Beginning on March 8, International Women’s Day, the Dryden will present four consecutive nights of films by women filmmakers. If there is one thing that this eclectic group of films clearly demonstrates is that there has never been one genre of women’s films, but rather a wide range of works by women film artists who address a variety of themes and concerns. In other words, there is nothing essential or intrinsically feminine about any of these selections.

In the late 1950s/early ’60s, Belgian-born Agnès Varda and an elite group of Paris filmmakers including her husband, the late Jacques Demy, were re-imagining cinematic realism in new and exciting ways. In Cléo From 5 to 7 ( screening March 8 ), Varda intentionally blurs the lines between fiction and documentary and effortlessly weaves in real people and actual Paris locations into the fictional account of a beautiful actress-singer who anxiously awaits some very important medical test results. As the title suggests, Varda portrays the events of the film in real time.

From the realm of the documentary comes Laura Poitras’s Oscar® nominee My Country, My Country (March 9), an extraordinary portrait of Iraqis living under the current US occupation.

The Day I Became a Woman (March 10), Marziyeh Meshkini’s debut feature, is exemplary of contemporary Iranian cinema’s lyrical, poetic, and socially critical approach to the world. Representing a different kind of feminist cinema, the allegorical film’s three-part structure shows the experience of living under patriarchy for three different women at different stages of their lives.

Mikey and Nicky (March 11), the third feature from writer/director Elaine May, is one of the most engaging and thoughtful films of the 1970s. The story of a small-time hood (John Cassavetes) on the run from the mob who turns for help to his more stable best friend (Peter Falk) is a funny yet powerful story of loyalty and betrayal. It’s also as honest and observant a study of male friendship as any made by Cassavetes himself.

In conjunction with this series on March 19, we’ll offer a screening of Jeanne Dielman. Chantal Akerman’s stunning document of dehumanization and alienation takes the real-time portrayal of the daily routines of a housewife to obsessive limits.

This series has been made possible by contributions from the following co-sponsors at the University of Rochester: Film and Media Studies, Susan B. Anthony Institute for Gender and Women’s Studies, and the Graduate Program in Visual and Cultural Studies. Iranian Association of Rochester has also generously sponsored the screening of The Day I Became a Woman.