Getting Fangirly on Activist Filmmakers

I’m in syllabus brainstorming mode. Starting in late May I’ll be teaching my third semester of a Human Sexuality lecture course at Rutgers University in Newark. So: that’s Professor Ray to you. The summer session is 6 weeks long, 12 classes, each 3 hours long, and I’m planning on including a bunch of films, plus hopefully some guest speakers, in addition to my brilliant (cough) pontificating.

As part of my research, which as always is fun like whoa in my line of work, I’m checking out a bunch of films for possible inclusion. Also, I’m a sucker for a good (by which I mean, awesome, not necessarily well-crafted) social justice documentary. So, here are two events I’m planning on going to:

When: March 28, 1-4pm
Where: the New York Film Academy, 100 E. 17th Street

Initiated by the National Coalition Against Censorship’s Youth Free Expression Network, and in partnership with Global Action Project, Reel Works, and the New York Film Academy, Youth Voices Uncensored will bring together youth media makers, high school students, and educators from around New York City for an afternoon of film screenings and discussions about how youth media can transform the way we think about and address important social and political issues. From abstinence-only education and sexuality to racism and immigrant issues, it is an opportunity for youth to speak for themselves and with each other in a creative, transformative, and uncensored environment.

This event is free and open to the public.

High school students and media educators are especially ecouraged to attend.
Schedule of films:
Opening: Youth Free Expression
* XYZ by Mercy Emelike, Cameron Robinson, Corey Steinhouse, Youth Free Expression Network

Part 1: Sexuality and Gender
* No Place Like Home by Global Action Project
* Dangers of Promiscuity by Sean Brekke-Miesner and Nam Pham,Youth Free Expression Network
* What you Lose by Patricia Henry, Reel Works
* Three Queer Mice by Tha Supafriends, Global Action Project
* Gay Straight Alliance by Jamie Li, Youth Free Expression Network

Part 2: Race, Immigration, and Diversity
* A Girl Like Me by Kiri Davis, Reel Works
* America for Dummies by Niaz Mosharraf ,Reel Works
* America’s Next Top Immigrant by Global Action Project
* C: None of the Above by Youth Sounds Factory, Youth Free Expression Network

Join the Disabilities Network of NYC and the NYU Council for the Study of Disability on Monday, March 30th as we screen the critically acclaimed documentary Naked on the Inside. In this extraordinary, revealing film, six people share their feelings about their bodies with award winning Australian director Kim Farrant.

disTHIS! regulars might recall David Toole, from the 2006 screening of The Cost of Living, who dances without legs. Carré Otis was an A-list supermodel who dieted her way to a heart seizure. Marcus Van is a butch lesbian with a beard, who binds his double-D breasts before going to his job teaching Sunday School in Taipei. Rick Stray is a mother of two with breast cancer; Shirley Sheffield is proud of her 350 pounds and José Aleman is a former L.A. gang member who carries the scars and tattoos of his violent past with him. As each person opens up to the camera, mulling their own thoughts about self-image while creating a naked self-portrait — they ask themselves and the audience: Why is it an act of bravery to accept your own skin and shape? Length: 81 minutes.

Besides letting you know about these awesome screenings with films about gender, sex, bodies, and culture, I’ve got an ask: suggest some films that you think I should show in my sexuality class. Shorts would be great, though I’ve got a bunch of features on this list too. I’m also going to be asking for comments on the recent reworking of my syllabus now that I’ve decided to ditch the text book. Not quite there with the readings yet – hopefully in a week or so. To give you a framework for thinking about the films, here’s a little smidgen from my syllabus:

Course Objectives: To provide perspectives on sexuality via biological and cultural analysis. To encourage students to think critically about sexuality and gender and to question their own assumptions.

Here’s a short list of class themes and films I’m considering:
Pregnancy and Birth: Orgasmic Birth or The Business of Being Born
Gender and Sexual Orientation: Red Without Blue
Intersex: Sex Unknown (though the central story isn’t about intersex people), XXY (narrative feature), XXXY (doc from the Intersex Society of North America)
Sex and Disability: Doin’ It: Sex, Diability and Videotape, Loree Erickson’s Want or Sexxxy
Relationships: When Two Won’t Do, Women in Love

There are a whole bunch of other class topics too, but these are just some of the films I’m thinking about showing, to get you started. Suggestions are welcome! I know a lot of shit and have seen a lot of films, but I’m all about widening my circle of knowledge and making this class badass.