PRESS RELEASE:

As part of its Women and Girls Initiative, KUED partners with Spy Hop productions on four short films by young Utah filmmakers that explore what it means to be a young woman today. Women Redefined airs Thursday, March 28 at 7:00 p.m. Topics range from sexual violence to marriage and include a 15-year-old boy's take on feminism.

In “Defending Dignity,” Grace Haley and Maura Coursey, two teen filmmakers, explore the realities of sexual violence in their generation. Young women are most often raped by an intimate partner or someone they know, but most people assume rapes are committed by strangers. The issue, they conclude, is not black or white.

“The Woman Inside Me,” by Kassandra Cervantes and Alish Archibald, explores the challenges a transgendered woman faces. What does it mean to be a woman? The wardrobe, appearance, makeup, expectations and lifestyle don’t come easily. What happens when you identify yourself as being someone society doesn’t acknowledge?

“Realm of Possibility,” by Adriana Martinez and Laela Omar, looks at the pressures society places on girls that affects the decisions they make about marriage and education as they transition into young adults.

“The F Word,” by A.J. Ball and Mallory McDaniel, follows a 15-year-old boy’s journey to discover the meaning of feminism. He explores feminism through interviews with activists in the Salt Lake community.

Woman Redefined will be immediately followed at 7:30 p.m. by a rebroadcast of award-winning producer Nancy Green’s film, Makers: Voices of Utah Women, looking at the stories of the women involved in the feminist movement in Utah.

On March 27, the University of Utah College of Social Work and the Univesrity Office of Equity and Diverstiy will host a screening, panel discussion and reception around Makers: Voices of Utah Women and Women Redefined from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.

For more information about these screenings, go to kued.org/WGL.

Women Redefined is funded by the Larry S. and Allyson Smith Challenge Fund. MAKERS is an intitiative by PBS and AOL presented by Simple.

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