About Women And Film History International 

Women and Film History International (WFHI) is committed to the research, preservation, and exhibition of women’s global film history. 

WFHI is a gender diverse and trans inclusive organization, both on our steering committee and in our membership. We strive to intervene upon dominant historical narratives that have largely excluded women, LGBTQIA+ folks, and people of color.

One of WFHI’s most important activities is organizing the Women and the Silent Screen conference (WSS), a biennial scholarly event that focuses on women’s diverse contributions to global film industries and cinema cultures before synchronous sound production. This event draws together researchers, historians, students, archivists, curators, and filmmakers from around the world.

The first Women and the Silent Screen conference, then called “Gender and Silent Cinema,” took place at Utrecht University in 1999. Since then, the conference has traveled around the United States and Europe as well as to Mexico, Australia, and China, among other places.

Many of our founding members and extended network were also involved in two key feminist scholarly initiatives that began in the late 1990s and early 2000s: The Women Film Pioneers Project, founded by Jane M. Gaines in 1994 and launched online in 2013; and the Women and Film History International book series (now known as Women Media History Now!) at the University of Illinois Press, established in 2009.

Since 2021, WFHI also hosts Entr’acte, an online-only event held during the years that alternate with WSS.

WFHI is entirely volunteer run.

The 2022-2025 Steering Committee:

Drake Stutesman, President

Kristine Harris, Chair

Tanya Goldman, Treasurer

Minette Hillyer, Past President

Kate Saccone,  Future President

Canan Balan, Member at Large

Tami Williams, Member at Large

Kiki Loveday, Member at Large

Enri Ceballos, Member at Large

Kathy Rose O’Regan, Member at Large

Hillary Hallett, Member at Large, representing WSS 2022 host