Gender Lady: The Fabulous Dr May Cohen and Wash Day Discussion

  • Wednesday, January 13, 2021
  • 7:00pm – 8:30pm
  • Online with Zoom

Gender Lady: The Fabulous Dr May Cohen (2019) by Cheryl Levitt and Barbara Lent (Canada)
Wash Day (2020) by Kourtney Jackson (Canada)
Screening dates: Jan 5 - 11, 2021
Discussion: Wednesday | Jan 13 | 7 - 8:30 pm | online
*Date changed from Jan 12 as originally scheduled in our newsletter*

To watch Gender Lady: The Fabulous Dr. May Cohen go to https://vimeopro.com/cfmdc/mawa-1 and use the password: mawa1

To watch Wash Day go to https://vimeo.com/400840754 and use the password: s3c0ndfilm2020

The screening of Gender Lady: The Fabulous Dr. May Cohen is inspired by the recent passing of US Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Gender Lady showcases the life of an icon considered to be the Canadian RBG, Doctor May Cohen. This documentary reveals Doctor May’s legacy and her feminist activism, which was instrumental in creating more access to women’s health care in the Canadian medical system. The feature is paired with Wash Day, a beautiful experimental documentary shot on Super8. Through the stories of three self-identified Black women, it shows us some of the challenges they face while navigating a predominantly white and heteronormative society. The protagonists share their joys, fears, and how they have come to accept and love their bodies and their hair.

About FEMtastic Film Club

FEMtastic is MAWA’s new screening and discussion series! How do women filmmakers around the world understand and articulate their lived realities? What stories are told by women that reveal nuanced and multifaceted perspectives in patriarchal societies? Intersectionality in gender and culture will be at the core of the films presented. Whether experimental, documentary or fiction, these stories manifest how personal narratives can reveal greater political discourses. You don’t have to join the discussion group to watch the films. Links will be available one week before the screening dates. Watch your MAWA “Coming Up” email and website for details. After you have seen the films, you may choose to register to join series curator soJin Chun on Zoom to discuss them. She will ask key questions to explore each film and the under-represented histories they reflect.

Everyone is welcome to watch the films… links available one week before screenings. To register for the discussion group, contact soJin at [email protected] and put “FEMtastic Discussion” in the subject heading; spaces are limited.

  • soJin Chun is a Toronto-based artist-curator who explores the alternative dialogues that emerge in between cultures and disciplines. She spent most of her happy childhood lost in translation, and her Korean diasporic experience living in Bolivia and Canada inspires her artistic and curatorial practice. Chun’s work explores artists, identities, spaces and narratives that exist outside of dominant representations. She aims to create spaces to present contemporary art that is socially engaged and relevant for communities with a lack of access to the arts while commenting on a greater social and/or political struggle. Collaboration is an essential part of her process, and she has worked extensively with BIPOC and LGBTQ2S+ communities in Canada and South America.