Thursday, May 30th, 7:00 p.m.
Bachir/Yerex Presentation Space, 4th floor, 401 Richmond St. West
Curated by Marusya Bociurkiw
Melodrama, satire, and activist experimentation co-exist in these stories of women searching for truth, blood, and revenge. The crimes are domestic, artistic, war-related, historic, political. Suspense builds, humour rises, the knives come out. Is patriarchy a mystery that can be solved?
Sari Red, Pratibha Parmar (UK, 1988. 12:00)
A South Asian woman is killed by white fascists in 1985. This classic of the Black British film movement uses iconography from Indian culture and religion to explore racial violence, particularly as it impacts South Asian women. Still relevant today, Sari Red criminalizes colonial thinking. (VTAPE)
Pretending We Were Indians,Katharine Asals (Canada,1988 3:00)
A mystery propelling many dramatic narratives is the question of paternity, and blood. Here, the filmmaker ponders rumours of her Indigenous ancestry. (CFMDC).
The Scientific Girl, Kim Derko (Canada, 1988 18:00)
This film makes complex connections between Charcot’s 19th century photographs of female “hysterics”, and 1940’s Hollywood melodrama. Here, the medical apparatus attempts to solve the mystery of the female psyche with invasive technologies. Good news: Scientific Girl is on it!
Eyes Skinned, Mona Hatoum (UK, 1988. 04:00)
A woman must destroy the veil of mystery, silence, subjection – “skinning” her eyes to return the gaze. An early performance work from this world-renowned British Palestinian artist. (VTAPE)
Crossing the Line, Hope Thompson (Canada, 1995 6:00)
A turn-of-the-century crime story exploring the outer limits of the debutant psyche, and the mysteries and transgressions of the non-binary body. (CFMDC)
It Happened in the Stacks, Hope Thompson (Canada, 1997 9:00)
A lesbian librarian, a femme fatale, and Sky Gilbert playing a posh version of himself. This melodrama, beautifully shot by Kim Derko in film noir style has it all: romance, crime, punishment. In an era (the late 1990’s) of lipstick lesbians and the mainstreaming of queer culture, this film makes a case for old-school mystery. (CFMDC)