Kelly Gallagher is a filmmaker and animator working on her MFA at the University of Iowa. She makes radical and colorful films about resistance, revolution, and struggles against patriarchy, racism, capitalism, and colonialism.
SSH: What inspired your current film?
Kelly Gallagher: I’ve been wanting to make a film about street harassment for awhile, as it’s something that I’ve inevitably had to deal with for years since I’m a woman and we live in a violently misogynistic, patriarchal society. For me, “I AM THE MACE” is about identifying myself as a weapon against street harassment. Like the mace that I carry with me, I too, as a woman can viscerally and aggressively fight back against street harassment.
“I AM THE MACE” is about tapping into our justified anger, and utilizing it to holler back, to look our harassers straight in the eyes and assertively and confidently shut them down immediately. Making films that explore ways in which we as women can visualize our own power and strength is so imperative because sometimes visualizing our own agency is what reminds us and inspires us to utilize it.
Find more of Kelly’s work on her website and her Vimeo page.
