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Women's Movement/ U.S Feminism • Women of Color • Lesbian/ Gender • Global Feminism • Racism • Popular Culture/ Media Analyses • Victims of Crime Resource/ Law • Violence Against Women • Youth • Women's Body/ Self-Image • Women's Health/ Disability • Women's Spirituality/ Creativity To
see a list of WRC Video's by Title __________________________________ Compiled
by: Yuriko Furuhata Updated
by Andréa Mays New Films! Peace, Propaganda & The Promised Land
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| ________________________________________________________________________________ Women’s Movement/U.S. Feminism A
Century of Women: Work and Family 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 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. Chisholm ’72: Unbought and Unbossed Dr. Gerda
Lerner – Women and History I & II: Thinking Allowed Video Collection 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. Dreams
of Equality 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 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 “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 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. Hair
Piece: A Film for Nappy-Headed People “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 Ida
B. Wells: A Passion for Justice 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 “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.” I Was a Teenage Feminist 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 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. NWSA Conference
in Las Vegas 2002: “Political Women, Political Power” This tape includes
the following speakers: NWSA Conference
in Las Vegas 2002: “NWSA: Women of All Colors Building an Inclusive
Organization Together” This tape includes
the following speakers: 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. NWSA Conference
in Las Vegas 2002: “Body Politic” 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.” She
Wants to Talk to You “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. Shortchanging
Girls: Shortchanging America 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 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). The
F Word 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 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. The
Righteous Babes “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 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 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 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. WRC: 20th
Celebration Forum 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 “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. WRC: 20th
Celebration: Angela Bowen 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 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. Writing
Desire “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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Kerida (Goodbye Dear Love) “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! 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. Apple 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. As
The Mirror Burns 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 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 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 It is recommended that viewers
screen Beauty in the Bricks prior to screening this sequel. Black
Women On: The Light/Dark Thang Black
Women Writers 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. Brown
Sugar: Part I, Part II, Part III & Part IV 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 Dam/age 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. Daughters
of the Dust 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 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 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 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. (1997; 90mins, Color) 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 This video breaks barriers
about lesbian relationships and sexual identity in African society. From Hollywood
to Hanoi 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. Girls
Like Us 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 Go Home Baby Girl Guide
to Healthy: Information for a Winning Lifestyle Guts,
Gumption and Go-Ahead 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 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. Hózhó
of Native Women Iraqi
Women: Voices From Exile 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. La
Boda “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 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 Mai’s
America Monday’s
Girls My
Name is Kahentiiosta “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 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 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 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 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 Slaying
the Dragon 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. Song
Journey “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 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 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 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 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 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. The
Return of Sara Baartman 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. Visions
of the Spirit: A Portrait of Alice Walker 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. Women
of Hope: Latinas Abriendo Camino |
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A Soldier’s Girl
(Donated) 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 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 Consenting Adult 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 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. Forbidden
Fruit This video breaks barriers
about lesbian relationships and sexual identity in African society. Forbidden
Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives 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 Last
Call at Maud’s 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. Lesbian Tongues: Lesbians Talk About Life,
Love and Sex 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 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. Not
Just Passing Through 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 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. Oranges
Are Not The Only Fruit 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. Our
House 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 This encouraging portrait of eleven middle-class lesbians living in suburbia explores various issues surrounding these women from pregnancy to butch/femme stereotypes. Although it is short of discussions about race, ethnicity and class differences, the video provides an intimate look at contemporary lesbian life. Shinjuku
Boys “From the makers of Dream Girls, Shinjuku boys introduces three onnabes who work as host in the New Marilyn Club in Tokyo. Onnabes are women who live as men and have girlfriends, although they don’t usually identify as lesbian. As the film follows them at home and on the job, all three talk frankly to the camera about their gender-bending lives, revealing their views about women, sex, transvestitism and lesbianism. This is a remarkable documentary about the complexity of female sexuality in Japan today.” SPEAK UP!: Improving the Lives of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, & Transgendered Youth Teens with Gay Parents This documentary allowed teens growing up in San Francisco in the 80s to give a first hand account of their experiences of being raised by gay and lesbian parents. Director Kevin White profiles the families of three teens to examine the social and psychological impacts their parents homosexuality has on them. This tape examines myths about the influences gay parents have on their children and looks the societal pressures parents endure. Content includes discussions of AIDS, child custody, sexual prejudice and how these issues strain family relationships. The Families We Choose: A Film About Lesbian
Lives Challenging a traditional notion of family, many lesbians today live with their “family by choice.” This film profiles four alternative families, such as an interracial couple living with children, co-workers forming a lesbian collective, and best friends becoming legal guardians to each other. The Lost Tribe Treyf Through a cultural motif of “treyf” —“unkosher” in Yiddish— this intelligent and poetic film documents two Jewish-American lesbian filmmakers’ journey from New York to Jerusalem in search of their secular Jewish identity and history. Integrating the current politics of Israeli-Palestinian conflict on West Bank, the film explores the cultural and political meanings of being a “treyf,” a Jewish outsider. Combining archival footage, childhood photographs, and interviews, it is more than autobiographies of the filmmakers. Tough
Guise: Violence, Media, and the Crisis of Male Masculinity Jackson Katz’s offers compelling arguments connecting the constructions and socialization of masculinity directly to the increased levels of violence in American society during the past half a Century. Katz provides a decade-by-decade examination of media and commercial images that outline a relationship between how men are depicted in popular culture texts such as film, video games, actions figures and television programming and how the side affects of these depictions appear in the crimes and behaviors of young males. West
Coast Crones: A Glimpse into the Lives of Nine Old Lesbians “We are Old Lesbians inventing ways to live out our aging.” This intimate portrait of a support group of white middle-class older lesbian women presents personal stories and experiences of nine women-loving women, all of them over 60. They candidly discuss their own internalized ageism as well as the joy and strength that they discovered through the support group. Youth
Out Loud This Documentary takes a broad look at the experiences of gay youth who have come out of the closet and encountered hostile responses and opposition from their schools and families. Through the personal tales of Bev, Jason, and Danielle viewers see the need for creating safe spaces for gay youth and for supporting them in their adolescent self-discovery. XXXY This short documentary looks at clitorectomies and other radical sexual assignment surgeries performed on infants that are intended to help them fit into societal sex and gender norms. Healthcare professionals are also interviewed about the conventional thinking and professional medical standards in place that have facilitated these surgeries, and why they should be changed. |
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Against
My Will This video gives an unflinching account of what women in Pakistan face when they leave abusive marriages. Shot at the Dastak women’s shelter in Lahore, a safe haven for abused women, this video shows the courage of Pakistani women saving each other and resisting pressure from their families, friends and communities to return to their marriages under the threat violence and even murder. Anonymously Yours This documentary takes an in-depth look at the poverty conditions and oppression that drive the sex trafficking in Southeast Asia. This film looks at how women in Myanmar fall prey to forces brokers who sell them into slavery. As
The Mirror Burns This video offers a drastically different image of Vietnamese women than the timid, victimized women 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. Becoming a Woman in Orika This ethnographic film documents the iriapu (an initiation ceremony) of young girls of the Orika tribe in Rivers State of Nigeria. A narrator and interviewees explain cultural meanings and values of this tradition in relation to woman’s fertility. Although it is constructed through an ethnographic gaze, the video offers an intimate view of traditional activities, such as the tribal face and body painting, fattening, and the ritual confinement of the girls who are initiated into womanhood. Beyond
Beijing This is an inspiring historical account of a monumental
women’s event. Bringing
Durban Home: Combating Racism Together This brief documentary, narrated by writer Alice Walker summarizes the 2001 Third World Conference Against Racism, held in Durban, South Africa. This tape looks racism and its impact on global, governmental and economic policies and how policies in tern affect people in industrialized and developing nations. This video highlights important moments during the drafting of the conference platform. Covered “Covered” offers alternative views to western conceptions about Veiling as a repressive, male dictated practice of the Muslim faith. A little over a decade ago, veiling was a rare practice in Cairo, Egypt because the custom was overthrown at the beginning of the 20th century. Recently, many women have voluntarily embraced this Muslim tradition. In their own words, women of Cairo explain why they have returned to the practices of veiling, or wearing a headscarf called the hejab, and why for them it is an empowering and pride-filled part of their lives. Dam/Age 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. Forbidden
Fruit This video
breaks barriers about lesbian relationships and sexual identity in African
society. Four
Women of Egypt 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 for those interested in politics in Egypt and the Middle East. Ghandi: A Life and Death of A Dynasty This TV program presents three generations of prime ministers of India, popularly referred to as ‘the Ghandi dynasty.’ It includes old newsreel footage of the first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru; interviews with his daughter Indira Ghandi, the second prime minister; and his grandson Rajiv Ghandi. It effectively relates the personal experiences of the Ghandi family to a national history of post-colonial India and its political instability. Heart
of the Sea 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. I Exist Iraqi
Women: Voices From Exile 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. I, The Worst of All This film is a creative and compelling fictional telling of the life and times of the brilliant Nun and poet Sur Juana Ines de la Cruz, who lived in 17th Century Mexico. This telling is based on Octavio Paz’s fictionalized novel. Actresses Asumpta Serna (Sur Juana) and Dominique Sanda (Vicereine) bring to the screen a vibrant depiction of women’s lives and their passionate friendship under the oppressive times of the inquisition. La
Cueca Sola This video takes a compelling and thorough look at the events surrounding and resulting from the coup against Salvador Allende that brought Ernesto Pinochet to power. Drawing from file news footage and interviews with women who lost spouses, sons, brothers and fathers in the aftermath of the coup, Mallet paints a picture of Chile’s national healing and pain. Chilean women have danced the traditional Chilean courtship dance, La Cueca Sola, in protest against the dictatorship that has marred their country. Mama Wahunzi! This documentary captures the efforts of three disable East African women who organized to meet their communities’ needs for wheelchairs by learning how to build them. The group named itself Mama Wahuzi (which literally means women blacksmiths), and has been able to contest societal gender role and common perceptions about poverty and disability. Mann
ke Manjeere: An album of Women’s Dreams This tape contains two music videos and a short documentary video, which details the making of these video projects and the album the songs appear on. The album and tapes were collaborative efforts to use the popular mediums of music and music videos to inform traditional Middle Eastern communities about the impact of controversial subjects such as domestic violence and arranged marriage. “Mann ke Manjeere”
(2002; 5 mins/15secs, Color) “Babul” (2002; 5
mins/38secs, Color) “The Making of Mann ke Manjeere”
(2002; 17 mins./4 secs., Color, Video) My
Name is Kahentiiosta “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.” Nalini by Day, Nancy by Night This documentary looks as the outsourcing of American jobs to India as told from the perspective of an Indian living in the U.S. This film incorporates animation, live action and archival footage to explore the complexities of globalization, capitalism and identity. New Mexico Statewide Women’s Studies
Conference: La Duke The keynote speaker Winona La Duke from White Earth reservation (Anishinabeg), a leading environmental activist and a founder of Indigenous Women’s Network, discusses self-determination for women and indigenous people, and calls for a global awareness of environmental destruction and related health hazards. Nu
Shu: A Hidden Language of Chinese Women This documentary excavates the history of a secrete Chinese language created by women called NU SHU (female writing), which was used by women in feudal China’s Yao and Confuscian Han Chinese provinces to communicate their circumstances to each other. The language was the foundation of a sisterhood summed up in the Nu Shu saying, “Beside a well one wont thirst, beside sisters one wont despair.” Director, Yue-Qing Yang documents this language through members of the sisterhood and their artifacts discovered in the 1960s. She locates the language now through the stories of people currently living in those provinces. The documentary includes an interview an 86-year old woman who is the last living Nu Shu-speaker. Paris Was a Woman This documentary offers a historical look at the cultural and intellectual significance of Paris in the early twentieth century as one of the most important artistic centers of the world. This film offers viewers a virtual walking tour of the Left Bank, and locates the residences belonging to intellectual and artistic celebrities who lived there. The salons and their attendees include a number of influential women such as Gertrude Stein, Sylvia Beach, Adrienne Monnier, and Marie Laurencin. Performing
the Border This stunning and intelligent documentary on transactions of consumer goods and female bodies on the border region of Juarez, Mexico, interrogates the ‘border’ as both pragmatic and discursive space, which has become one of the most intensive sites of high-tech production and low-wage labor. Mixing stylish digitalized images of the militarized border control, maquiladoras (factories), and interviews with factory workers, journalists, and sex workers, the film reveals correlations among the capitalization and exploitation of Mexican women’s bodies, sexual violence against women, the expression of female desire and entertainment industry, and the modernization of the nation. Rabbit Proof Fence This feature length film, based on a true story, is a compelling drama about three little girls who walked 1500 miles to return to their indigenous community after being removed from it by the Australian government. The film follows the girls as they elude the authorities on their trek across the Australian outback. It also offers a scathing critique of colonialism and colonial racism administered through imperial governments’ policies of assimilation. Ramleh This documentary offers a snapshot into the lives of four women who live in the Jewish-Arab town of Ramleh. These women’s stories unfold in a climate of cultural and religious difference and discord during the Barak/Netanyahu elections. This video explores issues of female oppression, dislocation, and empowerment through religious beliefs, and it examines what marriage, veiling and family mean under Judaic and Islamic Laws. Quoting one of the women featured, “Tradition is stronger than everything.” Seniorita Extraviada She
Wants to Talk to You “In October 1999 filmmaker Anita Change befriended three 13-year-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.” Change uses a montage of mediums including poetry, 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 the fact 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. Sixteen Decisions The
Kidnapping of Ingrid Betancourt In February 2002 during her unprecedented run for Columbia’s presidency, Senator Ingrid Betancourt was kidnapped. She was viewed as both a reformer of corruption and a dangerous instigator. “Using voiceovers from radio interviews taken before her abduction, footage from the campaign trail and a chilling proof of life video released by her captors, Betancourt narrates her own story.” The Shape of Water Creating intimate portraits of Khady, Oraiza, Gila and Bilkusben, The Shape of Water drives the dusty roads of Senegalese villages, and the energetic streets of Dakar, walks into Brazil’s Amazonian rainforest, stand on a busy corner in Jerusalem, and takes a train ride into Himalayan foothills to take a look a women’s activism to protect their lives and their communities. Thunder
In Guyana Thunder In Guyana is a close look at the life and presidential campaign of Janet Rosenberg-Jagan, the first woman and the first foreign-born person, elected president of Guyana. The film provides a colorful portrait of Rosenberg-Jagan’s life from her childhood in Chicago to her marriage and revolutionary work with Guyanese, Indian activist Cheddi Jagan. Suzanne Wasserman, Rosenberg-Jagan’s cousin, uses family interviews, excerpts from letters, archival photos and footage to chronicle Rosenberg-Jagan’s political campaign. Warrior
Marks A collaboration by Alice Walker and Pratibha Parmar, this compelling and poetic film explores the controversial subject of female genital mutilation, a religious and social practice which affects over 100 million of women throughout the world. Interviews with women from various African countries, England, and the U.S.A. are intercut with Walker’s story of being mutilated by a brother who blinded her eye. Relating her own survival of the injury to the experiences of the survivors of genital mutilation, Walker draws the viewer’s attention to the persistent power structure of male dominance and the control of women’s bodies. |
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A
Question of Color This vibrant and sensitive film about contemporary African American “color consciousness” traces the history of racism based on “colorism” back to slavery and preferential treatment of light-skinned black people by mainstream white America. The film tackles difficult and painful issues of color hierarchy and white standards of beauty internalized by many people of color through an autobiographical narration, candid interviews, archival photographs, and performance. Beah:
A Black Woman Speaks 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 for the arts and African-American people. Beyond
Black and White This video is a good basic introduction to issues affecting people of mixed cultural and racial heritage. The director uses her mixed heritage (Caucasian, Asian, Begali) as the point of entry to a larger discussion of experiences with five other women of various mixed heritage backgrounds including: Caucasian and Puerto Rican, Cajun, African and English, and Persian and Caucasian. Bringing
Durban Home: Combating Racism Together This brief documentary, narrated by writer Alice Walker summarizes the 2001 Third World Conference Against Racism, held in Durban, South Africa. This tape looks racism and its impact on global, governmental and economic policies and how policies in tern affect people in industrialized and developing nations. This video highlights important moments during the drafting of the conference platform. Black
Women On: The Light/Dark Thang 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. The
Color of Fear This groundbreaking film about the social and psychological impact of race relations in America offers a compelling look at everyday experiences of racism seen through the eyes of eight California men of African, Asian, Latino and European descent. Through intimate, intelligent, and often emotional debates over the painful subject, these men open up a remarkably honest dialogue about racism. The film was chosen as the “Best Social Studies Documentary of 1995” by the National Educational Media Association. Daring
to Resist Erase
the Hate Erase the Hate is USA Networks' Emmy Award-winning program dedicated to combating hate and racism. It includes interviews with members of several youth organizations, such as C.U.R.E. and Youth Dares, which encourage young people to acknowledge and celebrate racial, cultural, and religious differences in order to build coalitions among youth. Ethnic
Notions This highly acclaimed film by Marlon Riggs traces the American history of dehuminizing stereotypes of black people, such as “Uncle Toms,” “Sambos,” “Mammies,” “Coons,” “Brutes,” and “Pickaninnies.” Films, cartoons, minstrel shows, advertisements and household artifacts popularizing these racist caricatures have long justified institutional racism and anti-black prejudice. The film historically situates each stereotype that permeated American popular culture from the 1820s to the 1960s, and reveals political motivations behind these representations. Ida
B. Wells: A Passion for Justice 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. Mandela: Free at Last This award-winning program contains three news segments on the socio-political climate of South Africa in 1990, the year of Mandela’s release. It includes interviews with both white and black South Africans. The first segment combines old news footage to recap the brutal history of Apartheid and a resistant black revolutionary movement headed by the African National Congress (ANC). The second segment deals with the issues of racially imposed poverty and survival; the focus is on working mothers, who question the concept of western ‘feminism.’ The third segment discusses the ‘media ban’ over news on human right violation after Mandela’s release. The western media is complicit with the state censorship to hide images of racial incidents, which ironically have increased since Mandela’s release. NWSA Conference in Las Vegas 2002: “NWSA:
Women of All Colors Building an Inclusive Organization Together” This tape includes the following speakers: 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. 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. Rabbit Proof Fence This feature length film, based on a true story, is a compelling drama about three little girls who walked 1500 miles to return to their indigenous community after being removed from it by the Australian government. The film follows the girls as they elude the authorities on their trek across the Australian outback. It also offers a scathing critique of colonialism and colonial racism administered through imperial governments’ policies of assimilation. Racism 101 This powerful Frontline special program offers a critical look at increasing numbers of racial incidents at various elite colleges and universities across the nation, such as U of Michigan, U of Massachusetts, and Dartmouth. Both black and white college students are interviewed to discuss issues of Affirmative Action, racial discrimination against minority black students and faculty on campus, segregation among students, and resurgent student movements, such as the Black Action Movement at the University of Michigan. Standing
On My Sister’s Shoulders 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. The
Life and Times of Sara Baartman: The Hottentot Venus 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
Return of SARA BAARTMAN 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. The
Passion of Maria Elena 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. The
Way Home This touching documentary features intimate and engaging dialogues among 63 women with diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds. These women grouped into 8 different councils (indigenous, African-American, Arab, Asian, Latina, Jewish, Euro-American, multiracial) to exchange stories of their experiences of institutionalized oppression, assimilation, and of celebrations of cultural and spiritual heritage. |
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| ________________________________________________________________________________ Popular Culture/ Media Analyses Amy Goodman Independent Journalist, Amy Goodman speaks out about the media’s coverage of the invasion of Iraq. Barbie Nation This film captures Barbie fans, owners, and collectors allowing them to give their personal accounts of Barbie’s impact on their lives. Additionally, this film looks at the cultural impact that Barbie (and Ken) dolls have had on the relationships young girls have had with their bodies. Beyond Good & Evil The documentary examines how leaders and news media framed the 911 attacks in narratives of “good and evil” and how this shaped perceptions and responses to the conflict. This video asks viewers to consider the long-term consequences of reductive thinking. Constructing Public Opinion Professor Justin Lewis examines how polling data presented in the media not only reflects but helps to construct public opinion. This video reveals how elites promote militarism while a mainstream media promotes and electoral system with built in bias. Dream
Worlds: Desire, Sex, and Power in Rock Video Created by Sut Jhally, a professor of Communication at the University of Massachusetts, this video offers a comprehensive study of ideological and cultural impact of fetishized and highly sexualized images of women in various 80s’ rock videos. Although there are various ‘types’ of women in these popular music videos, ranging from prostitutes to schoolgirls, they are uniformly portrayed as nymphomaniacs, who present themselves as objects of the consuming heterosexual male gaze. Consequently, subliminal messages sent by these images affect the ways in which women are treated in society. Through sociological and semiotic theories, the video effectively analyzes a broader cultural system of signs, to which these images inevitably belong. Game Over: Gender, Race & Violence in Video Games Grrlyshow “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 avenue 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 their experiences getting their zines off the ground and keeping them running. Impact N.M.:Violence Against Women The video features a round-table discussion of images of women in the media, including pornography, which promotes commodification and violence against women. The discussants include three UNM professors; Jane Caputi from American Studies, Ann Scales from the Law School, and Teresa Cordova from Women Studies. MacKinnon,
Catharine The acclaimed law scholar Catharine MacKinnon from the University of Michigan law school speaks at UNM. She questions a legal status of pornography protected as free speech in relation to sexual abuse and rape of women. She also discusses recent legal cases, which blamed women for their rape, such as Anita Hill vs. Supreme-Court justice nominee Clarence Thomas. Man to
Man 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 answer this question. The men featured in this video are Judge Tommy Jewell, Martial Artist--Victor La Cerva, and Cowboy/Rancher--Don Hofman. Men
& Pornography This 20/20 program interviews a group of male students at Duke University, who discuss an innovative approach to analyze pornography from male perspectives in class. They criticize pornography’s psychological and physical effects on men, who become conditioned to perceive women as inert sexual objects. Nobody
Knows My Name 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. These 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 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 for women in Hip-Hop. Peace, Propaganda & The Promised Land This critically acclaimed video examines how North American elites, working in concert with Israeli public relations, shape media coverage of U.S./Israeli foreign policy to serve their interests. Redefining
Liberation (a.k.a. N.O.W.: Love Your Body) The video examines psychological effects of advertisements on women’s health. Interviews with feminist scholars and activists, such as Jean Kilbourne and Gloria Steinem, are combined with statistics and comprehensive image analyses. The video makes a convincing argument that advertisements affect women’s eating and dieting habits, promote violence against women, and encourage smoking as a so-called feminist act. Searching
for Debra Winger “Searching for Debra Winger is a thought-provoking documentary in which Golden Globe-nominated actress Rosanna Arquette talks to the film industry’s most talented, award-winning actresses about the pressures they face as women working in show business.” The major question being probed is how these women balance fame, family, and career. Includes commentary from Laura Dern, Jane Fonda, Whoopi Goldberg, Selma Hayek, and Sharon Stone. Spin the Bottle Still
Killing Us Softly: Advertising Images of Women Feminist scholar Jean Kilbourne delivers a lecture at Harvard University on images of women in advertising. She analyzes advertisements as a powerful medium to disseminate sexist values and concepts. These images not only create a social climate that accepts violence against women, but also define an ideal beauty and femininity for women. The topics discussed in the video include; body image, pornography, eating disorders, sexualization of children, and appropriation of feminism by the tobacco industry. The
Righteous Babes Tough
Guise: Violence, Media, and the Crisis of Male Masculinity Jackson Katz’s offers compelling arguments, connecting the constructions and socialization of masculinity directly to the increased levels of violence in American society during the past half a Century. Katz provides a decade-by-decade examination of media and commercial images that outline a relationship between how men are depicted in popular culture texts such as film, video games, actions figures and television programming and how the side affects of these depictions appear in the crimes and behaviors of young males. What a Girl Wants Wrestling With Manhood: Boys, Bullying & Battering Writing
Desire “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, and it ponders how the global market place, through electronic media facilitates the commodification of women in developing nations for Western consumers. |
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WOMEN This documentary takes viewers behind the bars of the St. Gabriel, Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women. This institution houses Georgia’s most dangerous women convicts and often operates at or beyond its 900 women capacity. The camera chronicles the lives of six brave women who tell their stories and put faces on the statistics of incarcerated women. It’s an unflinching look at the challenges and sorrows these women face sandwiched between their civilian lives of addiction, unwanted pregnancy, poverty, and the American criminal justice system. This film deals with issues of criminal recidivism, women on death row and motherhood under incarceration. After the Robbery: Crisis to Resolution The video discusses emotional and physical effects of robbery on victims, and interviews mostly female bank employees for their experiences of robbery. The video provides information on victim witness assistant programs and explains legal procedures of testifying in trials. Bitter Earth: Child Sexual Abuse in Indian
Country The video discusses child sexual abuse on Indian reservations, including interviews with family members of victims, police officers, lawyers, and counselors of the Indian community. The video also reviews different types of sexual abuse, its effects, and legal and cultural resources available for the protection of victims. In 1989, the Office for Victims of Crime developed a program entitled “Children’s Justice Act Discretionary Grant Program for Native Americans (CJA).” CJA assists tribes in implementing programs that would improve the investigation and prosecution of child sexual abuse cases. B.J. Learns About Federal and Tribal Court The video prepares Native American child victims and child witnesses on how to testify in court. It explains different proceedings at a Tribal court (Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community) and a federal court (the U.S. District court in Phoenix, Arizona.). The video is an educational tool to teach children the rules, vocabulary, and personnel involved in the courtroom and in trials. Guns
& Mothers 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. Improving
Case Outcomes The focus is the short and long term impact of violence on children who are directly and indirectly exposed to it. This tape particularly features the successful outcomes of a program in Boston, Mass., called the Child Witness to Violence Project that began in 1992. The programs goals are to treat children exposed to violence early on to curtail residual problems and to prevent the kids from becoming offenders themselves. Joining Forces Against Child Sexual Exploitation This video was a product of the March 18, 1997, Huntsville, Alabama conference of national law enforcement personnel, who gathered to address methods and tactics for the prevention of child sexual exploitation. It includes comments from Laurie Robinson, former Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice and Ronald Laney, Director of Missing and Exploited Children’s Program office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency. The issues addressed are children’s vulnerability due to technology and the need for a multidisciplinary approach (FBI administered task force) to dealing with the problems of child sexual abuse, child pornography, and child abduction. Justice for Victims The video explains the rights of and needs for protection of federal crime victims. It briefly introduces recent changes in the justice system, including Victim and Witness Protection Act (1982), The Victims of Crime Act (1984), The Crime Control Act (1990), The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (1996). Meeting the Mental Health: Needs of Crime
Victims The video focuses on explanation of physical and psychological trauma of crime victims, and advocates for a need for long-term support. Prison Lullabies This documentary looks at the lives of Monique, Ann Marie, Joann, and Amy as they attempt to navigate their prison sentences, pregnancy, and motherhood. This frank and often heartbreaking documentary follows these women’s struggle to recover from drug addiction, mend family relationships, and build new lives after being incarcerated. This video reveals the complexity of the challenges that women face as one of the fastest growing population entering the criminal justice system. Seniorita Extraviada Southern Poverty Law Center The Southern Poverty Law Center is a non-profit organization that offers various educational and legal supports to combat hate, intolerance, and discrimination. This promotional video introduces the center’s history and its programs, such as a momentous lawsuit against Ku Klux Klan and ‘hate watch’ project that monitors activities of white supremacist and other hate groups. Starting out as a small civil rights law firm in 1971, the center now offers educational videos, publications, website, and texts for anti-hate education. Stranger Inside This film offers a gritty, candid look at a young women’s life inside the maze of the California correctional system. The film’s heroine, Treasure Lee (Yolonda Ross) travels on a psychological and emotional odyssey through a maximum security facility where she struggles to create family connections among dangerous and desperate women. Understanding America’s Terrorist Crisis: This interview with Harper’s Lewis H. Laphman captures Gore Vidal’s compelling critiques of U.S. foreign policy as “perpetual war for perpetual peace.” Vidal offers an explanation of how the “War on Terrorism” is being used to dismantle the Bill of Rights. Victims of Fraud: Beyond Financial Loss Fraud—“white collar crime”—causes more than $40 billion damage in America every year, and affects people regardless of class, race, or gender. This educational video briefly introduces various types of fraud, such as telemarketing and home equity, and explains a legal definition of fraud. Who
Remembers Mama This video offers an insightful look at the economic, psychological and social impact divorce has on women who have made careers as homemakers. Using courtroom re-enactments, interviews, and statistical data, this video gives and account of the unfair and devastating treatment women sometimes receive from their spouses and the courts during divorce proceedings. Offers tips for case management and court appearances. |
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My Will This video gives an unflinching account of what women in Pakistan face when they leave abusive marriages. Shot at the Dastak women’s shelter in Lahore, a safe haven for abused women, this video shows the courage of Pakistani women saving each other and resisting pressure from their families, friends and communities to return to their marriages under the threat violence and even murder. Any
Day Now: Breaking the Cycle of Domestic Violence The video features short interviews with sixteen women ranging in age from twenties to sixties for their personal accounts of abuse from their husbands and partners. It examines the complex reasons why women do not immediately leave their abusers, and how women are emotionally, economically and physically abused. The video includes brief instructions on Pro Se procedures of how to file complaints and protection orders. Calling
the Ghosts: A Story about Rape, War and Women This film focuses on the human rights violations and inhumane treatment suffered by Kosovo women following the Serbian seizure of power in April 1992. Muslim and Croat women give personal accounts of their systematic imprisonment, mistreatment and humiliation in the Serbian camp, Omarskra and they discuss their effort for restitution from the Serbian government. “Jadranka Cigelj and Nusreta Sivac, childhood friends and lawyers, enjoyed the lives of "ordinary modern women" in Bosnia-Herzegovina until they were captured and imprisoned by the Serb army as part of the program of ethnic cleansing. Game Over: Gender, Race & Violence in Video Games Macho This film focuses on the groundbreaking anti-violence work performed by a men’s organization in Managua, Nicaragua called Men Against Violence. These men have effectively organized to address issues of societal and domestic violence in Latin America, in attempts to eliminate attitudes of male chauvinism and machismo. The camera follows several of these men through their daily lives, captures their workshops and attempts to recruit young men in the community to join their efforts. Men Against Violence has developed a model to address violence and advocacy for women’s rights that is used worldwide. Mann
ke Manjeere: An album of Women’s Dreams This tape contains two music videos and a short documentary video, which details the making of these video projects and the album the songs appear on. The album and videos were collaborative efforts to use the popular mediums of music and music videos to inform traditional Middle Eastern communities about the impact of controversial subjects such as domestic violence and arranged marriage. “Mann
ke Manjeere" (2002; 5 mins/15secs, Color) “Babul”
(2002; 5 mins/38secs, Color) “The
Making of Mann ke Manjeere” (2002; 17 mins./4 secs., Color,
Video) P.O.W.
Prisoners of Wedlock This powerful episode of 20/20 program presents poignant testimonies by several women prisoners who killed their abusive husbands after years of physical and emotional abuse. Their testimonies reveal negligence on the side of the police to protect battered wives’ civil rights, and the inadequacy of the legal system to respond to Battered Women Syndrome. Savage
Cycle: Domestic Violence Scared
Silent: Exposing and Ending Child Abuse Sex in a Cold Climate Wrestling With Manhood: Boys, Bullying & Battering
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Girls A Girl’s World The video introduces three professional women: an airplane pilot, glass artist, and veterinarian. Three young girls join these women for one day to receive a hands-on experience of the job. It is a lighthearted and encouraging look at various career opportunities for women. Belfast Girls This documentary takes a look at the lives of Mairead Mc Ilkenny (Catholic) and Christine Savage (Protestant), growing up in post-war Belfast. Director Malin Andersson follows these two strong young women’s lives as they live in the same city divided by a wall that is both a symbol of their religious differences and the worlds they live in because of them. Captive Audience: Advertising Invaded The Classroom This documentary examines the ethical and philosophical questions surrounding commercial interest, such as private and public corporation, being used to fund public education. Closer Critical Mass: Women in Science Aimed at young women in junior and high schools, this educational video encourages these young students to pursue their interest in science and math. Several Albuquerque teens as well as professional scientists are interviewed to talk about their experiences of combating gender stereotypes of women in science and math. Cusp Escuela Girls
Like Us 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
Around the World Anna from Benin (Monique Phoba, Benin) “One of 31 children, anna struggles to fulfill her family’s high expectations after receiving a prestigious scholarship to study music in France.” Daughters of War (Maria Barea, Peru) “The effects of war, drugs and poverty in Peru are seen through Gabriela, the leader of a girl gang and teen mother.” Heaven and Earth (Pascale Schmidt, Germany) “Ramona chooses to follow a religious path and leaves behind the freedoms enjoyed by other teens in Munich.” Frontier (Kaija Jurikkala, Finland) “On an isolated farm near the Russian border, Tarja makes the painful decision to leave home in search of greater opportunities.” Don’t Ask Why (Sabiha Sumar, Pakistan) “Anousheh, an independent-minded Pakistani teen, attempts to realized here dreams while confronting the expectations of her culture.” NightGirl (Yingli Ma, China) “A striking portrait of Han Lin, a 17 year old who prematurely enters the workforce as a Go-Go dancer in Peking, China.” Jenny
and Jenny “This moving, closely observed portrait of adolescence documents one summer in the lives of two 17 year old cousins named Jenny. As North African Jewish immigrants living on Israel’s working class Mediterranean coast, the girls’ changing environment provides a fascinating window into a culture both religious and secular.” The film also provides compelling look into the lives of these adolescent girls that reflects universal themes about identity, independence, love and family. The cousins face generational clashes with their parents, academic differences with instructors, and personal challenges with each other. Kinaalda,
A Navajo Rite of Passage La
Boda Monday’s
Girls Mai’s
America “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.” Runaway “Runnaway is a powerful and heart-breaking documentary about a group of young runaway girls who are taken to a women’s shelter in Tehran, Iran.” See Me: Five Young Latinas This documentary offers a close look at the lives of five young Latinas living in San Francisco as they negotiate growing up, family, friends, and the demands that urban life can make on American youth. SPEAK UP!: Improving the Lives of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, & Transgendered Youth Teens with Gay Parents This documentary allowed teens growing up in San Francisco in the 80s to give a first hand account of their experiences of being raised by gay and lesbian parents. Director Kevin White profiles the families of three teens to examine the social and psychological impacts their parents homosexuality has on them. This tape examines myths about the influences gay parents have on their children and looks the societal pressures parents endure. Content includes discussions of AIDS, child custody, sexual prejudice and how these issues strain family relationships. The Places You’ll Go To If You Go To
School: A Guide to Educational Options for Middle School Students and
Parents The video encourages middle and high school students to stay in school by showing short clips of various professional work environments and brief interviews with local students. Uphill
All the Way What a Girl Wants Working
with Grieving Children This educational video is aimed at both counselors and children, who are dealing with the loss of people who were very close to them. Part One focuses on workshops for young children (age 2-6) who lost someone in their family. Part Two is for children (age 7-11). This section profiles Monique, a 10-year-old whose brother was shot to death. Part Three is a collection of interviews with teenagers (age 12-18), who are coping with deaths of their family members or friends. Youth
Out Loud This Documentary takes a cursory look at the experiences of gay youth who have come out of the closet and encountered hostile responses and opposition from their schools and families. Through the personal tales of Bev, Jason, and Danielle viewers see the need for creating safe spaces for gay youth and for supporting them in their adolescent self-discovery. |
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Piggies This autobiographical video is a self-portrait of Barbara, an overeater who grew up in a seemingly loving middle-class white family. The video interweaves old photographs of Barbara as a slim young woman with interviews with her and her family members who voice their concerns about Barbara’s eating disorder. Instead of providing a clinical analysis of the disorder, the video maker provides an honest and sensitive look at how she and her family cope with her binging. Beyond Disability This documentary captures the empowered voices of adolescent and teenage girls from a range of racial and ethnic backgrounds who decided to document their own impressions of how the general public perceives people with disabilities. The young women cover their experiences in school, dating, and following their dreams despite the limits that society attempts to place on them as disable persons. Holistic
Nursing This video is a promotional and informational tape about the American Holistic Nurses Association. Members of the organization explain its purpose and benefits. Testimonies by nurses and healers are included explaining this trilateral approach to nursing which treats the mind, body, and spirit of the patient. Mirror,
Mirror This introductory feminist film interweaves black and white archival footage of beauty pageants in the 1950s and interviews with 13 women, who talk about their own bodies and the concept of ‘ideal’ woman’s body. It tends to homogenize women on the ground of the ‘ideal’ female body perceived by the general public in the United States. My
Left Breast “Filmmaker Gerry Rogers bravely recounts her story of breast cancer survival to share with the world that life, indeed, can continue with full force and vigor.” Rogers capitalizes on humor to reflect on cancer’s impact on her life and how it affected her friends and family. Sister Song Women’s Bodies, Women’s choices:
Dr. Christian Northrup/ Holistic Nursing Dr. Christian Northup is considered a pioneering health care professional. Her approach combines traditional and modern medicine. She explains a new model of health which views, “The body as a living process: The emerging feminine principles of Health and Healing.” She calls for the rethinking of much women have traditionally been taught about their bodies, which leave them discounting the importance of a mind/body connection in their attempts at complete wellness. |
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________________________________________________________________________________ Abortion: Stories from North and South Born
in the U. S. A. By juxtaposing options of home birth (and birth centers) and giving birth at hospital, this insightful video encourages women to rethink the process of childbirth. It includes candid interviews with state-licensed midwives, obstetricians, and patients, as well as documentary footage of actual childbirth by four women. It offers educational information on both benefits and dangers of different types of childbirth, including side effects of increasing numbers of epidural anesthesia and C-sections. DiAna’s
Hair Ego This unique short documentary features Ms. DiAna, a remarkable black woman, who started South Carolina AIDS Education Network at her small beauty parlor in Columbia, South Carolina. The video interviews DiAna and other members of SCAEN about their grassroots activism to educate African American communities in South Carolina about AIDS. DiAna give presentations at schools, churches and community centers, and hosts a “safe sex party” to encourage open discussion of sex and AIDS prevention. Back to topDifferent Moms Inspirational and moving, this documentary profiles mothers
with mental retardation. Before the 1960s, more than 60,000 people in
the U.S. underwent forced sterilization and until 1978, 37 states still
had laws restricting marriage among people with mental retardation. Although
120,000 babies are born to mentally retarded women every year, only half
of these children are allowed to remain with their mothers. Interviews
with three mothers, family members, and social workers reveal the challenges
which parents with mental retardation face in raising their children. This educational video about risks and prevention of eating disorders is aimed at coaches, counselors, and student athletes, who often feel pressured to lose weight in order to succeed as athletes. Part One of the program introduces the types of eating disorders: Anorexia and Bulimia. Part Two discusses the importance of balanced diet and proper nutrients. Back to topEating Disorders: Part III Part Three of the program emphasizes the importance of understanding underlying causes of eating disorders and planning appropriate actions. Coaches and student athletes interviewed in this video urge the viewers to take early actions, both psychological and medical treatments, since eating disorders create life-long health problems. Feeding
Your Baby: A Special Video for New Mothers This video demonstrates how to breastfeed a baby, including explanations on infant reflexes, nursing positions, bottle-feeding, and instructions on solid foods, and produced by a company that sells baby formulas. Guide to Healthy: Information for a Winning
Lifestyle 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. Holistic Nursing Mama Wahunzi! This documentary captures the efforts of three disable East African women who organized to meet their communities’ needs for wheelchairs by learning how to build them. The group named itself Mama Wahuzi (which literally means women blacksmiths), and has been able to contest societal gender role and common perceptions about poverty and disability. Necesitamos Poder Hablar Through a series of skits and dramatizations, this Spanish language video gets at some of the realities, responsibilities and risks young people face negotiating their decisions to be sexually active. The subjects of these programs include: teen pregnancy, contracting common sexually transmitted diseases and surviving sexual violence. Our Bodies, Our Minds This documentary contains a series of interviews with a variety of sex positive feminist, sex workers, and sex work activists to examine the relationships between feminism, pornography and free speech. Taking Control of Depression: Mending the
Mind This educational video is aimed at patients suffering from depression and offers information on symptoms, severity, available treatment, and side effects. However, this video cannot be used as a replacement for medical and psychological counseling and treatment, and was produced by a company that sells drugs prescribed for depression. The Psychology of Treating Patients with HIV Disease (1989; 25mins, Color) This professional education program is aimed at physicians and counselors working with HIV positive patients. It discusses symptoms of HIV Depression, a common psychological stage that follows after a diagnosis of the disease. The video emphasizes social as well as individual support systems for combating the depression, and advocates for a collaboration between patients and physicians. Under
the Skin Game Comprised of five short chapters, this video presents candid interviews by several women dealing with eating disorders. They describe the disorder as an ‘internal voice,’ which controls both physical and psychological aspects of their lives. Women
Embodied Comprised of five short chapters, this video presents candid interviews by several women dealing with eating disorders. They describe the disorder as an ‘internal voice’ which controls both physical and psychological aspects of their lives. Women’s Bodies, Women’s choices: Dr. Christian Northrup/ Holistic Nursing two videos on one
tape (Circa 1990s; 70mins, Color) Dr. Christian Northup is considered a pioneering health care professional. Her approach combines traditional and modern medicine. She explains a new model of health which views, “The body as a living process: The emerging feminine principles of Health and Healing.” She calls for the rethinking of much women have traditionally been taught about their bodies, which leave them discounting the importance of a mind/body connection in their attempts at complete wellness. (Primetime):
Women’s Health The program features Dr. Bernadine Hearly, the cardiologist and the first female director of N.I.H. (National Institutes of Health). She discusses gender-biased medical research on women’s health and the difficulty that many women face in medical professions. You and Your Baby This educational video is aimed at pregnant and postpartum mothers. It discusses breastfeeding, bathing and massaging infants, as well as several advertisements for baby products, such as diaper, skin lotion, and detergent. |
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________________________________________________________________________________ Women’s Spirituality/ Creativity Celebration
of Age: The Croning Ceremony The video interviews several women who are involved in a revival movement for ‘croning,’ a spiritual ceremony to recognize and honor elder and wise women. Interviewees and participants of these ceremonies celebrate a passage of maturity and aging through drumming, singing, dancing and crowning. Dear
Lisa: A Letter to My Sister This poetic film interweaves an autobiographical memoir (voice-over and home video footage) with interviews with eight other women, who recount their girlhood and womanhood, and examines societal expectations of gender roles and stereotypes that are at odds with many women’s childhood dreams and desires for life. Elizabeth
Kubler-Ross: Facing Death This video captures the some of the final moments of the woman who is world renowned for her work in the field of death, dying and treatment for the terminally ill. Kubler-Ross looks back on her life, achievements in this interview shot at her home. Gathering the Goddesses: Zsuzsanna Budapest The video features interviews with a neo-pagan spiritual leader, Zsuzsanna Budapest, combined with documentary footage of a three-day workshop held in Austin, TX. Women who are involved in the workshop go through various rituals, and share their thoughts and feelings about organized religions, the end of patriarchy, and sisterhood evoked through resurrections of ancient Goddesses. Mad Cat
Women’s Film Festival This collection contains 18 contemporary experimental and narrative short films and animations by international and domestic women filmmakers. Some of the topics of the films are memories of the Holocaust, migration of a Jewish family, farm life in Mexico, a woman’s neurosis, and a coming of age story. On the
Wild Side…: Meeting with Remarkable Women Various women artists, therapists, and spiritual activists from Santa Cruz, California are interviewed to discuss their experiences of reclaiming a wild creative spirit through incorporating ‘tribal ways’ and ‘goddess cultures’ into their lives. Song
Journey “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 and conducting a gentle but 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.” Sweet Honey in the Rock: Singing for Freedom Filmed in Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco in January 1995, this live concert video captures a vibrant performance of Sweet Honey In The Rock, the a cappella activist group. Founded by Bernice Johnson Reagon, the group is often referred to as the musical embodiment of the spirit of black Americans, deeply rooted in the cultural and spiritual heritage of African diaspora and the history of slavery. The
Desert is No Lady: Women Artist & Writers of the South West This video documentary profiles several women artists creating in the American Southwest, and their art’s relationship to the spirit of the Southwestern landscape and its people. Writer Sandra Cisneros and poet Cuci Tapahonso, along with painters Harmony Hammond, Pola Lopez de Jaramillo are included among the many artists who speak directly about the environment’s influences on their work. Some of the topics covered are borders as contentious spaces, honoring languages, deconstructing the clues and signs of identity through objects in art, and the Southwest’s color as a subliminal influence. The Ladies Room: Where Ladies Talk Like Women This original and hilarious documentary captures the craziness and candor that unfolds in ladies rooms when women are free to let it all hang out and “talk like women.” Cynthia Saltzman Mondell sets up her camera in a public ladies room and gives audience members a chance to eavesdrop on the lives, loves and heartaches women share with each other during a routine bathroom break. Unknown
Secrets: Art and the Rosenberg Era Based on the book The Rosenbergs: Collected Visions of Artists and Writers and the art exhibit Unknown Secrets, this video interweaves archival footage, art works, and interviews with artists and historians to examine a historically contingent connection between politics and art. Both the video and art exhibit explore the political and ideological impacts of the executions of Jewish scientist Julius Rosenberg and his wife Ethel Rosenberg in 1953. Rosenbergs were convicted of espionage and Atomic Bomb conspiracy during the height of anti-communism. Vagina Monologues As a part of a V-Day 2000 College Initiative to Stop the Violence Against Women, “The Vagina Monologues,” a benefit performance for the Albuquerque Rape Crisis Center and the UNM Women’s Resource Center, performed by a group of women from the University of New Mexico and the local Albuquerque community. “The Vagina Monologues” is a collection of interviews compiled by playwright Eve Ensler, who interviewed more than 200 women about their feelings and attitudes towards their vagina. WOMEN
and SPIRITUALITY SERIES (3 Separate
Tapes) This three part documentary series takes an in-depth look at the mythology of women in spiritual and healing roles throughout history. The videos series investigates the women’s spirituality movement in North American, as it relates to the women and earth centered spiritual traditions from pre-historic times to the Witch Hunts during the 15th through 17th Century. Director Donna Read takes her North American film crew to Africa, Malta, Crete, and Europe to reveal often hidden secrets about women’s contributions to world religions, healing, and pagan traditions. “The Goddess Remembered” “The Burning Times” “Full
Circle” ________________________________________________________________________________ A• B • C • D • E • F • G • H • I • J • K • L • M • N • O • P • Q • R • S • T • U • V • W • X • Y • Z
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