Lecture by Erica Balsom: "Re-entering the Movie Theater" and screening: Musidora: Festival international des films de femmes

Festivals can be considered as cinema exceptions. MUSIDORA: FESTIVAL INTERNATIONAL DES FILMS DE FEMMES was produced in 1974 by the video collective Vidéa. It documents one of the first international women’s film festivals, Musidora, which took place in Paris in 1974. The verb “débattre” is conjugated on a blackboard: In addition to around 150 screenings, there were numerous discussions. There was a similar atmosphere at the 1st International Women’s Film Seminar, which Helke Sander and Claudia von Alemann organized just one year before at Arsenal. Since the funding came from the education sector, they called it a seminar rather than a festival. In 2023, two hours of footage shot by Vibeke Løkkeberg were screened at Arsenal. Former participants provided live commentary. The film scholar Erika Balsom will discuss this event in a lecture.