Week 4: Postmodern Appropriations
Section 2: Wednesday, Nov. 4, 5-8 pm

Hedwig and the Angry Inch , Canada, 2001, Dir: John Cameron Mitchell
Presented by Francis Shor

Hedwig and the Angry Inch is a 2001 musical film based on the stage musical of the same title about a fictional rock and roll band fronted by an East German transgendered singer. The film was adapted and directed by John Cameron Mitchell, who also portrayed the title role. The music and lyrics are by Stephen Trask. The musical has gathered a devoted cult following similar to that of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. In 2001, the film won the Best Director and Audience Awards at the Sundance Film Festival as well as Best Directorial Debut from the National Board of Review, the Gotham Awards, and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. (Source: Wikipedia)

Dr. Francis Shor is a Professor of History specializing in twentieth-century US social and cultural history. His work in Utopian Studies is reflected in Utopianism and Radicalism in a Reforming America, 1888-1918 (1997) and Tran/Forming Utopia (2009). He has published on the black freedom movement and has written extensively on the connections between labor and gender issues in a comparative context. Dying Empire: U. S. Imperialism and Global Resistance (2009) deals with the the history of U.S. imperialism. A veteran activist in peace, justice, and international solidarity campaigns, he is a long-time board member of the Michigan Coalition for Human Rights.