.' So, I set out to find my sisters in cinema."

Some of these sisters include her gay, queer, lesbian siblings in celluloid. One of the three days of the Wexner series, October 16, is devoted to these gay sisters of color. These are the films in the series:

Thursday, October 16

You 2, Pascale Simons, 2001

D.E.B.S., Angela Robinson, 2002 The Watermelon Woman,

Cheryl Dunye, 1996

In You 2, a beautiful young Surinamese woman contemplates coming out as a lesbian but fears her mother's reaction.

Debuting at Sundance, D.E.B.S. is a riotous trailer for a "teen schoolgirls as spies TV series" starring "four very hot girls delivering big karate kicks."

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A major contribution to the "new queer cinema" of the 1990s, Cheryl Dunye's The Watermelon Woman is the inventive and provocative tale of a black lesbian filmmaker's obsession with the "Watermelon Woman," a 1930s Hollywood icon rumored to have had an affair with one of Hollywood's only women directors at the time.

Thursday, October 30 Jessie's Window,

Michelle Davis, 2003 Mixing Nia, Alison Swan, 1998 Sugar Cane Alley, Euzhan Palcy, 1983

Cleveland filmmaker Michelle Davis' Jessie's Window is a potent drama question-

ing the price a young mother has to pay when trying to balance parenting with the demands of jobs, lifestyles, and relationships. Mixing Nia focuses on a successful young copywriter who finds her racial identity when ordered to push a new brand of beer to ghetto kids. Euzhan Palcy's moving Sugar Cane Alley is set in the shanty towns of rural Martinique, where a bright boy dreams of a better life elsewhere.

All films will be screened in the Wexner Center Film-Video Theater at 7 pm. Tickets per night are $6 general public; $4 Wexner Center members, students, and senior citizens; $2 children under 12. Call 614292-0330 tickets.

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OCTOBER 4, 2003

11AM to 5PM

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Kick off the QUT IN AKRON FESTIVAL at an OPEN HOUSE at the Pride Center, featuring Dayton-based band, frozen feet Lunch & Refreshments!

71 N. Adams St., Akron

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PRIDE CENTER

71 N. Adams St., Akron FREE

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OCTOBER 5, 2003

11AM

LGBT ROAD RALLY... start your engines at the Pride Center

CASCADE COMMUNITY CHURCH 1190-96 Inman St., Akron FREE

OCTOBER 7, 2003

7PM

OUT IN AKRON CHURCH SERVICE..... offered by the Cascade Community Church.

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OCTOBER 10, 2003

7PM

UNIVERSITY OF AKRON SCHRANK HALL SOUTH

Exchange & Grant

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OCTOBER 11, 2003

7PM

JOHN S. KNIGHT CENTER 77 E. Mill St., Akron

$15/Adv.

$18/Door

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OCTOBER 12, 2003

11AM

GREYSTONE HALL

103 S. High St., Akron $18/Adv.

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GREYSTONE HALL &

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OCTOBER 19, 2003

6:30PM

FIRST GRACE UCCI Exchange

& Portage Path FREE

Come together for a HATE CRIMES VIGIL to remember Matthew Shepard and others who have been lost to hate crimes against our community,

Come to see the QUEER SHOP TS FILM FESTIVAL

Vote for your favorite film! The winning director will receive a prize from Out In Akron.

Enjoy national recording artist, Deidre McCalla in concert, as she tours with her new CD release, Playing For Keeps.

COMMUNITY BRUNCH with Guest Speaker, CONGRESSMAN SHE

The #'s Sissy

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Cabaret Q Cheer local talent during a fun-filled evening of variety & laughs. Enjoy a cash bar and A Show during one of the intermissions.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION: 330.253.2220 www.akronpridecenter.org info@akronpridecenter.org