Life is an endless cycle of cooking, laundry, and dishwashing for New Jersey housewife Julie Johnson (Lili Taylor). But Julie’s been nurturing a secret passion: a flair for scientific theory. Taking a huge step, Julie enrolls in a night class at a local high school—a decision that her best friend Claire (Courtney Love) supports. When Julie’s domineering husband strongly disapproves, Julie finally gets up the nerve to throw him out. Claire moves in while Julie and, together with Julie’s children, they form an unconventional but loving family—but lingering issues threaten to tear them apart. A story about self-discovery and shaky potential, Julie Johnson explores one woman’s desire to break free of other people’s expectations and the bravery required to pursue her dreams.

Event Info↗

John Cameron Mitchell, creator and star of the long running off-Broadway rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch, has adapted his stage hit for the screen. Winner of the Sundance 2001 Audience and Director awards and the 2001 Berlin Teddy Award, this film tells the story of a transsexual would-be rock star. East German teenage boy Hansel agrees to a sex change operation in order to marry an older American man, thus becoming Hedwig. Shortly after their arrival in Kansas, Hedwig’s husband abandons her and she falls in love with confused 17-year-old Tommy, who steals her songs to become a rock superstar. The former soulmates’ paths continue to intersect as the Glam Era-inspired Hedwig rocks her way through the tragic story of her life, singing her soul nightly to audiences at a local restaurant chain. Visual flash and a retro-kitsch sensibility create the campy, underground appeal.

Event Info↗

This film chronicles poet Audre Lorde’s broad social vision and the translation of that vision into a historic transnational conference, “I Am Your Sister: Forging Global Connections Across Differences,” which took place in Boston in October, 1990. Intrinsically important in the second wave of the US Feminist movement, Lorde (1934-1992), through her 15 books of poetry and prose, consistently challenged racism, sexism and homophobia, serving as a catalyst for change within and among social movements.

Event Info↗