“She Who Tells A Story,” the newest exhibition at the Ackland Art Museum, ties film, literature and art together to illustrate the experiences of Arab and Iranian women.
The Ackland Film Forum will showcase four films that have been chosen to represent the exhibition — “The Blessed,” “Mussolini’s Sister,” “Women Without Men” and “3000 Nights.” All of these films were created by female Arab and Iranian filmmakers.
Lindsey Hale, public programs coordinator at the Ackland, said the forum helps to connect the art in the museum and the films through culture in a broader sense.
“Some of the themes that may be expressed in the exhibition, like ‘She Who Tells a Story,’ are also reflected on the big screen, and there are female photographers and female filmmakers all around the world telling their stories and their perspectives,” Hale said.
The exhibition has been traveling across the country.
Allison Portnow Lathrop, head of public programs at the Ackland, said that the exhibition came to Chapel Hill from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The Ackland is one of the final stops for the exhibition.
“It’s had a life before it got to us, which is nice,” Portnow Lathrop said. “We’ve been able to see how folks reacted to it, and for the museum part, for me personally doing public programs for it, it’s a great show to bring the UNC community together with photography. I think a lot of people connect with that well in the area.”
Portnow Lathrop said that having female artists be the focus of both the film forum and the exhibition is an amazing opportunity. She said the exhibit and forum are unique because they both include artists who are currently working and artists from the Middle East, which brings a different perspective.
“It’s nice to have perspectives that are not like my own so that I can see other people’s lives and see how they’re living in the world,” Portnow Lathrop said. “Also to see how my own worldview resonates with theirs so much, which is great, obviously.”
