LOCAL Houston | The City Guide November 2017 | Page 42

GISH
AT
THE
MOVIES
SISTERS ON
THE SCREEN
Cynthia Salzman and Allen Mondell
I was getting ready to write about film events focused on women’s rights
this month when the news of Harvey Weinstein’s sexual abuses erupted. It
was ironic and sad to be pondering where women are today and to feel
like we just aren’t that far along. “The National Women’s Conference:
Taking 1977 into the 21st Century” (ssl.uh.edu/class/mcgovern/national-women-con-
ference/) will be a gathering of those interested in women’s rights at the
University of Houston on November 6 and 7. Organized in honor of the
only federally funded National Women’s Conference in U.S. history, this
free event will bring together former participants and scholars, including
Gloria Steinem and Sissy Farenthold.
“Who hasn’t been sexually harassed?!,” Cynthia Salzman Mondell of
Dallas-based nonprofit Media Projects, Inc. (www.mediaprojects.org) told me
after I asked her about Weinstein. She’s been making award-winning
documentary films with her husband Allen Mondell for 40 years and
yet still gets degrading remarks from male colleagues. Because of this,
Cynthia is passionate about telling women’s stories – and helping other
women in the field. She and Allen will be screening their documenta-
ry Sisters of ‘77 at the UH conference on Tuesday, November 7, at
3:45pm. It’s a film capturing the historic event that was attended by
Sisters of 77
20,000 people and which had the goal of ending discrimination against
women and promoting their equal rights. Salzman Mondell participated
in the original conference and was also one of the many relay runners
who helped carry a torch to Houston from Seneca Falls, New York – the
site of the first U.S. women’s rights convention in 1848. Sisters of ‘77
features archival footage as well as modern-day interviews with attendees
such as Barbara Jordan and Ann Richards.
The Houston Women's March has organized community events to com-
plement the conference on the weekend prior. On Friday, November 3,
they are presenting “O Sister, Where Art Thou?” – an evening spotlight-
ing women in film which will include a panel discussion with locals such
as Anita Long, Cressandra Thibodeaux and Trish Rigdon. The details
were still being finalized at press time; check www.HoustonWomensMarch.org for
updates.
The ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment was a hot topic at the
National Women’s Conference in 1977. I imagine if it had passed back
then, Harvey Weinstein’s despicable behavior would have ended up on
the cutting floor.
By Sarah Gish | www.gishcreative.com
WANT TO SEE MORE ART FILMS?
CHECK OUT THESE VENUES
14 Pews (www.14pews.org)
Alamo Drafthouse (www.drafthouse.com)
Asia Society (www.asiasociety.org/texas)
Aurora Picture Show (www.aurorapictureshow.org)
Blaffer Art Museum (www.blafferartmuseum.org)
Café Brasil (www.brasilcafehouston.com)
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L O C A L | 11 . 2017
Contemporary Arts Museum (www.camh.org)
Discovery Green (www.discoverygreen.com)
DiverseWorks (www.diverseworks.org)
Holocaust Museum (www.hmh.org)
Jewish Community Center (www.erjcchouston.org)
Landmark River Oaks Theatre (www.landmarktheatres.com)
Menil Collection (www.menil.org)
Miller Outdoor Theatre (www.milleroutdoortheatre.com)
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (www.mfah.org/films)
Orange Show (www.orangeshow.org)
Rice Cinema (www.ricecinema.rice.edu)
Sundance Cinemas (www.sundancecinemas.com)