3/10/24

Their Own Way. Women of the American Frontier section at 15. AFF

The Palme d'Or-winning "Anora" and "Saturday Night" at 15. AFF "The Last Showgirl" at the 15th American Film Festival

The Wild West – what comes to mind? John Wayne, Monument Valley, the cavalry, John Ford... Hold on! This year, at the American Film Festival, we are turning our gaze away from the familiar tropes and directing it towards brave, adventurous, causal, stereotype-breaking women. The West was full of them, and their portraits will be shown as part of the 15th American Film Festival (November 5-11, Wroclaw).

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On the border

The Women of the American Frontier section complements the exhibition I Wish I Was a Yellow Dog, dedicated to the photography of Lora Webb Nichols (1883-1962), held at the BWA Studio Wroclaw gallery. “Nichols' photographs provide a unique glimpse into life in the open spaces of early 20th-century Wyoming. Lora's feminine gaze, unlike the studio portraits of the time, infiltrates the intimate world of the photographed figures,” writes Dominika Prejdová, curator of the exhibition and review.

This is also the key to the retrospective: films showing women going their own way, blazing new trails in the beautiful yet hostile landscapes of the frontier, co-creating a new world that takes new shapes and establishes its rules. The Wild West offered an opportunity to build a society from the ground up. Wyoming, in 1869, was the first state to grant women the right to vote. In the West, women could divorce without the stigma faced in the eastern states, as the state was less inclined to take control of their lives. They could become entrepreneurs and reinvent themselves, embodying the spirit of self-made women.

The program features five films where, instead of lone ranchers, soldiers, and outlaws, the central figures are Women of the Wild West. Among them are the strong-willed daughter (the fabulous Barbara Stanwyck!) of a local rich man, seeking revenge after her exile, in Anthony Mann's The Furies (1950); Joan Crawford as the tenacious saloon owner who refuses to be driven out of town in Nicholas Ray's Johnny Guitar (1954); Marilyn Monroe, in her final role, as the broken yet resilient Roslyn, fighting for dignity in John Huston's The Misfits (1961); the independent, defiantly dispossessed Ella (Isabelle Huppert) in Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate (1980); and a group of pioneers (led by Michelle Williams), enduring hardship while embracing another culture, in Kelly Reichardt's Meek's Cutoff (2010). Grab your hats and boots ready – we're heading West together!

Before or after the screenings, we encourage you to visit the exhibition dedicated to Lora Webb Nichols at BWA Studio Wrocław. The photographs will be on display from November 8, 2024, to February 23, 2025. Curated by Dominika Prejdová (AFF) and Łukasz Rusznica (BWA Wrocław), the exhibition offers a unique glimpse into Nichols' work.

 

The Women of the American Frontier section and the entire festival are supported by the Final Girls collective and Filmoteka Narodowa – Instytut Audiowizualny.

The 15th American Film Festival will take place from November 5-11, as always, in Wroclaw. The full program will be revealed on October 22 at noon, with single ticket sales for on-site screenings starting the following day at the same time. This year, the online portion of the festival returns, allowing you to bring the festival into your home once again. The virtual version of the event will run until November 17.


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