Soft chatter intertwined with the smell of warm pizza filled the 22 Tappan Theater as movie-goers came to Race Reels to watch the coming-of-age short film, “Long Line of Ladies,” which depicted a celebration of Indigenous women on Thursday, Dec. 14.
Race Reels is a program facilitated by Spanish teacher Lindsay Davis and math and Racial Awareness teacher Hayley Wells. The program meets monthly throughout the school year where attendees come and watch films about topics of identity and race.
The film is set in California and is centered around an Indigenous family, originally from the Karuk Tribe. They are preparing their teenage child, Ahtyirahm, for her Ihuk ceremony: a flower dance to commemorate the beginning of a girl’s womanhood.
The past two films have focused on Indigenous culture to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Month. According to Davis, the facilitators chose to play “Long Line of Ladies” due to the intersectionality shown in the film.
“We have never talked about the intersection of race and people whose bodies have ovaries,” Davis said. “We [chose the film] specifically for the intersection between race, Indigenous people and bodies. We have been more mindful this year to include these intersections.”
During the group discussion, students were able to draw comparisons from the film to their own experiences. Sophomore Lydia Touloumtzis said she was interested in hearing these points of view.
“I enjoyed how the conversation was filled with people making comparisons to different ceremonies in different communities,” Touloumtzis said. “I liked [hearing everyone’s] different coming-of-age experiences and their comments about how great it was that womanhood was being celebrated since in a lot of cultures that is not the case.”
Touloumtzis was not the only one intrigued by these traditions. Sophomore Harper Dresser said she learned a lot from the film.
“I will remember how coming-of-age looks really different in a lot of communities,” Dresser said. “It is very important to notice that coming-of-age exists for all genders and identities. Being able to see that every community is different in their own ways is really important.”
According to Davis, these events show diverse films in order to represent a variety of topics for students to celebrate their differences. Davis said she has a goal to make a change through these nights and hopes “Long Line of Ladies” is able to reach other students, beyond only the attendees.
“With more people coming to Race Reels, our goal is that then they can [bring the lessons they learned to] people around them at school,” Davis said. “I would love for Race Reels to make a big change.”
