Visiting Filmmakers Series: Representation Matters
"You write in order to change the world… The world changes according to the way people see it, and if you alter, even by a millimeter, the way a person looks or people look at reality, then you can change it."
James Baldwin's faith in the power of art inspire us still. The faculty and staff at Film at Mason and the Visiting Filmmakers Series believe in this power and in using our art -- filmmaking -- to tell stories that matter. Moreover, we believe in our artists, who can change the world. The VFS mission statement speaks to our commitment: "Every semester, the Visiting Filmmakers Series at Mason brings to campus a variety of films and artists.
That variety has a shape and mission: the Series is committed to supporting social justice, diverse and inclusive filmmaking, and innovative artists. The work of our guests is provocative, groundbreaking, politically engaged, anti-racist and inclusive."
The work continues. And the way forward is at once clear and complicated, premised on protest, education, and communication. The way forward is also premised on the past, a past from which we can learn even as we resist it. As Baldwin asserted, "History is not the past. It is the present. We carry our history with us. We are our history." History, like art, like filmmaking, and like the future, is a process. That process must be inclusive and intentional, educational, empathetic, and self-aware. That process is our present, and it will be our work and our commitment in the days, weeks, and years to come.
See VFS Linktree here.
Campus support and counseling resources:
- Black Filmmakers Association at Mason BFA on Mason360
- Black Student Alliance GMUBSA on Mason360
- Counseling and Psychological Services CAPS
- Center for Culture, Equity, and Empowerment CCEE
- Student Health Service SHS
- Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, & Questioning LGBTQ+
- Women and Gender Studies Center WGST Center
