Hobart and William Smith Colleges

21 February 2012 Filmmaker Ghertner Joins Fisher Center

The Fisher Center for the Study of Women and Men will welcome filmmaker Nancy Ghertner on Wednesday, Feb. 22, to discuss her latest film After I Pick the Fruit, which follows the lives of five farmworkers in Sodus, N.Y. Beginning at 5 p.m. in the Intercultural Affairs House, Ghertner will explore what we can learn from farmworkers, and will ask the community to more carefully consider the question, Who is picking our food?

Following her talk, Ghertner will lead a film screening of After I Pick the Fruit at 7 p.m. in the Vandervort Room.

Ghertners full-length documentary delves into the world of the farmworker following the daily course of life through the eyes of five immigrant women. The film highlights the struggles of the farmworkers as women, laborers, community members and mothers-over a 10 year period. With breathtaking footage from Sodus and beyond including Mexico, Florida and the U.S. border into Mexico the film brings to life the sharp impact of the post-9/11 crackdown on illegal immigration.

Ghertneris a visual artist and filmmaker of both experimental and documentary films. She was a producer and cinematographer with W. Keith McManus of330 Miles to Justice, which documents the 2003 Farmworkers March from Seneca Falls to Albany. She collaborated extensively with Susannah Newman in ImageMovementsSound Festival dance films.

Other documentary projects includeIn Our Own Backyard: The Hidden Realities of Women Farmworkers,Mother Rabbit Watching,andAcross Cultures, which won a Videography Award for documenting community cultures. Ghertner is a founding member of the Farmworker Womens Institute, and served as a board member for the Wayne County Multi-Cultural Arts Project. She is a member of Wayne Action for Racial Equality.