Between Remembered and Forgotten: Haunted Women, Distorted Memory

Admission is free. No advance reservations. Your seat will be assigned to you when you pick up your ticket at the box office. Seats are assigned on a first come, first served basis. The box office opens one hour before the event.

The Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA) is a vital, international, non-profit network of professionals dedicated to the advancement of effective, ethical and inclusive archival practices for the preservation, cataloging and exhibition of moving image materials. Essential to its longevity and educational mission are AMIA’s many student chapters at leading universities around the world. The first of these chapters was founded in 2000 at UCLA and in the years since its members have contributed to the mission of the UCLA Film & Television Archive in myriad ways behind the scenes in support of its preservation, collections and cataloging efforts, with some going on to join the Archive staff and leadership.

The Archive is thrilled now to continue with the second, public-facing collaboration with these passionate students for their program Between Remembered and Forgotten: Haunted Women, Distorted Memory.

Archivists are deeply concerned with what is remembered or forgotten. Sometimes memory becomes tangled, obscured and altered, twisting itself into imperceivable forms. Between Remembered and Forgotten: Haunted Women, Distorted Memory explores film representations of haunted women as emblems of memory work. How we think of ourselves, the people around us, the spaces we inhabit and the roles we play are central to the hauntings in this film series. When we are haunted, we make tangible what is imperceptible.

The Sign of the Ram

U.S., 1948

Paralyzed while saving her step-children and haunted by the life she once lived, Aries poet Leah St. Aubyn (Susan Peters in her comeback and also final film role) becomes increasingly jealous and manipulative, twisting the feelings and poisoning the minds of her family to the breaking point. The Sign of the Ram, based on Margaret Ferguson’s novel of the same title, foregrounds personal, individual memory in its darkest depths, capable of destroying lives.

35mm, color, 84 min. Director: John Sturges. Writer: Charles Bennett. With: Susan Peters, Phyllis Thaxter, Alexander Knox.

The Innocents

U.S., 1961

Glittering in gorgeous black and white comes the gothic psychological horror film based on Henry James’ The Turn of The Screw. Governess Miss Gideons, played by Deborah Kerr, cares for the children of Bly, an estate nestled in the remote, idyllic countryside. With each passing day, the manor twists darker, the children harden into cruelty, and time grows foggy. Kerr delivers a mesmerizing performance as a woman haunted and hysterical, never trusting her own shadow.

DCP, b&w, 100 min. Director: Jack Clayton. Writer: William Archibald, Truman Capote. With: Deborah Kerr, Peter Wyngarde, Michael Redgrave.