Queer Feminist Film Studies: an Exploratory Study of Groundbreaking Cinema

Hello! And thank you for checking out Queer Feminist Film Studies! This class was inspired by a feminist pop culture class that recently wrapped up. This class is specifically focused on film studies, which will provide learners introductory knowledge on film studies, cultural studies, gender and sexuality studies. It's a great starting place for students who are trying out different areas of studies before committing to one in university. 

This class is a casual and welcoming learning space for students of all gender and sexual identities. You're a trans lesbian! Cool welcome! A cis-het ally? Amazing, come hang out with us and learn! All are welcome to come an learn in a supportive environment where you can meet with new friends, talk pop culture, watch amazing movies you may have not otherwise heard of, and learn some fun film history and theory as a bonus. 

Discussions are led by me—hi, I’m Frankie! I’m a Canadian graduate student who researches feminism and film. Each week, we'll kick things off our meeting with checking in on what kinds of pop culture we engaged with over the past week. Then, we'll get into the movie groove by playing trivia about our movie of the week. Learners will have the change to then share their overall thoughts, opinions, and questions about the movie, and share how they would rate the film out of five stars. The discussion will take off from there, guided by a series of discussion questions that include lots of images from the film to spark conversation. We'll also learn bits and pieces from film history and film theory and explore them through our discussions. 

Examples of film theory/history that we'll explore throughout this class;

- the "gaze" (the male gaze, female gaze, queer gaze, etc.)
- women's cinema 
- disruptive 
- film criticism 
- cultural analysis 
- and lots more! 

The film of the week will always be posted in two places for new and current members to check (in the classroom listing page and in our class page for the group). Please remember to watch the movie before class because the movie of the week is fair ground for spoilers! If you want to join as a new member but don't have time to watch the film before the next meeting, you're welcome to join and check out what a typical meeting looks like or if you prefer to wait to join until the next meeting so you have the opportunity to watch the upcoming movie, that's okay too! Feel free to reach out with any questions you have and if there is a particular film you would like to discuss, please let me know so I can check it out to see if it would be a good fit for the class! 

We will be watching movies from a variety of genres, countries, cultures, languages, and historical eras. Most of our films will highlight the voices of characters we don't often see celebrated in cinema including girls, women, and 2SLGBTQ+ folks, but sometimes we'll occasionally choose a movie that depicts healthy cinematic representations of masculinity so we can examine how movies have the ability to create really wonderful stories about all people (as opposed to glamorizing toxic masculinity or harmful representations of heteronormativity, for example).

No background knowledge is required for this club! So whether you are total film newbie, or a complete cinephile, you’ll fit right in.

This club is a great place for:

- film-lovers of all gender identities and nationalities
- students craving more LGBTQ2S+ content in their lives
- young feminists, 2SLGBTQ+ pals, and allies 
- those looking to make new friends with others who share similar interests
- creative learners (we'll throw in the occasional movie-inspired DIY)
- students who love, or are curious about, discussion-based learning

I can't wait to meet you and hear all of your incredible thoughts on film. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. 

The film of the week is posted each week in the classroom! I also include the rating of the film, any content warnings, a synopsis, and where to watch the film (please see the "sources" tab below for more info for members located outside of Canada). 

Note for parents: The ratings for each movie have been included in the list. For a detailed breakdown of each film’s content (e.g. curse words, violence, smoking, etc.) Common Sense Media is an incredible resource that is available for free (https://www.commonsensemedia.org/).