Feminist filmmaker Pam Maus will visit the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford Campus March 21 and 22 to screen and talk about women in the American political process.
Two half-hour documentaries by Maus, “From the Second Wave to the Tidal Wave” and “NextStepRun!” will be shown at 7 p.m. March 22 in the Bromeley Family Theater in Blaisdell Hall, followed by a panel discussion featuring Maus, faculty and students.
There is a $5 charge for the films and panel discussion, which are part of a year-long series of films at Pitt-Bradford, the On Screen/In Person tour, which brings filmmakers to campus to discuss their works.
On Screen/In Person is a program of the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation made possible through the generous support of the National Endowment for the Arts. In addition to the film screenings and panel discussion, Maus will speak at 4 p.m. March 21 in the Bromeley Family Theater about women in filmmaking as part of events for Women’s History Month.
A lifelong storyteller, Maus did not begin working as a filmmaker until 2009.
“I discovered documentary film as a way to bring my voice and passion to breaking down barriers to social justice for women and other marginalized groups,” she said.
“From the Second Wave to the Tidal Wave,” traces the stories of four women, Maus included, through the feminist movement of the 1960s and 70s (the “second wave” after women’s suffrage), through a lull in the feminist movement to the “Tidal Wave” of political reaction by women to the presidential election of 2016.
In “NextStepRun!” Maus follows a different group of women from varied backgrounds as they run for office during the 2014 midterm elections. It features how the women confront the unique barriers to entry that prevent women from running for elective office, ultimately perpetuating the white-male-dominated political system.