News & Events

UNC Asheville Holds Tenth Annual F-Word Film Festival

March 15, 2010

UNC Asheville will hold the 10th annual “F-Word Film Festival: A Celebration of Images By and About Women (But For All Audiences)” at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 25, in UNC Asheville’s Humanities Lecture Hall. Two award-winning films, “Club Native” and “Patsy Mink: Ahead of the Majority,” will be screened. A panel discussion with UNC Asheville faculty and students will follow the screenings. The event is free and open to the public.

In “Club Native,” filmmaker Tracey Deer examines the Mohawk society of her hometown Kahnawake, an Indian reserve in Canada. In Kahnawake there are two unspoken rules: never marry a non-Native, and never have a child with a non-Native. In a community where membership status rests on the measurement of blood “purity,” following one’s heart requires risking one’s Mohawk status, as well as one’s family and community. The 75-minute film has won a number of awards, including the Award of Commendation from the Society for Visual Anthropology Film Festival, the Colin Low Award for Best Canadian Documentary and an Honourable Mention for the Alanis Obomsawin Best Documentary Award.

“Patsy Mink: Ahead of the Majority,” explores the political story of Patsy Takemoto Mink, an Asian American woman who battled racism and sexism and redefined American politics. In 1965 she became the first woman of color in the United States Congress. Seven years later, she ran for the U.S. presidency and co-authored Title IX, the landmark legislation that opened up higher education and athletics to America’s women. The 56-minute film was directed by Kimberlee Bassford, and has received a host of awards, including the Hawaii International Film Festival Audience Award for Favorite Documentary, the DisOrient Asian American Film Festival Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature and the Zora Neale Hurston Award for Best Documentary Film.

For more information, call Lori Horvitz, UNC Asheville associate professor of literature, at 828/251-6590.