The Hopkins Center Highlights Strong Women of the Screen

Gone Girl Credit: Courtesy Hopkins Center for the Arts

With a screening of David Fincher’s critically acclaimed Gone Girl this Sunday, the Dartmouth Film Society kicks off a creatively programmed winter film series.

The nine films in the “Hear Me Roar” series, which screen every Sunday for the next two months at the Hopkins Center for the Arts in Hanover, N.H., highlight a wide variety of “independent, clever and brave” women of cinema. While it does not appear that Helen Reddy was a consultant for the series, the boldness and confidence of her biggest hit has clearly provided the Hop’s programmers with thematic and titular guidance.

The series conceives of the “strong women” theme fairly broadly, and across a wide variety of films. Recent American fiction films are well represented: Tommy Lee Jones’ third directorial effort, The Homesman (in which Hilary Swank gives a highly praised performance), and the Reese Witherspoon vehicle Wild join Gone Girl on the slate.

She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry Credit: Courtesy Hopkins Center for the Arts

Also featured are lesser-known films of recent vintage, including Beyond the Lights and the documentary She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry, about the origins of the modern women’s movement.

Some classic films fit the series’ theme, too, including The Lion in Winter (starring the famously independent Katherine Hepburn), 1950’s All About Eve and, perhaps most intriguingly, Carl-Theodor Dreyer’s monumental 1928 masterpiece, The Passion of Joan of Arc. The chance to see this great film on a large screen is always a noteworthy event.

“Hear Me Roar” runs through March 8. For more information, visit hop.dartmouth.edu.