Horror and Life on the Margins: Resistance through Film
Bi-weekly Tuesdays 6-8 CT
(4/13, 4/20, 5/4, 5/18, 6/1, 6/15)
Note: First two sessions are consecutive weeks, all following are bi-weekly.
Platform: Zoom
Pricing: Sliding Scale (60% of program income goes to the educator)
Participant Limit: 20
Program Host: Jackie Bustamante
Image Credit: Still from A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night by Ana Lily Amirpour
A six-session horror film discussion group with optional readings.
From Jackie: Since the release of Jordan Peele’s Get Out, horror films are finally receiving mainstream recognition for their social commentary potential. Yet horror has always been a vehicle for the subversive, from Night of the Living Dead as an allegory for racial hegemony in the so called U.S. to Rosemary’s Baby as commentary on reproductive rights. Horror as a medium is a playground for all that is monstrous (or perceived as monstrous) about our world. And what is more monstrous than systemic oppression?
Join me on a global film journey as we explore life on the margins. We will discuss race, decolonization, borders, migration, worlds without cops, queerness and whatever else we stumble upon together. This study group will also incorporate readings from Frantz Fanon, Harsha Walia, Barbara Creed and internet film geeks. Part sociopolitical study group, part film club– this will be a decentralized learning/unlearning space, where we can build and imagine new worlds together.
Each session will consist of discussion of one film and it’s paired suggested readings. I will have questions, screenshots and/or clips as a jumping off point for discussion to build upon and explore together, but the ship will be collectively steered. Creating a brave space will be key in order for us to feel safe enough to take risks, contribute and be our full selves.
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Note: All readings will be provided. Films are available through online streaming platforms including netflix, shudder, hulu and amazon prime. Although all films are available on amazon for paid streaming, amazon is exploitative to their workers and a destructive economic and cultural force. I encourage you to avoid giving them money or utilizing their services whenever possible. Chicago Public Library also owns digital and physical copies of all these films, however they own very few copies.
* We encourage BIPOC community members to pay the lowest sliding scale option regardless of economic status. *
Questions? Contact us!
About Jackie Bustamante:
Jackie is a queer af, brown Cali kwane living in Chicago and down for the abolition of prisons, police and borders. Although new to abolitionist/migrant justice movement spaces in Chicago, she is deeply committed and has spent the past several months growing her abolitionist study practice. Nevertheless, she has been craving to explore abolitionist and other radical visionary ideas in community with folks who seek to create the world we’ve been dreaming of. Jackie enjoys spending her time reading, dabbling in comedy writing, and basking under Chicago’s ever elusive sunshine.