03/13/2009
Jennifer Fox, an internationally acclaimed, award-winning filmmaker, will speak about her experience traveling the globe to document women's lives, on Wednesday, March 18, at SUNY Cortland.
She will present "Global Women's Voices: The Quest for Equality and Identity" at 7:30 p.m. in Old Main Brown Auditorium.
The lecture is part of the College's yearlong series on the theme of "Inequality," organized by the College's Cultural and Intellectual Climate Committee. The series is free and open to the public.
The talk is also part of activities being held during Women's History Month, presented by the Women's Studies Committee, in March.
Fox's recent project and the subject of her talk, "Flying: Confessions of a Free Woman," is a six-part documentary shot over the course of five years that offers a portrait of women's experiences as they struggle against gender inequalities that limit their lives.
From South Africa to California, from Sweden to India, Fox will present a cross-cultural story about common experiences of modern female life on issues such as love, socialization, marriage, work, childrearing, aging, violence, spirituality, death and politics.
"By examining the myriad of paths available to women today, the obstacles that still exist and the consequences of our choices, the audience is challenged to reexamine their own paths and choices," Fox said. "This experimental and experiential drama will be a collective search to make sense of being a woman in the modern world."
A director, producer and educator, Fox has been involved in many documentaries over the past 25 years. Her first film, "Beirut: The Last Home Movie," was broadcast in 20 countries and won seven international awards, including Best Documentary Film and Best Cinematography at the 1988 Sundance Film Festival and The Grand Prix at the 1988 Cinema Du Reel Festival in Paris, France.
She directed the 10-hour television series "An American Love Story," which received a Gracie Award for Best Television Series and was named "One of the Top 10 Television Series of 1999" by The New York Times and was similarly honored by five other major American newspapers.
Fox is one of the subjects of two documentaries on filmmaking, "The Heck with Hollywood!" by Doug Block and "Cinema Verite, Defining the Moment" by Peter Wintonic.
A lecturer on documentary filmmaking at numerous festivals and universities in both Europe and America, Fox has taught master's classes on documentary filmmaking around the globe. She was sent by the United States Information Service to give seminars on independent filmmaking in Pakistan and India.
Fox has taught filmmaking for more than 10 years at New York University's School of Film and Television and Film Video Arts in New York City. She was the 2000-01 Artist Mentor in Residence at Film/Video Arts Inc., where she mentored three filmmakers in a program funded by the Jerome Foundation. She previously taught at The School of Visual Arts for two years.
"Inequality" is the fourth yearlong series of lectures and cultural events organized around a single theme at SUNY Cortland. Sponsored by the College's Cultural and Intellectual Climate Committee, the series is funded by the President's Office and the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs' Office.
For more information about Fox contact, Anne Vittoria, associate professor of sociology and anthropology, at (607) 753-4708. For more information about the "Inequality" series, contact Associate Professor of History Kevin Sheets at (607) 753-2060.