Filmmaker and critic Amy Taubin will help launch a new faculty-student group at Fairfield University called "Reel Women" on Tuesday, March 16 at 2:30 p.m., with a lecture on "Who's Looking: Women Direct Movies." The event will be held in the Multimedia Room of the DiMenna-Nyselius Library, on the Fairfield campus. Admission is free.

Started by women faculty in the Program in New Media, "Reel Women" will engage female staff members and students from a variety of disciplines in examining films by, for, and about women.

Taubin, who is a contributing editor of 'Film Comment' and 'Sight and Sound' and a member of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists, will address the rising number of women filmmakers in Hollywood whose success has been overshadowed by male directors. "With the recent groundbreaking success of director Katherine Bigelow's 'Hurt Locker' and the competition she faces from ex-husband James Cameron with 'Avatar,' Taubin's presentation is especially timely and topical," said Visiting Assistant Professor of English Elizabeth Haas, who teaches a course on Women Directors.

Taubin was the longtime critic for 'The Village Voice' and currently teaches at the School of Visual Arts in New York. She produced 'T.N.T.,' 'The Kitchen Screen,' and 'Spitting Glass,' and filmed 'In the Bag.' She has also contributed to 'Millennium Film Journal,' 'Artforum,' 'Premiere,' and 'L.A. Weekly,' and was the former curator of video and film at the non-profit experimental space, The Kitchen. Taubin holds a master's degree from New York University.

Also planned is a "Go Film" project that invites teams of students, staff, and faculty to complete a narrative film in 24 hours after being given certain prompts. The final products of the competition will be shown during a talk-back and reception, featuring the student-faculty filmmakers, at a date to be announced.

Posted On: 03-04-2010 10:03 AM

Volume: 42 Number: 221