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Women and Gender Studies

Varner Hall, Room 217
371 Varner Drive
Rochester, MI 48309-4485
(location map)
(248) 370-2154

Women and Gender Studies

Varner Hall, Room 217
371 Varner Drive
Rochester, MI 48309-4485
(location map)
(248) 370-2154

young woman seated on a wooden bench with others behind her

Film Festival

Each spring, the OU Women and Gender Studies program presents a film festival featuring compelling and thought-provoking documentaries, panel discussions, refreshments and stimulating conversation. Free and open to the public, all are welcome to lean a critical and insightful eye to current topics of importance to the women and gender studies community.

Click here to view the OU Libraries archive of past film festival's posters and description. 

WGS Film Festival

The 40th Annual Film Festival: Warrior Women

Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023  6-8 p.m. 

Oakland Center Banquet Room B 

FREE ADMISSION and light refreshments

“Warrior Women” is the story of mothers and daughters fighting for Native rights in the American Indian Movement (AIM). In the 1970s, organizers of AIM fought for Native educational rights, and “Warrior Women” follows the story of Aim Leader Madonna Thunder Hawk, highlighting her activism and her influence in the next generations of activism. The film unveils not only a female perspective of history, but also examines the impact political struggles have on the children who bear witness. 

The film will be followed by a panel discussion, focusing on Native American activism in Michigan and beyond. While the WGS Film Festival traditionally couples the screening with a timely activism theme, they’re celebrating this anniversary milestone by joining with several departments and organizations to support Native American Heritage Month.

CO-SPONSORED BYThis year’s WGS Film Festival is also supported by the College of Arts and Sciences; Creative Writing; Communication, Journalism, and Public Relations; English; Film Studies and Production; History; Management and Marketing; Native American Advisory Committee; Philosophy; Sociology, Anthropology, Social Work and Criminal Justice; Women in Film and WXOU. 

Previous Film Festivals
  • 2023 - 2024 Warrior Women
  • 2022 - 2023 No Straight Lines: The Rise of Queer Comics
  • 2021 - 2022 No Box for Me: An Intersex Story
  • 2020 - 2021 KIKI (2016)
  • 2019 - 2020 Kiki - Event Canceled due to Covid-19, rescheduled for March 2021
  • 2018 - 2019 Challenging Femme Phobia: Breaking the Gender Binary  in Queer Communities
  • 2017 - 2018 She's Beautiful When She's Angry
  • 2016 - 2017 STYLE BEYOND THE BINARY: Transgender Visibility and Recognition
  • 2015 - 2016 GAME NOT OVER: Gender and Digital Culture
  • 2014 - 2015 American Revolution­ary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs
  • 2013 - 2014 Grrrls at the Mic: Power & Protest in Punk and Hip Hop
  • 2012 - 2013 Bully
  • 2011 - 2012 Miss Representation
  • 2010 - 2011 From Hysteria to Disorder: Manufacturing Disorder of Female Sexual Desire
  • 2009 - 2010 Women in War / Women on War
  • 2008 - 2009 On Our Way to the White House? Women and Electoral Politics
  • 2007 - 2008 Revolutionary Women in the Work Force
  • 2006 - 2007 Women and Globalization: Merchants or Merchandise?
  • 2005 - 2006 Why Can't I Look Like that Model?
  • 2004 - 2005 Muslim Women, in their own words
  • 2003 - 2004 Women and Sports
  • 2002 - 2003 Are you a Woman? Or a Man?
  • 2001 - 2002 Fast Talking Dames
  • 2000 - 2001 Jane Austen Goes to Hollywood
  • 1999 - 2000 All Dressed Up: Underpinnings of Feminism in Film and Fashion
  • 1998 - 1999 Breaking Silences: Representations of Women in the Non-Western World
  • 1997 - 1998 Journey to Community: Women, AIDS and Film
  • 1996 - 1997 The Ties That Bind: Families in Film
  • 1995 - 1996 Women and Work in Contemporary Film
  • 1994 - 1995 Telling Women's Lives