Earlier this month, the 12th annual four-day-long Gender Studies Film Festival wrapped up with a showing of the 2019 film “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” sparking reflection and discussion on gender roles after its Nov. 6 showing at Mississippi State University’s recently completed Jim and Thomas Duff Center.
Director Céline Sciamma’s “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” is an award-winning romantic drama set in France in the late 1700s, exploring the short-lived romance between portrait painter Marianne (played by Noémie Merlant) and her subject, Héloïse (played by Adèle Haenel). The film explores topics like queer love and patriarchy.
During the discussion, Tucker Griffith, a freshman cybersecurity major at MSU, applauded the film for its depiction of how separate the worlds men and women occupied were in the 1700s.
“I think it’s a really good representation of the roles of women and men at the time,” Griffith said. “I think it portrays the two different universes men and women lived in at the time very well, kind of like their own microcosms.”
Assistant Professor of Classics Mary Gilbert led the discussion, inviting guests to provide their perspectives and to bounce ideas off one another. Guests discussed the roles of women in art, abortion and the need to acknowledge the expectations of women in society.
Gilbert said that although society has changed since the time depicted by the movie, the themes it brings up are still worth exploring.
“It may not work exactly like you would want it to work today, knowing what we know and having the ideas about justice and openness that we have today, but it’s still worth really investigating these little private moments that women of all sorts and shapes… experienced in the past,” Gilbert said.
The discussion then moved towards the parallels of the film and the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Gilbert later shared additional thoughts on the film and the following discussion.
“What I was interested in were all these ancient parallels… The conversation that we had about Ovid, death, love and marriage, the kind of poetic or artistic life,” Gilbert said. “I think that that film also lends itself to many other discussions.”
Ending the discussion, Gilbert pointed out parallels between themes in the works of the ancient Greek poet Sappho and themes in “Portrait of a Lady on Fire.” At the end of the film, Marianne and Héloise discuss their memories and feelings, hoping to hold onto them as Héloise is forced to marry a man. Gilbert provided a personal translation of parts of the poem “Sappho 94,” thought to possibly be about a woman Sappho loved being married off to a man. In this poem, Sappho takes the time to tell her love interest to remember all the times they shared, the joy they had and how much she loved her. Gilbert said she believes the film was influenced by Sappho’s work and that they parallel one another.
Every day of the three-day-long film fest ended the same way, with a rousing conversation about that night’s film and its themes. Other films shown were “Sinners” on Nov. 3, “Lisa Frankenstine” on Nov. 4 and “Bottoms” on Nov. 5.
“Sinners,” a 2025 film set in Mississippi, drew new attendees to the festival.
While other students left once the discussion had finished, several stayed even longer to speak with Gilbert, elaborating on previously shared ideas and exchanging contact information with other guests, wrapping up the last day of this year’s Gender Studies Film Fest on a positive note.
Assistant Professor Kemeshia Swanson shared that the discussion during this year’s film festival was more successful than last year’s.
“I think that this year, in general of course, I think we chose some good films, but also the students were more engaged. And it was an awesome event as a whole,” Swanson said.
While not every Gender Studies Film Fest can have a movie as recent and as close to home like “Sinners” to draw new viewers in, staff and returning guests alike can still look forward to next year’s Gender Studies Film Fest for another round of rousing discussion with their fellow students and Starkville residents.
