A talk by Raquel Medina, Senior Lecturer in Spanish and Director of CinemAGEnder International Research Network, Aston University

Organized by the UCLA Department of Gender Studies

Date: Wednesday, January 16, 2019
Time: 3:00 – 5:00 PM
Location: 2125 Rolfe Hall

This presentation will provide a comparative and cross-cultural analysis of cinematic representations of Alzheimer’s disease in several non-mainstream films that employ it as a trope to explore age and gender. Contrary to mainstream productions, films such as Pandora’s Box (Turkey 2008), the Good Herbs (Mexico 2010), Old Cats (Chile 2010), Poetry (Korea 2010), and A Separation (Iran (2011) offer important counter-narratives to the feminization of Alzheimer’s disease as decay. This talk aims to shed light on how these counter-narratives offer feminist/intersectional perspectives on Alzheimer’s disease. Concepts of womanhood, sisterhood, mothering, and matrophobia in these films will be linked in this discussion to crucial issues such as solidarity, empathy, assisted suicide, suicide, and violence against women.

Co-Sponsored by:

• Center for the Study of Women