The University Art Museum will host the 10th annual Feminist Border Arts Film Festival along with the 2nd annual Zine Festival Friday, June 6 and Saturday, June 7.
Co-founded by M. Catherine Jonet and Laura Anh Williams, associate professors of gender and sexuality studies at New Mexico State University, the festival corresponds with June being Pride Month with variously formatted stories exploring feminism, LGBTQ+ and Borderlands perspectives. Admission is free and open to the public.
“The festival hits the markers of everything the University Art Museum is here for,” said museum education and outreach coordinator, Eva Gabriella Flynn. “To promote the work of marginalized artists and connect the Las Cruces community to diverse stories.”
The FBAFF will be held both Friday and Saturday from 11 am – 8 pm with the Zine Fest being held only on Saturday.
FBAFF will screen 66 short and feature-length films as well as host presentations and panels from artists, filmmakers, and scholars. Speakers this year include film maker and scholar Celine Parreñas Shimizu, cartoonist and graphic memoirist Nicole J. Georges, along with artists and filmmakers Stef Choi and Tony Candelaria, who have worked on animated films such as “Coraline.” The festival will also include a special screening of the film “Half-Life” in honor of collaborating with the University Art Museum.
The Zine Festival, led by Williams, returns for a second year offering a chance for event goers to socially engage through print instead of screen. According to Williams, Zines are an important feminist endeavor as it allows women to not just be consumers of art and culture, but makers of it as well. This year, these self-made publications were received from 35 countries and are available for purchase with most exhibitors accepting cash, Venmo or PayPal. For those looking for a more hands-on Zine experience, a comic workshop will be offered at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
