Year Five of Scarecrow Academy brings an ambitious discussion series titled "Women in Trouble: Great Melodrama in Film," an in-depth look at an often-derided, but frequently glorious genre sometimes called "women's pictures." In these ten weeks of free online conversations, we explore the way imaginative filmmakers have put women at the center of their hothouse creative universes. David Lynch refuses to describe his films, but has sometimes summed them up with the phrase "A Woman in Trouble." In this series we'll see how potent that situation can be.

Discussions are led by National Society of Film Critics member Robert Horton, author of the Seasoned Ticket column at the Scarecrow blog and Scarecrow's "Historian-Programmer in Residence." The Zoom sessions are free and open to all; there's no homework, but we ask that you register online in advance. We'll be meeting on Saturdays at 2 p.m., beginning March 4, 2023. Note: there will be no class on April 29.

Attendance is free, registration is required: https://bit.ly/scarecrowacademy