In commemoration of International Women’s Day, ArtRage Gallery and the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation are pleased to bring activist, author and filmmaker, Jennifer Baumgardner to Syracuse to present her 2013 film; It Was Rape. An intensely important documentary that explores sexual violence through the experiences of eight survivors. About the Film: Rape is wrong, illegal, reprehensible—and yet still tragically common. In this film, eight women tell their diverse personal stories of sexual assault, from a Midwestern teenager trying alcohol for the first time to a Native American woman gradually coming to terms with her abusive childhood. Gripping and emotional, this film is an opportunity to empathize with people—not just absorb faceless statistics—and to puncture the silence and denial that allow sexual assault to thrive. Ultimately, these stories shed light on how this epidemic affects us all.

About the Filmmaker Jennifer Baumgardner:

Jennifer was an editor at Ms. magazine from 1993-1997. She is the author of five books: including Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism, and the Future and Grassroots: A Field Guide for Feminist Activism. In 2005 she created and produced the award-winning documentary I Had an Abortion. Jennifer and her work have been featured in venues from Oprah to NPR, and BBC News Hour to Bitch Magazine. She has keynoted at more than 300 universities, organizations, and conferences.

Presented with funding from the IDEAS Collaborative