Inside the Just Films Series at Chatham University
For six years strong, Chatham University’s Women’s Institute has been co-sponsoring Just Films, a series of films and discussions on gender and intersectional social justice issues. For their 2021-2022 season, Just Films is offering six films on wide-ranging topics like criminal justice, technology, and more. Read on to discover more about the series!
According to Women’s Institute Director Dr. Jessie Ramey, “Just Films is a collaboration of five organizations committed to women, girls, gender equity, and social justice: the Chatham University Art & Design Department and Women’s Institute, the NCJW Center for Women, the Women and Girls Foundation, the Women’s Law Project, and YWCA Greater Pittsburgh. We believe in the power of film to promote conversations — needed now more than ever — about social, political, and economic change. The series also allows students to engage with community members and leaders. This year's documentaries cover a wide range of issues that will be of interest to many Chatham students, faculty, staff, and alumni. All of the films were made by women, and most will be showing in Pittsburgh for the first time.”
September 8th, 2021: Coded Bias
When MIT Media Lab researcher Joy Buolamwini discovers that many facial recognition technologies misclassify women and darker-skinned faces, she is compelled to investigate further and start the Algorithmic Justice League. It turns out that artificial intelligence, which was defined by a homogeneous group of men, is not neutral. What Buolamwini learns about widespread bias in algorithms drives her to push the U.S. government to create the first-ever legislation to counter the far-reaching dangers of bias in a technology that is steadily encroaching on our lives.
Centering on the voices of women leading the charge to ensure our civil rights are protected, Coded Bias asks two key questions: what is the impact of Artificial Intelligence’s increasing role in governing our liberties? And what are the consequences for people stuck in the crosshairs due to their race, color, and gender?
October 13th, 2021: Unlearning Sex
Unlearning Sex is a feature documentary film that follows my six month journey through sexual trauma therapy and healing. In addition to audio clips from therapy , this film features interviews from trauma therapists, sex educators, and activists. My goal with this film is for people to learn about sexual assault, trauma, and sex education, while watching someone heal in real time.
November 10th, 2021: $avvy
$avvy investigates the historical, cultural and societal norms around women and money. With incisive humor and captivating honesty, $avvy questions why women often take a backseat to their finances and why it’s so important now more than ever for women to take control of their financial futures.
“While the films are really incredible, the best part of the series is the panel discussion following each screening featuring local experts and community leaders active on the issues related to the film. Audience members get a chance to have a Q&A with the panelists, and can also network with them at a reception before each screening!”
January 12th, 2022: Belly of the Beast
When an unlikely duo discovers a pattern of illegal sterilizations in women’s prisons, they wage a near impossible battle against the Department of Corrections. Filmed over seven years with extraordinary access and intimate accounts from currently and formerly incarcerated people, BELLY OF THE BEAST exposes modern-day eugenics and reproductive injustice in California prisons.
The pastoral farmlands surrounding the Central California Women’s Facility, the world’s largest women’s prison, help conceal the reproductive and human rights violations transpiring inside its walls. A courageous woman who was involuntarily sterilized at the facility, teams up with a radical lawyer to stop these violations. They spearhead investigations that uncover a series of statewide crimes, primarily targeting women of color, from inadequate access to healthcare to sexual assault to illegal sterilization. Together, with a team of tenacious heroines, both in and out of prison, they take to the courtroom to fight for reparations. But no one believes them. As additional damning evidence is uncovered by the Center for Investigative Reporting, a media frenzy and series of hearings provide hope for some semblance of justice. Yet, doctors and prison officials contend that the procedures were in each person’s best interest and of an overall social benefit. Invoking the weight of the historic stain and legacy of eugenics, BELLY OF THE BEAST presents a decade long, infuriating contemporary legal drama.
February 9th, 2022: Unapologetic
After two police killings, Black millennial organizers challenge a Chicago administration complicit in state violence against its Black residents. Told through the lens of Janaé and Bella, two fierce abolitionist leaders, Unapologetic is a deep look into the Movement for Black Lives, from the police murder of Rekia Boyd to the election of mayor Lori Lightfoot.
March 9th, 2022: No Small Matter
Our future depends on our youngest citizens. On how many words they hear in their first months of life. On how often they are held. On the kinds of experiences they have. Yet even with business interests, scholars, and politicians on both sides of the aisle lining up to support the early childhood education cause, millions of American children are still not getting the care they need to succeed—or even to keep up. And while it’s the poorest children who are most vulnerable, middle class families are increasingly feeling the squeeze, as the cost of quality child care soars. So why, when the importance of quality early care and education is so widely accepted, do we continue to fail so many?
Free and open to the public, Just Films are on Wednesday evenings at 6:30PM on Chatham’s Shadyside campus, followed by a panel discussion and Q&A with local experts and activists working on the issues related to each documentary. Please register to receive important information about each screening.
Click here to learn more about Chatham’s Women’s Institute and the Chatham University Art & Design Department.
