Grrrls on Film is a weekend-long festival and forum at LMU which gathers together pioneers in movies, music, art and activism to address what has become one of the hot-button social justice issues of our time: lack of diverse representation and expression in arts and entertainment. The event borrows its name from the Riot Grrrl movement of the 1990s, which fused the Do-It-Yourself credo of punk with Third Wave Feminism’s call for self-determination.
Through screenings, panel discussions, music and workshops, Grrrls on Film offers a multi-decade tour of what the Riot Grrrls called Girl Power. The event features movies made by female directors and movies about noisemakers. All of the represented filmmakers and many musicians and scholars will present and discuss these seminal works; confirmed participants include Penelope Spheeris (The Decline of Western Civilization, Wayne’s World), Floria Sigismondi (The Runaways), Karyn Kusama (Girlfight), Alice Bag (the Bags), Kim and the Created, Nao Bustamante, Phranc, Allison Wolfe (Bratmobile), Colleen Green, Kari Krome, Peach Kelli Pop, Nicole Panter, Raquel Gutiérrez, Jill Reiter (In Search of Margo-go) and Lizzie Borden (Born in Flames).
The Runaways will screen on March 18th, followed by a Q&A with director Floria Sigismondi.
Grrrls on Film, taking place March 18, 19 and 20, is a collaboration among faculty of LMU’s Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts, the School of Film and Television and the College of Communication and Fine Arts. The campus radio station, KXLU, will present an outdoor concert with organizations that promote and support women in film, music, publishing, the arts, and academia on hand to provide information and present workshops. The goal is not merely to address the gender inequity of the film and music industries, but to inspire students to express themselves.
“When I was a girl coming into womanhood, punk rock saved my life,” says Evelyn McDonnell, Assistant Professor of Journalism and New Media and author of four books, including Queens of Noise: The Real Story of the Runaways. “Sharon and I bonded over our love of screaming females, and we hope the transformational tales presented in these films inspire a new generation to create works that speak for and to their lives.”
“The ethos of DIY and punk shaped my own ethics, concepts of social justice, and ultimately my career path. I want to reinforce that film can be a powerful mode of expression beyond the traditional Hollywood model to our students and community,” says Sharon Mooney, filmmaker and Clinical Assistant Professor in the School of Film & Television.
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