Freedom Over Fear: Susan Stein’s Feminist Avant-Garde Cinema
Curated by Mónica Savirón
Presented by the UC Center for Film and Media Studies

At age 17, artist Susan Stein was the workshop coordinator at the London Filmmakers’ Co-operative. In 1979, with Lis Rhodes, Felicity Sparrow, Annabel Nicolson, Tina Keane, Mary-Pat Leece, and Joana Davis, she cofounded Circles, the first feminist distribution network for film, video, and performance. Her 16mm films are driven by a female voice, her own, that speaks up against forced, abusive, fear-based structures. In her work, she examines language in the context of the femme-led writings and political movements of the time, and in contrast with the grainy imagery of her sensitive cinematography.