[CANCELLED] Film night! “Feminist Occupations” from the 1970s to Today

Assembling together a variety of short documentary films under the theme of “Feminist Occupations,” this screening event will highlight the often overlooked history of feminist direct action and spatial intervention, connecting the dots from the 1970s in NYC to current activist movements in the Bay Area today. This will be followed by an open conversation around the significance and strategies of these actions, histories and documentary methods, particularly in relationship to thinking through and advancing a broader feminist urban politics.

This is an in-person event. Registration and proof of vaccination required. Co-sponsored by Third World Newsreel.

MORE INFORMATION:

Last year Moms 4 Housing, a collective of homeless and marginally housed mothers in Oakland, reclaimed a vacant house owned by a real estate investment company to directly provide safe housing for their children and to draw attention to the wider housing crisis in the Bay Area. Through this occupation and accompanying mobilizations, eviction defense and activating a strong local base of support, they captured national media attention and, though initially evicted, were able to successfully generate enough public pressure to be able to buy the house through a community land trust as well as spark a much larger conversation around the housing crisis. This action provides an important example of a much longer legacy of powerful feminist direct action and spatial interventions, particularly around issues of housing, that we can continue to learn from.

FILMS:

● The Fight for Mom’s House. 14 min, 2019, Brandon Jourdan

This is a short documentary film about a group of homeless mothers who reclaimed a vacant house in Oakland California to provide safe housing for their children and to draw attention to the wider housing crisis. This film tells the story of the 50 days of struggle at 2928 Magnolia street from occupation to eviction.

● Break and Enter. 40 min, 1971, Third World Newsreel

This film captures the militant antecedents to today’s housing reclamation movement in New York City. In 1970, several hundred Puerto Rican and Dominican families reclaimed housing left vacant by the city. They pulled the boards off the doors, cleaned and repaired the buildings and moved in.

● The Fifth Street Women’s Building Film. 10 min, 1971, Jane Lurie

Original documentation from the 1971 5th St Women’s Building Takeover, where 200 women occupied an abandoned building to create a women’s center.