Gender & Women's Studies Videos
Gender & Women’s Studies Video Library Catalog
Loan Procedures & Guidelines
By signing your name to the Gender & Women’s Studies Library Loan Log, you are in agreement to and responsible for the following terms:
- All materials loaned out by the GWS Program become your responsibility the moment you remove them from the GWS Center; you are liable for any/all damages.
- All materials are to be returned in good condition. Due to the money and time we have invested in our library, GWS must hold you responsible for any materials you choose to borrow.
- All materials are to be returned in a prompt manner—the usual loan period is for 24 hours, unless prior arrangements have been made with the director for an extended loan.
- Videos may be reserved for a specific date by calling the Gender & Women’s Studies Center at 745-6477 or emailing renee.purdy@wku.edu. In order to ensure that a video will be available, please reserve the video you would like to use well in advance (at least two weeks) of the date by which you need it..
- It is your responsibility to pick up and return borrowed materials to the GWS library. Due to busy schedules, we are unable to deliver or pick up any materials. If you have outstanding videos, you’ll be asked to return those before being permitted to check out additional videos.
- Unless special arranges have been made, students may not check out films/videos.
- Films/videos from our library are available to only WKU faculty and staff. (WKU students may check out books or view videos in our library.)
About our film decision-making process:
In order to support faculty interested in using films to address gender & women’s
studies issues in their classes, the Gender & Women’s Studies Program purchases at
least 2 or 3 new titles each semester. If you have any suggestions for future purchase
consideration, please contact a member of the Film & Video Committee listed below.
Please provide as much information about your suggestion as possible (e.g. title,
distributor, and price).
The Gender & Women’s Studies Film and Video committee hosts the Gender Images Film
Series. Three or more films with a centralized theme or genre are shown each semester.
All film showings are free and open to the public. A faculty/committee member or a
student who is knowledgeable about the subject introduces each film. If you would
like to participate in this committee or would like to introduce a film, please contact
the committee members below.
Dawn Hall (270) 745-8944
Ted Hovet (270) 745-5782
Tim Evans (270) 745-5897
Molly McCaffrey (270) 745- 5709
Rick Thompson (270) 745-2350
Lindsey Powell (270) 745-5903
Listed alphabetically by title
ABSTINENCE COMES TO ALBUQUERQUE
Hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent by the federal government on abstinence-from-sex-until-marriage
education across America . This compelling documentary is a case study of abstinence
education coming into one public school system in Albuquerque, N.M. and the firestorm
of controversy that ensued. The debate is typical of what is happening in other communities
across the country. This documentary gives voice to a diverse spectrum of people;
teens, parents, public health officials, and educators, right up the line to state
officials and national advocates on both sides of this important issue.
DVD 29 min. + 59 min q&a, color, Stuart Television Productions, 2005.
ACTING ON FAITH: Women’s New Religious Activism in America
A documentary film that offers a glimpse into the lives and work of three American
women for whom faith, activism, and identity are deeply intertwined. Provides insight
into, and encourages dialogue on, the powerful streams of thought and action that
are being generated by women activists of the varied religious and cultural traditions
of the U.S. It is a face-to-face encounter with the women who are pioneers of a new
religious activism.
DVD 42 min., color. The Pluralism Project/Harvard University, 2005.
AFRICA SEARCH FOR COMMON GROUNDS
ERITREA : Three Generations of Women: Three Generations of Struggle
KENYA : Democracy or Disruption-Wangari Maathai and Green Belt.
VHS (two parts) 27 min., Common Grounds Production.
AGAINST THE ODDS
Elizabeth Cady Stanton joined forces with Lucretia Mott and Susan B. Anthony to form
the National Women’s Suffrage Association, marching and demonstrating—in a most unladylike
way—to make their point. Undaunted by indifference to the plight of disenfranchised
Americans, these women organized men and women in a national crusade to give the vote
to women. Consistent with their views on personal freedom and political power, they
were among the first to support black suffrage after the Civil War.
VHS 24 min., color, Films for the Humanities & Sciences, Inc.
AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL
The US is known for being one of the wealthiest nations on the planet with the most
opportunities for its citizens. In 2004 alone, Americans spent $12.4 billion on cosmetic
surgery. With such an abundance of wealth, why are Americans so discontent? In almost
40,000 media messages a year, youthful Americans are being told that, unless you look
like supermodels and rock stars, you’re not good enough for anyone to love. This is
a message that too many people are buying.
DVD 105 min., color, Sensory Overload Releasing, 2009
ANCHORESS
Enter the medieval world of Christine Carpenter, a visionary girl whose passions attract
two powerful men in the village; the priest and an officer. Each decides he will be
the one to control Christine, but she has eyes only for the Virgin Mary. When the
Priest urges her to become an Anchoress (a walled-in recluse), she accepts, attracting
pilgrims seeking her advice and healing power. Christine’s awakening sexuality calls
into question this lifelong arrangement as a battle between the priest, the officer,
and Christine’s mother turns dangerous. When she challenges the priest’s authority-the
order of society; its government, religion, and sexual relations are all thrown into
turmoil.
DVD, 108 min., color. 1993
AND STILL I RISE
And Still I Rise uses images from popular culture to reveal the way the media misrepresents Black
women’s sexuality. The film intercuts historical and media images and depicts the
Black women’s struggle to create a new perspective.
VHS 30 min., color, Women Make Movies, 1993.
ANTONIA’S LINE
Antonia’s Line is an inspiring and uplifting masterpiece, as big hearted and full
of life as the unforgettable character at its heart. At the end of the Second World
War, a spirited, independent woman returns to the place of her birth, a small village
in the verdant Dutch countryside, to start a new life with her young daughter. Thus
begins a remarkable portrait of a family and a community, of mothers and daughters,
and of one indomitable woman.
VHS 120 min., color, Fox Lorber Films, 1995.
BATTLE FOR THE MINDS
Religion, politics, and sociology collide in this award winning, critically acclaimed
film. With shocking honesty, Battle for the Minds documents the rise of fundamentalism
in America ’s largest Protestant denomination and the subsequent impact of that rise
on women. Fundamentalist assaults on women in leadership roles serve as a microcosm
for the alarming outbreak of the intolerant religious right in America today.
VHS 52 min., New Day Films, 1997.
BENEATH THE VEIL
Ever since the Taliban took control of most of Afghanistan in 1996, the group has
imposed its harsh version of Islamic law on the country. In Beneath the Veil, journalist
Saira Shah traveled to Afghanistan to see the effects of the Taliban’s rule on her
father’s homeland. She discovered public executions, allegations of human rights violations
like massacres and torture, and a place where women are forced to beg because they
are prevented from working. But she also found that the first voices of protest come
from the most repressed, including an opposition group that used hidden cameras to
film the executions.
VHS & DVD 1 hr. approx, color, CNN, 2001.
BLACKBOARDS
A group of male teachers cross the mountainous paths of the remote Iranian Kurdistan
region. They wander from village to village in search of students, carrying large
blackboards on their backs, sometimes using them as shelter, camouflage and as shields
for gunfire. One teacher ventures away from the group and meets up with a group of
young boys who are carrying contraband across the border. Another teacher comes upon
a group of old refugees who want to return their village in Kurdistan, which was chemically
attacked by the Iraqis. The teachers must also face other hardships and obstacles
along the way, including unseen enemy helicopters and gunfire. Samira Makhmalbaf’s
award-winning film is a visually powerful and compelling depiction o f a group of
people who must battle for survival every day of their lives.
DVD 85 min., color. Kimstim/Leisure Time Features. 2003.
THE BLANK POINT: Transsexualism
The Blank Point examines the widely misunderstood nature of transsexuals–people who
psychologically identify with the opposite sex and who often decide to undergo sex
reassignment surgery–and offers meaningful insights into this rare condition. The
program focuses on two male-to-female transsexuals and one female-to-male transsexual.
The subjects candidly discuss their old identities, the transition to their new lives
and the scientific and psychological process that enables them to change genders.
VHS 58 min., color, The Cinema Guild, 1991.
BORN INTO BROTHELS
A tribute to the resiliency of childhood and the restorative power of art, Born Into Brothels is a portrait of several unforgettable children who live in Calcutta’s red light
district, where their mothers work as prostitutes. Spurred by the kids’ fascination
with her camera, Zana Briski, a New York-based photographer living in the brothels
and documenting life there, decides to teach them photography. As they begin to look
at and record their world through new eyes, the kids, who society refused to recognize,
awaken for the first time to their own talents and sense of worth. Filmmakers Ross
Kauffman and Zana Briski capture the way in which beauty can be found in even the
seemingly bleakest and most hopeless of places, and how art and education can empower
children to transform their lives.
DVD 83 min., color. Red Light Films. 2004.
BREASTS: A Documentary
Breasts is a documentary consisting of interviews with twenty-two women (ranging
in age from 6 to 84 years-old) discussing how breasts play a crucial role in the experiences
of puberty, motherhood, sex, health, and aging. Their candid thoughts are humorous,
moving, and often surprising. Interspersed throughout the documentary are segments
of breast-related archival footage including a racy 1920’s animated cartoon, a 1950’s
beauty pageant, and a 1970’s bra commercial.
VHS 50 min., color, HBO Home Video, 1996.
CALLING THE GHOSTS
An extraordinarily powerful documentary, Calling the Ghosts is the first-person account
of two women caught in a war where rape was as much an everyday weapon as bullets
or bombs. Jadranka Cigelj and Nusreta Sivac, childhood friends and lawyers, enjoyed
the lives of “ordinary modern women” in Bosnia-Herzegovina until one day former neighbors
became tormentors. Taken to the notorious Serb concentration camp of Omarska, the
two women, like other Muslim and Croat women interned there, were systematically tortured
and humiliated by their Serb captors.
VHS 60 min., color, Women Make Movies, 1996.
CAMILLE CLAUDEL
After years of living with master sculptor Auguste Rodin (Depardieu) as pupil and
lover, Claudel fell into a paranoid depression when he left her. Her disapproving
family had her committed to a mental institution, where she wasted away for the remaining
30 years of her life. Camille Claudel is an inspiring saga of artistic vision and
the haunting story of a doomed romance.
VHS 159 min., color, Orion Pictures, 1983.
CHAIN OF LOVE
This film investigates the reasons and implications of statements such as “The Filipino
nanny is the Mercedes Benz amongst the international [caregivers].” A film about the
Philippines’ second largest export prouduct—maternal love—and how this export affects
the women involved, their families in the Philippines, and families in the West.
VHS 50 min., color. First Run/Icarus Films, 2001.
CHILDREN UNDERGROUND
This astonishingly intimate documentary follows five homeless children in Romania,
where the collapse of communism has led to a life on the street for 20,000 children.
From a 16-year-old girl who runs her gang with a mixture of brutality and compassion,
to a small, intelligent, and remarkably articulate 12-year-old boy, these children
seem at first feral and frightening–yet over the course of the movie their loneliness,
desperation, and glimpses of hope will transform how you perceive them.
DVD 104 min., color, New Video, 2002.
CITIZEN RUTH
The life of Ruth Stoops (Laura Dern) would be dandy getting high off spray paint
if it weren’t for one tiny problem—she’s gotten herself knocked up for the umpteenth
time, and it seems like everybody’s got an opinion about what she should do—from an
angry judge to God-fearing Baby-Savers to radical lesbian feminists. And Ruth just
wants to party! Also starring Burt Reynolds, Mary Kay Place, Swoosie Kurtz, Kelly
Preston; from the director of Election and About Schmidt.
DVD 105 min., color, Miramax Films, 2004.
THE COLOR PURPLE
Based on Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Color Purple is the richly-textured,
decades-spanning story of Celie, an uneducated woman living in the rural American
south. Forced to marry a brutal man she calls “Mr.,” Celie turns inward and shares
her grief only with God. But she is transformed by the friendship of two remarkable
women, acquiring self-worth…and the strength to forgive.
154 min., color, Warner Brothers, 1985.
COMMON THREADS: Stories from a Quilt
Common Threads is a collection of stories from families of people who have died from
AIDS.
VHS 120 min., color, A Telling Pictures and Couture Company Production, 1989.
COMMUNALISM & RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM
Talks by Pervez Hoodboy, Tanika Sarkar, Amarjeet Kaur, and Anonymous at the World
Social Fourm in Mumbai, India .
DVD 55 min., color, Institute for Social and Cultural Communication, 2004.
CONFRONTING THE CRISIS: Childcare in America
This Lifetime Television original documentary exposes the daily trauma faced by millions
of parents doing their most important job—caring for kids. The changing pressures
of work and family make securing safe, affordable childcare a great challenge and
a source of tension in many families. Based on interviews with families, the documentary
weaves the joys, challenges, and hopes of parenting with critical national childcare
issues.
VHS & DVD 45 min., Lifetime Television, 2000.
CUT FROM DIFFERENT CLOTH: BURQUAS AND BELIEFS
In 2005 documentary filmmakers Cliff Orloff and Olga Shlygin returned to Afghanistan
’s northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif for the third time since the fall of the Taliban
in 2002. The all-covering burqa, the high-walled living compounds and cultural restrictions
on women limited their access. Olga, a Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist, was
puzzled why virtually Afghan women she saw still wore the burqa… even though a new
constitution was adopted that granted women equal rights with men. This time Olga
brought Serena, her 27-year-old stepdaughter. Serena lived for a month as an Afghan
with Hasina, a 27-year-old Afghan woman and her family. Serena became the eyes and
ears of the filmmakers. Together, Serena, Hasina, and Olga set out on a journey to
learn what it means to be a woman in today’s Afghanistan . In the process they confront
their own conflicts with the culture and traditions.
DVD 57 mins., Red Door Video Productions. 2005.
DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST
Daughters of the Dust tells the story of a large African-American family as they
prepare to move north to the mainland from the Sea Islands off the coast of Georgia
. The film depicts the conflicts and struggles every family confronts when they leave
their homeland for the promise of a new and better future. The film explores the unique
culture of the Gullah people, descendants of slaves who struggle with the decision
to leave their rich Gullah heritage.
VHS 113 min., Geechee Girl Production, distributed by Kino Video, 1991.
DEFENDING OUR LIVES
This video aims to educate people about domestic violence and to spur legislative
and judicial reform. It is appropriate for people working on any aspect of this issue,
including general education, legal reform, police training, battered women advocacy,
counseling, prosecution and defense, human rights activism, and community education.
VHS 30 min., Cambridge Documentary Films
DEMENTIA: A Personal Experience
In this film, Andrew Lewallen talks about helping with the Shanti Project and living
with AIDS.
VHS 35 min., color, Shanti Project.
DREAMWORLDS II
Dreamworlds II powerfully illustrates the systematic representations of women in
music videos and how these representations tell a dangerous and narrow set of stories
about what it means to females and male—stories which impact how women think sexually
and how men think sexually about women. Warning: This video depicts a very brutal
and shocking scene of sexual violence.
VHS 56 min., color, Media Education Foundation, 1995.
ECHOES OF DISSENT
Echoes of Dissent reveals insights on the daily pressures that Indian women face in
society. It examines the paradoxes arising from gender differences, marriage, family,
and societal roles.
VHS 30 min., Advanced Media Productions, Inc., 1997.
THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT: UNFINISHED BUSINESS FOR THE CONSTITUTION
The ERA was passed in 1972 and ratified by 35 of the necessary 38 states—but political
opposition has stopped the amendment since then.
VHS 18 min., color. Alice Paul Centennial Foundation, 1998.
THE F WORD
The F Word takes a provocative look at the power of the word “feminism” in the U.S.
and is designed to open up discussions on feminism. The video includes interviews
with women and men from diverse backgrounds, set up by a rap accompaniment.
VHS & DVD 10 min., color, Women Make Movies, 1995.
FACING DEATH AND DYING
Facing Death and Dying is a film produced by the Shanti Project about volunteer counseling
and training support services designed to help people with AIDS.
VHS 26 min., Shanti Project, 1983.
FILMING DESIRE, A JOURNEY THROUGH WOMEN’S CINEMA (FILMER LE DESIR)
In this bold documentary Marie Mandy asks the question: how do women directors film
love, desire, and, especially, sexuality? In rare interviews with many of the leading
women directors working in the world today – including Sally Potter, Agnès Varda,
Catherine Breillat, Doris Dörrie, Deepa Mehta, Moufida Tlatli, Safi Faye, and Jane
Campion – Filming Desire: A Journey Through Women’s Cinema directly engages the sexual
politics of cinematographic choice.
VHS 60 min., color, Women Make Movies, 2000.
FIRE
Fire, written and directed by Deepa Mehta, touches on aspects of contemporary Indian
life, the role of tradition in a changing society, and the struggles of women to take
control of their own lives when they live in a society that traditionally doesn’t
allow them that role.
VHS 104 min., color, Zeitgeist Films, 1996.
FIRE EYES
Somali filmmaker Soraya Mire knows firsthand about the traditional African practice
of female genital mutilation. At thirteen she was subjected to it and spent the next
twenty years recovering physically and emotionally from its cruel legacy. Fire Eyes
explores the socio-economic, psychological, and medical consequences of this ancient
custom that affects more than 80 million women worldwide. In this film several women
who have been subject to this “rite of passage” voice varying points of view on perpetuating
the practice. While a few courageous women would spare their daughters this suffering,
others fear their daughters would be unmarriageable. The troubling fact is that female
circumcision is a women’s ritual upheld by mothers, grandmothers and aunts, to conform
to the male expectation for a chase wife. Testimony from doctors detail the various
forms of female circumcision and the horrendous ob/gyn problems that result.
VHS & DVD 60 min., color, Filmakers Library, 1994.
FIRST GAY AND LESBIAN PROM
This film documents the controversial first gay and lesbian prom in America.
VHS 25 min., color, The Cinema Guild, 1995.
FOR COLORED GIRLS
Weaves together the stories of nine different women – Joanna, Tangie, Crystal, Gilda,
Kelly, Juanita, Yasmine, Nyla and Alice – as they move into and out of one another’s
existences; some are well known to one another, others are as yet strangers. Crises,
heartbreaks and crimes will ultimately bring these nine women fully into the same
orbit where they will find commonality and understanding. Each will speak her truth
as never before. And each will know that she is complete as a human being, glorious
and divine in all her colors.
DVD 134 min., color, Lionsgate, 2010
FROM THE BACK ALLEYS (three part series from Women Make Movies)
When Abortion Was Illegal: Untold Stories
Illuminates a largely undocumented era, revealing the physical, emotional, and legal
consequences of when abortion was a criminal act. This poignant oral history, which
weaves together the untold stories of women caught in difficult circumstances and
those who tried to help them, reveals the tragedies, as well as the courage and heroism,
of a shrouded time.
VHS 28 min., 1992.
From Danger to Dignity: The Fight for Safe Abortion
Chronicles the double pronged movement—the grassroots activism and intense legislative
lobbying—that culminated in Roe v. Wade. Rare footage and interviews with movement
participants are intercut with women’s recollections of back-alley or self-induced
abortions.
VHS 57 min., 1995.
The Fragile Promise of Choice: Abortion in the US Today
Situations in the United States that this video addresses include the crises of access
and affordability, the atmosphere of harassment and violence for doctors and clinic
workers, the impact of growing state and local legislative restrictions for women
seeking care, the complexity of religious issues, and the provider crisis.
VHS 57 min., 1996.
THE FORBIDDEN GODDESS
The Forbidden Goddess presents evidence of the dual partnership between Yahweh (Hebrew
for God) and his Canaanite wife, goddess, Asherah. This presentation challenges the
foundation of Judeo-Christian tradition and depicts the Bible as revisionist history.
VHS 28 min., color, Films for the Humanities and Sciences, 1993.
GIRL 6
Theresa Randle delivers a breakthrough performance as a frustrated New York City actress
who reluctantly takes a job as a phone sex operator. But when she discovers her natural
gift for aural pleasure, she becomes a different woman to her sports memorabilia-obsessed
neighbor, her romantic shoplifter ex-husband, and an endless stream of calls from
men fueled by dark and wild desires. Even if she loves being every man’s fantasy,
can she ultimately handle her own reality?
DVD 108 min., color. Twentieth Century Fox. 1996.
GIRLS CAN
Complement to Shortchanging Girls, Shortchanging America , Girls Can is an inspirational look at programs around the country that are making a difference
in fighting gender bias in schools.
VHS 17 min., color, American Association of University Women, 1994.
GIRLHOOD: GROWING UP ON THE INSIDE
This award-winning documentary, directed by Liz Garbus, tells the story of two girls
coming of age within the U.S. penal system. Megan was charged with assault, and Shanae
stabbed a friend to death at age 11. The film juxtaposes normal everyday needs and
wants of the two adolescents with the harsh reality of their violent backgrounds.
DVD 82 min., color, Moxie Firecracker Films, 2003.
GIRLS HOOPS
Throughout rural Kentucky, girl basketball players and coaches are hailed as celebrities.
Parents relocate so their gifted athlete daughters can play for a winning coach and,
come tournament time, every storefront is decked out in support of the home team.
Girls and women aged 14 to 94 tell of the sport’s original heyday in the 1920s, its
subsequent 40-year statewide ban, its rebirth in the 1970s, and the rise of a professional
women’s league. The stakes are higher now that there are real opportunities for female
basketball stars who might actually get the recognition they have earned.
VHS 27:12 min., color, Appalshop, 1998.
GIVE THE BALLOT TO THE MOTHERS: Songs of the Suffragists
Give the Ballot to the Mothers is a documentary video which chronicles and explores the music arising out of the
American Woman Suffragist Movement. These songs reflect the tenor and spirit of the
Suffrage Movement in a way no written word can convey. Written testimony, musical
performances, historical cartoons, period photographs, and scholarly commentary reveal
how song reflects the history of the struggle to gain votes for women.
VHS 29 min., Southwest Missouri State University, 1996.
GOD GREW TIRED OF US
Winner of both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the 2006 Sundance Film
Festival, God Grew Tired of Us explores the indomitable spirit of three “Lost Boys” from the Sudan who leave their
homeland, triumph over seemingly insurmountable adversities and move to America, where
they build active and fulfilling new lives but remain deeply committed to helping
the friends and family they have left behind.
DVD 90 min., color, Sony Pictures, 2007.
THE GODS OF OUR FATHERS
Host Gwynne Dyer explores the evolution of patriarchy and the subsequent rise of militarism
in ancient Egypt . In ancient villages along the Nile, patriarchy was adopted as one
effective way of organizing mass societies. But the world is different now, and it’s
time to find alternatives to hierarchies and militarization.
VHS 51 min., Green Lion Productions, 1994.
GRAND AVENUE
Mollie, her two daughters Justine and Alice, and her son Sheldon, have been expelled
from the Lokaya Indian Reservation following the death of her husband. With nowhere
else to go, Mollie takes her children to a place she once called home— Grand Avenue. Without a husband and father, Mollie and her children will have to forge their way
of life. Whether in the old ways of the Native American people, or in the ways of
a modern world, whatever they are searching for, they must find it on Grand Avenue.
VHS (2 tapes) 167 min., color, HBO Home Video, 1996.
THE HEART OF THE MATTER
The Heart of the Matter explores women’s sexuality through the prism of AIDS. The film focuses on the inspiring
story of Janice Jirau, an HIV-positive African American woman, as she unravels the
pieces of her life that contributed to her risk of HIV and steps she took once she
knew she had AIDS.
VHS 54 min., color, First Run / Icarus Films, 1994.
HILDEGARD
Hildegard of Bingen was one of the most remarkable women of the Middle Ages-an Abbess
and woman of God, a visionary, naturalist, playwright, political moralist, and composer.
Despite this outpouring of religious creativity, her visions were called into question,
and she was put on trial by the Church in 1148. Hildegard’s experiences provide valuable
insight into life in the medieval church and the amazing influence of a woman dedicated
to God.
VHS 52 min., color, Gateway Films, 1994.
HIP HOP: BEYOND BEATS AND RHYMES
An official selection of the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes provides a riveting examination of representations of manhood in hip-hop culture.
Director Byron Hurt, former college quarterback, gender violence prevention educator
and longtime hip-hop fan, pays tribute to hip-hop while challenging the rap music
industry to take responsibility for too often perpetuating destructive, deeply conservative
styles of manhood that glamorize sexism, violence, and homophobia.
DVD 61 min., color. Media Education Foundation, 2006.
I AM SOMEBODY (a film by Madeline Anderson)
This inspiring film tells the story of a 1969 strike in Charleston, South Carolina.
Four hundred poorly paid black women working in a hospital and found themselves confronted
by the National Guard. They gained the support of notables such as Andrew Young, Charles
Abernathy, and Coretta Scott King for their 113 day strike.
VHS 28 min., color. First Run/Icarus Films. 1970.
I SHOT ANDY WARHOL
Valerie Solanas, a lesbian writer, loner and prostitute has come to the Big Apple
with one goal: to spread the gospel of her radical feminism. Desperate for an audience,
she latches onto the fringes of Andy Warhol’s scene.
VHS 1 hour, 28 min, MGM, 1995.
I WISH I COULD HAVE SAID NO
The line between wanted and pressured sexual contact can be confusing for many young
adults. In this video, three women share their stories of sexual situations in which
that line was difficult to discern, and where each handled a sexual proposition in
a different manner.
VHS 14 min., color, Intermedia, 1995.
IDA B. WELLS: A Passion for Justice
Ida B. Wells (1862-1931) was a newspaper editor and journalist who went on to lead
the American anti-lynching crusade. Working closely with both African-American community
leaders and American suffragists, Wells worked to raise gender issues within the “Race
Question” and race issues within the “Woman Question.”
VHS 55 min., William Greaves Productions, 1989.
IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK 2
Three couples over three different decades are bonded by the depth of their passions,
their unconventional love, and a house that might offer up their stories. First, an
elderly women, “widowed” when her companion of 50 years dies in 1961, finds herself
alone and unprotected as the “in-laws” move in and cast her house. Second, in 1972,
a feminist coed finds that sexual politics take a back-seat when a boyish girl attempts
to seduce her. Third, in 2000, a couple with almost everything that two women can
have want the one thing they can’t have—unless something more than fate intervenes.
DVD 96 min. color, HBO, 2000.
I’M THE ONE THAT I WANT
This critically acclaimed and hysterically funny live performance presents Margaret
Cho at her stand-up best. As one of the country’s most visible Asian Americans, she
has a unique perspective on identity and acceptance. As one of the country’s funniest
and most quoted she takes no prisoners. I’m the One That I Want is filled with dead-on insights about the experiences of being a woman in the spotlight
from someone who has seen the highs and lows of life.
VHS & DVD 96 minutes, color, Cho Taussig Productions, 2000. (also available is a
45 min. edited version on VHS)
IN THE LIFE (four episodes)
In the Life, public TV’s nationally broadcast news magazine, focuses on timely cultural, social
and political issues of the gay and lesbian community. A four part series exploring
the “seasons” of gay and lesbian issues.
Episode 401 Fall ’94 features segments on Native American lesbians and gays who discuss their
community’s tradition of accommodating “two-spirited” people. National Coming Out Day is discussed. Novelists Minnie Bruce Pratt, Sarah Schulman, and Norman Wong talk about
their experiences as gay and lesbian authors; plus excerpts from Straight from the Heart, the Academy Award-nominated documentary profiling parents of gay and lesbian children.
VHS 60 min., color, The Cinema Guild.
Episode 402, Winter ’95 features an examination of differences and similarities between the civil
rights and gay rights movements, including interviews with MA Congressman Barney Frank
and Dr. Betty Shabazz, widow of Malcolm X; an interview with service woman Margaret
Cammermeyer, whose life was dramatized in the NBC movie, Serving in Silence; and a report on the changing situation for gays in Cuba.
VHS 58 min., color, The Cinema Guild.
Episode 403, Spring ’95 honors lesbian and gay veterans of the military, veterans of the battle
against AIDS, and veterans of the Stonewall movement; coverage of the national Outwrite conference of gay and lesbian authors; and an interview with MCA President Sidney
Sheinberg, who describes the efforts of Hollywood Supports, an organization he co-founded
with Barry Diller to counter homophobia in Hollywood.
VHS 60 min., color, The Cinema Guild.
Episode 404, Summer ’95 examines the experience of lesbians and gay men throughout America .
Dan Butler talks about his one-man show, The Only Thing Worse You Could Have Told Me, which portrays gay life in America through fourteen different characters; plus a
preview of new movies featuring gay and lesbian characters, including The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love, Love and Human Remains, and Jeffrey.
VHS 60 min., color, The Cinema Guild.
IN MY COUNTRY… An International Perspective on Gender
Thirteen participants from countries around the world participated in this Utah Valley
State College program, responding frankly to a series of questions on parental attitudes
toward children, learning about sexuality, marriage decisions, courtship customs,
wedding rituals and financial control in marriages, in the context of their culture.
Produced and directed by Ron J. Hammond; study guide available. Part I – Daily Life
and Part II – Social Issues
VHS (two tapes) 46 minutes, color, Utah Valley State College, 1993.
INFLUENCE OF THE INVISIBLE (missing since April 2005)
This film goes into the depths of the collective psyche to reveal the power mythology
and tradition wields over today’s women in India . (Winner of the 1997 Communicator
Award)
VHS Advanced Media Productions, 1997.
INSIDE DEEP THROAT
It was banned in 23 states. The government didn’t want you to see it. Deep Throat was more than just a titillating curiosity, it was the sexually explicit film that
ignited a social and political firestorm. Inside Deep Throat examines the politics and payoffs, the porn stars and persecution of the cultural
phenomenon that remains just as highly controversial today. From Oscar winning producer
Brian Grazer comes this probing look at the sensational adult film that launched a
sexual and cultural revolution.
DVD 90 mins., color. HBO Films. 2005.
THE INTOLERABLE BURDEN
When the public schools of Drew, Mississippi opened their doors in compliance with
the Civil Rights Act of 1964, blacks were not expected to choose white schools. This
proved true for all but the Carters who sent the youngest eight of their thirteen
children to a formerly all white school. The Intolerable Burden places the Carters’ commitment to obtaining a quality education in context by examining
the conditions of segregation prior to 1965, the hardships the family faced during
segregation, and the massive white resistance that led to resegregation.
DVD 56 minutes, color-b&w, First Run/Icarus Films, 2003.
IRON-JAWED ANGELS
Award-winning HBO feature film about Alice Paul (Hillary Swank) and Lucy Burns (Frances
O’Connor) and the hunger strike of the women’s suffrage movement.
DVD 124 min., color, HBO Films. 2004.
JUDY CHICAGO’S THE DINNER PARTY: A Tour of the Exhibition
The Dinner Party is a symbolic history of women in western civilization told through a series of 39
place settings on an open triangular table, with narration by Judy Chicago.
VHS 45 min., color, Through the Flower.
JULIA
Hellman recalls her lifelong relationship with the fiercely independent and politically
minded Julia. Born to great wealth, Julia devotes her life to political causes fighting
fascism in the 1930’s. While Hellman is traveling in Europe, she is approached by
one of Julia’s political friends and is swept into Julia’s world, smuggling money
across the hostile borders.
VHS 118 min., color, Twentieth Century Fox, 1977.
KILLING US FOR OUR OWN GOOD: Dieting and Medical Misinformation
Killing Us For Our Own Good is a presentation by Dawn Atkins about dieting and medical misinformation.
VHS 105 min., color, Body Image Task Force, 1991.
KILLING US SOFTLY III: Advertising’s Image of Women
Jean Kilbourne’s pioneering work helped develop and popularize the study of gender
representation in advertising. Her award-winning films Killing Us Softly (1979) and Still Killing Us Softly (1987) have influenced millions of college and high school students across two generations
and on an international scale. In this important new film, Kilbourne reviews if and
how the image of women in advertising has changed over the last 20 years. With wit
and warmth, Kilbourne uses over 160 ads and commercials to critique advertising’s
image of women. By fostering creative and productive dialogue, she invites viewers
to look at familiar images in a new way that moves and empowers them to take action.
VHS & DVD 34 min., color, Media Education Foundation, 2000.
KILLING US SOFTLY 4: Advertising’s Image of Women
In this new, highly anticipated update of her pioneering Killing Us Softly series, the first in more than a decade, Jean Kilbourne’s takes a fresh look at how advertising traffics in distorted and destructive ideals
of femininity. The film marshals a range of new print and television advertisements
to lay bare a stunning pattern of damaging gender stereotypes – images and messages
that too often reinforce unrealistic and unhealthy perceptions of beauty, perfection,
and sexuality. By bringing Kilbourne’s groundbreaking analysis up-to-date, Killing Us Softly 4 stands to challenge a new generation of students to take advertising seriously, and
to think critically about popular culture and its relationship to sexism, eating disorders,
and gender violence.
DVD 45 min., color, Media Education Foundation, 2010.
LADIES FIRST: Women in Music Videos
A documentary by Robin Roberts with excerpts of women music video stars who assert
the right to be sexual and to express their sexuality.
VHS color, University Press of Mississippi, 1996.
LADIES, LEARNERS, AND LEADERS
Ladies, Learners, and Leaders is a living chronicle of 125 years of Chautaugua that celebrates the work and wisdom
of its women. Names such as Susan B. Anthony, Carrie Chapman Catt, Jane Adams, and
Helen Keller left their indelible imprint on both Chautauqua and human society. This
video brings you the voices of lesser known women, commemorating their work as the
Ladies, Learners, and Leaders that built our Chautauqua.
VHS 60 min., color, Laura Damon, 2000.
THE LAST DAYS
The winner of the 1998 Academy Award for Best Documentary, this powerful film traces
the compelling experiences of five Hungarian Holocaust survivors who fell victim to
Hitler’s brutal war against the Jews during the final days of World War II. Including
newly-discovered historical footage and a rare interview with a former Nazi doctor
at Auschwitz, the film tells the remarkable story of five people—a grandmother, a
teacher, a business man, an artist, and a U.S. Congressman—as they return from the
United States to their hometowns and to the ghettos and concentration camps in which
they were imprisoned.
VHS 87 min., color, Polygram Video.
LEGAL BUT OUT OF REACH
In this poignant video documentary, viewers will meet six women who live in states
where lack of public funding makes abortion Legal But Out of Reach for many poor women.
Irela, Gina, Trenise, Esperanza, Mindy and Carolyn reveal their lives and personal
struggles that led them to choose abortion only to discover that they could not afford
that choice.
VHS 24 min., National Network of Abortion Funds.
LEONA’S SISTER GERRI
Leona’s Sister Gerri tells the story of Gerri Santoro, a mother of two and the “real person” in the now
famous police photo of an anonymous woman found dead on a motel floor after an illegal
abortion.
VHS 57 min., color, New Day Films.
A LITANY FOR SURVIVAL
A Litany for Survival, a powerful profile of African American poet Audre Lorde aired nationally Tuesday,
June 18, 1996 at 10 p.m. ET on PBS, as part of P.O.V., broadcast television’s only
continuing forum for independent non-fiction film. The film features interviews with
many of Lorde’s fellow poets and activists, including Adrienne Rich, Sapphire, and
Sonia Sanchez, all of whom pay tribute to Lorde’s impact as a mentor and inspirational
force.
55 min., color, Third World Newsreel, 1996.
LIVE NUDE GIRLS UNITE
This first person documentary follows Julia Query, lesbian/stand-up comedian/peepshow-stripper,
and daughter of a feminist activist, on her raucous journey to help organize the only
union of strippers in the United States . Shot on a variety of formats, Live Nude Girls Unite! weaves backstage and dancing footage with labor organizing, street protests, stand-up
comedy and comic-book style “animation” making an intelligent and dramatic cutting-edge
film.
VHS & DVD 70 min., color, First Run/Icarus Films, 2000.
THE LOST CHILDREN OF ROCKDALE COUNTY
The Lost Children of Rockdale County explores how a 1996 syphilis outbreak in a well-off Atlanta suburb affected over
200 teenagers and revealed their lives unknown to parents: group sex, binge drinking,
drugs and violence. Some were as young as twelve and thirteen years old.
VHS & DVD 90 min., color, WGBH Frontline, 1996.
MADE IN DAGENHAM
Based on true events in Dageham, England in 1968, Rita O'Grady is one of 187 women
in a workforce of 55,000 men at the local Ford automobile plant. Facing overhwehelming
opposition in this "man's world," Rita rallies her female co-workers to fight for
equal pay.
DVD 113 min., color, 2011.
MARGARET SANGER: A PUBLIC NUISANCE
Margaret Sanger: A Public Nuisance highlights Sanger’s pioneering strategies of using media and popular culture to advance
the cause of birth control. It tells the story of her arrest and trial, using actual
films, vaudeville, courtroom sketches and re-enactments, video effects and Sanger’s
own words. This witty and inventive documentary looks at how Sanger effectively changed
public discussion of birth control from issues of morality to issues of women’s health
and economic well-being. Executive producers of the program are Barbara Abrash, Esther
Katz and Laurence Hegarty.
VHS 28 min., color, Women Make Movies, 1992.
MERCHANTS OF COOL
Teenagers today have more money and independence then ever before. Their lives have
become the object of obsessive focus by corporate America . Their tastes, attitudes,
and aspirations are sampled and resampled by marketers wielding the latest scientific
tools to determine exactly who they are and what they want. And from this surging
stream of data, the dream weavers of Hollywood and Madison Avenue tell a version of
teenage life in movies, television, music, and advertising that is meant to appeal
to their deepest sensibilities, The Merchants of Cool explores the culture in which today’s American teenager is growing up and how they’ve
come to view themselves and their parents.
DVD 60 min., Frontline with 10/20 Productions, 2001.
MICHAEL KIMMEL: ON GENDER
We’ve heard again and again that men and women are engaged in a “battle of the sexes”,
that we’re so differently wired and so foreign to each other that we might as well
come from different planets. In this powerful new lecture, renowned speaker and bestselling
author Michael Kimmel (The Gendered Society, Manhood in America) turns this conventional
wisdom on its head. With clarity and humor, Kimmel moves beyond the popular inter-planetary
notion that ‘men are from Mars and women are from Venus’ to advance a decidedly more
earth-bound and interconnected view of the things men and women have in common. This
is an accessible and entertaining introduction to gender politics and gender theory
– as intellectually informative as it is inspiring, and suited for use across a range
of disciplines and courses.
DVD 54 min., color, Media Education Foundation, 2008.
MISS AMERICA
An honest, moving and funny look at one of our most popular cultural institutions,
Miss America follows the story of the Pageant from its beginnings in 1921, while exploring what
it means to be an “ideal” American woman. Combining rare archival footage and still
photographs with never-before-seen live footage of the pageant today, the film features
on-camera interviews with a host of distinguished commentators including Gloria Steinem,
William Goldman, Margaret Cho, Isaac Mizrahi, Julia Alvarez, and former Miss Americas
Bess Myerson, Lee Meriwether, and Mary Ann Mobley.
VHS 96 min., color, PBS Video, 2002.
MOMS RISING
Narrated by Academy Award-winning actress Mary Steenburgen, The Motherhood Manifesto shows dramatically just how far behind all other industrial countries the United States
lags in its support for families. Prominent experts including Karen Kornbluh, Joan
Williams, Janet Gornick, Jody Heymann and NOW’s Kim Gandy make the case that America
can do much better.
DVD, MomsRising.org.
MONDAY’S GIRLS
Monday’s Girls provides an up-to-the-minute look at tradition in today’s changing Africa through
the contrasting viewpoints of two young Iriabos women.
VHS 50 min., b/w, A BCC Production, 1993.
MY CHILD: MOTHERS OF WAR
My Child – Mothers of War, is a film that can mobilize the masses and influence those in power to comprehend
the grave impact of sending this country’s children to war. The film interviews mothers
of American troops in Iraq and shows that although their opinions on war, politics,
and social and cultural issues may differ, these mothers are bound by limitless love
for their child. Both political views are represented to show that no matter what
affiliation you claim, the loss of a child shatters any semblance of party lines.
DVD 94 min., color, Human Revolution Entertainment, 2006.
MY FEMINISM
In an era of anti-feminist backlash, this articulate documentary forcefully reminds
us that the revolution continues. Powerful interviews with feminist leaders are undercut
with documentary sequences to engagingly explore the past and present status of the
women’s movement.
VHS & DVD 55 min., color, Women Make Movies, 1997.
MY FLESH AND BLOOD
Who says you can’t choose your family? Susan Tom of Fairfield, California, has done
just that, adopting 11 special-needs children and giving them love, hope and as close
to a normal childhood as possible. Winner of the Audience Award and Director’s Award
at 2003’s Sundance Film Festival, My Flesh and Blood follows a year in the life of this remarkable family as it confronts a litany of
daily routines, celebrates life’s small pleasures, and copes with major crises.
DVD 83 min., color, HBO/Cinimax, 2003.
MY HEART IS MY WITNESS
My Heart is My Witness investigates the status of women in Islam through interviews with men and women from
Mali, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. Though often caricatured in the Western media
as a homogenous group of veiled subordinates, this documentary shows the diversity
of Muslim women, informed by both religion and culture. The sentiment, “Women’s rights
are never given, they are always fought for,” is echoed by women from Algeria and
Tunisia . Punctuated by reports of violence against women as reported in letters written
by an Algerian woman, this moving and stirring exploration of women’s rights and restrictions
in Northern Africa and the Arabic peninsula helps us understand these women’s lives,
struggles and dreams.
VHS & DVD 56 min., color, Women Make Movies, 1996.
NAOMI WOLF: THE BEAUTY MYTH
First, Naomi Wolf revolutionized our understanding of the relationship between “beauty”and
female identity. Naomi Wolf presents her definitive treatise on THE BEAUTY MYTH: The
Culture of Beauty, Psychology, & the Self. On a sweeping historical canvas, from the
Industrial Revolution to today’s multi-billion-dollar diet and cosmetic industries,
Wolf exposes the Beauty Myth as a distinct cultural narrative—a fiction that “beauty”
exists objectively and universally. Having set her stage, Wolf next reveals why “beauty”
must be understood within the power structures of political and economic systems—and
how “beauty” is used as a kind of currency, like money itself. She incisively illustrates
how beauty is a story about female identity told through a cultural system of images:
a potent narrative designed to sell products and support a hierarchical system of
social relations—with devastating conse-quences for female well-being, and for our
most intimate relationships.
DVD 50 min., color, Into the Classroom Media, 2009
NAOMI WOLF: IN DEPTH
Naomi Wolf: In-Depth is the optional 23-minute companion program to The Beauty Myth!
In this bonus presentation, Naomi Wolf goes in-depth to address key implications,
criticisms, and the most commonly asked questions raised by the main program. In this
exclusive bonus presentation, go in-depth with Naomi Wolf as she addresses:
* How the Beauty Myth is different from earlier critiques
*Why the Beauty Myth is a priority among issues facing women
* Beauty & the Illusion of Power
*“Attractiveness” & Social Rewards
* The Healthy Role of Beauty & Attraction
* How to Stop the Struggle for Perfection
* Mixed Messages: Health vs. Beauty
* Self-Esteem & Dieting
* Ethnicity & the Beauty Myth … and much, much more!
DVD 23 min., color, Into the Classroom Media, 2009
NEVER GO BACK: The Threat to Legalized Abortion
Feminist Majority Foundation
NOT FOR OURSELVES ALONE: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony
Not For Ourselves Alone tells the dramatic, little-known story of one of the most compelling friendships
in American history. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony were born into a
world ruled entirely by men. By the time their lives were over, they had changed for
the better the lives of a majority of American citizens. Their personal relationship
was often turbulent, but they never wavered in their shared belief that equality was
the birthright of every woman, and for more than half a century led the fight to make
that dream a reality.
VHS & DVD Part I – “Revolution” 120 min., color
VHS Part II – “Failure Is Impossible” 90 min., color
PBS Home Video, 1999.
OFF THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW
How are we to make sense of the transformation in gay representation – from virtual
invisibility before 1970 to the “gay chic” of the 1990’s? Off the Straight & Narrow is the first in depth documentary to cast a critical eye over the growth of gay images
on TV. Leading media scholars provide the historical and cultural context for exploring
the social implications of these new representations. Off the Straight & Narrow challenges viewers to consider the value and limits of available gay images. The
video is an invaluable tool for all educators interested in introducing students to
issues of representation and diversity in the media.
VHS 63 min., color, Media Education Foundation, 1998.
ONE WOMAN ONE VOTE
From Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s call for women’s rights at Seneca Falls in 1948 to
the last no-holds barred fight in 1920, this film illuminates the story of the fledgling
alliances that grew into a sophisticated mass movement and the events that split the
suffrage movement.
VHS 106 min., PBS Video, 1995.
ORANGES ARE NOT THE ONLY FRUIT
This critically acclaimed film, set in ’60s northern England, is the tale of Jess,
a 16-year-old girl raised to be a missionary, who falls in love for the first time—with
another girl. When Jess’ strict Evangelist mother finds out, she is determined to
make her daughter renounce her sin, resulting in disaster.
VHS (two tapes) 165 min., color, BBC Video/CBS FOX, 1990.
OUR HOUSE: A Very Real Documentary About Kids of Gay and Lesbian Parents
In this video, producer Meema Spadola (the daughter of a lesbian mother) offers a
frank exploration of what it means to grow up with gay or lesbian parents. It profiles
the children in five diverse families who are facing the usual ups and downs of family
life while encountering varied reactions from extended family, classmates, teachers,
neighbors and public officials. The featured families come from a variety of socioeconomic,
racial and ethnic backgrounds and live in urban, suburban, and rural communities throughout
the United States .
VHS & DVD 60 min., color, The Cinema Guild Inc.
OUTFOXED: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism
This documentary reveals the secrets of former Fox news producers, reporters, bookers,
and writers who expose what it’s like to work for Fox News. Media experts including
Jeff Cohen (FAIR), Bob McChesney, and Chellie Pingree provide context and guidance
for the story of Fox News and the effect of corporate control on the public’s right
to know. Visit www.outfoxed.org for reference and teaching materials.
DVD 1 hr. approx., color, moveon.org, 2005.
A PASSION FOR JUSTICE: 21ST CENTURY FEMINISM
This video explores the tough challenges facing women and girls: safety, health, and
equal opportunities. Viewers will meet an impressive array of activists tackling issues
of profound social importance with a passion for justice. Through their courageous
visions and diverse voices, we are transported to the front lines of the feminist
movement as this video demystifies feminism.
VHS & DVD 34 min., California NOW, 2002.
PAUL MONETTE: THE BRINK OF SUMMER’S END
This film offers a glimpse of the man whose sincerity and heroism served to uplift
a generation of men who were imprisoned by the closet and another generation who can
now stand proud of themselves and those they love.
VHS 90 min., color, First Run Features, 1997.
PEER HARASSMENT: Hassles for Women on Campus
This film shows examples of peer harassment against women, gays, and minorities on
a college campus and how to handle the situation.
VHS 15 min., Instructional Technology, University of Maryland Baltimore Country.
PEOPLE LIKE US: Social Class in America (Archival Copy)
This PBS Film explores social class in America , across race and gender lines.
VHS & DVD
THE PERFECT BODY
The Perfect Body explores some of the current cultural messages and personal pressures that entice
women to strive for this largely unattainable ideal. Four college women candidly share
their struggles with body images and discuss the pressures they have felt.
VHS 14 min., color, Intermedia, Inc., 1995.
PERFECT ILLUSIONS: EATING DISORDERS AND THE FAMILY
Anorexia and Bulimia are a silent epidemic (which has gained widespread public attention
only in recent years) and can be lethal. Yet, sufferers don’t look as gravely ill
as they really are, hiding their illness behind a perfect illusion of normalcy as
portrayed though Anna Westin’s life story.
VHS 54 min + 30 min follow up discussion, KCTS Television, 2002.
PERIOD: THE END OF MENSTRUATION?
This documentary film explores trends in hormonal birth control, which may change
the way we think of gender, health and what is “natural” and “normal.”
DVD 54 min., color, cinemaguild, Inc, 2006.
THE PILL
Featuring personal accounts from the first generation of women to have access to the
Pill, this film shows how harnessing female hormones into a little pill unleashed
a social revolution unlike any other in our history.
VHS & DVD 60 min., PBS Home Video, 2003.
A PLACE OF RAGE
This exuberant celebration of African American women and their achievements features
interviews with Angela Davis, June Jordan and Alice Walker. Within the context of
the civil rights, Black power and feminist movements, the trio reassesses how women
such as Rosa Parks and Fannie Lou Hamer revolutionized American society. A stirring
chapter in African American history, highlighted by music from Prince, Janet Jackson,
the Neville Brothers and the Staple Singers.
VHS 52 min., color, Women Make Movies, 1991.
PLAYING UNFAIR: THE MEDIA IMAGE OF THE FEMALE ATHLETE
Playing Unfair is the first video to critically examine the post-Title IX media landscape
in terms of the representation of female athletes. Using numerous media examples,
Playing Unfair is sure to stimulate debate among women and men, athletes and non-athletes
about the meaning of these images in a world transformed by the presence of women
in sport.
VHS 30 min., Media Education Foundation, 2002.
PRAY THE DEVIL BACK TO HELL
is the inspiring story of a group of ordinary women who came together – Muslim and
Christian, rich and poor, urban and rural – to bring peace to their war-torn but beloved
Liberia. The story of their historic but unsung achievement is gripping, suspenseful,
terrifying and ultimately incredibly satisfying. Surprisingly touching and even funny,
this film will stay with your for years.
DVD 72 min., Fork Films LLC, 2008.
PRECIOUS
Precious Jones, an inner-city high school girl, is illiterate, overweight, and pregnant…again.
Naive and abused, Precious responds to a glimmer of hope when a door is opened by
an alternative-school teacher. She is faced with the choice to follow opportunity
and test her own boundaries. Prepare for shock, revelation, and celebration.
DVD 109 min., color, Lionsgate, 2009.
A PRICE ABOVE RUBIES
This widely acclaimed motion picture is about a young woman who always did just what
was expected: she married the right man, moved to the right neighborhood and had a
beautiful baby. And yet, when she discovers an exciting world beyond her tightly knit
community, it sparks a growing desire for independence that threatens the security
of the perfect life she knows.
VHS 116 min., color, Miramax Home Entertainment.
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
Based on Jane Austen’s timeless novel, this film is the story of the lively Elizabeth
Bennet, one of five unmarried daughters living in the countryside of 19th century
England . In a world where obtaining an advantageous marriage is a woman’s sole occupation,
Elizabeth’s independent marriage threatens her family’s future.
VHS (six tapes) Approx. 50 min. each, A BBC Production, 1996.
Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring
Rachel Carson had been a consulting biologist for the federal government’s Fish and
Wildlife Department when she first took note of the unregulated use of pesticides
and herbicides. When Silent Spring was published, Carson was viciously attacked. The smear campaign backfired. Silent Spring sparked a revolution in government environmental policy and became instrumental in
creating a new ecological consciousness. This is the story of how one scientist’s
courage changed the way we think about our world.
VHS & DVD 60 min., color, PBS Video, 1992.
RACHEL’S DAUGHTERS: SEARCHING FOR THE CAUSES OF BREAST CANCER
From the makers of the Oscar-winning In the Shadow of The Stars, this fascinating
documentary follows a group of women – all breast cancer activists who are fighting
or have survived the disease – who are on a personal mission to unearth the causes
of breast cancer. The result is Rachel’s Daughters, an engaging detective story and detailed analysis of the science and politics of
this epidemic. Seeing themselves as spiritual heirs of author Rachel Carson, whose
1962 book Silent Spring warned of the dangers of DDT exposure, they focus on issues
including chemical contamination, radiation, and electromagnetic exposure to find
breast cancer’s causes. Addressing environmental racism, inequalities in research
funding, and disparities in cancer rates for women of color, they track the effects
of social biases on cancer incidence and health care delivery.
VHS 106 min., color, Women Make Movies, 1997.
RAPE IS…
Rape Is… explores the meaning severity, and consequences of rape. Looks at rape from
a global and historical perspective, but focuses mainly on the domestic conditions
that make this human rights outrage the most under-reported crime in America .
VHS 32min., Cambridge Documentary Films, 2002.
REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES
Should she leave home, go to college and experience life? Or stay at home, get married,
and keep working in her sister’s struggling garment factory? It may seem like an easy
decision, but for 18 year-old Ana, every choice she makes this summer will change
her life. At home, she is bound to a mother who wants her to become someone she’s
not. But at school, she’s encouraged by a teacher who sees her potential, and adored
by a boyfriend who loves her for who she is. Right now, Ana may be making clothes
for less shapely women. But she’s about to discover that real women take chances,
have flaws, embrace life, and above all, have curves!
DVD 86 min., Newmarket Films, 2005.
RECOVERING BODIES
The focus in this unique and informative video is not simply on people’s problems
with food, but on the renewed hope for a healthy life that the process of recovery
provides. Full of useful information about successful strategies for recovery, and
utilizing the commentary and expertise of professionals.
VHS 34 min., color, The Media Education Foundation, 1997.
THE RIGHTEOUS BABES
Acclaimed filmmaker Pratibha Parmar explores the intersection of feminism with popular
music, focusing on the role of female recording artists in the 1990’s and their influence
on modern women. Parmar argues that, far from being dead, feminism has thrived and
expanded its reach through the direct, aggressive, and revolutionary medium of rock
music, and through performers like Madonna and Ani DiFranco. With critical insight
and candidness, this powerful documentary demonstrates the vibrancy and relevance
of feminism to women and young girls today.
VHS 50 min., color, Women Make Movies, 1998.
A ROOM OF ONE’S OWN
“A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.” So spoke
Virginia Woolf in 1929 as she discussed the problems of the writer and of women in
general. In this program, the actress Eileen Atkins re-creates her acclaimed one-woman
stage show based on Woolf’s talk, in the original lecture hall at Girton College,
amidst the background of Cambridge, with its distinguished colleges and elegant riverbanks,
which was the original inspiration for Woolf’s noble and exhilarating talk.
VHS 53 min., color, Films for the Humanities & Sciences, 1996.
THE ROOTS OF ROE
Looking past slogans and 30-second sound bites, The Roots of Roe explores how arguments
over human reproductions have changed over the years. Features interviews with some
of the country’s leading medical and legal historians, as well as first person accounts
from the litigants and attorneys who presented cases to both the Connecticut Supreme
Count and the Federal Supreme Court.
VHS 58min., CPTV and CT Humanities Council, 1992.
S21 THE KHMER ROUGE KILLING MACHINE
From 1975-79, almost two million Cambodians lost their lives to murder and famine
when the Khmer Rouge forced the urban population into the countryside to fulfill their
ideal of an agrarian utopia. The notorious detention center code-named “S21”was the
schoolhouse-turned prison where 17,000 men, women and children were tortured and killed,
their “crimes” meticulously documented to justify their execution. In this award-winning
documentary and astonishing historical document, survivor Vann Nath confronts his
captors, some of whom were as young as 12 years old when they committed their atrocities.
DVD 101 min., color, Human Rights Watch, 2003
SACRIFICE
In Sacrifice, filmmaker Ellen Bruno uses hauntingly beautiful imagery to paint a startling picture
of an ugly reality: the thriving sex industry in Thailand . Sacrifice explores the lives of the four young rural girls, giving voice to their experiences
in this poetic tribute to their struggles for survival.
VHS 48 min., color, NAATA, 1998.
SALT OF THE EARTH
Salt of the Earth is based on an actual strike against the Empire Zinc Mine in New Mexico. The film
deals with the prejudice against the Mexican-American workers, who struck to attain
wage parity with Anglo workers in other mines and to be treated with dignity by the
bosses. The film is an early treatment of feminism, because the wives of the miners
play a pivotal role in the strike, against their husband’s wishes. In the end, the
greatest victory for the workers and their families is the realization that prejudice
and poor treatment are conditions that are not always imposed by outside forces. This
film was written, directed and produced by members of the original Hollywood Ten,
who were blacklisted for refusing to answer Congressional inquiries on First Amendment
grounds.
VHS 94 min., B/W, MPI, 1954.
SEARCHING FOR ANGELA SHELTON
Filmmaker Angela Shelton journeys across the US meeting other Angela Sheltons in an
effort to survey women in America . She discovers that 24 out of 40 Angela Sheltons
have been raped, beaten, or molested—25 if she includes herself. In all probability,
you know someone who was abused—if you think not, meet the Angela Sheltons.
DVD 94 min., color, searchingforengelashelton LLC, 2004.
SECRETS & LIES
Hortense is a young black optometrist, living in London. She weeps at her mother’s
funeral. Her father is already dead. They were her adoptive parents, and she now feels
the need to find her birth mother. She visits a social worker who gives her her case
file. From this, Hortense discovers to her surprise and consternation that her birth
mother Cynthia is white. Having gone to some lengths to track Cynthia down, Hortense
plucks up the courage to phone her. On realizing who the caller is, Cynthia is deeply
distressed: but after some hesitation, she agrees to meet her a few days later…
VHS 142 min., color, Alliance Video, 1996.
SENECA REFLECTIONS: 150 Years of Women’s Rights
Seneca Reflections is a rare, personal tribute to the remarkable women—past and present—whose lives
have furthered the cause of women’s rights. Included are the voices of Betty Friedan,
Hillary Rodham Clinton, Donna Shalala, Sally Roesch Wagner, Judy Wellman, Coline Jenkins-Sahlin,
Karen Staser, and others. Their strong, insightful comments will contribute to any
discussion of women’s issues.
VHS 24 min., The Publisher, The Writings of Mary Baker Eddy, 1998.
SEX ROLES: Charting the Complexity of Development
This film helps answer the question of what distinguishes males from females. It
includes the story of development of the child and adolescent.
VHS WLU Telecollege Productions, Inc., Insight Media.
SEXISM IN LANGUAGE: Thief of Honor, Shaper of Lies
Lynn T. Lovdal, Ph.D., lectures about biased language against women of the past and
present day society.
VHS & DVD University of California Center for Media and Independent Learning.
SEXUAL HARASSMENT FROM 9 TO 5
This program looks at the legal and the human side to sexual harassment in the workplace
and shows the rights of women, the responsibilities of male workers and the companies
that employ them.
VHS 26 min., color, Films for the Humanities & Sciences, Inc., 1992.
SHERMAN’S MARCH: An Improbably Search for Love
Serendipitously rich and quirky, SHERMAN’S MARCH starts out as an historical documentary
tracing General Tecumseh Sherman’s disastrous march through the South, but somehow
metamorphoses into an hilarious record McElwee’s, the filmmaker, own calamitous quest
for romance. After a breakup with his girlfriend sidetracks his plans for the historical
documentary, McElwee turns the camera on himself and his search for new love. The
film is a compendium of his encounters with a formidable group of extravagant Southern
women, resulting in a timely study of human relationships in an era of nuclear nervousness.
VHS 157 min., color, First Run Features, 1986.
SHORTCHANGING GIRLS, SHORTCHANGING AMERICA
Shortchanging Girls, Shortchanging America is a dramatic look at the inequities that girls face in America ’s schools. This video
features education experts and public policy leaders, AAUW poll results, and the compelling
voices and faces of American girls. (Also see Girls Can)
VHS & DVD 19 min., color, American Association of University Women, 1991.
SLIM HOPES: Advertising and the Obsession with Thinness
Jean Kilbourne offers an in-depth analysis of how female bodies are depicted in advertising
imagery and the devastating effects of that imagery on women’s health. Addressing
the relationship between these images and the obsession of girls and women with dieting
and thinness, Slim Hopes offers a new way to think about life-threatening eating disorders such as anorexia
and bulimia, and it provides a well-documented critical perspective on the social
impact of advertising. Using over 150 ads, it informs as it entertains, allowing viewers
to build an analytic framework for considering the impact of advertising on women’s
health.
VHS 30 min., color, Media Education Foundation, 1995.
THE SMELL OF BURNING ANTS
This film is a haunting documentary on the pains of growing up male. It explores the
inner and outer cruelties that boys perpetrate and endure. the flim illustrates how
boys are socialized by fear, power, and shame.
DVD 21 min., color/B&W, Locomotion Films, 1994.
SO DEEP A VIOLENCE: Prostitution, Trafficking, and the Global Sex Industry
This film, produced by the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, goes beyond the
myths about prostitution as a glamorous job, a new form of word and a woman’s choice
to demonstrate the harm of prostitution and sex trafficking. It spotlights the men
who create the demand for the sexual exploitation of women and girls. This film inspires
a campaign of zero tolerance for sexual exploitation.
VHS 29 min., color, CATW, 2000.
SPIRITUAL MIDWIFERY
Spiritual Midwifery was produced in hopes of helping to reclaim the normalcy of birth from the clutches
of technocracy. The Farm midwives’ love and knowledge pour forth in this powerful
and stunningly beautiful film.
VHS Birth Gazette Video, 1995.
SPRING SYMPHONY(missing since April 2005)
Whatever it is about 19th century composer Robert Schumann and his pianist wife Clara
Wieck that fascinates filmmakers, it is a strong enough fascination to prompt a retelling
of the Schumanns’ lives every few years. First, there was the 1947 Katharine Hepburn/Paul
Henreid film vehicle Song of Love. Then there was a well-received 1950s episode of
The Loretta Young Show. And in 1983, we were treated to the German-made Spring Symphony
(originally Fruehlingssinfonie). This time around, Nastassja Kinski is Clara and Herbert
Gronemeyer is Robert; the story of how fame can destroy the relationship between a
sensitive woman and a workaholic man remains the mixture as before. Oddly, given the
usual “warts and all” movie mentality of the 1980s, Spring Symphony is even more fanciful
and romanticized than earlier versions of the Schumann saga. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie
Guide
VHS 102 mins., color, Greentree Productions Ltd., 1986.
THE SUM OF US
A boisterous widower and his easy-going gay son enjoy a comfortable life in suburbia.
But when the father decides that his son should brave the journey towards true love,
he helps things along a bit too much. Through various relationships, these two men
discover the unshakable strength of their relationship.
VHS 99 min., color, Evergreen Entertainment, 1994.
SUSAN B. ANTHONY SLEPT HERE
ABC news correspondent Lynn Sherr takes us on a lively trip across America to visit
the landmarks and places that celebrate American women mapping a unique tour of the
nation following in the footsteps of these women.
VHS 56 min., color, Films for the Humanities & Sciences, 1995.
SWEATING INDIAN STYLE
The appropriation of Native American traditions by non-natives comes under thoughtful
scrutiny in this insightful documentary. As it follows the New Age activities of a
group of Californian women learning to construct a sweat lodge and perform their own
ceremony, it raises important questions about the use of elements of native culture
out of context, apart from the complex realities of American Indian experience. Interviews
with diverse Native American women point out the problems inherent in this increasingly
popular New Age phenomenon and its relationship to traditional forms of colonialism.
VHS 57 min., color, Women Make Movies, 1994.
THESE HANDS
This film looks at a day in the life of African women whose labor (breaking up rocks)
provides the only narrative for this compelling film. Community and a sense of fun
and vitality persist despite their ground into the common currency of industrial civilization.
VHS 45 min., B/W, California Newsreel, 1992.
THIN
The HBO documentary film Thin takes us inside the walls of Renfew Center, a residential facility for the treatment
of women with eating disorders, closely following four young women (ages 15-30) who
have spent much of their lives starving themselves—often to the verge of death. The
film deftly chronicles the pervasiveness of disordered eating behaviors, as well as
the failure of our current health-insurance industry to address its clients’ needs,
while never shifting focus from the women themselves. Director Lauren Greenfield documents
with astonishing depth the daily rituals, spontaneous friendships and startling swings
between recovery and relapse that make up life at the center. The result is a powerful
new insight into one of our society’s most insidious open secrets.
DVD 102 min., color, HBO Documentary Films, 2006.
THIS AIN’T GOING AWAY
This video illustrates the effect that harassment can have on an entire workplace,
including the effects on the person who is harassed, on the union, and on other co-workers.
Information from the CAW Workplace Harassment Policy is included.
VHS 25 min., Barna-Alper Productions, Inc., 1997.
THIS IS SPINAL TAP
You’re about to get personal with one of music history’s greatest—and loudest—heavy
metal bands… SPINAL TAP! Whether or not you’re a die-hard fan of the group, you’ll
love this rockumentary of England ’s legendary Spinal Tap. Be a part of the sights,
sounds, and smells of this celebrated heavy metal phenomenon. It’s an experience you’ll
never forget.
DVD 1 hr. 23 min., color, MGM, 1984.
TIM WISE: ON WHITE PRIVILEGE
In this spellbinding lecture, Tim Wise, author of White Like Me: Reflections on Race
from a Priviledged Son, offers a unique, inside-out view of race and racism in America.
Expertly overcoming the defensiveness that often surrounds these issues, Wise provides
a non-confrontational explanation of white privilege and the damage it does not ony
to people of color, but to white people as well. This is an invaluable classroom resource:
an ideal introduction to the social construction of racial identities, and a critical
new tool for exploring the often invoked – but seldom explained – concept of white
privilege.
DVD 57 min., color, Media Education Foundation, 2008.
TO THE LIGHTHOUSE
As a wave casually laps onto the Cornwall beach, the Ramsay family and friends settle
in to enjoy a warm Edwardian summer. Presided over by the gentle power and irresistible
charisma of their mother, their story evolves with the textures, romance, and conflicting
dreams that draw a family together and simultaneously pull it apart.
VHS 115 min., color, Monterey Movie Company, 1983.
TOUGH GUISE
In this innovative and wide-ranging analysis, Jackson Katz argues that the widespread
violence in American society needs to be understood as part of an ongoing crisis in
masculinity. Tough Guise is extensively illustrated with examples from popular culture.
VHS 80 min., color, Media Education Foundation, 1999.
THE TRUE MEANING OF PICTURES
An audience favorite at Sundance, The True Meaning of Pictures is an introduction to the work of renowned photographer Shelby Lee Adams. Born in
Eastern Kentucky, Adams has decoted 30 years of his life to visiting and making portraits
of families living in Appalachia, those who have been misrepresented in the media
and derogatorily referred to as hillbillies. A provocative exploration of Appalachian
life, this film also delves into the controversy surrounding Adams’ work, with hot
debate amongst critics, and revealing commentary form his friends and subjects. It
makes us question the meaning of art itself, and along the way we get to know both
Adams and the extraordinary people who stand in front of his camera.
DVD 71 mins., color. Mercury Films. 2002.
TSOTSI
Captivating audiences worldwide, this compelling story of crime and redemption has
earned countless awards around the globe. On the edges of Johannesburg, Tsotsi’s life
has no meaning beyond survival. One night, in desperation, tsotsi steals a woman’s
car. But as he is driving off, he makes a shocking discovery in the backseat. In one
moment his life takes a sharp turn and leads him down an unexpected path to redemption…
giving him hope for a future he never could have imagined. Tsotsi is an extraordinary portrait of the choices that are made in life and how compassion
can endure in the human heart.
DVD 94 min., color. Mirmax Films. 2005.
UNCHAINED MEMORIES
This film documents the inhumanity of slavery from the point of view of those who
lived it. With the visual help of Ed Bell, Edward Bell, and Thomas Lennon, the stories
from former slaves that were recorded long ago are brought to life through narratives
by some of today’s top African American actors and actresses. The narratives were
recorded all across the U.S when many of the former slaves were very old.
DVD 75 min., color, HBO Video, 2003.
UNIVERSITY JOURNAL
Feminist Poetry, Olmsted/Oakes 32 min.
UNTOLD DESIRES
This film highlights the struggle that people with disabilities face in their quest
to be recognized as sexual beings, free to express their sexuality and lead sexually
active lives. In the sometimes sensitive area of sexuality, people with disabilities
find that their own needs are often subverted by the conservative values of those
who provide essential care. They are also sharply conscious of how they are seen by
others. Untold Desires allows these people to speak about issues that confront them: choice, privacy, the
right to have sexual relationships and the right to have children. They speak frankly
about their experiences in search of sexually fulfilled lives. Their honesty is sometimes
raw, but always deeply moving. The film offers positive images for people with disabilities
and breaks down stereotypes that render the disabled person non-sexual in the eyes
of the non-disabled world.
VHS 53 min., color, Filmakers Library.
VOICES FROM THE UNDERGROUND: Survivors of Prostitution Speak Out
Shot on home video camera, this film exposes the reality of prostitution and pornography
in the U.S. and Canada primarily through interviews with women used in systematic
prostitution. The video features testimony, political analysis, art, activism, and
poetry from five survivor/activists against prostitution along with music by Consolidated.
VHS 53 min., color, SE Escape, 2000.
WALMART: THE HIGH COST OF LOW PRICE
Have you ever wondered why Wal-Mart spends so much money convincing you it cares about
your family, your community, and even its own employees? What is it hiding? Wal-Mart:
The High Cost of Low Price takes you behind that glitz and into the real lives of
workers and their families, business owners and their communities, in an extraordinary
journey that will challenge the way you think, feel, and shop.
DVD 97 min., color. Brave New Films, 2005.
WARRIOR MARKS
Warrior Marks is a poetic and political film about female genital mutilation from the director
of A Place of Rage. Female genital mutilation affects one hundred million of the world’s women and this
remarkable film unlocks some of the cultural and political complexities surrounding
this issue. Interviews with women from Senegal , Gambia , Burkino Faso, the United
States and England who are concerned with and affected by genital mutilation are intercut
with Walker’s own personal reflections on the subject.
VHS 54 min., color, Women Make Movies, 1995.
THE WATERMELON WOMAN
Cheryl is a twenty-something black lesbian working as a clerk in a video store while
struggling to make a documentary about Fae Richards, an obscure black actress from
the 1930’s. Cheryl is surprised to discover that Richards (known popularly as “the
Watermelon Woman”) had a white lesbian lover. At the same time, Cheryl falls in love
with a very cute white customer at the video store (Guinevere Turner from Go Fish).
Such are the complexities of race and sex in this startlingly fresh debut, which has
been attacked by conservative Congressmen for having been funded by the NEA and lavishingly
praised in the editorial pages for being charming and courageous.
VHS 84 min., color, First Run Features, 1997.
WE
We is a fast-paced 64 minute documentary that covers the world politics of power, war,
corporations, deception, and exploitation. It visualizes the words of Arundhati Roy,
specifically her famous Come September speech, where she spoke on such things as the war on terror, corporate globalization,
justice and the growing civil unrest happening in the world. Witty, moving, alarming,
and quite a lesson in modern history.
65 min., color, weroy.org 2006
WHEN NIGHT IS FALLING
Camille and Martin are in love and teachers at a Christian college; they get the
opportunity to get a better job, but they would have to marry for that. But when Camille’s
dog dies, she recognizes that her love for Martin is not even as big as the love for
her dog. After that, Camille gets to know Petra, and Petra falls in love with Camille.
They meet again, but Camille is very unsure about her feelings. When Martin is away
for a weekend, Camille and Petra meet in the Circus where Petra is working as an acrobat.
They spend the night together, but Martin finds out about it and is shocked. He has
an argument with Camille, and she goes burying her dog in the snow, and falls asleep…
VHS 94 min., color, October Films, 1995.
WILD WOMEN DON’T HAVE THE BLUES
The story of Ma Rainey, Ethel Waters, Bessie Smith, Alberta Hunter, Ida Cox, and other
pioneering blues women from early in the century are brought to life in Wild Women Don’t Have the Blues. We learn of their vision and their struggle, their pain and their humor, their unflagging
spirit, and most of all, their legendary music. The film complies for the first time
dozens of rare, classic renditions of the early blues to commentary by “Queen of the
Blues”, Koko Taylor.
VHS 58 min., color, California Newsreel, 1989.
A WOMAN’S WORLD: WOMEN IN POLITICS
VHS 30 min., color, Women in Politics Productions, LLC, 2000.
WOMEN AGAINST WARS, WARS AGAINST WOMEN
Talks by Nawal el Saddawi, Arundhati Roy, Saher Saba, and Irene Khan at the World
Social Fourm in Mumbai, India .
DVD 51.5 min., color, Institute for Social and Cultural Communication, 2004.
WOMEN ARTISTS: The Other Side of the Picture
Where are the works of the great women artists? Why are there so few represented
in museums? In this provocative program, respected artists such as Doris McCarthy,
Judy Chicago, Joyce Weiland, and Jane Ash Poitras–in combination with curators, art
historians, and The Guerrilla Girls, the “terrorists” of the art world–discuss the
dearth of women’s artwork in major galleries and examine the poignant social history
of women in the fine arts–a story of suppression, marginalization, and omission. The
efforts of the National Museum of Women in the Arts to balance that one-sided picture
of artistic achievement are spotlighted.
VHS 54 min., color, Films for the Humanities & Sciences, 1999.
WOMEN FACING WAR
Eleven women from different places and backgrounds describe how war has affected
their lives.
VHS 33min., color, Urban Films and ICRC, 2001.
WOMEN OF KENTUCKY: OUR LIVES, OUR LEGACY
Through interviews with women leaders, primary documents, and brief biographical
sketches, this documentary encourages young people to become more committed to Kentucky’s
political process by volunteering as grassroots advocates and to consider futures
as office holders. The program inspires interest in Kentucky history, focusing particularly
on the achievements of women, and promotes the values of citizenship and public service
by documenting the progress of women in positions of community leadership and elected
office.
VHS 60 min., KET.
WOMEN OF WISDOM AND POWER
One of the most critically acclaimed and inspiring PBS series ever produced features
an unprecedented gathering of some of today’s most fascinating and influential women,
at their best, their wisest, their most powerful. They discuss the issues that are
most meaningful and deeply relevant in women’s lives today.
Episode I Passages The Path to Personal Transformation 60 min.
Episode II Ageless Beauty Embrace your Wisdom Years 60 min.
Episode III The Power Within Unleash the Power of your Feminine Spirit 60 min.
DVD, color, PBS 2005
(Donated by Tiffany Hubert and her mother.)
WOMANHOUSE
Womanhouse is a historic documentary about one of the most important feminist cultural events
of the 1970’s. Judy Chicago and Miriam Shapiro rented an old Hollywood mansion and
altered its interior through decor and set-pieces to “search out and reveal the female
experience…the dreams and fantasies of women as they sewed, cooked, washed and ironed
away their lives.”
VHS 43 min., color, Women Make Movies, 1972.
WRESTLING WITH MANHOOD: BOYS, BULLYING, AND BATTERING
Wresting with Manhood is the first educational program to pay attention to the popularity
of professional wresting among male youth, addressing its relationship to real-life
violence and probing the values that sustain it as a powerful cultural force.
VHS 60 min., Media Education Foundation, 2002.
WRITING WHO WE ARE
Poetry reading, Barnes and Noble, 42 min., 2000
THE YELLOW WALLPAPER
Touted as one of the first major feminist writers, Charlotte Perkins Gilman spent
her life fighting to liberate women from the yoke of domesticity. This is a stunning
BBC dramatization of Perkins’ autobiographical account of a woman driven to madness
by her own mundane existence. Stephen Dillon as the husband John and Julia Watson
as the despondent heroine give stellar performances in this production directed by
the BBC’s John Clive.
VHS 76 min., color, BBC Worldwide Americas, Inc.
YOU’RE HURTING ME, TOO!
You’re Hurting Me, Too examines both the long and short-term effects of domestic violence on children. Experts
reveal that children who witness violence may be more at risk to commit suicide, engage
in delinquent behavior as adults, and grow up to become victims or abusers themselves.
The film stresses the importance of providing counseling for children and the difficulties
children face in the legal system.
VHS 24 min., color, Intermedia, 1996.
ZORA IS MY NAME!
A funny, stirring story based on the life of Zora Neale Hurston, one of the most distinctive
writers of the American south. Through lively anecdotes and musical performances,
this unique theatre piece reveals the life and times of a remarkable person.
VHS 90 min., color, PBS, 1989.
