FEMINIST FILM SOCIETY

UPCOMING SCREENINGS

WEDDING SEASON
Sept. 19: Muriel's Wedding
Oct. 17: Monsoon Wedding
Nov. 21: The Syrian Bride

THE BASICS

We meet at In Other Words at 8 NE Killingsworth. Screenings are generally on the third Friday of the month. You do not have to RSVP, just show up! There is a $1-5 suggested donation for In Other Words, but no one is turned away.

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Sunday, October 12, 2008
Monsoon Wedding, Oct. 17, 7pm

This month we will be watching MONSOON WEDDING (2001, Mira
Nair). In this vibrant and honest story extended family return to
Delhi for Lalit Verma's (Naseeruddin Shah) traditional Punjabi
wedding. It's frustration, flirtation, and family secrets as a
brilliant director with a feminist agenda depicts everyday compromises
between tradition and modernity. English and Hindi with English
subtitles.

114 minutes.
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Monday, September 15, 2008
Muriel's Wedding, Sept. 19, 7pm

Muriel's Wedding, written and directed by P.J. Hogan, features Toni Collette as Muriel Hyslop. Muriel is belittled by her family and so-called friends in her hometown of Porpoise Spit, Australia until a new friend shakes things up. Muriel changes her name to Mariel and moves to Sydney with a dream of marriage. This humorous and biting film takes beauty and marriage myths to task and gives viewers an ugly duck story with a smart happy ending.

Plus, there's ABBA.

1995, 106 minutes.
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Thursday, July 31, 2008
The Devil Came On Horseback - Aug. 15, 7pm

The Devil Came On Horseback is a 2007 documentary "that exposes the genocide raging in Darfur, Sudan as seen through the eyes of a former U.S. marine who returns home to make the story public."

From the website of Captain Brian Steidle:

"In September 2004, Brian was then invited to serve in Darfur as an unarmed military observer and U.S. representative to the African Union. He was one of only three Americans serving with a coalition of African countries monitoring the ceasefire between the two African rebel groups and the Government of Sudan. After six months, Brian’s conscience would no longer allow him to stand by without taking further action, and he became convinced that he could be more effective by bringing the story of what he witnessed to the world."

This film was inspired by Steidle's book of the same name and directed by Ricki Stern and Anne Sundberg. 106 minutes.
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Monday, June 23, 2008
Les Diaboliques - July 18, 6:30pm

Les Diaboliques is a classic thriller from suspense master henri-Georges Clouzot. It came out in 1955 with a twist ending so shocking the end credits requested viewers not to disclose the plot to those who hadn't seen the film.

SYNOPSIS: From the source novel, CELLE QUI N'ETAIT PLUS, by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac, the setting is a provincial boys school. The school is run by the dictatorial Michel Delassalle and his gentle, brutalized wife, Christina, who has a heart condition. If she dies the school will belong to him. Delassalle is openly having an affair with a teacher, Nicole Horner, and has taken to beating her as well. Together the two women plot to murder Delassalle. After the two women drown him in a bathtub, and drop his body into the school's swimming pool, all is calm until the pool is drained and his body can't be found.

This movie consistently appears on "greatest film" lists, including Entertainment Weekly's Greatest 100 Movies of All Time, Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments, and the IMDB user voted Top 250.

1 hour and 56 minutes.
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She-Devil - June 20, 6:30pm

She-Devil came out in 1989, grossing $15,351,421 domestically. It is based on the 1983 Fay Weldon novel The Life and Loves of a She-Devil.

Review and review and review.

For context and interest, here are the top grossing movies of 1989.
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Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Girl Movie Night
For the past few months we've joined up with Girl Movie Night at the bookstore. Beginning in June it's back to Feminist Film Society, but here are the movies we've watched the last few months, lest we forget.

November 16: Times Square (1980)
December 21: Cleopatra Jones (1973)
January 18: Vera Drake (2004)
February 15: Chisolm '72 (2004)
March 21: The Hand That Rocks The Cradle (1992)
April 18: Hard Candy (2005)
May 16: The Education of Shelby Knox (2005)
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Thursday, September 27, 2007
Alien - October 16, 7pm

Director: Ridley Scott
Writer: Dan O'Bannon
1979
Runtime: 117 minutes

SYNOPSIS:
When a commercial towing vehicle finds a signal in outer space the crew decides to check it out, thinking it to be a distress signal. They soon discover it was an warning, and find themselves battling an alien organism.

ABOUT:
Alien was released in 1979 to great box office and critical success. It was first major role for Sigourney Weaver, who played protagonist Ellen Ripley. This dynamic character is viewed as culturally significant for challenging gender roles in film (particularly in science fiction) and for being generally kick ass. The American Film Institute has named Ripley the 8th Greatest Hero in American cinematic history. (She is the second highest "ranking" female character, the highest being Clarice Starling, Jodie Foster's role in The Silence of the Lambs.) Director Ridley Scott is also known for such films as Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise, and Gladiator.
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"You're terrible, Muriel."
--Muriel's Wedding
ABOUT FFS

The Feminist Film Society of Portland is a group of feminists dedicated to viewing and discussing movies. Our meetings are open to all.
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