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Women's Movement/ U.S Feminism Women of ColorLesbian/ GenderGlobal FeminismRacismPopular Culture/ Media AnalysesVictims of Crime Resource/ LawViolence Against WomenYouthWomen's Body/ Self-ImageWomen's Health/ DisabilityWomen's Spirituality/ Creativity

To see a list of WRC Video's by Title
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Compiled by: Yuriko Furuhata
M.A. Cultural Studies

Updated by Andréa Mays
Ph.D. student in American Studies
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New Films!

Peace, Propaganda & The Promised Land
Beyond Good & Evil
Understanding America’s Terrorist Crisis:
What Should Be Done
Constructing Public Opinion
Captive Audience: Advertising Invaded The Classroom
Amy Goodman
Seen but Not Heard
La Operacion
I, The Worst of All
Surname Viet Given Name Nam
Abortion: Stories from North and South
Rabbit Proof Fence
See Me: Five Young Latinas
Our Bodies, Our Minds
Desert Hearts
XXXY
The Shape of Water
Black and White
Belfast Girls
The Sermons of Sister Jane: Believing the Unbelievable
The Lost Tribe
Nalini by Day, Nancy by Night
Everyone Their Grain of Sand
Wedding Advice: Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace
Flowers for Guadalupe
I Was a Teenage Feminist
Paris Was a Woman
Prison Lullabies


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Women’s Movement/U.S. Feminism

A Century of Women: Work and Family
(1994; 98mins, B & W, Color) Part I of the three in series.
Directed by: Silvia Morales
Produced by: TBS Production, Inc.
Genre: Historical Documentary.
Issue: Social history of American women and labor issues in 20th century.
Rating: Feminist. Educational and informative. Recommended for class.
Note: Less focus on racial and ethnic diversity among “American” women.

This video combines archival footage, photographs, interviews, and fiction to present an overview of the social history of women’s movement in the U.S. focusing on worker’s rights and traditional labor division. It features biographies of earlier activists as well as interviews with contemporary feminists. Figures include Pauline Newman, Clara Lemlich, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Frances Perkins, Mitsuye Yamada, Dolores Huerta, Betty Friedan, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Hillary Clinton.

A Fine and Long Tradition
(1996, 7mins, B/W and Color)
Produced by: National women’s History Project
Genre: Music Video, 135 Historical Images
Issues: Brief comprehensive look at women’s history; through women’s achievements and various women’s movements across the United States.
Rating: Good

This short video illustrates how women have made history during the course of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This video encapsulates women’s activism from suffrage, to The Women’s Movement to contemporary feminist activism.

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Chisholm ’72: Unbought and Unbossed
(2004; DVD, 77 mins., Color)
Directed by:  Shola Lynch
Genre: Documentary
Issues: Race, Class, Gender and Presidential Politics.
Rating: Excellent for all informational purposes.

This unsentimental and illuminating documentary examines the campaign, cultural climate and political impact Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm’s 1972 run for the presidency had on the nation. The film combines newsreels, behind the scene footage and interviews with those involved in the campaign, including commentary from Chisholm herself.

Dr. Gerda Lerner – Women and History I & II: Thinking Allowed Video Collection
(1994; 2 x 30mins, Color)
Directed by: Author Bloch
Distributed by: Thinking Allowed Productions
5966 Zinn Dr., Oakland CA 94611
Genre: One on One Interview with Dr. Jeffrey Mishlove
Issues: Women’s right to history, constructions of gender, formations of patriarchy,

In a one on one interview, Dr. Lerner discusses the origins of women’s history as a field of study, her personal experiences researching the topic, and how the institutions of church and state have worked together to naturalize the subordination of women within societies. This two-part video interview is one installment in a series of conversations with cutting edge thinkers of the twenty-first century, produced by Thinking Allowed productions. The program’s host is Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD, psychotherapist, and author of The Roots of Consciousness and Psi Development Systems.

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Dreams of Equality
(Circa 1990; 27mins, Color)
Produced and Distributed by: Cynthia Salzman Mondell &
Allen Mondell
Media Projects Inc.
Genre: Docudrama
Issues: The Women’s Rights Movement, the suffrage, abolition and nineteenth century gender relations.
Rating: Excellent historical illustration of important events and the sentiments of the 19th century.

This docudrama captures the political and power dynamics that existed between women and men in the mid 19th century, particularly focusing on the first women’s rights convention held in 1848. The film chronicles women’s early struggles for equality and voting rights, using written correspondence between a brother and sister over a thirty-year span.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony: Not For Ourselves Alone: Part I
(1999; 94mins, B&W/Color) W/ Closed Caption in English
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony: Not For Ourselves Alone: Part II
(1999; 64mins, B&W/Color) W/ Closed Caption in English
Directed and Produced by: Ken Burns, Paul Barnes.
Created by: PBS
Genre: Historical Documentary
Issue: Women’s Suffrage Movement.
Rating: Feminist. Educational, political and inspirational.
Recommended for class.

This biographical documentary of two “Founding Mothers” of the Women’s Movement in the United States traces the history of the Women’s Suffrage Movement back to the early 19th century, when women were prohibited of the rights to vote, to own property, to enter the professions and colleges, to testify at a trial, and to have custody of their own children. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony challenged the constitutional and social subordination of women, and worked towards their ultimate goal: women’s right to vote. Although they realized the importance of eradicating all the inequalities in American society and thus worked along with abolitionists, towards the end of the struggle, the limitation of a white women’s movement became clear. Doubly oppressed by her sex and race, black women and women of color were excluded from the heated battle between white women’s organizations and emancipated black male leaders over the idea that “female suffrage should come first, Negro suffrage last.” Finally, it was in 1920 with the ratification of the 19th Amendment that women were granted the right to vote.

Grrlyshow
(2000; 18mins, Color)
Directed by: Kara Herold
Distributed by: Women Make Movies
Genre: Documentary
Issues: Self-publishing, women’s writing co-operatives, alternative press
Rating: Excellent resource for classes dealing with grassroots organizing and publication.

“An 18-minute explosion of fringe feminism and print media, Grrlyshow is a powerful and rebellious message on the girl zine revolution.” Zines are examined as a cultural phenomenon, and an outlet for social and political change. This video gives a short, behind the scenes, look at the benefits of creating zines and offers resources for publishing. The editors of “Bust”, (Debbie Stoller), “Bamboo Girl” (S. Margarita) and “Plotz” (Barbara Klugman) give first hand accounts of getting their zines off the ground and keeping them running.

Guns & Mothers
(2003; 53mins, Color-close captioned)
Directed by: Thom Powers
Distributed by: First Run/Icarus Films
32 Court Street, 21st Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Genre: Documentary
Issues: Gun violence in America.
Rating: Good

This film chronicles two groups, The Million Moms and the Second Amendment Sisters, and their response to the Columbine High School shootings and persistent gun violence in urban areas. Though these groups have opposing positions on gun control, they agree that women should have a voice in shaping gun control laws in America.

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Hair Piece: A Film for Nappy-Headed People
(1985; 10mins, Color)
Directed by: Ayoka Chenzira
Distributed by: Women Make Movies
Issues: African-American history and culture and the politics of beauty.
Rating: Good brief informational and historical look at black women’s beauty practices.

“An animated satire on the question of self image for African-American women living in a society where beautiful hair is viewed as hair that blows in the wind and lets you be free.” This film provides a brief examination of the challenges black women face cosmetically treating their hair to make it conform to Eurocentric standards of beauty. Gives a brief history of African-American hair care products and celebrates black women’s efforts to maintain natural hair with African aesthetics.

I shot Andy Warhol
(1996; 104mins, Color)
Directed by: Mary Harron
Presented by: Playhouse International Pictures
Genre: Narrative drama.
Issue: A radical feminism. Popular Culture of the 1960s.
Rating: Provocative and political.
Note: Includes strong language. (Beware, the videotape case is loose).
Valerie Jean Solanas, a radical anti-male feminist, wrote the ‘S.C.U.M. (Society for Cutting Up Men) Manifest’ in the 60s, advocating female superiority over male. The film introduces her as a survivor of sexual molestation by her father, an extremely bright young psychology student, then a misandrist activist, who tries to get Andy Warhol to produce her play, ‘S.C.U.M.’

Ida B. Wells: A Passion for Justice
(1989; 53mins, Color)
Directed and Produced by: William Greaves
Issues: Activist journalism, anti-lynching campaigns, the suffragists movement, reconstruction and race relations.
Rating: Excellent historical resource.

This documentary offers an interesting and informative look at one of America’s often forgotten civil rights heroes. Ida B. Wells was a tireless activist for anti-lynching laws in the U.S. She used her position as a journalist to bring to light the violence perpetrated against blacks in southern and northern states.

Iron Jawed Angles
(2003; 124mins, Color)
Directed By: Katja Von Garnier
Distributed by: HBO, Inc.
Genre: Feature film/dramatization
Issues: Women’s Suffrage

“Taking a fresh and contemporary look at a pivotal event in American history, IRON JAWED ANGELS TELLS the story of how defiant and brilliant young activist Alice Paul (Hillary Swank) and Lucy Burns (Frances O’Connor) took the women’s suffrage movement by storm, putting their lives at risk to help American women win the right to vote.”

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 I Was a Teenage Feminist
(2005; 62 mins., -Summer ’07)
Directed By: Therese Shecter
Distributed by: Women Make Movies
Genre: Video journal/documentary
Issues: Evolving perceptions of feminism.
Rating: Very

This video follows filmmaker Therese Shecter as she reflects on her experience growing up in a feminist home, and as she questions the dissonance that young women feel identifying with the word feminist in the contemporary context. This humorous, very personal look at the evolving meaning and significance of feminism offers a range of perceptions associated with the F-word.

New Mexico Statewide Women’s Studies Conference
(1997; 53mins, Color)
1) Art and Construction of Women by Andrea Isabel Quijada 2) Sexual Orientation in Cultural Context: The Interwoven Fabric of Identity by Courtney Mitchell and Carolyn Sandoval
Genre: Home Video/ Presentations
Issue: 1) Chicana art and feminism; 2) A holistic understanding of identity
Rating: A good record of the event.

The first presentation by Andrea Isabel Quijada explores a spiritual and cultural connection between the Aztec goddess Coatlicue and the Virgin of Guadalupe, which is expressed in Chicana art. The second presentation focuses on different theoretical models that analyze a formation of ‘identity.’ The presenters discuss importance of integrating as many as 16 variables to understand identity formation.

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NWSA Conference in Las Vegas 2002: “Political Women, Political Power”
(2002; 95mins, Color)
Filmed by: NWSA
Genre: Plenary Speakers
Issues: This video includes women in leadership roles in national and international organizations speaking about the uses of power toward political action.
Rating: Excellent source of women’s personal accounts of their place in history.

This tape includes the following speakers:
Colette Morrow, NWSA President - panel introduction.
Nadine Strossen, ACLU President- “ACLU and Women’s rights.” This speech looks at the ACLU’s history of defending women’s rights and how “legal rights in theory” are the first step in honorning rights in practice.
Ellie Smeal, President, Feminist Majority-“Maximizing the Power of Women’s Movements.” Smeal’s speech offers suggestions to maximize women’s power and gives examples of how women’s activism has influenced foreign policy, particularly in Afghanistan.
Sonali Kolhatker, Vice-President of the Afghan Women’s Mission – “The Impact of U.S. intervention on Afghan Women’s Rights.” Kolhatker gives a personal account of her work with RAWA and her experiences as a radio talk show host on Pacifica Radio and how important it is for Western women to be conscious and respectful of their potential to impact positively and negatively women’s struggles around the globe. She also discussed are U.S./foreign policy and the CIA’s historical involvement with conservative and extremist religious groups in the far and Middle-East.

NWSA Conference in Las Vegas 2002: “NWSA: Women of All Colors Building an Inclusive Organization Together”
(2002; 117mins, Color)
Filmed by: NWSA
Genre: Plenary Speakers
Issues: Interracial organizing, activism and coalition building. Examines racism in Women’s Studies and other activist organizations and introduces new models to create change in existing practices that make organizations more inclusive.
Rating: Excellent generative and historical resource examining Women’s Studies.

This tape includes the following speakers:
Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Director of Women’s Studies, Spellman College – “Disloyalty to Whiteness, Practicing What We Preach.” Sheftall speaks to the need for feminists to gain more personal involvement in community and in their professions to challenge racism. Guy-Sheftall
defines the phrase white “sollopsism” as a mindset that allows for pronouncing “the word racism while withholding…body and soul from the reality that word could evoke…”
Note: feedback on first 10 mins of audio.

Lisa Albrecht, University of Minnesota – “New paradigms for Social Justice: 21st Century Feminist Work.” Albrecht claims, “To do work toward the transformation of higher education in this country we must do activist work both inside and outside higher education institutions.” Albrecht offers the essential elements for movement as consciousness, vision, and strategy. She claims this element would allow for an inclusion of the complexity of lived experiences and breaking away from fear. She offers presenting “whiteness” as a lack to break the paradigm in Women’s Studies white focus.

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NWSA Conference in Las Vegas 2002: “Body Politic”
(2002; 90mins, Color)
Filmed by: NWSA
Genre: Plenary Speakers
Issues: The speakers on this tape examine the female body as a present factor in the discourse and activism of feminist politics.
Rating: Excellent classroom resource for Women’s Studies, political science and social sciences courses.
The speakers on this tape include the following:
Introduction by Barbara G. Brents, University of Nevada

Catherine Holland, University of Missouri – “Gender and Political Universalism in the Age of the Federalists.” Holland examines the impact of how certain notions of personhood encoded in the Constitution (primarily whiteness, maleness and property holding persons) are present and function in feminist scholarship today. She also suggests that citizens have to be mindful of the ways that claims of universalized citizenship collapse the “two notions of the body.” According to Holland, these notions appear disembodied but claim cultural authority, i.e. that of white males. Secondly, they imprison certain persons in their historical marginalized bodies.

Ann Russo, DePaul University -“White Innocence, White Accountability.”
Russo makes the case for women, white women in particular, to be conscious and accountable for how women’s bodies have been used historically to justify among other political action, slavery, nationalism and the rhetoric of white supremacy. Russo specifically uses U.S. foreign policy towards Afghanistan and the War on Drugs as depicted in film, Traffic (2000) for examples.
Rosemary Garland-Thompson, Emory University- “Integrating Disability/Transforming Feminist Theory.” Garland-Thomson lays out her framework for the Integration and Transformation of Feminist Theory, “Considering Disabilities, I want to argue, shifts the conceptual framework to strengthen our understanding of how multiple systems of oppression intertwine and redefine and mutually constitute one another.”

She Wants to Talk to You
(2001; 29mins, Color, Video; Subtitled-Nepal/U.S.)
Directed by: Anita Chang
Distributed by: Women Make Movies
Genre: Documentary
Issues: Human rights, women’s health, Asia, education, literacy, global gender politics.
Rating: Excellent resource for information about living conditions for women on the global landscape.

“In October 1999 filmmaker Anita Chang befriended three 13-yaer-old-girls while living in Kathmandu, Nepal. Honestly presenting themselves in front of the camera, these girls share with the filmmaker their ideas on marriage, friendship and spirituality.” Chang uses a montage of mediums including poetry and music testimonies to paint a complex picture of the lives of young women in Nepal. The video focuses on young women’s limited opportunities, in Nepal, given that they are culturally denied education. It also includes testimonies from seven women explaining their oppression and liberation in direct relationship to the educational opportunities they received.

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Shortchanging Girls: Shortchanging America
Two separate documentaries on one tape
Shortchanging Girls
(N/A; 17mins, Color)
Created by: American Association of University Women
Genre: Educational video
Issue: Gender equality in education.
Rating: Encouraging but somewhat jingoistic.

This promotional video advocates for gender equity and the development of support system for young girls to remain interested in traditionally male dominated academic disciplines, such as science, math and engineering. Combining interviews with prominent scholars, such as Carol Gilligan, and video footage of conferences and class room sessions, the video links the national defense issue with women’s educational advancement: “provide young girls education, so that America can compete.”

Step By Step: Building A Feminist Movement
(1998; 57mins, B&W/Color)
W/ Closed Captions in English
Created by: University of Wisconsin, Joyce Follet.
Produced by: Joyce Follet.
Distributed by: Women Make Movies, Inc.
Genre: Historical Documentary
Issue: Feminist movement in the ‘40s and ‘50s.
Gender equality and work.
Rating: Feminist. Informative, political and concise.

Focusing on the lives of eight Wisconsin women, six of whom became founders of NOW, this straightforward documentary recaps the history of 20th-century feminism. Interweaving archival footage of the war production industry during WWII, the equal rights movement in the ‘60s and ‘70s, and personal interviews, the film explores the development of women’s movement through various angles (e.g. labor unions, Equal Rights Amendment, class divisions, racism and lesbianism as feminist issues).

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The F Word
(1994; 10mins, Color)
By: Marcia Jarmel and Erin Gallagher
Distributed by: Women Make Movies
Genre: Short form documentary.
Issues: Feminism, women’s rights, women’s history, women’s studies
Rating: Excellent introductory resource on widely held perceptions of feminism.

Jarmel and Gallagher examine the meaning of the word ‘feminism’ through a montage of interview responses that reflect the various stereotypes, misconceptions and ultimately truths, about the what feminism encompasses. This short-form video covers a lot of ground in 10 minutes and is a useful introduction to the subject.

The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter
(1987; 65mins, B&W/Color)
Directed by: Connie Field
Distributed by: Direct Cinema Ltd.
Genre: Historical Documentary
Issue: Women’s experience in war-production industry.
Rating: Engaging, feminist, uplifting and educational.
Recommended for class.
Note: Very low audio quality. Several bad cuts during the first 5 minutes.

Based on interviews with several women who worked in the war-production industry, this remarkable film explores these women’s experiences during and after WWII. Through a brilliant juxtaposition of their stories with archival footage of government propaganda films (which first encouraged women to become war workers, then pressured them to “return to their homes” after the war), the film offers a historical look at job discrimination based on sex and race during the wartime and post-war America. While unprecedented numbers of women entered the traditionally male world of welding, engineering, and building airplanes and ships for the war, black women were getting paid 5¢ less than white women. Similarly, only white women were allowed to have their own locker rooms and washer rooms.

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The Righteous Babes
(1998; 50mins, Color; England)
Directed by: Pratibha Parmar
Distributed by: Women Make Movies
Genre: Documentary
Issues: Feminism, women’s activism, music as popular culture, women’s music history, politics and media.
Rating: Excellent resource for popular culture and cultural studies courses.

“Acclaimed filmmaker Pratibha Parmar (A Place of Rage, Warrior Marks) explores the intersections of feminism with popular music, focusing on the role of female recording artists in the 1990s and their influence on modern women.” Popular music entities Crissie Hynde, Ani DiFranco, Tori Amos, Sinead O’Conner and others discuss the potential politics and power of performing their music. These artists are joined by Gloria Steinem, Camille Paglia and others who critique shifts in feminism and link these shiftsto music’s cultural impact on political activism.

The Sermons of Sister Jane: Believing the Unbelievable
(2006; 53 mins., Color-Spring ’07)
Directed By: Irving Saraf, Allie Light and Carol Monpere
Distributed by: Women Make Movies
Genre: Documentary
Issues: Nun’s speaking out against the corruption and misconduct in the Catholic Church.
Rating: Good.

This documentary profiles the life of controversial nun, Sister Jane Kelly, who refused to let the institutional forces of the Catholic church silence her from speaking out against wrong-doing within the faith. In an in-depth interview Sister Jane discusses her experiences as a whistle-blower in a sexual abuse scandal and her controversial views homosexuality, women priest and birth control.

Trickle Down Theory of Sorrow
(2002; 15mins, Color & B/W)
Directed by: Mary Filippo
Distributed by: Women Make Movies
Genre: Experimental Documentary
Issues: Women’s oppression and sexual discrimination.
Rating: Good. The information is interesting, but the montage makes it visually challenging.

This experimental documentary by Mary Filippo examines class and gender roles in employment practices using Filippo’s mother’s testimony as the centerpiece for the film. Filippo’s mother recounts her experiences with work exploitation and gender discrimination in the 1950s. This film’s erratic and non-narrative stylistic quality is at once engaging and difficult to follow.

Women’s Studies Summit 2000
(a.k.a. New Mexico: A Land of Beauty, Culture, Enchantment)
(2000; 22mins, B&W, Color)
Designed and Produced by: Elaina Montoya, Rebecca Padilla
Genre: Educational video.
Issue: Women in education, teenage pregnancy, domestic violence, substance abuse.
Rating: Formal and promotional.
Note: Problematic representations of women of color.

As a commemoration of the Women’s Studies Summit 2000, this video presents a brief introduction to various issues surrounding women of New Mexico, such as education, rape, domestic violence, drug and alcohol use, and health care. Unfortunately, the video exclusively profiles white women as feminist thinkers and leaders, while women of color are associated with substance abuse and teen pregnancy.

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WRC: 20th Celebration Forum
WRC: 20th Celebration Forum Continuation

(1992; 122mins, Home Video, Color) Two tapes
Filmed by: Women’s Resource Center, UNM.
Genre: Panel Discussion
Issue: Women in Education
Rating: A good record of the event.
Note: The second tape “Forum Continuation” has the same content, shot by a different camera.

This video presents the main panel discussion of “women in education” held during the 20th Celebration of Women’s Studies and Women’s Resource Center at UNM in 1992. The panelists include Ann Nihlen, Vivian Ng, Deborah Louis, Paul Risser, Teresa Cordova and Brenda Manuelita. The topics of their talks include, ‘gender and equality in school,’ ‘sex discrimination on campus,’ ‘anti-feminism in academia,’ and ‘history of women’s studies and women’s resource center at UNM.’

WRC: 20th Celebration: Angela Bowen, March 5, 1992
(1992; 62mins, Home Video, Color)
Created by: Women’s Resource Center
Genre: Public Speech
Issue: Women/lesbian of color, feminism and coalition building.
Rating: Feminist. Inspiring.

“I am not the postfeminist feminist, I am the Third Wave.” A black feminist writer, activist and educator, Angela Bowen speaks as a keynote speaker at the Women’s Resource Center’s 20th Celebration. She is a co-chair of the National Coalition for Black Lesbians and Gays, as well as a member of the Commission on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Concerns, and teaches in Women Studies and English at Cal State Long Beach. She discusses the current political and social climate of anti-feminist backlash, and emphasizes the importance of coalition building among diverse groups of people.

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WRC: 20th Celebration: Angela Bowen
(1992; 88mins, Home Video, Color)
Filmed by: Women’s Resource Center, UNM.
Genre: Public Speech
Issue: Women/lesbian of color, feminism and coalition building.
Rating: Feminist. Inspiring. Low audio quality.
Note: There are two copies of the same talk, shot by different cameras.

Featuring Angela Bowen, this video records her public lecture for the celebration of Women’s Resource Center at UNM. She addresses various issues surrounding contemporary feminism through her personal anecdotes: her experiences of becoming a professional dancer, marriage, an encounter with Audre Lorde, etc. The content of her talk overlaps with her keynote speech in the tape “WRC: 20th Celebration: Angela Bowen, March 5, 1992.”

WRC: 20th Celebration: Anita Hill
(1992; 66mins, Home Video, Color)
Filmed by: Women’s Resource Center, UNM.
Genre: Public Speech
Issue: Sexual Harassment as Abuse of Power
Rating: Feminist. A good record of the event. Low audio quality.

Human rights advocate and law professor Anita Hill from the University of Oklahoma speaks at the Women’s Resource Center’s 20th Celebration. This video records her talk titled “Harassment in the work place: some historical perspective on abuse of power.” Providing historical references of sexual exploitation of black women during slavery to the present, professor Hill emphasizes the importance of developing a “reasonable woman’s standard” in the legal system.

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Writing Desire
(2000; 25mins, Color)
Directed by: Ursula Biemann
Distributed by: Women Make Movies
Genre: Documentary
Issues: Female subjectivity in electronic media, human relationships in electronic global culture, the circulation of sex and desire across transnational landscapes through electronic media.

“A compelling video essay on the dream screen of the Internet and its impact on the global circulation of the women’s bodies from the Third World to the First.” This video also examines electronic written and visual mediums, such as the Internet and email, for their impact on human social and dating behaviors. It ponders how the global market place, through electronic media, facilitates the commodification of women in developing nations for Western buyers.

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Women of Color

A Video Book
(1994; 6 mins., Color)
Directed by: Beverly Singer
Genre: Autobiographical, experimental documentary
Issues: Indian identity, Indian cultural expression.
Rating: Very good.

This video expression of Singers life, thoughts, and images born out of cultural memory, offers the earnest candid voice of the filmmaker as an artist, woman and cultural, social and political subject.

Adio Kerida (Goodbye Dear Love)
(2002, 82mins, Color; Subtitled-Cuba)
Directed by: Ruth Behar
Distributed by: Women Make Movies
Genre: Documentary
Issues: Diaspora, interfaith families, Judaism, immigration, Latin America, National identity, International relations.
Rating: Excellent introduction to how intersections of nationality, religion, and geography shape identity. This is an excellent classroom resource for cultural studies and auto-ethnography.

“Distinguished anthropologist Ruth Behar (recipient of the MacArthur Genius Award) returns to her native Cuba to profile the island’s remaining Sephardic Jews and chronicle her family’s journey to the U.S. as Cuban-Jewish exiles.” Behar’s search to excavate the intricacies of her identity as Cuban and Jewish, take her to Havana, Cuba; Queens, N Y; Miami, FL and finally return her to her current home in Michigan. Issues of identity are at the heart of the film, which examines how people who are part of Diasporas experience relationship to nation, religion, community and family.

Adelante Mujeres!
Adelante, Mujeres! /Women of Hope: Latinas Abriendo Camino
Two separate documentaries on one tape
(1992; 30mins, B & W, Color)
Researched and Written by: Mary Ruthsdotter
Presented by: National Women’s History Project:
Distributed by: Women Make Movies, Inc.
Genre: Historical documentary.
Issue: History of Chicana/Mexican American Women:
Colonization, migration, cultural traditions, assimilation,
gender equality, and civil rights movement.
Rating: Feminist, political and informative. Recommended for class.

The film traces the history of Mexican American/Chicana women from the early colonial era of the 1600s to the late 1980s. Through a collage of archival photographs of remarkable Mexican American/Chicana workers, leaders, and educaters, it highlights five centuries of struggle. Featured historical figures include Eulalia Arrira de Pérez, Judith Idár, Alicia Montemayor, Emma Tenayuca, Luisa Moreno, Dolores Huerta, Jessie Lopez de la Cruz, and Francisca Flores. These courageous women founded various labor unions and political and cultural organizations, such as Alianza Hispano Americana, League of United Latin American Citizens, and Commicion Feminine Mexicana Nacional.

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Apple
(1998; 85mins, Color)
Directed by: Samirah Makhmalbaf
Genre: Docudrama.
Issue: Patriarchal values, oppression, and liberation of Iranian women.
Rating: Poetic, feminist, political and innovative. Excellent for class use.

Directed by 17-year-old Samirah Makhmalbaf, daughter of acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf, this fascinating docudrama recounts a real-life story of 12-year-old twin girls, who were locked up all their lives by their impoverished and deeply religious father in Teheran. Instead of simply condemning the father for his repressive actions, the film reveals the complexity behind this national scandal.

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As The Mirror Burns
(1990; 58mins, Color)
Directed by: Christina Pozzan
Distributed by: Women Make Movies
Genre: Documentary
Issues: The Vietnam War, women in war, perceptions of Vietnamese women.
Rating: Not Rated

This video offers a drastically different image of Vietnamese women than the timid, victimized women often seen in Western depictions of the Vietnam War. It is estimated that 70% of the Vietnamese guerilla forces fighting against foreign domination were women. Through interviews and file footage from media coverage, we see that Vietnamese women were active participants in the war, often leading the resistance against western invaders.

Beah: A Black Woman Speaks
(2003; 90mins, Color)
Directed by: LisaGay Hamilton
Distributed by: Women Make Movies
Genre: Documentary
Issues: Black actors in Hollywood, blacks in the Communist Party, black cultural intellectuals in the 20th century.
Rating: Excellent biographical and historical resource and a wonderful classroom teaching tool.

This film is a powerful autobiographical and biographical account of the life and times of actress Beah Richards. Beginning with her early life in the south, the film follows Beah’s careers as an actress, writer and activist in early and mid twentieth century California and New York. Richard’s complex and inspiring life story is told mostly in her own words which relay her commitment and love to the arts and the African-American people.

Beauty In The Bricks
(1980; 29mins, Color)
Directed by: Cynthia Salzman Mondell &
Allen Mondell
Distributed by: Media Projects Inc.
Genre: Documentary; the first installment of a two part series.
Issues: Poverty, urban housing, urban community relations, at risk women of color, community organizing, mentoring, and peer pressure.

This film examines the lives of four young women growing up in a west Dallas housing project as they navigate and talk about their challenges in their poor urban community. We watch as these teens participate in activities organized by a local girls club and forge friendships that help them aspire to a better life.

Beauty Leaves The Bricks
(1995; 45mins, Color)
Produced and Distributed by: Cynthia Salzman Mondell &
Allen Mondell
Media Projects Inc.
Genre: Documentary
Issues: Poverty, urban community relations, at risk women of color, community organizing, mentoring, peer pressure, and urban flight.

It is recommended that viewers screen Beauty in the Bricks prior to screening this sequel.
This documentary is a compelling sequel to the 1980 film Beauty in the Bricks. Cynthia Salzman Mondell returns to the west Dallas housing project nicknamed, The Bricks, for a 15-year follow-up with the young ladies who surprised and inspired us in the first film. We see how these young women’s lives have changed as they have moved away, married, and blossomed into womanhood. Their accounts of success, disappointment, and family relations are candid, earnest, and always moving as they talk about growing up together, leaving The Bricks and drifting apart.

Black Women On: The Light/Dark Thang
(1999; 52mins, Color)
Produced by: By Celeste Crenshaw &Pauls Caffey
(No production company listed.)
Genre: Panel Discussion and Personal Narratives
Issues African-American women and assimilation, Colonization, Media Images, Interracial Dating, and Body Image.
Rating: Informative and provocative. Suggests screening with discussion group.
This video offers an examination of the ‘pigmentation politics’ that exist within African-American communities. Black women testimonials about their acceptance of Euro-centric standards of beauty, enforced through popular culture, reveal how complexion politics have affected their family, social and professional interactions.

Black Women Writers
(1989; 53mins. [44mins. w/o commercials], Color)
Produced by: Donahue Multimedia Entertainment, Inc.
Genre: Donahue’s TV talk show.
Issue: Feminist black women writers.
Sexism in black communities. Silencing black peoples’ voices.
Rating: Controversial and critical.
Note: The tape contains about 9 minutes of commercials in between.

This episode of Donahue’s talk show hosts a panel discussion of the works and contributions of contemporary black women writers, including Alice Walker, Angela Davis, Maya Angelou, Michelle Wallace, and Ntozake Shange. These writers discuss dilemmas of being black women in feminist and civil rights movements as well as being censored as writers by their own communities. Black men in the audience express their feelings about stereotypes of domineering black women. The white host Donahue often silences these women panelists as if to stir up controversies.

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Brown Sugar: Part I, Part II, Part III & Part IV
(1985; 52mins/ 58mins/ 52mins/ 58mins, B&W, Color)
W/ Closed Captions in English.
Created by: Ebony Productions, Inc. /
Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB)
Genre: TV documentary.
Issue: History of African American women entertainers: 1920s-1980s.
Rating: Educational, political and entertaining.
Note: A little grainy: low audio-visual quality.

Based on the book, Brown Sugar: Eighty Years of America’s Black Female Superstars by Donald Bogle, this comprehensive documentary recaps the history of pioneering black women entertainers from the 1920s to the 1980s through archival footage, photographs and interviews. Part One focuses on pioneering black women singers and actresses, such as Ma Raniey, Bessie Smith, Josephine Baker, and Nina Mae McKinney. Part Two features Billie Holiday, Hattie McDonald, Fredi Washington, and Ethel Waters, who emerged during the depression era of the 1930s. Part Three profiles Lena Horne, Hazel Scott, Katherine Durham, Dorothy Dandrige, Eartha Kitt, and Joyce Bryant, who challenged older stereotypes of black women in the 1940s and 1950s. Part Four covers 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s when Aretha Franklin, Dione Warwick, Dee Dee Sharp, Diana Ross, Donna Summer and Cicely Tyson became icons of popular culture. These extraordinary women struggled against racism, sexism, and stereotypes of black women imposed by mainstream society, such as the images of ‘super-sexy noble savage,’ ‘endurable black matriarch,’ and ‘ all-knowing-self-sacrificing-mammy.’

Chisholm ’72: Unbought and Unbossed
(2004; DVD, 77 mins., Color)
Directed by:  Shola Lynch
Genre: Documentary
Issues: Race, Class, Gender and Presidential Politics.
Rating: Excellent for all informational purposes.

This unsentimental and illuminating documentary examines the campaign, cultural climate and political impact Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm’s 1972 run for the presidency had on the nation. The film combines newsreels, behind the scene footage and interviews with those involved in the campaign, including commentary from Chisholm herself.

Dam/age
(2002; 50mins, Color-Close Captioned)
Directed by: Aradhana Seth
Distributed by: First Run/Icarus Films
Genre: Documentary
Issues: Globalization, multinational corporations, displacement, free speech, global activism, environmental justice, post colonial commerce.
Rating: Excellent contemporary account of the previously listed issues.

This film follows Booker Prize Winning writer (1998) Arandhati Roy through her experiences fighting in the heroic campaign against the Narmada River Valley dam project in India. Roy faces personal challenges and legal danger when she uses her fame to bring attention to attention to the hardships forced on India’s poor by their government and powerful multinational corporations.

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Daughters of the Dust
(1991; 113mins, color)
Directed by: Julie Dash
Produced by: Julie Dash, Arthur Jafa
Distributed by: Kino International video
Genre: Narrative drama
Issue: Oral history. African American identity.
Rating: Imaginative, compelling and political. Excellent for class use.

Shot with exquisite beauty and sensitivity, this award-winning film tells a story of an extended black family on the eve of their migration to North in 1902. Juxtaposing a rich matriarchal tradition of Gullah people (descendants of African slaves living on the Sea Islands off the Georgia coast) with modern Christian ways of mainstream America, the film provides a poetic exploration of African American history, spirituality, and cultural identity.

Everyone Their Grain of Sand
(2005; 87 mins., Color-Spring ’07)
Directed By:  Beth Birth
Distributed by: Women Make Movies
Genre: Documentary
Issues: Corporatization of private lands, globalization, capitalism, grass-roots activism.
Rating: Good.

This documentary chronicles the struggles of the fiercely determined citizens of Maclovio Rojas, Tijuana, Mexico as they fight to keep their land in the face of government bullying and corporate development. Over a three-year period we see these resourceful and spirited residents fight bureaucratic stonewalling and persecution.

Fire
(1996; 104mins, Color)
Directed by: Deepa Mehta
Genre: Narrative Drama
Issue: Indian (South Asian) lesbian identity.
Rating: Feminist, entertaining and political. Recommended for class.

This controversial film is a portrait of two contemporary middle-class Indian women, whose romantic relationship causes turmoil in a patriarchal joint family in New Delhi. Their personal struggle for freedom and questioning of traditions alludes to post-colonial India’s transformation into a modern sovereign nation.

Flowers for Guadalupe
(-Summer ’07)
Produced By: Judith Gleason
Distributed by: The Filmmakers Library
Genre: Documentary
Issues: The Virgin of Guadalupe
Rating: Very Good.

This documentary looks at the cultural, political and religious significance of the Virgin of Guadalupe to Mexican women today.  This video includes interviews with a range of women scholars, artists and other Mexican nationals who discuss the significance of the Virgin of Guadalupe in their lives, and in Mexican culture in general. This documentary also follows hundreds of women on an annual pilgrimage from the rural state of Queretaro, Mexico to Mexico City.

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Four Women of Egypt

(1997; 90mins, Color)
Directed by: Tahani Rached
Distributed by: Women Make Movies
Genre: Documentary, personal narratives.
Issue: Egyptian and Middle-Eastern politics. Excellent historical material with inspiring and insightful message

Four Egyptian women from very different backgrounds, lives, and perspectives, share their endearing and enduring friendship through director Tahani Rached’s 35 mm lens. Political and social justice activists Amina Rachid, Shahenda Maklad, Wedad Mitry, and Safynaz Kazem are the subjects of this documentary that dares to lay the poignant narratives of these women’s lives along side Egypt’s political history. It is abundantly clear from their voices that political myths are always only part of the story and that political and intellectual differences are a breeding ground for growth and invaluable alliances. This is excellent learning tool forthose interested in politics in Egypt and the Middle East.

Forbidden Fruit
(2000; 30mins, Color)
Directed by: S. Bruce, B. Kunath, and Y. Zukmantel
Distributed by: Women Make Movies
Genre: Docudrama
Issues: sexuality, sexual and gender politics in Africa.
Rating: Fair.

This video breaks barriers about lesbian relationships and sexual identity in African society.
Using as its centerpiece the re-enactment of a lesbian relationship within the politics of a rural Zimbabwean village, Bruce, Kunath and Zückmantel tell a powerful and engaging story that Amy Villarejo of Cornell University says, “exploits passion in the service of transformation” and makes a “call to queer, global solidarity.”

From Hollywood to Hanoi
(1992; 78mins, B&W/ Color)
Directed by: Tiana Thi Thanh Nga
Distributed by: Indochina Film Arts Foundation
Genre: Documentary
Issue: Vietnamese/ American identity. Vietnam today.
Rating: Highly critical, innovative and entertaining. Recommended for class.

This engaging and intelligent film by Tiana, a Vietnamese/ American filmmaker, explores complex issues of exile, displacement, assimilation, and reconciliation. Searching for her own doubleness of identity, Tiana travels back to ’90s Vietnam, after leading a life of an assimilated Asian actress in Hollywood. Witty and critical, the film combines clips from old propaganda war films, music videos, childhood photographs, and interviews in order to narrate a personal-as-political story of one woman’s effort to bridge her two homelands.

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Girls Like Us
(1997; 57mins, Color)
Produced by: Jane C. Wagner & Tina Difeliciantonio
Distributed by: Women Make Movies
Genre: Documentary, Personal Narrative
Issue: Young women in adolescence and how they navigate peer pressure and societal influences.
Rating: Educational and relevant to social, cultural, gender and economics.

This documentary follows the lives of four very different young women raised on the urban east coast over the course of four years (while they are between the ages of 14 and 18). Lisa, Anna, De’Yona, and Raelene struggle to find themselves amidst their parent’s generational, cultural and religious influences and social pressures from their peers. This documentary is a triumphant and heartbreaking tale of four girls journeys into womanhood at the turn of the 21st Century.

Girls Still Dream
(1995; 21mins, Color)
Distributed by: Women Make Movies
Directed by: Ateyyat El Abnoudy
Genre: Documentary
Issues: The impact of early marriage (sometimes before the age of 12-years) and illiteracy on the living conditions of Egyptian women. Secondary issues are the Middle East, Islam, young women and human rights.
Rating: Excellent teaching resource for classes about international women’s rights, global conditions of women, and
This video illuminates the struggle Egyptian women face acquiring basic human rights. Because marriage is compulsory and girls are often married by the age of 16, their educations are interrupted or end, and they find themselves at the mercy of their husbands and husband’s families. The women’s stories featured in this documentary show how cultural traditions clash with these women’s dreams of self-determination.

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Go Home Baby Girl
(2005; 50+ mins., Color-Summer 2007)
Directed By: Audrey Huntley
Genre: Documentary
Issues: Missing and Murdered Native American Women in Canada
Rating: Good

This powerful documentary sheds light on the little known fact that hundreds of Native American women have gone missing and have been found murdered in Canada in recent years. This documentary talks to their friends and family members about their experiences of losing loved ones and their attempts to solicit help from the authorities, and attention from society at large.

Guide to Healthy: Information for a Winning Lifestyle
(1998; 30mins, Color)
Produced by: Ebony/National Medical Association
Johnson Publishing Company, Inc./Conrad & Associates, Inc.
Genre: Educational Video
Issues: Health and Wellness concerns for African-Americans
Rating: Informative about diabetes, hypertension, asthma and other illnesses
that have a high incidence in the Black community.
This brief informational video offers explanations for the causes of diseases that frequently affect members of African-American communities. In addition to testimonials from celebrities such as Della Reese, Malik Yoba and Patti LaBelle, expert medical advice is provided by Black physicians. The experts also provide basic fitness and wellness tips for improving physical, mental and spiritual health.

Guts, Gumption and Go-Ahead
(1992; 24mins, Color)
Produced and Directed by: Cynthia Salzman Mondell
Distributed by: Media Projects, Inc.
Genre: Docudrama
Issues: One black American women’s experiences during the civil rights, voting rights, and slave eras in the U.S.
Rating: Good.

This video dramatizes an account of activist Annie Mae Hunt’s life performed by actress Irma Hall. Hall offers a moving account of one courageous African-American women’s life as a political activist before, during and after the Civil Rights Movement. Events are recounted in the words of Annie Mae Hunt, and capture the personality, vitality and courage of her experiences fighting for the rights of African-Americans. Her story is a lesson in the rewards of fearless independence.

Heart of the Sea
(2002; 57mins, Color)
Directed by: Lisa Denker and Charlotte Lagrade
Distributed by: Women Make Movies
Genre: Documentary
Issues: Hawaii’s matriarchal heritage, breast cancer, and women’s professional surfing.

This video offers a portrait of Rell “kapolioka’ehukai” Sunn, recognized as the founder of professional women’s surfing. Sunn died in 1998 of breast cancer, but her legacy as an icon of women’s surfing and Oahu, Hawaii community leader lives on in the women’s International Surfing Association and the annual Menehune surfing contest for children that she founded. The video is an example of the important contributions women make to sports and community that are often missing from the mainstream media’s depictions of leadership.

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Hózhó of Native Women
Wellness & Native Women (V Conference) 1994, Phoenix, AZ.
Health Promotion Program, Continuing Education, University of Oklahoma
(1997; 29mins, Color)
Directed by: Beverly Singer
Genre: Documentary and personal narrative.
Issues: Indigenous Peoples, Indians, Native Americans
Rating: Informative, empowering and inspirational.
This documentary uses clips from the fifth Wellness and Native Women’s conference and native women’s personal testimonies for insights on how native people maintain cultural resiliency and natural harmony despite non-native influences. This video by Singer, who is Navajo and Tewa, shows how native women scholars and healers integrate traditions into their current lifestyles. Native women give their thoughts on balanced approaches to life.

Iraqi Women: Voices From Exile
(1994; 54mins, Color)
Directed by: Maysoon Pachachi
Distributed by: Women Make Movies
Genre: Historical Documentary, Personal Narrative
Issues: The social and political circumstance of Iraqi women exiled in Britain. Also, immigration and the Middle East.
Rating: Educational, feminist and informative international account of Iraqi politics and their impact on women. Excellent teaching reasource.

This video offers a thoughtful critique of Iraq’s recent history and how it’s political shifts have affected Iraqi women. These first person narratives from the rarely heard voices of Iraqi women, offer a reflective look at Iraqi politics in the ’40s and 50s, and the July 14, 1958 revolution. The video also gives a thorough account of Iraqi women’s living conditions following Hussein’s rise to power from 1991 to the Gulf War.

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La Boda
(2000; 53mins, Color)
Directed by: Hannah Weyer
Distributed by: Women Make Movies
Genre: Documentary
Issues: Marriage customs, migrant families, U.S./Mexican border issues, and cultural studies.
Rating: Excellent resource for cultural studies and humanities classes.

“In an intimate portrait of migrant life along the U.S.-Mexican border, Hannah Weyer’s film La Boda, delves into the challenges faced by a community striving to maintain their roots in Mexico, while pursuing the ‘American Dream’ across the border.” Twenty-two year-old Elizabeth, prepares for her wedding and recounts moments of her life as a child in a migrant working family. The story unfolds between Shafter, CA and Mission, TX, where the (Luis) family splits their time between in-season and off-season harvest work. This documentary reveals the commitment and strong relationships people foster by living in collectivistic communities that depend on each as friends and extended family.

La Operacion
(Wmst Grant Contribution-Women Studies Grant Film -Spring 07)
Directed by: Ana Maria Garcia
(1982; 40 Mins., Color)
Cinema Guild Release: www.cinemaguild.com
Genre: Documentary
Issues: Population control, forced sterilization, women’s health, reproductive rights.
Rating: Good

This documentary examines the use of female sterilization, as a means of population control in Puerto Rico, a geographic region with the highest incidence of sterilization in the world.

Made in Thailand
(1999; 33mins, Color)
Directed by: Eve-Laure Moros and Linzy Emery
Distributed by: Women Make Movies
Issue: Exploitation of Women’s Labor in Thailand/Factories and Labor Union Organization.
Genre: Documentary
Issues: Global trade, transnational corporations, sweatshops, international labor laws, human rights, and global working conditions for women.
This documentary examines the deadly working conditions and the union struggles women factory workers in Bankok Thailand faced before and after the May 10, 1993 Kader toy factory fire where 500 workers were injured and 188 died. This video focuses on the economic exploitation of factory and textile workers (90% of whom were women) during a time when Thailand was being hailed by the US as a model economy. Workers testimonies reveal that factory doors were locked to protect inventory and profits from theft, and this was the reason for the high number of fatalities in the fire.

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Mai’s America
(2002; 72mins, Color Subtitled)
Directed by: Marlo Poras
Distributed by: Women Make Movies
Genre: Documentary
“Mai’s America is a personal journey that defies all expectations. Mai, a smart, vivacious, and resilient Vietnamese teenager, travels to America for her senior year of high school, shouldering her family’s high expectations and her own visions of western-style success.” Though Mai expected he student exchange to land her in the glitz and glamour of Hollywood or New York, she finds herself in the heart of the deep South in a rural Mississippi town.

Monday’s Girls
(1993; 50mins, Color; Subtitled-England)
Directed by: Ngozi Onwurah
Distributed by: Women Make Movies
Genre: Documentary

“This fascinating documentary, by the acclaimed filmmaker of The Body Beautiful, follows two young Nigerian women’s different experiences of a traditional rite of passage.”

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My Name is Kahentiiosta
(1995; 30mins, Color)
Directed by: Alanis Obomsawin
Distributed by: Women Make Movies
Issues: Kahnawake Mohawk sovereignty and self-determination, Indian women leaders, triumphs and plights of indigenous peoples.
Rating: Good.

“This affecting film from acclaimed director of Abnaki Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance profiles a young, courageous Kahnawake Mohawk woman who was arrested after a 78 day armed standoff in 1990 between the Mohawks and the Canadian federal government. My name is Kahentiiosta is a compelling look at a people’s movement for self-determination.”

Nobody Knows My Name
(1999; 58mins, Color)
Directed and Produced by: Rachel Raimist
Edited by Christine Kim
Genre: Documentary, personal narratives
Issue: Women in Hip-Hop music.
Rating: Innovative, informative and provocative. This video contains explicit language and deals with mature themes. Recommend
for classes dealing with feminist issues, popular culture, and musical subcultures.

Rachel Raimist insightful documentary features five women who are rooted in various aspects of the Hip-Hop music scene despite the fact that as women they are often unseen and heard by the music culture they support. The artists featured are Leschea (singer), T-Love (rapper), Asia (dancer), D.J. Symphony and Lisa (wife & mother), and funk and R & B based rapper, Madusa. These women have carved out a space for themselves in a formerly marginalized music medium. Despite their love for Hip-Hop, these women draw little fame and financial reward from their careers in this male dominated music arena. The video also raises questions about the music industry’s sexual and racial politics and calls for greater participation and visibility of women in Hip-Hop.

Salt of the Earth
(1953; 114mins, B&W)
Directed by: Herbert Biberman
Created and Distributed by: Independent Productions Corporation
Genre: Narrative Drama
Issue: Social injustice against Mexican American miners.
Gender equality at home.
Rating: Feminist. Poetic, political and educational.
Excellent for class use.

This compelling historical narrative film is based on a 1950 strike by Mexican American zinc miners in New Mexico. People in the mining community not only fought racism but also dealt with sexism at home. The strength of the film lies in its empowering depictions of gender role reversal; over the course of the strike women take over the picket line and men become in charge of domestic duties. The film was created by a group of ‘blacklisted’ filmmakers during the height of the McCarthy era.

Seen but Not Heard
(WmSt Grant Contribution-Women Studies Grant Film-Spring ‘07)
Directed by: Calogero Salvo
(2002; 57 Mins., Color)
Cinema Guild Release: www.cinemaguild.com
Genre: Documentary
Issues: Immigration, Terrorism, Victims Rights
Rating: Good

This documentary follows the lives of four undocumented women who lost their husbands and spouses in the New York 9-11 terrorist attack.  Filmed in New York and Mexico, this video gets at both the sacrifices these women have made to create a better life for their families, and their contributions to American society.

Senorita Extraviada
(2001; 74 mins., Color, Some Spanish w/English Subtitles)
Directed by: Lourdes Portillo
Issues: Murders of young Latina women along the U.S.-Mexico border, U.S.-Mexico relations, NAFTA, sex crimes, corruption in U.S. and Mexican law enforcement, and violence against women.
Rating: Excellent overall and an invaluable classroom tool.

This gripping documentary meticulously tells the legal, emotional and political stories about the more than 500 young women who have been abducted and murdered along the U.S.-Mexico borders. Most of them have been employed at U.S. owned factories. Evidence suggests that these young women are being preyed on by co-workers at the factory where they work and/or members of a transnational drug cartel.

Sister Song
(2001; 30+mins., Color)
Produced by: Sister Song Women of Color Collective
Ph. (404) 344-9629 Fax (404) 346-7517
Genre: Interviews
Rating: Excellent

This collection of interviews by women of color reproductive rights activists and advocates provides a diverse range of opinions, philosophies and reflections on the subject. These women connect the political battles over reproductive health to the social, cultural an spiritual concerns that surround them for women of color.

Slaying the Dragon
(1988; 60mins, Color)
Directed by: Deborah Gee
Distributed by: Women Make Movies, Inc.
Genre: Documentary
Issue: Asian women’s stereotypes, racialized sexism in media.
Rating: Feminist, entertaining, and highly critical.
Excellent for class use.

Tracing the history of racist and sexist stereotypes of ‘exotic’ ‘docile,’ and ‘subservient’ Asian and Asian American women, such as ‘dragon lady,’ ‘geisha girl,’ and ‘china doll,’ this insightful film offers a critical look at historical and political forces behind the Hollywood caricatures of Asian women. Combining clips from classic and contemporary film with personal interviews, the film reveals the socio-cultural and psychological impact of those ubiquitous images upon Asian American women’s identity.

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Song Journey
(1994; 57mins, Color)
Directed by: Arlene Bowman and Jeanine Moret
Distributed by: Women Make Movies
Issues: Native women’s contributions to artistic and creative traditions, native women’s cultural self-determination in male dominated power structures.
Rating: Good

“Song Journey takes Arlene Bowman (Navajo) on the pow-wow circuit in the hope of reviving her connection to traditional Native culture. There she finds a fascinating movement amongst Native American female musicians who are both carrying forward the musical traditions of the First Nations as well as conducting a gentle by effective rebellion against male monopoly of the “inner circle” represented by the drum. Song Journey is a powerful illustration of the strength of contemporary Native cultural identity and a wonderful companion to Bowman’s awarding winning Navajo Talking Picture.”

Standing On My Sisters' Shoulders
(2002; 60mins, Color)
Directed by: Laura Lipson, Joan Sandoff and
Dr. Robert Sandoff
Distributed by: Women Make Movies
Genre: Documentary
Issues: Women’s influences on civil and voting rights in America during the 1950s and 60s.
Rating: Excellent historical account of unsung local heroes. Highly recommended for classroom use and general informational purposes about gender politics in the civil rights era.

This video is an insightful look at the American Civil Rights Movement through the eyes of seldom seen heroes including: Annie Devine, Fannie Lou Hamer, Victoria Gray Adams, Unita Blackwell and Mae Bertha Carter. These Mississippi residents and descendents of slaves provide an unwritten chapter in our nations struggle for racial equality and democracy. These women emerged as grassroots leaders whose fight for voting rights propelled them onto the national landscape. Joan and Robert Sandoff and Laura J. Lipson compile photos, archival footage and extensive interviews from participants and witnesses of the deep sacrifices suffered by the women, black and white, who stood for civil rights.

Surname Viet Given Name Nam
(1989; 108 Mins., Color, Wmst Grant Film Spring ’07)
Directed by: Trinh T. Minh-ha
Genre: Documentary format including poetry and testimony
Issues: Survivors of Vietnam, identity, popular memory, culture, interrogates the format and politics of interviewing and documenting.
Rating: Good

This experimental form documentary uses poetry, music, art and spoken narrative to capture some of the experiences of the women of North and South Vietnam.

The First People, The Last World
(Circa 1990s, 44mins, Color)
Produced by: Film Makers Library, Inc.

Genre: Educational, Documentary
Issues: Indigenous Peoples, Indians, Native Americans, assimilation, the politics of native art, hate crimes and casino commerce.
Rating: Educational, informative and inspirational.

This video takes a look at native peoples triumphant spirits despite their challenges with settlers and governments in the United States of America.Tribal members of the Apache, Navaho, Lakota, Sioux and the Mashantucket Pequot tribes, discuss the historical influences informing the conditions of their people today and what individuals and tribes are doing now to reclaim, restore, and honor their heritage and lands. Tribal members offer their ideas and philosophies about building and strengthening native communities. They also speculate about native people’s place in society at large in the future in North America.

The Life and Times of Sara Baartman: The Hottentot Venus
(1998; 52mins, Color)
Directed by: Zola Maseko
Distributed by: First Run/Icarus Films
Genre: Documentary
Issues: Colonization, constructions or race; social and cultural constructions of womanhood.
Rating: Excellent historical source about the visual constructions of black womanhood.

This documentary offers a compelling look at the life of Sara Baartman, woman from South Africa from the Khoi Khoi people who was brought from Cape Town to London in 1810 and exhibited as a sideshow curiosity. This video traces Baartman’s (also know as the Hottentot Venus) journey from London to where she was ultimately exhibited in Paris and became the subject of medical experimentation until her death in 1814. This video examines Eurocentric assertions about “primitive” sexuality, and reveals how they served Baartman’s demise and inform current social and sexual constructions of women of African descent.

The Passion of Maria Elena
(2003; 76mins, Color)
Directed by: Mercedes Moncada Rodriguez
Distributed by: First Run/Icarus Films
Genre: Documentary/Docu-drama/Interviews
Issues: Rights and Justice for indigenous peoples, racism, governmental corruption and cultural identity, grief and healing.
Rating: Excellent resource for looking at systems of social, political, and cultural oppression.

Maria Elena is indigenous Raramuri and Mirasela woman living in Chihuahua, Mexico. Her 3-year-old-son, Jorge is killed by a White man in a hit-and-run accident. In the midst of her grief, community gossip, and ridicule, Maria Elena embarks on a heart-wrenching struggle for justice from corrupt, racist institutions that block her case at every turn.

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The Return of Sara Baartman
(2003; 55mins, Color)
Directed by Zola Maseko
Distributed by: First Run/Icarus Films
Genre: Documentary
Issues: Racial reconciliation and post colonization, global feminism, human rights, repatriation of indigenous remains and artifacts, South Africa peoples and culture. Visual and political constructions black womanhood.
Rating: Excellent historical record.

This documentary chronicles the repatriation of the remains of Sara Baartman to South Africa. Baartman was taken to London in 1810 where she was cruelly displayed in a sideshow as a symbol of savagery and sexuality. After a legal battle over her inhumane treatment, her captors fled with her to Paris, France with where she eventually died. Baartman was dissected by the French scientific icon Georges Courvier and placed on display in Musee de l’Homme. This documentary offers closure to a tragic tale of racism and imperialism.

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Visions of the Spirit: A Portrait of Alice Walker
Three separate documentaries on one tape (1989; 58mins, Color)
Directed and Produced by: Elena Featherston
Distributed by: Women Make Movies, Inc.
Genre: Biographical Documentary
Issue: Alice Walker: African American women’s literature and feminism.
Rating: Feminist. Inspiring and educational.

This intimate portrait of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker explores a rich cultural and political background of Walker as a writer, an African American, a feminist, a Southerner, a mother, and an activist. Walker grew up in Eatonton, a small Georgia town known as the home of writers Flannery O’Connor and Joel Chandler Harris (whose works present stereotypical caricatures of African Americans). Through interviews with Walker, her family members, Barbara Christian (literary scholar), and crews from the film The Color Purple, this film offers an insightful tribute to one of the most admired contemporary feminist writers in the United States.

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Women of Hope: Latinas Abriendo Camino
Adelante, Mujeres! /Women of Hope: Latinas Abriendo Camino
Two separate documentaries on one tape
(1996; 29mins, Color)
Directed by: Robert Rosenberg
Created by: Bread & Roses Cultural Project, Inc.
Presented by: Films for the Humanities & Sciences
Genre: Documentary with autobiographical interviews
Issue: Bilingal education, sexism and racism in professional jobs, women’s rights and cultural traditions.
Rating: Feminist. Political and empowering.
Recommended for class.
This inspiring film interviews Latina professionals with various occupational and cultural backgrounds, who discuss what it means to be a “Latina” in the United States. Interviewees include Adriana Ocampo (planetary geologist), Antonia Hernandez (civil rights lawer), Ana Sol Guiterrez (engineer), Miriam Colón (actress), Dolores Huerta (labor union activist), Julia Alvarez (novelist), Helen Rodríguez (physician), Sandra Cisneros (novelist), Antonia Pantoja (educator), and Nydia Velázquez (congresswoman).

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Lesbian/Gender

A Soldier’s Girl (Donated)
(2003; 111mins, Color)
Directed by: Frank Pierson
Distributed by: Showtime Entertainment
Genre: Feature film
Issues: Hate crimes, gender identity, gays in the military, don’t ask don’t tell.

This film recounts the story of the 1999 murder of U.S. infantryman, PFC Barry Winchell (Troy Garity), who was the victim of a hate crime in Ft. Cambell, KY after his platoon found out that he was involved with a local transsexual performer.

Black and White
(2006; 17 mins., Color-Spring ’07)
Directed By: Kristy McDonald
Distributed by: Women Make Movies
Genre: Documentary
Issues: The treatment of intersex people in rigid intuitional categories of male and female and gender identity.
Rating: Good.

In a small New Zealand hospital in 1953, the birth of mani Bruce Mitchell caused a mild pandemonium. Fifty years later, Black and White interweaves the stories of this intersex activist and the acclaimed photographer Rebecca Swan, exploring their potent creative collaboration. This documentary introduces and elaborates on views and notions of gender fluidity.

Closer
(2000; 24mins, Color)
Directed by: Tina Gharavi
Distributed by: Women Make Movies
Genre: Documentary
Issues: Coming of age issues, coming out, sexual orientation and identity, teen lesbian sex and dating.
Rating: Good resource for classroom.
“A poignant character study of a 17-year old lesbian living in Newcastle, England … ” This experimental form documentary combines, re-enactment and dramatizations to chronicle the life of Annelise Rodger as she negotiates her lesbian identity in her family and on the streets of Newcastle. She explores the local lesbian bar scene, dating, and comes out to her family. The film is an inspiring portrait of a self-assured young woman finding her way in the world.

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Consenting Adult
(1985; 115mins [w/commercials] Color)
Directed by: Gilbert Cates
Distributed by: American Broadcasting Company (ABC)
Genre: Narrative Drama
Issue: Gay coming-out drama. Family conflict.
Rating: Encouraging.
Note: It contains TV commercials every 15minutes.

Based on the novel by Laura Z. Hobson, this coming-out drama tells the story of Jeff, a white middle class college student, whose parents deny his sexual identity. The film explores parental and societal pressures to ‘convert’ Jeff into being straight, as well as his parents’ gradual acceptance of his identity and life style.

Fiction and Other Truths: A Film About Jane Rule
(1995; 58mins, B&W, Color) Great Jane Production.
Directed by: Lynne Fernie, Aerlyn Weissman
Produced by: Rina Fraticelli
Genre: Biographical Documentary.
Issue: Lesbian and gay writers’ rights for freedom of expression.
A history of censorship over publications of gay and lesbian literatures.
Rating: Feminist. Political, informative, and entertaining.

This compelling film explores the history of censorship and prejudice against lesbian literatures from the 1950s McCarthy era to the present through a collage of archival footage, photographs and interviews with author/activist Jane Rule and people who have known her. This is a powerful life story of Jane Rule, outspoken activist and internationally acclaimed writer whose book The Desert of the Heart (1964) was made into the classic lesbian film. The film also traces the history of criminalization and the civil rights movement of lesbians and gays in U.S. and Canada.

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Forbidden Fruit
(2000; 30mins, Color)
Directed by: S. Bruce, B. Kunath, and Y. Zukmantel
Distributed by: Women Make Movies
Genre: Docudrama
Issues: sexuality, sexual and gender politics in Africa.
Rating: Fair.

This video breaks barriers about lesbian relationships and sexual identity in African society.
Using as its centerpiece the re-enactment of a lesbian relationship within the politics of a rural Zimbabwean village, Bruce, Kunath and Zückmantel tell a powerful and engaging story that Amy Villarejo, of Cornell University, says “exploits passion in the service of transformation” and makes a “call to queer, global solidarity.”

Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives
(1992; 85mins, Color)
Directed by: Aerlyn Weissman, Lynn Fernie.
Produced by: The National Film Board of Canada
Distributed by: Women Make Movies, Inc.
462 Broadway, Suite 500WI, New York, New York 10013
Tel: (212) 925.0606; Fax: (212) 925.2052
Genre: Documentary
Issue: Lesbian history, sexuality and identity. Popular culture.
Rating: Compelling, critical, entertaining and educational.
Excellent for class use.

Through a brilliant collage of personal interviews, film clips, archival footage and re-enactments of 50s’ lesbian pulp novels, this compelling and entertaining film presents a vibrant portrait of lesbian sexuality and survival during the oppressive period of the 1950s and 1960s in Canada. Interweaving an interview with author Ann Bannon and memories of women who read popular lesbian pulp fictions, the film explores desires, dreams and struggles of these women in search of an affirming community.

I Exist
(2003; 57 mins., Color)
Directed by: Peter Barbosa and Garrett Lenoir
Genre: Personal interviews about first hand experiences.
Issues: Gay and lesbian of Arab and Middle Easterner descent.
Rating: Excellent classroom resource.

This video is a long overdue compilation of interviews by gay and lesbian Middle Eastern men and women from a range of backgrounds. They discuss their experiences, how their homosexuality has impacted their family and community relations. They also discuss issues of invisibility in the larger Gay Rights community in North America, coming out in traditional Arab and Muslim households, and balancing their cultural and sexual identities.

Last Call at Maud’s
(1993; 77mins, B& W, Color)
Directed by: Paris Poirier
Produced by: Karen Kiss
Presented by: Water Bearer Films
Genre: Documentary.
Issue: History of San Francisco lesbian community.
Rating: Feminist. Political, critical and entertaining.

The film discusses the history of gay and lesbian communities surrounding the legendary lesbian bar Maud’s in San Francisco, which opened in 1966 and closed down in 1989. The film interweaves personal anecdotes with old black and white footage, photographs, and new paper articles in order to recap memories of the 1940s social scenes at gay bars, infamous police raids of the 1950s, and the counter culture and political activisms of the 1960s and 1970s.

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Lesbian Tongues: Lesbians Talk About Life, Love and Sex
(1989; 90mins, Color)
Produced by: Lil Pitcaithy, Joyce Compton
Distributed by: Pop Video Inc.
Genre: Documentary.
Issue: Sexual politics, women’s issues from lesbian perspectives. Gay and lesbian rights.
Rating: Feminist. Inspiring and intimate interviews.
Note: Low audio-visual quality.

This intimate film offers honest discussions about lesbian love, life, and sex through a series of autobiographical interviews. Women with various backgrounds are interviewed, including a therapist, a photographer, writers, poet, dairy goat farmers, and self-labeled lesbians. They discuss issues of self-definition, power, feminism, work, and sexuality.

Man to Man
(Circa 1990s; 30mins, Color)
Produced by: The New Mexico Health and Human Service Department.
(w/News 101 Team Video Crews)
Genre: Documentary with commentary and interviews.
Issue: Cultural masculinity, male social development, male identity, and emotional and physical health.
Rating: Good general resource about gender performance and masculinity.

This locally produced health project video looks at the various elements that comprise male masculinity by asking the question, “What makes a man a man?” Men from Albuquerque, Carlsbad, Farmington, and Espanola communities in New Mexico attempt answer this question. The men featured in this video are Judge Tommy Jewell, Martial Artist--Victor La Cerva, and Cowboy/Rancher--Don Hofman.

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Not Just Passing Through
(1994; 52mins, B&W, Color) order# 01332
Directed by: Jean Carlomusto, Catherine Gund,
Dolores Perez, Polly Thistlethwaite
Distributed by: Women Make Movies, Inc.
462 Broadway, Suite 500WI, New York,
New York 10013
Tel: (212) 925.0606; Fax: (212) 925.2052
Genre: Documentary
Issue: Lesbian history/herstory.
Rating: Educational and political. Entertaining.

This uplifting documentary about lesbian life and its rich history/herstory commemorates Mabel Hampton, a legendary African American lesbian activist; Marge McDonald, who left a huge collection of diaries and lesbian literatures; Asian Lesbians of the East Coast (ALOEC), a support group for Asian lesbian communities; and WOW café, New York’s avant-garde lesbian theater group. The film combines interviews with various activists and members of the community with archival footage and photographs.

One Nation Under God
(1993; 83mins, B&W, Color)
Directed by: Teodoro Maniaci, Francine Rzeznik
Presented by: 3Z/ Hourglass Productions, Inc.
Distributed by: First Run Features:
Genre: Documentary
Issue: ex-gay ministry movement, political history of
Rating: Political, informative and entertaining. Recommended for class.

With humorous and insightful interviews with former ‘ex-gay’ co-founders of Exodus—one of the largest ‘ex-gay’ ministries that promote ‘conversions of homosexuals’— the film examines the history of oppression, shocking medical treatments and institutional ‘cures’ of gay people. By interweaving interviews by current members of Exodus, former ‘ex-gay’ people, and chilling archival footage of political persecution, it provides a thoughtful discussion of the ‘ex-gay’ movement.

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Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit
(1989; 175mins [165min w/o commercials], Color)
Directed by: Beeban Kidron
Distributed by: BBC Television
Genre: Narrative Drama
Issue: Coming of age drama. Lesbian identity.
Rating: Feminist. Critical and entertaining. Recommended for class.
Note: The tape contains 10 minutes of TV commercials, and has a tracking problem.

This critically acclaimed film tells a poignant coming of age story of Jessie, who grows up in a passionate evangelical household in 1960s England. When she falls in love with Melanie, she is challenged not only by her religious adoptive mother but also by a whole congregation. The film is based on the semi-autobiographical novel by Jeanette Winterson.

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Our House
(2000; 56 mins, Color-Close Captioned)
Directed by: Meema Spandola
Distributed by: First Run/Icarus Films
Genre: Documentary
Issues: Gay parenting and families with gay teens, generational friction related to gender and sexuality issues.
Rating: Excellent classroom, general information resource.

The documentary profiles three families headed my gay and lesbian parents as the negotiate issues of co-parenting, community and identity. The families featured cut across racial and gender lines, and rural, urban and suburban landscapes. This video offers a range of first-hand accounts of the experiences gays, lesbians, and their children face creating homes and families in often oppositional circumstances.

Out in Suburbia: The Stories of Eleven Lesbians
(1988; 28mins, Color)
Directed by: Pam Walton
Distributed by: Wolfe Video
Genre: Documentary
Issue: Autobiographical accounts of lesbian life and identity.
Rating: Uplifting. Encouraging.