They Call Me Muslim - Film Screening and Discussion

In popular Western imagination, a Muslim woman in a veil – or hijab – is a symbol of Islamic oppression. But what does it mean for women’s freedom when a democratic country forbids the wearing of the veil? In this provocative documentary, filmmaker Diana Ferrero portrays the struggle of two women – one in France and one in Iran – to express themselves freely.  The film highlights how women still must struggle for the right to control their own bodies -not only under theocratic regimes, but also in secular, democratic countries where increasing discrimination against Muslims and sexism intersect.  The film will be followed by a Q & A discussion.

Tuesday, March 8, 2016 ~ 5:00 - 6:30pm

Lesley University, Sherrill Library Room 251, Brattle Campus (89 Brattle St., Cambridge)

**Event is free and open to the public. Please join us and share your views.

**To RSVP and for more information, please visit:
www.eventbrite.com/e/they-call-me-muslim-film-screening-and-discussion-tickets-21728160513

Cultures of Resistance

March 27 2012 6-8:30pm, University Hall Amphitheater.

Does each gesture really make a difference? Can music and dance be weapons of peace? In 2003, on the eve of the Iraq war, director Iara Lee embarked on a journey to better understand a world increasingly embroiled in conflict and, as she saw it, heading for self-destruction. After several years, travelling over five continents, Iara encountered growing numbers of people who committed their lives to promoting change. This is their story. From IRAN, where graffiti and rap became tools in fighting government repression, to BURMA, where monks acting in the tradition of Gandhi take on a dictatorship, moving on to BRAZIL, where musicians reach out to slum kids and transform guns into guitars, and ending in PALESTINIAN refugee camps in LEBANON, where photography, music, and film have given a voice to those rarely heard, CULTURES OF RESISTANCE explores how art and creativity can be ammunition in the battle for peace and justice.

Featuring: Medellín poets for peace, Capoeira masters from Brazil, Niger Delta militants, Iranian graffiti artists, womens movement leaders in Rwanda, Lebanons refugee filmmakers, U.S. political pranksters, indigenous Kayapó activists from the Xingu River, Israeli dissidents, hip-hop artists from Palestine, and many more...

Language of America

February 20th 4-6:30pm University Hall Amphitheater (The Amphitheater is located on the second floor of University Hall.
 Near the Porter Square MBTA station)

Listen to the names of New England rivers, its towns and states: Sippewissett, Skowhegan, Connecticut, Penobscot... the sounds flow like forest streams carrying a hidden story—an Indian story of America from beginning to present. Language of America takes us deep into New England's last surviving Indian places and languages, revealing a 9,000-year-old success story that's been pushed to the edge of extinction by a government that proclaims "diversity" but doesn't want to practice it with Native peoples who resist being assimilated.

Meet Allen Sockabasin, singing his child into becoming a Passamaquoddy speaker; Jessie Littledoe, who against all odds, has brought back her Wampanoag language that had not been spoken for 200 years; and Ella Sekatau, who still refers to non-Indians as "the strangers" and has never forgotten the sacred Narragansett ceremonies.

Language of America explores Indian language, philosophy, and community as never before. It shows how Indian words reveal an inherent connectedness between people, nature and spirit. The film bears witness to America's history of Indian human rights abuse, yet it inspires hope by promoting an understanding of diversity that accepts Native peoples’ inextricably shared history and destiny with their neighbors.

9500 Liberty documents the first and possibly only time in U.S. history that an Arizona-style immigration law was actually implemented — then captures the grassroots opposition that led to its repeal.

Racial tension and threats of violence erupt when
Prince William County, Virginia adopts a law requiring the police to question people who appear to be undocumented immigrants. Supporters of the law ride a wave of hysteria to an election victory. But many reconsider when the local economy feels the impact of a sudden exodus of workers, consumers, and business owners. Despite fears of reprisal, a group of concerned citizens launches a “virtual resistance” using social media, setting up a final showdown with the law’s ferocious advocates.

The film will be shown on Monday November 14, 4-6:30pm at the University Hall Amphitheater.

Thy Will Be Done; Oct. 12th 2011

THY WILL BE DONE follows Male-to-Female Transsexual Sara Herwig in her path to ordination in the Presbyterian Church. Efforts have been made to block her ordination by the evangelical conservative groups who don't recognize her as female and question her fitness to be a Pastor..... but who also challenge her candidacy because she is in a same-sex relationship, with a woman. At issue is the organized Christian Church, with all its political and financial power, as one of the fiercest battlegrounds for LGBT rights and gender recognition. Sara's journey highlights the tensions that exist at the point where faith and gender intersect.

View From A Grain Of Sand - The Plight of Afghan Women

Please join us for our next very special film event, “View From A Grain Of Sand” on Wednesday, March 23, 2011, from 1:00 to 3:30PM in the University Hall Amphitheater.

“View From A Grain Of Sand” is a documentary that looks at the plight of Afghan women over the last 30 years—from the rule of King Zahir Shah to the current Hamid Karzai government. Women’s rights in Afghanistan received much international interest under the rule and then fall of the Taliban. But what has happened since 2001 when a “new era” of peace for women was declared and attention to these issues subsided?

Through the eyes of a doctor, a teacher and a rights activist, “View From A Grain Of Sand” examines issues around the current situation women face in Afghanistan. These three women use their personal stories to lead viewers through the country’s complex history and provide context for the ongoing battle women still face for their basic human rights. This film was shot over a four-year period in Pakistani refugee camps and war-torn Kabul and includes footage, interviews and archival materials.

This film’s timely questions include: What are lives of Afghan women really like now? Have they gained any real rights? How has the reign of a new government affected them? It also portrays women that continue to define strength and resilience in the face of war and oppression.

The film will be followed by a panel discussion. It is free and open to the public.

http://viewgrainofsand.com
Duration: 58 minutes
Wednesday, March 23, 2011, from 1:00 to 3:30PM
University Hall Amphitheater

Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North

Please join us for our next very special film event, ”Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North” on Tuesday, February 15, 2011, from 4:00 to 6:30 pm in the University Hall Amphitheater.

Traces of the Trade is a documentary based on the discovery by filmmaker Katrina Browne that her New England ancestors, the DeWolfs, were the largest slave-trading family in U.S. history. Contrary to popular belief, viewers learn that Northern slavery existed for over 200 years.

This film retraces the DeWolf trade route. The Triangle Trade brought rum from the family’s distillery in Bristol, Rhode Island to buy African people from coastal Ghana slave forts to be sold in Havana and Charleston, and purchased Cuban sugar and molasses to be brought back to Bristol. While the DeWolfs made their fortune trading slaves, this film also looks at the financial gain by many Northerners through a network of commercial activities.

The film will be followed by a panel discussion that includes one the film’s directors. It is free and open to the public.

Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North
Film Duration: 86 minutes
Tuesday, February 15, 2011, 4:00 - 6:30 pm
University hall, Amphitheater

For More information, check out: http://www.tracesofthetrade.org/