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Museums offer four films celebrating women

In honour of International Women’s Day on March 8, the Niagara-on-the-Lake Museum and RiverBrink Art Museum are co-hosting a series of four documentaries.
Local Staff

In honour of International Women’s Day on March 8, the Niagara-on-the-Lake Museum and RiverBrink Art Museum are co-hosting a series of four documentaries.

The films will be offered as part of the NOTL Museum’s Doc Club, which meets virtually to discuss and debate Canadian documentaries, many of them courtesy of the rich National Film Board library, says Barbara Worthy, the museum’s visitor and members services assistant. Participants watch the shows on their own time, and then bring their observations to a virtual discussion. 

During March, the Doc Club’s four films highlight the fearless, the feisty, and the tenacity of some of Canada’s often unheralded heroines, she says. “They share a typical resilient Canadian identity, and come from the world of art, medicine, and the political sphere.”

 The first film in March is part of the NFB series, The Canadians, and tells the story of Agnes Macphail, who became Canada’s first woman Member of Parliament exactly 100 years ago. The debate will be held on Friday, March 5, at 10 a.m. 

“The ‘Doc Club’ has proven to be a welcome break in our pandemic lives,” said museum volunteer Judy Thornton. “We all miss the Shaw’s films this winter, and it’s been good fun to have a good-hearted debate over tea and shortbread.” 

The series continues with By Woman’s Hand, with a discussion on March 12; Wanted! Doctor on Horseback, with a discussion on March 19; and wraps up with Bone Wind Fire, an evocative journey into the hearts, minds and eyes of Georgia O’Keeffe, Emily Carr and Frida Kahlo – three of the 20th century’s most remarkable artists, with a discussion on March 26. All are at 10 a.m. 

The month of March is also designated Women’s History Month in the U.S., Australia and the U.K. Canada’s celebration is always in October, to correspond with Persons Day, honouring the ground-breaking legislation known as The Persons Case of October 1929, which gave women the right to sit in Canada’s Senate. Registration is required to join the Doc Club discussions and to receive links for each documentary.

For more information contact: [email protected] or [email protected].