Join us Wednesday, May 13 at 6:00pm for a film screening featuring the below selection of short films related to the topic of laundry, selected by LAB^4 artist India Johnson:
Admission is free. Please RSVP below.
Clotheslines by Roberta Cantow (32 min)
With verve and humor, this film shows the love/hate relationship that women have with the task of cleaning the family's clothes. As we see the clothes flapping in the wind and hear the voices - some proud, some angry, some wistful - we realize that doing laundry calls forth deep feelings about one's role in life. Some remember when their mothers and grandmothers tackled the same chores using washtubs and washboards, or even river streams. This engaging film pays homage to the commonality of women's experience. Most of Clotheslines was shot in New York City, Brooklyn and Queens.
I always do my collars first by Conni Castille and Allison Bohl (25 min)
Following four dynamic Cajun women in Southwestern Louisiana as they go about their daily lives while telling and showing us what ironing means to them. Ironing is a nurturing, emotional, and learned process, transmitted from mothers to daughters; it is an activity performed with aesthetic sensibilities that connect these women to other women in their community.
The Washing Society by Lizzie Olesker and Lynne Sachs (45 min)
When you drop off a bag of dirty laundry, who’s doing the washing and folding? THE WASHING SOCIETY brings us into New York City laundromats and the experiences of the people who work there. Collaborating together for the first time, filmmaker Lynne Sachs and playwright Lizzie Olesker observe the disappearing public space of the neighborhood laundromat and the continual, intimate labor that happens there. With a title inspired by the 1881 organization of African-American laundresses, THE WASHING SOCIETY investigates the intersection of history, underpaid work, immigration, and the sheer math of doing laundry.
There will be a short break between the 2nd and 3rd film. Popcorn and refreshments will be provided.
