Women Film Pioneers Symposium, Milwaukee, WI, April 19, 2019

Curated by WFPP contributor Tami Williams, the Women Film Pioneers Symposium will take place at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee on April 19, 2019!

Speakers include WFPP contributors Maggie Hennefeld, Shelley Stamp, and Jennifer M. Bean, as well as WFPP founder Jane Gaines. 

“Film and media scholars have long been interested in questions of gender equity and representation, from theorizing gender to restoring the historical contributions of women as subjects, producers, and spectators. In recent years this work has been facilitated by a return to the archives and their material sources: from newspaper clippings and correspondence to production files and film prints.

As this research has revealed, women’s participation in the first decades of cinema was much more extensive than previously thought. Not only as colorists, camera operators, and exhibitors, but also as screenwriters, directors, and producers, women played an integral role in the early artistic development of the medium, bringing unique viewpoints and an imaginative exploration of crucial topics of the time, many of which remain surprisingly relevant today. The Women Film Pioneers Symposium brings four leading early cinema scholars together to explore questions of historiography, archival research, and affect.”

For more information on the symposium speakers and the companion film screenings, click here.