The NBMAA and CCSU present “The (Un)censored Camera: The Doris Honig Guenter Women and Film Festival” from October 17 to 19, 2006

The New Britain Museum of American Art (NBMAA) will showcase three documentaries from the United States while CCSU will feature also international documentaries during this year’s third bi-annual women and film festival, held from October 17 to 19, 2006 at both sites. The festival is entitled “The (Un)Censored Camera: Doris Honig Guenter Women and Film festival 2006” in honor of Doris and Ray Guenter who are the main sponsors of the event. Doris Honig Guenter is the director emeritus of the Ruth Boyea Women’s Center at CCSU. This will be the first festival collaboration with the New Britain Museum that has recently expanded its collection with a new addition.

The festival will open on Tuesday, October 17 at the NBMAA with the screening of Academy Award nominated Ferry Tales (2003) by Katja Esson, a documentary about women who ride the Staten Island Ferry in Manhattan. The film’s director will be present after the screening for discussion. Another highlight is the Connecticut premier of Further Off the Straight and Narrow (2006), a documentary that takes a close look at sitcoms, reality shows, and premium cable programming as it explores how representations of GLBT characters have become more complex and varied in recent years. The director Katherine Sender will also be present to discuss her film on Wednesday, October 18 at CCSU.

The festival runs for three days from Tuesday, October 17 through Thursday, October 19. The screenings will be introduced by CCSU faculty and panels will follow selected film presentations. The festival will feature the following titles: Highway Courtesans (India, 2005) by Mystelle Brabee; Al’leessi…An African Actress (2004) by Rahmatou Keita; Troop 1500 Girl Scouts Behind Bars (USA, 2005) by Ellen Spiro and Karen Bernstein; Quick Brown Fox (USA, 2004) by Ann Hedreen and Rustin Thompson; Dreams of Jagodina (2005) by Nora Malone; Ferry Tales (2003) by Katja Esson and Further Off the Straight and Narrow (2006) by Katherine Sender.

Dr. Beti Ellerson will be speaking after the showings of "Al-leesi...An African Actress" on Wednesday October 18, 2-3:15 pm and Thursday Oct. 19, 9:30-10:45 am in Torp Theatre.  This will be a rare opportunity to meet and hear the foremost scholar of African films in this country.

In addition to the films’ directors, several panels feature guest speakers. Quick Brown Fox, a documentary about the sciences and politics of Alzheimer’s, will be discussed by Becky Cubeta, Resident Services Coordinator at “Covenant Village” at Cromwell as well as Patricia Hickox, a retired nurse practitioner who works with Alzheimer patients and their families as a volunteer within the Middlesex Hospital Palliative and Hospice Care program. After the screening of Troop 1500 Girl Scouts Behind Bars Angela Silva, a youth development specialist, will be present at the NBMAA. She will talk about her experiences as an employee with “Girls Scouts, Connecticut Trails Council” for two years. She leads the “Girl Scouts Beyond Bars” program at York Correctional Facility in Iantic, CT, which helps incarcerated women establish and maintain healthy relationships with their daughters. After the Connecticut premier of Further Off the Straight and Narrow, the film’s director Katherine Sender will be joined on a panel by Dr. William Yousman (moderator) and Dr. Cindy White from the Department of Communication at CCSU as well as Dr. Jack Banks from the University of Hartford. The screening of Highway Courtesans will be explained by Dr. Burlin Barr, a newly hired faculty member at the CCSU English Department who specializes in film studies. And Olivia Newman, from the distributor "Women Make Movies" in New York, will join the festival as a guest speaker on Thursday, October 19. She will talk about "Women Make Movies," the largest distributor of women's films and videos in the world, during a reception on Thursday, October 19, 3:30 to 5pm in Founders Hall.

In addition to Doris Honig Guenter and Ray Guenter, the event is sponsored by the CCSU Dean of Arts and Sciences, the CCSU Women Studies Program, the Committee on the Concerns of Women and the Ruth Boyea Women’s Center.

For more information and screening times, please consult the web site for CCSU at www.ccsu.edu/womenfilm.htm or the Museum’s web site at www.nbmaa.org. For more information you can also contact the festival director, Dr. Karen Ritzenhoff, Associate Professor, Department of Communication and co-director of the women studies program at 860/832-2692 or e-mail at Ritzenhoffk@CCSU.edu.

All events are open to the public. They are free to CCSU faculty and students and free with Museum admission. CCSU screenings are free. Free parking will be available at both CCSU’s Welte Garage and the NBMAA parking lot.

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