Community Film Picks: ‘Girlfriends’ (Claudia Weill, 1978), with shorts from Noor Abed and Beth B
Fri, Nov 17, 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm
SCREENING

Join us for a screening of ‘Girlfriends’, preceded by shorts from Noor Abed and Beth B.

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Girlfriends (Claudia Weill, 1978)
When her best friend and roommate abruptly moves out to get married, Susan (Melanie Mayron), trying to be an artist while making ends meet as a bar mitzvah photographer on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, finds herself adrift in both life and love. A wonder of American independent cinema by Claudia Weill (who, when she was admitted to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as a director in 1981, was one of only four women ever to have received that honor), Girlfriends is a remarkably authentic vision of female relationships that has become a touchstone for makers of an entire subgenre of films and television shows about young women trying to make it in the big city. This 1970s New York time capsule captures the complexities and contradictions of women’s lives and relationships with wry humor and refreshing frankness. (Criterion Collection) See trailer here.

Read about Girlfriends in the context of women directors in this write-up from Another Gaze, a feminist film journal.

Girlfriends will be screened in its restored 4K digital transfer from Criterion Collection, supervised by director Claudia Weill and director of photography Fred Murphy.

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With these opening short films::

Amnesia (Beth B., U.S., 1992)
“A one-minute direct assault on the languages of hate and intolerance.” (Metrograph)

Our Songs Were Ready for All Wars to Come (Noor Abed, Palestine, 2021).
“The film explores the critical stance of ‘folklore’ as a source of knowledge and its possible connection to alternative social and representational models in Palestine.” (Shasha Movies)

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Selected by Bushel member anna moschovakis.

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Doors open at 6:45 pm; screening begins at 7 pm. This program is free to attend. There is seating for 30; attendance is mask optional.

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Community Film Picks is a once-a-month film night at Bushel taking place on third Fridays at 7 pm. Bushel invites the community to propose films for future screenings. For information please send us an email.