Impact Session
Film Screening Session: Special Guest and Movie Screening at World Conference on Gender and Women's Studies
We are thrilled to announce that the World Conference on Gender and Women’s Studies will feature a special film screening session with esteemed filmmakers Jen Rainin and Rivkah Beth Medow. They will be showcasing their movie “AHEAD OF THE CURVE,” which promises to be a thought-provoking and inspiring film.
With a fist full of credit cards, a lucky run at the horse track, and chutzpah for days, Franco Stevens launched Curve, the best-selling lesbian magazine ever published. Ahead of The Curve tracks the power of lesbian visibility and community from the early ‘90s to the present day through the story of Franco’s founding of Curve magazine. Decades later, in the wake of a disabling injury, Franco learns that Curve will fold within the year and questions the relevance of the magazine in the face of accelerating threats to LGBTQ+ community. To forge a path forward, Franco reaches out to women working in today’s queer spaces to understand what queer women need today and how Curve can continue to serve the community.
The film screening will be followed by a Q&A session with the directors, Jen Rainin and Rivkah Beth Medow. This provides a unique opportunity for conference attendees to engage directly with the filmmakers, ask questions, and gain deeper insights into the making of the movie and the issues it addresses.
The inclusion of this film screening session at the World Conference on Gender and Women’s Studies highlights the importance of visual storytelling in promoting dialogue and understanding around gender and women’s issues. It allows participants to explore diverse perspectives and experiences through the medium of film, fostering a deeper appreciation for the complexities of gender and women’s studies.
Join meaningful discussions and reflections on the challenges, triumphs, and ongoing struggles faced by the LGBTQ+ community and women at GWSCONF 2023
This film screening session promises to be an enriching and enlightening experience for all attendees, providing a platform to celebrate the power of cinema in advancing gender equality and social justice.
GWSCONF
About Filmmakers:
Queer activist filmmakers Jen Rainin and Rivkah Beth Medow founded Frankly Speaking Films to tell mesmerizing stories about strong LGBTQ+ women and nonbinary people. Their first collaboration on the feature documentary AHEAD OF THE CURVE (2020, STARZ) about the founder of the world's best-selling lesbian magazine served as a model on which the company was built. The team created the Oscar short-listed short documentary HOLDING MOSES (2022, The New Yorker), and executive produced JEANNETTE and HUMMINGBIRDS (in festivals). Driven by an encompassing desire to beat back the monolithic myths and sad stereotypes about queer women and chart a course to increase positive visibility and empathy for LGBTQ+ women, Frankly Speaking Films has several more projects currently in development.