Cornell Cinema welcomes Ithaca College faculty member Christina Lane for a talk and video presentation based on her new book, Feminist Hollywood: From "Born in Flames" to "Point Break," Wednesday, March 29, at 4:30 p.m. in Willard Straight Theatre. The event is free and open to the public.
A study of independent women filmmakers who have released commercial films, Feminist Hollywood examines the differences between commercial cinema and counter-cinema by focusing on the work of contemporary women directors who have entered Hollywood from the realm of independent filmmaking. She compares their early documentaries or avant-garde films with their more mainstream endeavors as she explores the possibilities and limits of feminist expression within the male-dominated industry of commercial Hollywood.
Lane analyzes critical theories of genre, authorship and gender representation in order to account for the political contribution of women to the production of popular culture. Some of the films discussed are "Working Girls," "Near Dark," "Rambling Rose," "Guncrazy" and "Bad Girls." Feminist Hollywood incorporates interviews with directors Susan Seidelman, Martha Coolidge, Lizzie Borden and Tamara Davis in an attempt to bridge the "theory gap" that often excludes women's professional experiences and makes false assumptions about how the industry operates. Lane balances these firsthand accounts with cultural theory and an understanding of the current film industry, in which the line between commercial Hollywood and independent counter-cinema has become increasingly blurred.
Lane is an assistant professor and James B. Pendleton fellow in the cinema and photography department at Ithaca College. This event is co-sponsored with the Cornell Women's Resource Center.
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