This collection is available at Love Library.
Women's International Issues
Achy Obejas Interview on LaPlaza: Conversations with Ilan Stavans - #139
Noted author and critic Ilan Stavans explores the idea of "Becoming American" with the award-winning Latina writer Achy Obejas. Obejas discusses her experiences as a Cuban-born exile growing up in Chicago. A columnist for the Chicago Tribune, Obejas speaks about her life, her writings and her new novel, Days of Awe , which won the Lambda Fiction Award. Obejas has also written We Came All the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress Like This? and Memory Mango. Produced by WGBH Boston Video (30 min., 2001)
Beyond Beijing: The International Women's Movement - #1
This independent documentary was produced by women about the largest meeting of women in world history, the Non- Governmental Organizations (NGO) Forum on Women in Huairou, China, in September 1995. Over 30,000 activists convened to communicate, collaborate, celebrate, and influence the outcome of the parallel United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. Produced and directed by Salome Chasnoff. (1996, USA, 60 min)
Blossoms of Fire - #138
Shows the Zapotec women of southern Oaxaca, Mexico, in all their brightly colored, opinionated glory as they run their own businesses, embroider their signature fiery blossoms on clothing and comment with angry humor on articles in the foreign press that flippantly and inaccurately depict them as a promiscuous matriarchy. The people interviewed in this film share a strong work ethic and fierce independent streak rooted in Zapotec culture. These qualities have resulted not only in powerful women but also in the region's progressive politics, manifested in their unusual tolerance of homosexuality. Veteran film editor Maureen Gosling and co-director Ellen Osborne illuminate the infectious self-confidence of the Juchitecan people (75 min., 2000).
Bullshit - #188
Her opponents gave her the “Bullshit Award” for sustaining global poverty. Time Magazine hailed her as one of the great heroes of our time. She is Vandana Shiva and this is a film about globalization, genetic engineering, bio-piracy, food, and water. This vital documentary profiles environmental activist Vandana Shiva (recipient of the Right Livelihood Award and the United Nations' Earth Day International Award), as it follows her for a period of two years a whirlwind tour from her organic farm at the foot of the Himalayas to the summit of the World Trade Organization in Mexico to a protest outside the European Patents Office in Munich. Here, in these institutions of power, we watch as Shiva does battle with the proponents of globalization, multi-national corporations like Monsanto, an American bio-tech company manufacturing genetically modified foods (whom Shiva holds responsible for a rash of farmers' suicides) and Coca-Cola, accused of depleting and contaminating groundwater in India. An insightful, eye-opening, and exhilarating film, Bullshit elucidates some of the most pressing social and technological questions of the 21 st century can genetically modified foods alleviate world hunger? is it legal for corporations to patent natural crops? -can indigenous knowledge inform modern genetic engineering? -as it offers a compelling portrait of a tireless and fearless activist. (73 min., 2005)
Cut From Different Cloth: Burqas & Beliefs - #170
Documentary by prize-winning journalist Olga Shalygin, about the lives of women in Afghanistan today. It is a compelling story of the post-Taliban culture and the traditions that continue to limit the freedom of Afghan women. Seen through the eyes of a 27 year-old American woman living with an Afghan family, this film illustrates the difficulties and dilemmas Afghan women face as they strive for rights guaranteed to them by the new constitution. (57 min., 2005)
DAM/AGE - #135
Traces writer Arundathi Roy's bold and controversial campaign against the Narmada dam project in India , which led to a conviction for criminal contempt by India 's Supreme Court. As the film traces the events that led up to her imprisonment, Roy meditates on her own personal negotiation with her fame, the responsibility it places on her as a writer, a political thinker and a citizen, and the choices she has made. The film is not just the story of modern India, but of what is happening politically in the world today: from the consequences of development and globalization to the ever more urgent need for state accountability and the freedom of speech. By Aradhana Seth (50 min., 2002)
The Easiest Targets: The Israeli Policy of Strip Searching Women and Children - #184
The organization “If Americans Knew” conducted an investigation and was astonished to learn that Israeli officials have been regularly strip-searching women and girls as young as seven and below. Many of these children have been American citizens. Moreover, the mode in which this has been done is often particularly humiliating and, at times, grotesque. This film tells the stories of five women, Palestinian, American, Muslim, Christian, and Jewish, who experienced humiliation and harassment by Israeli border guards and airport security officials. The DVD bonus materials also include information regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that is different from the average U.S. media coverage. (2008, 13 min., plus lengthy bonus material)
Emilia Gonzalez-Clements: International Women's Movements: To Beijing and Beyond - #79A
Filmed at the 1998 UNL "No Limits" Conference. Emilia Gonzalez-Clements is an applied anthropologist and a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at UNL. She has lived and worked in Mexico, Peru, Nicaragua, Bangladesh, the Dominican Republic, and in several parts of the U.S. She shares the stories of women with whom she has worked during her 15 years of fieldwork, as well as her observations of the 1995 Beijing NGO Forum which "Brought together over 3,000 women to teach, learn, and share strategies for success."
Femmes Aux Yeux Ouverts (Women With Open Eyes) - #3
Award-winning Togolese filmmaker Anne-Laure Folly presents portraits of contemporary African women from four West African nations: Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal, and Benin. The film shows how African women are speaking out and organizing around five key issues: marital rights, reproductive health, female genital mutilation, women's role in the economy, and political rights. (1994, Togo, 52 min, French w/English subtitles)
Germany, Pale Mother (Deutschland bleiche Mutter) - #84
Award Winner, Berlin Film Festival. A powerful love story set during and after the Nazi era; an extraordinary dialogue with the German past. Sanders-Brahms explores the private lives of a young bride and her Nazi soldier husband, and her parents, by-standers who tolerated Hitler. The film is also a moving portrait of a remarkably strong woman who is raped by the American conquerors, accused of infidelity by her husband, yet who remains defiant, with her daughter by her side. (1979; German dialogue with English subtitles, 123 min.)
Hidden Faces - #4
By Claire Hunt and Kim Longinotto. Originally intended as a film about internationally renowned feminist writer Nawal El Saadawi, Hidden Faces develops into a portrayal of Egyptian women's lives in Muslim society. Safaa Fathay, a young Egyptian woman living in Paris, returns home to interview the famed writer and activist but becomes disillusioned with her. Illuminated by passages from El Saadawi's work, the film follows Fathay's journey to her family home and discovers similar complex frictions between modernity and tradition. (1990, 52 min)
Human Trafficking 101-The Presenter's Kit - #185
The box set contains two films and the first training video dedicated exclusively to the issue of Human Trafficking and Modern Day Slavery. With more than 50,000 victims trafficked into this country every year, the 20-minute Human Trafficking training video was created to build awareness and insight into a growing international problem that affects every city and town in the United States. As the driving force behind the production of this video, filmmaker, activist and founder of the Journey Film Group, Michael Cory Davis has led efforts over the past four years to bring awareness to this issue while giving a voice to those who are too young and scared to seek help. To convey the impact and emotional depth of this crime, Davis decided to offer a special kit that, in addition to the training module, includes his two-award winning films, Svetlana's Journey and Cargo: Innocence Lost . The short film Svetlana's Journey takes viewers into the brothel through the eyes of a 13-year old victim; Cargo . The documentary Cargo: Innocence Lost (POST certified) offers hard-hitting facts and testimonials from real-life victims in America. The training module video Human Trafficking is a training guide on all forms of human trafficking. (20 min., 2007)
Iron Ladies of Liberia — #201
After surviving a 14-year civil war and a government riddled with corruption, Liberia is ready for change. On January 16, 2006, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was inaugurated President the first freely elected female head of state in Africa. Having won a hotly contested election with the overwhelming support of women across Liberia, Sirleaf faces the daunting task of lifting her country from debt and devastation. She turns to a remarkable team of women, appointing them in positions such as police chief, finance minister, minister of justice, commerce minister and minister of gender. With exclusive access, directors Siatta Schott Johnson and Daniel Junge follow these “Iron Ladies” behind the scenes during their critical first year in office as they tackle indolent bureaucracy, black markets and the omnipresent threat of violent riots. Highlighting the challenges that African countries currently face, this film provides an uplifting example of women who have become the backbone of change. As the filmmakers explore a historic transition from authoritarianism to democracy, the viewer is treated to a joyous, inspirational testimony of the political power of women's leadership and diplomacy. (2007, 77 min.)
Islamic Conversations: Women and Islam - #5
Leila Ahmed, professor of Women's Studies at Amherst, argues the case of revision of the widely-held views in the Islamic world about the role of women, using examples from history and the role played by women in the contemporary world. She explains the origin of the veil, and discusses the issue of marriage and women's rights within marriage. (1994, 30 min)
Lebanon: Bits and Pieces - #206
A beautiful and profoundly moving exploration of the myths and realities of present-day Lebanon as reflected through the voices of women. During the filmmaker Olga Nakkas' childhood, Lebanon was known to the outside world as an exemplary model of peace in the heart of an Arab Middle East dominated by dictators. Following a seven year absence, Nakkas returned to Lebanon with a camera to record the dreams, disappointments and worries of women of her own generation and to meet a younger generation of women whose only memory is that of war. Through these voices, Nakkas's own voyage of rediscovery is revealed a rediscovery of her country and of herself. (1994, 60 min.)
Leila Khaled: Hijacker - #208
In 1969 Palestinian Leila Khaled made history by becoming the first woman to hijack an airplane. As a Palestinian child growing up in Sweden, filmmaker Lina Makboul admired Khaled for her bold actions; as an adult, she began asking complex questions about the legacy created by her childhood hero. This fascinating documentary is at once a portrait of Khaled, an exploration of the filmmaker's own understanding of her Palestinian identity, and a complex examination of the nebulous dichotomy between 'terrorist' and 'freedom fighter.' (2005, 58 min.)
Love, Women, and Flowers - #6
A film by Marta Rodriguez and Jorge Silva. Flowers are Columbia's third largest export. But behind the beauty of the carnations sold in the U.S. and Europe lies the horror story of hazardous labor conditions for the 60,000 women who work in the flower industry. The use of pesticides, some banned in the developing countries that export them, has drastic health and environmental consequences. The filmmakers evoke the testimonies of the women workers and document their efforts to organize with urgency and intimacy. (1988, 58 min, w/English subtitles)
Mardi Gras: Made in China - #193
Confronts both cultural and economic globalism by humanizing the commodity chain from China to the United States . Redmon follows the stories of four teenage women workers in the largest Mardi Gras bead factory in the world, providing insights into their economic realities, self sacrifice, and dreams of a better life, and the severe discipline imposed by living and working in a factory compound. Interweaving factory life with Mardi Gras festivities, the film opens the blind eye of consumerism by visually introducing workers and festival-goers to each other. A dialogue results when bead-wearing partiers are shown images of the teenage Chinese workers and asked if they know the origin of their beads, while the factory girls view pictures of Americans exchanging beads, soliciting more beads, and decadently celebrating. The conversation reveals the glaring truth about the real benefactors of the Chinese workers' hard labor and exposes the extreme contrast between women's lives and liberty in both cultures. (2008, 71 min.)
Men Are Human, Women Are Buffalo - #194
Combines interviews and shadow puppetry to tell five stories about domestic violence in Thailand. A country that is promoted to western tourists as a fairytale land of beautiful beaches, pristine countryside, cheap vacations and a thriving sex trade industry, Thailand is also one of the developing countries with the highest incidence of violence against women. Women from a range of social origins explain their struggles against violence, discrimination and oppression. This is a powerful film that will challenge students and enliven their discussions regarding gender relations in Thailand. (2008, 29 min.)
My Second Life: East German Women in a Changed World - #7
This film by Simone Shoemaker offers its audience a deeper insight into the very complex process of German reunification by letting East German women speak for themselves. As sixteen women of all ages share their stories, the viewer will get a better understanding of life under the socialist system, as well as how tremendous an impact the reunification has had on people's lives. (1996, 53 min)
Not yet Rain: A Journey for Reproductive Freedom in Ethiopia - #205
A short film that explores abortion in Ethiopia through the voices of women who have faced the challenge of finding safe care. Through their stories, we see the important role that safe abortion care plays in the overall health of women and their families. DVD includes a toolkit with fact sheets and event planning material. (2009, 20 min)
Official Story, (The) - #8
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, The Official Story details the collapse of an affluent Argentinean family. Alicia, the wife of a successful businessman, faces the ultimate challenge when she begins to suspect that her adopted daughter may have been stolen from a family of "los desaparecidos" (the disappeared ones). Determined to find out the truth, Alicia risks everything, even at the cost of her own family. (1985, 110 min, Spanish w/English subtitles)
Pray the Devil Back to Hell - #214
Pray the Devil Back to Hell is the celebrated documentary film that tells the dramatic success story of the women's peace movement of Liberia : a courageous group of Christian and Muslim women who banded together to pray for peace and demand it from their warmongers, successfully ending a bloody civil war. The film chronicles the remarkable story of the courageous Liberian women who came together to end a bloody civil war and bring peace to their shattered country. Armed with only their white T-shirts and the courage of their convictions, they took on the warlords and nonviolently forced a resolution during the stalled peace talks. A story of sacrifice, unity and transcendence, the film honors the strength and perseverance of the women of Liberia . Inspiring, uplifting, and most of all motivating, it is a compelling testimony of how grassroots activism can alter the history of nations. ( Includes both a 60-min. and a 72- min. version, 2009) See also: Iron Ladies of Liberia -DVD #201
Peace Train to Beijing and The U.N. 4 th World Conference on Women - #211
A revealing study of solidarity in motion, Peace Train to Beijing tells the story of 230 women and 10 men from 42 countries who cross two continents to reach the Fourth UN Conference on Women (August 7-29,1995). The train was sponsored and organized by the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). During the three-week trek from Helsinki, Finland, participants meet with women's groups and political leaders, and put theory into practice as they create a "metaphorical community" on the train. Included is unique footage of the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) Forum, where 30,000 women from around the world organize and strategize for women's rights, as well as interviews with South Asian author/activist Vandana Shiva, Rosalie Bertell, Cora Weiss and Dessima Williams. Featured on the PBS series Rights and Wrongs, this is an ideal film to stimulate discussion in courses on women's studies, political science, and economics. Themes include: the impact of religious fundamentalism, women and militarism (nuclear and conventional), food security and trafficking in women. Produced by Green Valley Media (DVD 58 minutes)
Prose, Politics, and Power: Conversations with Muslim Women Leaders - #9
Produced by the Sisterhood is Global Institute. There are 500 million Muslim women living in vastly different cultural, economic, and political circumstances throughout the world. They share two strong and contradictory experiences. On the one hand, they are increasingly conscious of their rights as human beings and proud of their achievements in a wide range of fields, including education, the arts, science, and politics. On the other hand, they face a resurgence of fundamentalism that strives to limit their ambitions and potentials. These fascinating conversations with Muslim women from different countries and backgrounds address the complexities of the issues that weave tradition with modernity, faith with freedom, and universalism with diversity in Muslim societies and beyond. (1996)
Rishte - #10
A film by Manjira Datta. Following the story of Lali Devi, a mother of five daughters who poisoned herself and two of her daughters, Rishte explores the practice of male sex preference in India and how this led to her suicide. This moving and informative film also follows the efforts of Shyamkali, an activist who has established a community organization dedicated to raising Indian women's awareness about the impact of sex preference on their lives and their legal rights in this issue. (1995, 28 min)
Seeds of Plenty, Seeds of Sorrow - #11
A film by Manjira Datta for Media Workshop/BBC. A documentary from India about the effects of the highly touted Green Revolution. Credited with ensuring that India is no longer a developing countries, "basket-case," the Green Revolution is widely regarded as one of the most successful development strategies of the 20th century. But this film reveals that in India it has helped to create a new serf class and the dramatic yields of the early years have fallen away in the wake of pesticide poisoning and the short-lived miracle wheat strains. (1992, 52 min)
Señorita Extraviada - #145
Award-winning documentary from director Lourdes Portillo, "Missing Young Woman" tells the story of the over 370 kidnapped, raped and murdered young women of Juarez, Mexico. The murders first came to light in 1993 and young women continue to 'disappear' to this day without any hope of bringing the perpetrators to justice. Who are these women from all walks of life and why are they getting murdered so brutally? The documentary moves like the unsolved mystery it is, and the filmmaker poetically investigates the circumstances of the murders and the horror, fear and courage of the families whose children have been taken. Yet it is also the story of a city of the future; it is the story of the underbelly of our global economy. (74 min., 2001)
The Shape of Water - #189
Filmed over four years on three continents, The Shape of Water is an inspirational testament to grassroots activism. Shape skillfully interweaves the stories of Khady (Senegal), Oraiza (Brazil), Bilkusben (India), DonaAntonia (Brazil), Gila (Jerusalem) and Vandana Shiva (India) -seeking to end oppressive social, political, and economic practices in remote corners of the world. The women abandon female genital mutilation, tap for rubber to protect the rainforest, protect the biodiversity of the planet and oppose military occupation. The film works well in classes that discuss women's issues and struggles, globalization and development, and the daily life of women in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and in the Middle East. The film makes the abstract and pervasive issue of globalization to become comprehensible in human terms. Class discussion topics have included the various impacts of globalization and how and why people are moved to make changes in their lives. The film also makes links between plastic surgery in the US and FGM in other parts of the world. (70 min., 2006)
Status of Latina Women (The) - #12
This program looks at the differences between the U.S. Latina and her Latin American and American counterparts. It also examines how Latino men regard successful, professional Latina women, and at the myths and mystiques of machismo among Latinos in the age of two-income families and shared child-rearing responsibility. Also profiled is a Latina feminist, who has shown that activism is not just a Latino male's prerogative. (1993, 26 min)
Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai - #209A and #209B
A film by Lisa Merton and Alan Dater. Original soundtrack by Samite. Taking Root tells the dramatic story of Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai whose simple act of planting trees grew into a nationwide movement to safeguard the environment, protect human rights and defend democracy.
DVD 209A includes: 80-minute feature, 53-minute broadcast version, and a 90-minute of extra interviews and information.
DVD 209B includes 80-minute feature only. (2008)
The Ties that Bind - #13
A film by Su Friedrich presents the compelling story of an ordinary woman, the filmmaker's mother, living through Nazi German. Far different from traditional documentaries, Friedrich juxtaposes images of her mother's daily activities with her voice-over narration of the stories of her past, New York Times headlines, and present-day footage of West Germany. Friedrich achieves more than an interview of a mother by a daughter: a search for the definition of history and a challenge to our own responsibility for the present. (1984, 55 min)
Troubled Harvest - #14
A video by Sharon Genasci and Dorothy Valesco. This award-winning documentary examines the lives of women migrant workers from Mexico and Central America as they work in grape, strawberry, and cherry harvests in California and the Pacific Northwest. Interviews with women farm workers reveal the dangerous effects of pesticides on their health and that of their children, the problems they encounter as working mothers of young children, and the destructive consequences of U.S. immigration policies on the unity of their families. (1990, 30 min)
Voices of Women: Thinking Globally, Acting Locally - #134
Short summary of the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995, with interviews of Bella Abzug, among others. (15 min., 1996)
Warrior Marks - #15
A poetic and political film by Pratibha Parmar about female genital mutilation, presented by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker. Female genital mutilation affects 100 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, the Gambia, Burkino Faso, the United States, and England who are concerned with and affected by genital mutilation are interspersed with Walker's own reflections on the subject. (1993, 54 min)
We Feed the World - #191
Close to 1 billion of the nearly 7 billion people on earth are starving worldwide. But the food we are currently producing could feed 12 billion people. What do we eat? Where does our food come from? Does the traditional farmer still exist? Who are the profit makers in the gigantic food industry? And who is paying the price? What does world hunger have to do with us? This is a film about food and globalization, the flow of goods and cash flow -a film about scarcity amid plenty. Interviewed are not only fishermen, farmers, agronomists, biologists and the UN's Jean Ziegler, but also the director of production at Pioneer, the world's largest seed company, and Peter Brabeck, Chairman and CEO of Nestlé International, the largest food company in the world. (2005, 96 min.)
When Women Unite: The Story of An Uprising - #16
This is a film on one of the most extraordinary social uprisings of modern India, a spontaneous upsurge by rural women against state supply of liquor to their villages, eventually forcing the government to capitulate to the popular will and declare statewide prohibition. This film is an in-depth look at this unique ferment of feminism, politics, and democracy. (80 min)
Where the Water Meets the Sky - #212
Sometimes a single story can unite an entire community. Narrated by Morgan Freeman, Where the Water Meets the Sky is the story of a remarkable group of women in a remote region of northern Zambia, who are given a unique opportunity: to learn how to make a film, as a way to speak out about their lives and to challenge the local traditions which have, until now, kept them silent. Many in the group can't read or write, most are desperately poor, and few have been exposed to film or television. But with the help of two teachers, this class of 23 women learn to shoot a film that portrays a subject of their own choosing. It involves an issue that is traumatic for them all, and rarely spoken about: the plight of young women orphaned by AIDS. Their film recounts the real-life experiences of Penelop, an 18-year-old orphan, and her struggle to provide for herself and her siblings in the wake of her parents' deaths. What begins as a workshop about filmmaking, and a quest to tell Penelop's story, becomes a journey in empowerment as the women rise to the challenge of pressing their community to change. Uplifting and poignant, Where the Water Meets the Sky is the story of an unforgettable group of women who defy long traditions of silence and who demonstrate with courage, humor and resilience that their futures are once again something of promise. Camfed, 2008 (DVD 60 minutes)
Who's Counting: Marilyn Waring on Sex, Lies and Global Economics- #181
Marilyn Waring was first elected to the New Zealand parliament in 1975 at the age of 22. She was re-elected three times and blazed a trail that eventually overturned her government on the nuclear issue and launched her as the foremost spokesperson for global feminist economics. Waring challenges the myths of economics, its elitist economic policy. Why isn't the unpaid work of women counted in the gross domestic product? Why is there no place in the national accounts for negative figures or costs such as damage to the environment? Why is the market economy all that counts? Excellent onsite footage of a diversity of women and locale is included. (1995, 52 min.)
Women and War - #156
Interwoven with gripping footage from recent conflicts in the Middle East, Bosnia, northern Uganda, and South Africa, this compelling program captures women's personal experiences of military violence, explains how they survived, and reflects on their growing resistance to war. The women's feelings of loss, uncertainty, and anguish are expressed through stories of cruelty, degradation, and psychological trauma, while their attempts to achieve reconciliation and rebuild shattered communities demonstrate their positive efforts to create a more peaceful future for everyone. Funded in part by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and the Development Research Centre. (2002; 52 min.)
The Women's Kingdom - #202
Keepers of one of the last matriarchal societies in the world, Mosuo women in a remote area of southwest China live beyond the strictures of mainstream Chinese culture - enjoying great freedoms and carrying heavy responsibilities. Beautifully shot and featuring intimate interviews, this short documentary offers a rare glimpse into a society virtually unheard of 10 years ago and now often misrepresented in the media. Mosuo women control their own finances and do not marry or live with partners; they practice what they call "walking marriage." A man may be invited into a woman's hut to spend a "sweet night," but must leave by daybreak. While tourism has brought wealth and 21st century conveniences to this remote area, it has also introduced difficult challenges to the Mosuo culture - from pollution in the lake, to the establishment of brothels, to mainstream ideas about women, beauty and family. This finely wrought film is a sensitive portrayal of extraordinary women struggling to hold on to their extraordinary society. (2006, 22 min.)
Year of the Woman-A Fantasy - #210
By: Sandra Hochman
The film they couldn't stop about the revolution they couldn't stop. “Year of the Woman” is a film of the cinema verite style, a more provocative approach to documentary. Filmmaker Sandra Hochman is featured in nearly every scene, unafraid of those who she interviews (a cast which includes Warren Beatty and Gloria Steinem) and undaunted by the men and the media at the 1972 Democratic National Convention. It is a film about the first National Women's Political Caucus, which took place at the 1972 Democratic National Convention in Miami Beach , Fla. Hochman was running as a delegate for Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman to run for president. In “Year of the Woman,” Hochman said she added her “own humor to what she considers a serious cause,” believing in humor's power of poignancy. In an interview with then-Washington Post columnist Art Buchwald that is interspersed throughout the film, Hochman displays such humor, at one point posing the question of whether or not Julia Child was ready to be president. In demonstrations featuring alligator masks and chants, Hochman responds to the assertion that women were freaks. When “Year of the Woman” was first released in 1973, it enjoyed tremendous success for less than a week before being purchased by an outside group and hidden from the public for more than 30 years. Hochman asserts that this occurred because the film “was too outrageous.” The uniqueness of the film is evident - interwoven with Hochman's poetry and scenes of stars and galaxies, which largely provide the distinctive, perceptive narration that is the film's point of view. As for the significance of “Year of the Woman” in today's political atmosphere, Hochman claims, “It's very relevant, because the women's movement is still part of the struggle of the women of today, fighting for equality that we still don't have in the way that we would like to...it's relevant in the same way that the founding fathers of the nation were relevant when they wrote the Constitution of the United States and are still relevant today.”
Social and Historical Issues
Adelante Mujeres! - #17
Produced by the National Women's History Project. A powerful and affirming documentary of Mexican-American/Chicana women. Includes hundreds of previously unpublished photos gleaned from archives and private collections across the continent. Features Mexican folk music and narration by Maria Cuevas. (1992, 30 min)
Against the Odds - Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony - #2
In this program, viewers learn how Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, together with Lucretia Mott, formed the National Women's Suffrage Association. The program also covers the first women's rights convention before the Civil War and looks at Anthony's role as an early supporter of black suffrage following the war. (1988, 24 min) See also: "Not for Ourselves Alone" PBS special.
A Jury of Her Peers - #166
On a desolate American farm in the early 1900's, a farmer is found murdered in his sleep and his wife is jailed as the prime suspect. The highly anticipated re-release of this award-winning feminist film classic, a powerful adaptation of the 1917 Susan Glaspell short story, the video presents a riveting tale of revenge, justice and women's shared experience. It probes the notion of women's victimization and justifiable homicide and opens the possibility for the creation of an alternate, feminist justice and judgment. (1980, 30 min.)
The Anarchist Guest: Emma Goldman
Available at Love Library only.
And Still I Rise - #18
Inspired by a powerful poem by Maya Angelou, And Still I Rise explores images of Black women in the media, focusing on the myths surrounding Black women's sexuality. This film uses images from popular culture to reveal the way the media misrepresents Black women's sexuality. A combination of fear and fascination produces a stereotypical representation which in turn impacts on the real lives of Black women. (1993, 30 min)
Barbie Nation, An Unauthorized Tour - #86
The Barbie doll is not just the world's most popular toy, she's a Rorschach test, revealing attitudes about sexuality, body image, gender roles and creativity in an increasingly mass produced world. Journeying from Barbie conventions to anti- Barbie demonstrations, "Barbie Nation" plumbs the cult of the Barbie doll. At the center of the story is Barbie creator and Mattel co-founder Ruth Handler. Handler's ironic rise and fall brings the story to a climax that is about the creation of femininity and the marketing-and-subversion-of femininity's icon. (1998, 54 min.)
Battle for the Minds - #105
Religion, politics and sociology collide in this award winning video. With shocking honesty, the video 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. (1997, 52 min)
bell hooks, Cultural Criticism and Transformation - #85
Extensively illustrated with many of the images she critiques, bell hooks makes a compelling argument for the transformative power of cultural criticism. She demonstrates how learning to think critically was central to her own self- transformation and how it can play a role in students' quest of a sense of agency and identity. The video includes graphic scenes portraying the sexual and racist violence which it critiques. Part One: On Cultural Criticism (26 min.); Part Two: Doing Cultural Criticism (1997, 40 min..)
Beyond Killing Us Softly: The Strength to Resist - # 141
Documentary about the impact of and the fight against the toxic and degrading images and messages to girls and women that dominate the media. Movingly presents the ideas of many leading authorities (Gloria Steinem, Gail Dines, Carol Gilligan, Catherine Steiner-Adair, Valerie Batts, Jamila Capitman and Amy Richards) in the fields of psychology of women and girls, eating disorders, violence against women, and media literacy, all focusing on long term solutions. (34 min., 2000)
Black Is...Black Ain't - # 169
When Marlon Riggs died of AIDS at the age of 37, he was completing a film which summed up a lifetime's work exploring African American identity. Riggs locates the essence of "Blackness" in African Americans' courage from slavery down to the present to improvise a positive meaning for their lives in the face of overwhelming discrimination and suffering. The video is an important contribution towards building a Black community based on profound empathy for the struggle for self- affirmation fought by each African American. It weaves together the testimony of scholars and artists recalling their own struggles to discover a more inclusive definition of "Blackness." (1995, 86 min)
Body Beautiful, (The) - #19
This bold, stunning exploration of a white mother who undergoes a radical mastectomy and her Black daughter who embarks on a modeling career reveals the profound effects of body image and the strain of racial and sexual identity on their charged, intensely loving bond. At the heart of Ngozi Onwurah's brave excursion into her mother's scorned sexuality is a provocative interweaving of memory and fantasy. The filmmaker plumbs the depths of maternal strength and daughterly devotion in an unforgettable tribute starring her real-life mother, Madge Onwurah. (1991, 23 min)
Born in the U.S.A. - #105
Explores the landscape of maternity care through the eyes of three caregivers: an obstetrician working at a teaching hospital, a licensed midwife attending home births, and a certified nurse-midwife bridging both worlds in an urban, free- standing birth center. The video raises questions about technology, quality of care, and the external factors that impact our experience of childbirth. (2000, 56 min)
Body Typed: 3 Short Films on Media and Physical Perfection - #228
POV/PBS film; censored and uncensored versions. 2012
False Images (12 min) – Exposes the art of digital photo-retouching. How do images of perfect female beauty influence men’s perceptions of real women? And, how do we see ourselves?
The Guarantee (11 min) – Teasing, self-perception, cultural identity, and plastic surgery. How would changing our bodies to try to fit an image alter the way we see ourselves? – or even, who we are? Hand-drawn before our eyes, this illustrated documentary reveals a dancer’s hilarious story about his prominent “Italian” nose and the effect it has on his career.
34 x 25 x 36 (8 min) – A look at mannequins, religion and perfection. Enter the inner workings of the Patina V Mannequin Factory and see what goes into making “the ideal woman of the moment” – in plastic.
Brain Sex: Truth, Tall Tales, and Time for a Developmental Perspective- #220
Recording of WGS Colloquium talk by Dr. Lise Eliot, Neuroscientist and Professor at the Chicago Medical School of Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine & Science. Eloit argues that brain-related sex differences are real and clinically important, but often grossly distorted in public discourse. In this talk, Lise Eliot debunks several popular myths about sex differences in the human brain and their hormonal basis. For example, for most mental traits, male-female differences are smaller than the popular “Mars/Venus” perception and few have been linked to reliable differences in brain structure or activity. Another common misperception is that neural sex differences in brain anatomy, activation, or neurochemistry are necessarily innate or “hardwired.” These notions are dangerous, as they validate stereotypes, bias clinical judgment, and dictate sex-selective educational policies. Eliot is the author of Pink Brain, Blue Brain: How Small Differences Grow into Troublesome Gaps—And What We Can Do About It.
Busting Out- #174
Busting Out is a disarmingly honest and intimate exploration of our society’s fascination with women’s breasts. Directors Strickwerda and Spellman Smith unflinchingly examine the good, the bad and the ugly sides of this American icon, delving into the history and politics of breast obsession in the US. From breast-crazy men shouting “Flash those racks!” to the fears of breast cancer and the disparate attitudes of cultures worldwide, the directors leave no stone unturned in their quest to demystify the American Breast. (2004, 57 minutes)
A Century of Women
Part One: Work and Family - #20
Featuring historian Alice Kessler-Harris, activists Delores Huerta and Betty Friedan, Rep. Patricia Schroder, and Hilary Rodham Clinton. Presents an overview of women's labor history in the 20th century. Highlights include the Triangle Shirtwaist factory strike of 1909 and fire of 1911, women's work during the Depression and World War II, and the passage of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
Part Two: Sexuality and Social Justice - #21
Featuring historians Estelle Freedman, Paula Giddings, and Susan Ware. Overview of women's struggle for social justice and reproductive rights in the 20th century. Highlights include Margaret Sanger's campaign for legalized birth control, the suffrage movement and passage of the 19th Amendment, women activists in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, and the women's movement of the 1970s.
Part Three: Image and Popular Culture - #22
Presents an overview of images of women in popular culture, including television and advertising, and profiles some popular women artists. Features interviews with Naomi Wolf, author of The Beauty Myth , Chris Evert on the body image of women athletes, and Maya Angelou on women writers. Highlights include profiles of athlete Babe Didrickson, choreographer Martha Graham, and painter Georgia O'Keeffe. (1994)
Chicana Available only from Ethnic Studies
Traces the history of Chicana and Mexican women from pre-Columbian times to the present. It covers women's role in Aztec society, their participation in the 1810 struggle for Mexican independence, their involvement in the US labor strikes in 1872, their contributions to the 1920 Mexican revolution and their leadership in contemporary civil rights causes. Using murals, engravings and historical footage, the film shows how women, despite their poverty, have become an active and vocal part of the political and work life in both Mexico and the United States (1979, 23 min.)
Chisholm '72: Unbought & Unbossed - #160
Marking a watershed moment in American politics, Shirley Chisholm was the first black woman to run for a presidential nomination, and in doing so became a true "voice of the people." She stood on an openly liberal platform that defended the causes of the poor, they young, gays, minorities, and other marginalized Americans. Facing a more powerful and often bigoted opposition, Chisholm nonetheless won over a surprisingly large and vocal amount of support with her determination and refusal to kow-tow to the status quo. Eventually defeated by Senator George McGovern-viewed by many Democrats as the more "electable" candidate-she managed a few coups along the way, and remains an inspiration in markedly conservative times. This documentary is a stirring assemblage of archival footage, Chisholm's commentary both then and now, and interviews with supporters and opponents, as well as luminaries such as Black Panther founder Bobby Seale, authors Susan Brownmiller and Octavia Butler, author and activist Amiri Baraka (then LeRoi Jones), former Congressmen Reverend Walter Fauntroy and Ronald Dellums, and journalist/historian Paula Giddings. (2005; 76min.)
Cover Girl Culture: Awakening the Media Generation - #227
Being thin, pretty and sexy brings happiness. Young girls receive these messages daily hundreds of times. But who sets these impossible beauty standards—and how can they be changed? In this eye-opening documentary, filmmaker and former Elite International fashion model Nicole Clark, now a champion for young girls and their self-esteem, calls for a necessary change: integrity and responsible media for our youth.
COVER GIRL CULTURE pairs images of girls and women in television and print ads with footage from the catwalks and celebrity media. Clark is given rare access to women editors from major magazines like “Teen Vogue” and “ELLE”, who provide a shocking defense of the fashion and advertising worlds. The film juxtaposes these interviews with revealing insights from models, parents, teachers, psychologists, body image experts and most importantly, the heartfelt expressions of girls themselves on how they feel about the media that surrounds them.
With an insider’s view, the film addresses issues like today’s increasingly invasive media, heightened advertising to tweens, the sexualization of girls, and consumer culture’s disempowerment of young women. An up-to-date inquiry into advertising and the cult of celebrity’s deep and negative impact on teens and young women, COVER GIRL CULTURE also suggests how to educate young women to think critically about the media. (80 min., 2009)
Daughters and Sons, Preventing Child Trafficking in the Golden Triangle - #199
A poignant documentary about the efforts of human rights activist, Sompop Jantraka, to combat the spreading plague of child sex slavery. The film opens with a pedophile describing sex with a 10-year-old little girl as “just the way it is here.” Jantraka passionately disagrees and has devoted his life to combating trafficking at its source by convincing families that education is a better alternative to selling their children. Compelling and insightful, “Daughters and Sons” conveys the urgent need to protect children before they are trafficked. In Jantraka's words, “save them today because tomorrow is too late.” From Friends of Thai Daughters, Inc. , directed by Sarah Feinbloom, winner of the Best Short in Children's Advocacy. (2006, 25 min)
Desire - #190
Nearly a decade in the making, this refreshingly honest film documents the challenges and desires of a group of young women in New Orleans by letting them film their own stories. As this diverse group of young women - two teenagers from the Desire housing projects, a single mother from the working-class suburb of Belle Chase across the river, and two girls from the most prestigious private high school in New Orleans -make short films about their own desires, this provocative film records the intimate dramas of their changing lives. Sensitively and intelligently interweaving the girls' short videos throughout the film's narrative, Desire pivots around the intimacy and risk that the two generations of filmmakers share together and with the audience. Addressing everything from sex and contraception to the impact of educational and material opportunities on their futures as women, Desire presents a nuanced and authentic look at modern young womanhood. (2005, 84 min)
Disability Culture Rap - #89
Includes "Disability, Identity and Culture" workbook, 'Building Knowledge and Creating Leadership for persons with developmental and other disabilities'. Produced by Advocating Change Together (ACT), with Cheryl Marie Wade as a contributing writer. Activists, self-advocates, and allies from all over the country have contributed to this video with the goal of making it a work of art that would be visually evocative, intellectually stimulating, and flat out entertaining. It is a visually poetic riff on disability in America. (1999, 23 min.) A companion video is Lasting Leadership .
Doing As They Can - #112
A fugitive woman slave describes life, work, and day-to-day resistance to slavery on a North Carolina cotton plantation during the 1840s and 1850s. (1987, 30 min)
Dreamworlds II: Desire, Sex, and Power in Music Video - #23
Produced by Sut Jhally. Shocking and often disturbing, Dreamworlds II allows its viewers to reflect critically on images which have such power precisely because they have become so common. By making their gendered messages clear, Dreamworlds II robs those images of their unchallenged power. Drawing on over 200 music videos and televised programs, the video gives a new context to these images by substituting narrative for the music these videos are meant to sell, and by rearranging them to illustrate the story they tell about female sexuality. **CONTAINS A GRAPHIC SCENE OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE** (1995, 55 min)
Dreamworlds III: Desire, Sex, and Power in Music Videos - #179
Produced by Sut Jhally. This highly anticipated update of Dreamworlds II examines the stories contemporary music videos tell about girls and women, and by extension boys and men, providing a meticulous analysis of how these narratives both reflect and shape individual and cultural attitudes toward femininity, masculinity, sexuality and race. Systematically dismantling music video's most persistent and disturbing stock representations, and setting them against cases of real-world violence, sexism, and discrimination, the film inspires viewers to critically examine how the distorted images of the Dreamworld connect with the lives of real girls and women, as well as boys and men. (2007, 54 min.)
The Education of Shelby Knox - #196
Lubbock , Texas has an abstinence-only sex education policy in its schools -and some of the highest teen pregnancy and STD infection rates in the nation. Shelby Knox is a Lubbock high school student, a good Baptist girl -and the most outspoken advocate of sex education in town. This documentary follows Shelby for three years as she grows into her own beliefs, which increasingly differ from those of her family, church, and community. (2005, 76 min) This DVD also includes two short films. Jesus Henry Christ is an inspiring film about a young male student who holds unconventional beliefs in a strict Catholic grade school. (2003, 18 min) Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness is a fast-paced collage of music and images that draws ironic comparisons between eroding reproductive rights in the U.S. and unexpected themes, proving everything is connected. (2003, 14)
Feminism Then & Now: An Intergenerational Exchange - #180
This is the first colloquium of the 2007-2008 Women's and Gender Studies Colloquium Series devoted to “Celebrating 30 Years of Women's (and Gender) Studies at UNL”. It is an informal cross-disciplinary roundtable conversation with some of the founders of the Women's and Gender Studies program (who then served as program directors) and the WGS students to whom the torch has now been passed. Among the many topics of discussion, two in particular stand out: stories about the rise of the program and where it stands today; and the changing nature of feminism, as it has influenced generations of the past, generations of the present, and generations still to come.
The Flapper Story - #113
This video offers a lively mixture of contemporary interviews and archival film footage in a thoughtful examination of the social phenomenon of the 'flapper', the provocative 'New Woman' of America's Roaring 20s. (1985, 29 min)
Fly Girls - #150
Drawing on archival footage, rarely seen home movies, and interviews with the participants themselves, Fly Girls tells the fascinating story of the Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). Led by America's most accomplished aviatrix Jacqueline Cochran, these courageous women, who left their homes and jobs for the opportunity of a lifetime, logged more than sixty million miles, ferrying planes throughout the United States, test-piloting experimental aircraft, and training men to fly. Still, the WASP fought a daily-and sometimes deadly-battle for respect. In Fly Girls , the women of the WASP take wing once again, to tell their story of skill, determination and courage. (2000; 60 min.)
The Forgotten Grave - #116
The true story of Sarah Emma Edmonds, a 20-year-old woman who, disguised as a man, enlisted in the Union Army during the Civil War. She initially worked as a male nurse, later disguised herself as a black soldier and a woman refugee and engaged in espionage work behind enemy lines, and fought as a soldier in battles at Antietam and Fredericksburg, among others. In telling Edmonds' story-one of some 400 documented cases of women who disguised themselves as men to participate in the war effort-the video pays homage to this brave woman and the Civil War's many other unsung heroines. (2000, 20 min)
The F-Word: A Video about Feminism- #96
A provocative look at the power of the word 'feminism' in the US . Why does it mean so many different things to different people? Pithy interviews with women and men from diverse backgrounds are rhythmically intercut with computer-animated quotes from the likes of Barbara Smith to Pat Robertson, all set to an upbeat rap accompaniment. Designed to open up attitudes. The video proves feminism is still something worth talking about-hotly debated, widely misconstrued, but undeniably a fact of life! (1994; 10 min)
Gender Chip Project- Available only at Love Library
What is it like to be a young woman training in college for a career in the high stakes professions of science, math, and engineering and technology? (2005, 54 minutes)
Gendered Innovations in Science and Engineering- #224
Recording of WGS Colloquium Speaker Dr. Londa Schiebinger, John L. Hinds Professor of History of Science, Director, Gendered Innovations in Science, Medicine, and Engineering Project, Stanford University. Schiebinger sets out three distinct levels for analyzing issues concerning women and gender in science, efforts to increase the number of women in science, programs to remove bias and barriers from the institutions of science, and analyses of sex and gender in knowledge or research results. She gives special attention to the third level—the knowledge level, what she calls Gendered Innovations, or the use of methods of sex and gender analysis as a resource to create new knowledge. Schiebinger presents several concrete examples of how gender analysis can profoundly enhance excellence in science and engineering. Schiebinger also introduces the Stanford Gendered Innovations Project where they are developing state-of-the-art “Methods of Sex and Gender Analysis” for basic and applied research in science, medicine, and engineering. Gendered innovations—fueled by sophisticated gender methods—stimulate the creation of new gender-responsible science and technology, and by doing so enhance the lives of both men and women around the world. (2011)
Girls Like Us - #175
A classic documentary on the young woman, the film introduces an ethnically diverse group of four working class girls in South Philadelphia. Filmed over the course of four years, this mesmerizing documentary reveals the impact that class, sexism, and violence has had on the dreams and expectations of young women. As they grow up before the camera, difficult moral dilemmas emerge- such as early pregnancy and safe sex- which they are forced to negotiate alone. This powerful documentary provides an opening for parents, counselors and educators to discuss the challenging topics of sex, peer pressure and choice with teenagers. In documenting their friendships, challenges, and triumphs, “Girls Like Us” presents a searingly honest, inspiring depiction of girls' lives that is ideal for promoting dialogue between adults and young women alike. (1997, 57 minutes)
Great Black Women - #25
Throughout American history, Black women have had two strikes against them: their color and their gender. This program looks at the women who succeeded despite the odds, asking what made them tick, what drove them to challenge the prejudices against them, what enabled them to succeed. Hosted by Tanya Hart, this program looks at how black women today and in the past, such as Coretta Scott King, Lena Horne, Shirley Chisholm, Tina Turner, and Oprah Winfrey have triumphed over adversity to make significant contributions in many fields. (1991, 52 min)
Hammering It Out - #102
This spirited documentary spotlights the experience of women in the building trades, specifically those women involved in the Century Freeway Women's Employment Project in Los Angeles. Framed by the story of a community initiated lawsuit resulting in hundreds of women getting trained and working on a billion-dollar freeway, the film evolves into a primer on the feminist issues of equality, identity, and changing gender roles. Powerful testimonials by the women workers tell stories of the often unspoken gendered specifics of discrimination in the building trades; sexual harassment at the jobsite; negotiations about childcare and worker benefits; and the translation of affirmative action policy to the traditional practices of contractors and the historical conventions of the male worksite. (2000, 54 min.)
He Said, She Said - #101
Deborah Tannen, author of You Just Don't Understand , takes the viewer on an intellectual journey to the core of how men and women use language, and why communication between the sexes so often goes awry . From patterns formed in childhood, to the "conversational rituals" of adulthood, Tannen reveals how "conversational style" lies at the core of myths, stereotypes, and miscommunication between the sexes. She draws a road map through the complex maze of why we speak the way we do, and why others so frequently don't hear what we mean. (2001, 50 min)
Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats & Rhymes - #195
This film 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. Taking his camera from the street to the recording studio to the corridors of industry power, Hurt elicits fascinating insights into hip-hop masculinity from ordinary kids, aspiring rappers, music moguls, rap stars, and prominent cultural critics. The film is at once gripping and educational in its fearless, unflinching engagement with issues of race, gender violence and the corporate exploitation of youth culture. (2006, 61 min)
Holy Terror - # 114
This video examines the political activism of the religious New Right, focusing on the anti-abortion efforts, and explores the nature of their impact on American political life. The film provides a revealing, inside look at the movement and its philosophy as expressed by its leaders as well as its grassroots activists. (1986, 58 min)
I Was a Teenage Feminist - #226
Why is it that some young, independent, progressive women in today’s society feel uncomfortable identifying with the F- word? Join filmmaker Therese Shechter as she takes a funny, moving and very personal journey into the heart of feminism. Armed with a video camera and an irreverent sense of humor, Shechter talks with feminist superstars, rowdy frat boys, liberated Cosmo girls and Radical Cheerleaders, all in her quest to find out whether feminism can still be a source of personal and political power.
In this enlightening documentary, screened worldwide, Shechter hunts down the answers to questions many women are grappling with about their roles and identities in today’s society: is feminism dead, hibernating, or trapped below the radar? Have the goals of the ‘70s been accomplished or have feminism’s opponents appropriated and denigrated the movement beyond all recognition?If so, how did this happen? Do you have to be political to be a feminist? And do you even have to be female? With home movies clips of Shechter as a budding feminist, archival materials from old health classes, and music by Ani DiFranco, Lavababy, Gina Young, Moxie Strapark and the legendary Helen Reddy, I WAS A TEENAGE FEMINIST redefines the F-Word for a new generation. (62 min., 2005)
(In)Visible Women - #26
By Marina Alvarez, educator and activist, with Ellen Spiro, video artist. This documentary focuses on the heroic and empowered responses of three strong Latina women living with AIDS. Through poetry, art, activism, and dance, these women explode notions of female invisibility and complacency in the face of AIDS. This is one of the few videos available by and about the Latina experience of AIDS. (1991, 26 min)
Iron-Jawed Angels - #130
is a dramatic portrayal of suffragist struggles for passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. Hillary Swank plays Alice Paul in a cast that romanticizes and glamorizes the women activists, but also depicts realistically the brutal retaliation they faced for demonstrating at the White House, including imprisonment and forced-feeding (an HBO production, February 2004).
International Sweethearts of Rhythm, America's Hottest All-Girl Band - #132
This toe-tapping music film tells the story of the swinging, multi-racial, all-women's jazz band of the 1940s. A 16-piece band with a strong brass section, heavy percussion, and a deep rhythmic sense, the Sweethearts were not just a novelty but featured many of the best female musicians of the day. By Greta Schiller and Andrea Weiss, winner of several awards (30 min., 1986)
Judy Chicago & the California Girls - #225
At the height of the 1970's Women's Movement, on the cusp of revolutionary change, American artist Judy Chicago began a unique experiment: to train only young women artists in an all-woman art program at Fresno State College. So many young women were going into art schools, Chicago states, so few coming out the other end as professional artists. The film "Judy Chicago & the California Girls" documents this first all-woman art program, in a compelling and candid portrait of a country and culture in the midst of great social change. Highlights include a visit by radical feminist theorist Ti-Grace Atkinson, Chicago's early performance pieces the "Cock Cunt Play" and the "Cunt Cheer", and Chicago's female-centered philosophy that shaped her later work. Some of Chicago's students who appear in the film and went on to become important artists in their own right include Faith Wilding, Suzanne Lacy, Nancy Youdelman and Vanalyne Green. (27 min., 2006)
Is Feminism Dead? - #90
From the "I Am Woman" series. Years after the women's movement burst open doors of opportunity that had long been barred, a new generation of women seems to be questioning the meaning and the value of the battles fought by their mothers and grandmothers. Has feminism somehow gone out of style? Patricia Ireland of NOW, Phyllis Schlafly of the Eagle Forum, Ellen Goodman of The Boston Globe, and professors bell hooks, Tessie Liu and Martha Wharton appraise the women's movement as it currently exists and discuss its relevance in today's cultural climate. (2000, 29 min)
It Was a Wonderful Life - #176
You won't see them on street corners, hand held out for change. At first glance you would not even realize that they are women without homes. They are clean, educated, well-groomed and articulate. They live invisibly throughout society-the hidden homeless. It Was a Wonderful Life follows the stories of six different hidden homeless women as they struggle to survive, one day at a time, and find a place for themselves in a society ill-equipped to deal with the “used to haves.” Many of the women were left in financial straits following a divorce, loss of a job or a long illness, and were reduced to living out of their cars. Their clothes, dogs, and whatever remains of their former lives are packed in the back seat. Few receive welfare or any other form of assistance. They eke out an existence picking up bits of work here and there. The women avoid public shelters where they might be raped or robbed, preferring to sleep in their cars, or find temporary shelter with friends. With strength, humor and pride, these women manage to survive. They challenge our notion of who can feel secure in our society. (1995, 84 minutes)
I Witness - # 115
Portrays religious terrorism in Pensacola , Florida , which has become the epicenter of the national debate over abortion, including a 1984 clinic bombing, the 1993 murder of a clinic physician, and the 1994 murder of another clinic physician and his escort. The video combines "found" video shot by clinic escorts, which portrays the escalation of violence by anti-abortion protesters at a clinic before the shootings, with interviews with a diverse group of civic and religious leaders who discuss the religious fervor and violence which has characterized this conservative community, as well as their own convictions and responsibilities surrounding these controversial issues. (1998, 56 min)
Julian of Norwich - #91
A 14 th -century English mystic who enclosed herself for life in order to fully develop her relationship with God after a series of revelations, Julian of Norwich and her writings are still studied by Christian theologians. Her prose, some of the most terrifying and compelling, is the first to refer to God as "She", forging the way for inclusive language that is used in many Bibles today. A concise overview of Julian's life, times and writings, video includes commentary by Anne Savage of McMaster University, who discusses influential contemporary books along with the reception of Julian's writings by the medieval Church. (2000, 24 min)
Killing Us Softly 3 - #106
Jean Kilbournes's pioneering work helped develop and popularize the study of gender representation in advertising. With wit and warmth, Kilbourne uses over 160 ads and commercials to critique advertising's image of women, and reviews if and how that image has changed over the last 20 years. 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. (2000, 34 min.)
Killing Us Softly 4: Advertising's Image of Women - #217
In this new, highly anticipated update of her pioneering Killing Us Softly series, Jean Kilbourne 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, the film 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. (2010, 45 min)
Lasting Leadership - #88
A companion to Disability Culture Rap , this video and print guide for facilitators features Chris Burke who describes how to facilitate valuable learning experiences and build lasting leadership in self-advocacy, particularly when working with people with disabilities. Produced by Advocating Change Together (ACT). (1999, 22 min)
The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter - #158
After whirlwind training, women found themselves doing "men's work" and they did it so well that production levels rose despite the military call-up of millions of male workers. They discovered a new sense of pride and dignity in their work. Their earnings leapt upwards. Many joined unions and found substantial new benefits from labor representation. And for the first time in history, black women gained entry into major industrial plants. When the war was over, Rosie wanted to stay. But neither the structure of the American economy nor the dominant view of women's place in society sustained such hopes. The story is told by women themselves-five former "Rosies" who movingly recall their histories working in Detroit, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco during the war. Their testimony is interwoven with rare archival recruitment films, stills, posters, ads and music from the period which contrast their experiences with the popular legend and mythology of Rosie the Riveter. (1999, 65 min.).
The Life and Times of Sara Baartman, The Hottentot Venus - #87
By Zola Maseko. The story of a Khoi Khoi woman who was taken from South Africa , and then exhibited as a freak across Britain. In 1814 she was taken to France, and became the object of scientific and medical research that formed the bedrock of European ideas about black female sexuality. Using historical drawings, cartoons, legal documents and interviews with noted cultural historians and anthropologists, the video deconstructs the social, political, scientific and philosophical assumptions which transformed one young African woman into a representation of savage sexuality and racial inferiority. (1998, 52 min)
Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness - #123
Playfully updating the 1950's school documentary, the video uses political and social satire to explore the issue of reproductive rights for women. Found-footage, animation, and original images are masterfully woven together to tell the fictional stories of a conservative politician, a fundamentalist, and a young couple in love. The film celebrates the landmark Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, highlights the ongoing political and social battle for reproductive freedom in the U.S., and urges viewers to consider the possibilities should choice be taken away. (2002, 14 min)
Lipstick & Dynamite - #171
Shines a spotlight on the forgotten first ladies of the ring. Gladys 'Killem' Gillem, Ida May Martinez, Penny Banner, Ella Waldek and The Great Mae Young each came to wrestling in their own way in order to survive. Each woman reflects on her own remarkable life with fond and bitter memories, reconciling a wild, flamboyant youth with the reality of getting older. Lipstick & Dynamite follows Moolah, Mae and the girls 60 years, many bumps and falls later as they discuss the money, the old days and what it's like to be a 'lady' in today's favorite guilty pleasure: spectator sport. (2004, 83 minutes)
Little People - #103
Produced by Jan Krawitz ( Stanford University ). An absolutely wonderful, no-bull tribute to the incredible courage, humor, intelligence, and humanity of dwarfs. More than 500 dwarfs gather each year when Little People of America holds its national convention. A carefree mood characterizes the week, creating an environment where being small ceases to be a stigma. The video depicts the gradual changes in outlook and attitude which are now taking place among little people. Contrasting scenes from their daily lives with activities of the convention week, the video provides an unusual and sometimes disturbing perspective on our average-sized world. ( 2000, 88 min)
Lives Together, Worlds Apart: Men and Women in a Time of Change - #95
Produced by the United States Committee for the United Nations Population Fund and narrated by Kathy Bates, this video provides an in-depth and stirring look at gender inequality and its effects. Aired on PBS. (2000, 57 min)
Margery Kempe - #92
As women mystics became more common throughout Europe in the late 14 th and 15 th centuries, the manner in which they expressed and practiced their devotion became more diverse. Kathy Garay of McMaster University , presents Margery Kempe's unconventional life in context. Topics such as bridal mysticism are discussed, along with Kempe's pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The transcription of her life into the first autobiography in the English language presents a portrait of a woman who defied social norms by following her visions and risked the charge of heresy in doing so. (2000, 24 min)
Marty Klein. WGS Colloquium Speaker, Oct. 9, 2008 - “America's War on Sex: The Attack on Law, Lust, and Liberty” #197
With more than 20 years experience as a sex therapist and marriage counselor, Dr. Marty Klein draws upon his latest publication to argue that the government and the religious right use the regulation of sexual expression, entertainment, information, and healthcare to undermine our secular democracy. Described as “edgy, funny, and smart,” Klein is sure to enlighten and entertain. For more information about Klein, go to www.sexed.org.
Mary Robinson Speech-Lied Center 2004 - #144
Taped from the televised broadcast of Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland , speaking at the Lied Center for Performing Arts in Lincoln , Feb. 2004. Speech touches on many current human rights issues and presents many statistics as well as personal stories, question and answer time. (2004, 60-75 min.)
A Midwife's Tale - #219
A Midwife’s Tale unfolds like a detective story- the true tale of two women, two centuries apart, linked by the massive yet cryptic diary one of them left behind. The film is based on Laurel Thatcher Ulrich's Pulitzer Prize-winning story of Martha Ballard (played by Kaiulani Lee), a midwife and mother living in the wilds of Maine during the chaotic decades following the American Revolution, a time when social change and religious conflict are rife, and survival is a full-time job. In a sparsely written diary, Ballard recorded her daily struggle against poverty, disease, domestic abuse and social turmoil. Two hundred years later, her world is painstakingly recreated by a historian seeking to understand eighteenth century America through a woman's eyes. This PBS American Experience film is the result of an unusual collaboration between Laurel Ulrich and a team led by producer/ writer Laurie Kahn-Leavitt and director Richard Rogers. (1997, 88 min)
Miss America - #152
Miss America is the first major documentary film to go beyond the myths and stereotypes to explore how some of America's most dramatic social and cultural transformations are reflected through the rich history of the Miss America Pageant. 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. (2002; 96 min.)
Miss Representation - #231
Writer/Director Jennifer Siebel Newsom interwove stories from teenage girls with provocative interviews from the likes of Dr. Condoleezza Rice, Lisa Ling, Nancy Pelosi, Katie Couric, Rachel Maddow, Rosario Dawson, Dr. Jackson Katz, Dr. Jean Kilbourne, and Gloria Steinem to give us an inside look at the media and its message. As the most persuasive and pervasive force of communication in our culture, media is educating yet another generation that a woman's primary value lay in her youth, beauty and sexuality-and not in her capacity as a leader, making it difficult for women to obtain leadership positions and for girls to reach their full potential. The film accumulates startling facts and asks the question, "What can we do?"
Miss Evers' Boys: A Government Lie. A Woman's Secret. A Story that Must be Told - #149
Based on the shocking true story. Miss Evers' Boys exposes a 40-year government-backed medical research effort on humans which led to tragic consequences. It is 1932 when loyal, devoted Nurse Eunice Evers (Alfre Woodard) is invited to work with Dr. Brodus (Joe Morton) and Dr. Douglas (Craig Sheffer) on a federally funded program to treat syphilis patients in Alabama. Free treatment is offered to those who test positive for the disease, including Caleb Humphries (Laurence Fishburne) and Willie Johnson (Obba Babatunde.) But when the government withdraws its funding, money is offered for what will become known as "The Tuskegee Experiment", a study of the effects of syphilis on patients who don't receive treatment. Now the men must be led to believe they are being cared for, when in fact they are being denied the medicine that could cure them. Miss Evers is faced with a terrible dilemma-to abandon the experiment and tell her patients, or to remain silent and offer only comfort. It is a life or death decision that will dictate the course not only of her life, but the lives of al of Miss Evers' Boys . (2003, 118min.)
My Feminism - #27
A film by Dominique Cardona and Laurie Colbert. In an era of anti-feminist backlash, this articulate documentary forcefully reminds us that the revolution continues. Powerful interviews with feminist leaders including bell hooks, Gloria Steinem, and Urvsahi Vaid are intercut with documentary sequences to engagingly explore the past and present status of the women's movement. Discussing the unique contributions of second wave feminism, they explore their racial, economic, and ideological differences and shared vision of achieving equality for women. (1997, Canada, 55 min)
Not for Ourselves Alone-The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony - #24
This PBS Video tells the little-known story of one of the most compelling friendships in American history. Cady Stanton and 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. With superb live cinematography, compelling interviews, and historical photographs never before seen on screen, this powerful film provides an unforgettable dual portrait of two great Americans who improved the lives of women everywhere. (1999, USA, 2 video-set; total running time: 3 2 hrs.) See also "Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony".
One Fine Day - #122
"One Fine Day" is a celebration of women's creativity and activism over the past 200 years. With archival photographs and footage, music, and poetry, the video presents a collage of historical and contemporary women whose spirit, courage and brilliance can inspire women of today.
One Woman, One Vote - #28
Produced by The American Experience. From Elizabeth Cady Stanton's electrifying 1849 speech condemning the country's subordination of women, to the last full-out battle for passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920, this documentary illuminates the infighting, fledgling alliances, betrayals, defeats, and victories on the way to women's voting rights. (1995)
Our Bodies, Our Minds - #117
Examines the relationships between contemporary feminism, free speech, and the sex industry. Filmmaker Rebecca Alvin interviews a variety of sex-positive feminists, women who stress tolerance of sexual diversity, the freedom to express one's sexuality and identity, the rights of sex workers, and the importance of making sex-related information available. Interviewed are sex worker activists, sex educators, a peep-show stripper, a porn-film star, and a sex-toy store owner, who discuss stereotypes and myths about sex work, their actual work experience, labor organizing issues, pros and cons of their profession, legal and censorship issues, their differences with traditional feminists, and how their choice of work affects family relationships. Contains occasional nudity and profanity. (2001, 68 min)
Passion & Power - #216
Passion & Power is an entertaining documentary that explores the controversial history of the vibrator, from the Victorian era - when doctors used the device to relieve women of “hysteria”- through the sexual revolution of the 1960s, to the postfeminist present. As well as revealing the vibrator's fascinating past, this provocative yet unexpectedly funny film digs deeper to uncover the mysteries of the female orgasm, and examines its ramifications for sexual politics and gender dynamics from the time of Hippocrates to the present day. Featuring interviews with sexperts, historians and pioneering feminists, the film takes us on a surprising and enlightening journey through the secret history of the vibrator and the even more mystifying female orgasm. Based on Rachel P. Maines' provocative best seller The Technology of Orgasm: Hysteria, the Vibrator, and Women's Sexual Satisfaction, the film is the w inner of the Best Directing, Documentary in the San Francisco Women's Film Festival Award. (2008, 74 min)
Paula Caplan: A Woman's Guide to Surviving in the Academic World - #32
Filmed at UNL, psychology professor and author Paula Caplan discusses and reads from her book Lifting a Ton of Feathers: A Woman's Guide to Surviving in the Academic World . Caplan analyzes the cumulative impact of small manifestations of sexism which she likens to "lifting a ton of feathers." (1994)
The Pill - #126
"The Pill," (PBS "The American Experience" Series), traces the history of contraception in the U.S. through its medical and legal development. Includes documentary footage and interviews with Margaret Sanger and other women reformers as well as with women from the first and later generations of pill users. The video also discusses the Comstock laws, medical implications of the pill, and evolving social and political conceptions of sexuality from the 1950's and beyond.
A Place of Rage, - #29
A film by Pratibha Parmar. 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 reassess how women such as Rosa Parks and Fannie Lou Hamer revolutionized American society. (1991, England, 52 min)
The Pornography of Everyday Life - #182
This film incorporates more than 200 powerful images from advertising, ancient myth, art, and popular culture to demonstrate how pornography (defined as the sexualized domination, degradation, and objectification of women, girls and social groups who are put in the demeaned feminine role) is in reality a prevalent mainstream worldview. Written by Jane Caputi, Prof. of Women's Studies at Florida Atlantic University, the film illustrates how this worldview is an accepted, habitual mode of thinking and acting that underpins sexism, racism, militarism, physical abuse and torture, and the pillaging of the environment. It suggests alternatives and shows how visionary thinkers and artists re-imagine and restore respect to eroticism, female sexuality, and the female divine. (2007, 34 min.)
Positive Twenties - #83
A poignant and powerful documentary chronicling the lives of a group of Los Angeles young men in their twenties who are living with HIV and AIDS. They come together by participating in a weekly support group. Over time, a tremendous bond develops which sees them through the varying stages of their disease. Confronting death causes them to reevaluate their lives in positive ways. (1995, USA , 30 min.)
The Purity Myth—The Virginity Movement’s War Against Women—(Streaming available, contact the WGS office)
In this video adaptation of her bestselling book, pioneering feminist blogger Jessica Valenti trains her sights on "the virginity movement" -- an unholy alliance of evangelical Christians, right-wing politicians, and conservative policy intellectuals who have been exploiting irrational fears about women's sexuality to roll back women's rights. From dad-and- daughter "purity balls," taxpayer-funded abstinence-only curricula, and political attacks on Planned Parenthood, to recent attempts by legislators to de-fund women's reproductive health care and narrow the legal definition of rape, Valenti identifies a single, unifying assumption: the myth that the worth of a woman depends on what she does -- or does not do -- sexually. In the end, Valenti argues that the health and well-being of women are too important to be left to ideologues bent on vilifying feminism and undermining women's autonomy. (45 min., 2011)
The Pursuit of Pleasure - #167
A lively documentary film challenging commonly held beliefs about female sexuality, gender roles, relationships and satisfaction. Seven articulate, highly diverse women, ranging from a GenX midwife to a 94-year-old psychologist and sex therapist, discuss marriage, celibacy, sexuality, incest, gender roles, beauty, sisterhood, community, intimacy and work. The film intertwines interviews, historical footage, family photos and original music to explore the evolution of Pleasure since the US Women's Movement began over 40 years ago. (2005, 58 min)
The Return of Sara Baartman - #173
In a storeroom at Paris's Musee de l'Homme, a man carefully wraps a jar in heavy white paper. Inside is the brain of Sara Baartman, which, along with the rest of her remains, is finally going home to South Africa. Sara Baartman arrived in London in 1810. For the next five years, she was a popular freak show attraction. When she died in Paris in 1816, at age 26, Baartman was dissected by the French scientific icon Georges Couvier, who saw her as little more than an ape. The full story of her life and death is told in The Life and Times of Sara Baartman (#158, page 12). This video tackles the difficult issues of artifact repatriation and the rights of indigenous people. Sara's repatriation involved years of lobbying by people in South Africa. The video offers some closure on a tragic episode of racism and imperialism. Speaking at her funeral, South African president Thabo Mbeki said Baartman's story "is the story of loss of our ancient freedom... It is the story of our reduction to the status of objects that could be owned, used and disposed of by others." However, after returning Baartman to South Africa, questions and uncertainties remained. For how does an exploited spirit return home, when home, and the accompanying culture, is gone? And who could speak for her now, almost two hundred years after she left? (2003, 55 minutes)
Rosa Parks: The Path to Freedom - #31
Produced by Kingberry Productions on the fortieth anniversary of Rosa Parks' refusal to give up her seat on the bus in Montgomery , Alabama . This documentary contains an overview of the events that took place including Mrs. Parks' arrest, the bus boycott, and the segregation laws finally overturned, as well as the story of the former seamstress whose life continues to be committed to social justice for all people. (1996, 20 min)
Searching for Angela Shelton - # 164
Filmmaker Angela Shelton journeys across the U.S. meeting other Angela Sheltons in an effort to survey women in America. She discovers that 24 out of 40 of them have been raped, beaten or molested-25 if she includes herself. Then the filmmaker meets an Angela Shelton who tracks sexual predators and lives in the same town as the filmmaker's father who molested her and her stepsiblings for years. The film becomes a journey of self-discovery, teaching about confrontation, forgiveness, faith and the power of the human spirit. (2004, 94 min)
Seneca Reflections - #33
At the 150 th anniversary of the First Woman's Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York, participants, speakers, scholars, and historical performers were asked to put the 1848 convention in perspective for a contemporary audience, and to reflect on its unique significance to our time. This is a rare, personal tribute to the remarkable womenBpast and present-- whose lives have furthered the cause of women's rights, and it will contribute to any discussion of women's issues. (1998, 24 min)
Sexism in Language - #34
This program presents closely analyzed examples that show how sexism and anti-sexism may be contained in language use-in song lyrics, everyday conversation, newspaper reports, written conventions, and satire. (1993, 26 min)
Sisterhood Alive and Well: The Million Woman March - #118
This video documents the Million Woman March in Philadelphia on October 25, 1997, when black women from all over America gathered to demonstrate their concerns for Black America and to express their sense of unity as a movement that can play an influential role in American society. Black activists featured include Sister Soulijah, Move Organization Sister Ramona Africa, as well as community activists, working women, mothers, senior citizens, and students, who relate the experiences and voice the concerns of black women throughout America today. (1997, 30 min)
Sisters of '77 - #192
An award winning film that chronicles an unprecedented moment in women's history. On a November weekend in Houston, Texas, in 1977, over 20,000 women and men from around the United States attended the first federally funded women's conference. Rare archival footage shows democracy in action as the delegates (including Rosalynn Carter, Betty Ford, Lady Bird Johnson, Coretta Scott King, Bella Abzug and Barbara Jordan) hammer out a platform for the women's movement that still exists today. Engaging interviews with today's leaders relate this history to the present. (55 min)
Sisters on the Planet Four Inspirational Women and the Fight Against Climate Change- #198
As obvious as it sounds, climate change affects everybody. But climate change is already having a disproportionate impact on people in poor communities, and it's hitting women hardest. It's not the easiest to understand, so to help explain we've made these short films about women, in both rich and poor countries, who are determined to do whatever they can to put a stop to climate change. Watch them and become aware of the impact our changing climate is having on people's lives.. Accompanying the DVD are supplemental materials that can aid the viewing. These include an event handout, evaluation form, an Oxfam eCommunity sign-up form (Oxfam info online at www.oxfamamerica.org), and booklets.
Slim Hopes: Advertising and the Obsession with Thinness - #35
Jean Kilbourne's award-winning video 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, as well as a well-documented critical perspective on the social impact of advertising. (1995, 30 min)
Standing on my Sisters Shoulders -#147
In 1965, when three women walked into the US House of Representatives in Washington D.C., they had come a very long way. Neither lawyers nor politicians, they were ordinary women from Mississippi, and descendants of African slaves. They had come to their country's capitol seeking civil rights, the first black women to be allowed in the senate chambers in nearly 100 years. A missing chapter in our nation's record of the Civil Rights movement, this powerful documentary reveals the movement in Mississippi in the 1950's and 60's from the point of view of the courageous women who lived it - and emerged as its grassroots leaders. Their living testimony offers a window into a unique moment when the founders' promise of freedom and justice passed from rhetoric to reality for all Americans. Through moving interviews and powerful archival footage, Standing on My Sister's Shoulders weaves a story of commitment, passion and perseverance and tells the story of the women fought for change in Mississippi and altered the course of American history forever. (2002, 60min.)
Still Waiting: Life After Katrina - #186
Still Waiting: Life After Katrina documents the remarkable story of resilience, family, and attachment to place. The role of women, family, race, food, and faith are integral to the content and provide powerful teaching opportunities. It tells the story of the extended Tipado family's evacuation from the Saint Bernard Parish to Dallas, and their later return to the Bayou. After months of waiting, their hopes for reclaiming life there become increasingly remote. The documentary was filmed between October 2005 and March 2007 and was funded by the National Science Foundation, Colorado State University, and Women in Film and was broadcast on nearly 300 PBS stations in 2007. (2007, 60 min)
Stripped and Teased: Tales from Las Vegas Women - #121
Winner of several awards (National Educational Media Network Competition, Sedona International Film Festival, and Houston USA Film Festival). Las Vegas is a city where the female body is more an object of commerce than anywhere else in America. This video rejects the Showgirls mythos to tell the true story of real women who live and work in Las Vegas, the mother, maids, wives, casino executives and showgirls, who struggle against the sex-object stereotype. In the midst of a city that flaunts sex, prostitution and pornography, the video profiles a variety of working women-a hotel maid, a construction worker, a cocktail waitress, a cabdriver, a Congresswoman, a casino executive, a labor union leader, and a showgirl-whose stories reveal that there's always more to the girl than show. (1998, 62 min)
Tell me a Riddle - #153
After 47 years of marriage, David and Eva have become intimate enemies, leading separate emotional lives. He wants to move to the convenience of a home for the elderly, while she withdraws into her memories of the past. When David learns Eva is dying of cancer, he keeps it secret from her, taking her on a final trip to visit their family. Gradually, their affection rekindles, culminating in a passionate, sensual love scene. In her directorial debut actress Lee Grant achieves powerful emotions with her realistic approach to problems of communication that are meaningful for relationships of all ages. (1986; 94 min.)
That's not what I Meant: Language, Culture, and Meaning - #151
Dr. Tannen is on the Linguistics Department faculty at Georgetown University, where she holds the distinguished rank of University Professor. She has been McGraw Distinguished Lecturer at Princeton University, and was a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences in Stanford, California, following a term in residence at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. She has published nineteen books and over a hundred articles and is the recipient of five honorary doctorates. That's not what I Meant! Is Deborah Tannen's live, video presentation of her seminal contributions to the understanding of language, meaning, and conversational style. This program is produced, edited, and paced for curricular use in communication, linguistics, psychology, sociology, and other social sciences. (2004, 55min.)
Tiny and Ruby, Hell Divin' Women - #131
Profiling legendary jazz trumpeter Tiny Davis and her partner of over 40 years, drummer-pianist Ruby Lucas, this video weaves together rare jazz recordings, live performances, vintage photographs, and narrative poetry by Cheryl Clarke. The film establishes an informal, intimate style in which 78-year old Tiny demonstrates that her chops and humor are both quite intact. Winner of several "Audience Favorite" awards (30 min., 1986).
Tough Guise - #110
Featuring Jackson Katz and directed by Sut Jhally, this video is geared to systematically examine the relationship between images of popular culture and the social construction of masculine identities in the U.S. at the dawn of the 21 st century. Katz argues that the widespread violence in American society--including recent tragic school shootings--needs to be understood as part of an ongoing crisis in masculinity. Part I is entitled, "Understanding Violent Masculinity"; part II is entitled, "Violent Masculinity in Action". (1999, 80 min.)
Typhoid Mary - #183
This film tells the story of Mary Mallon, a 37-year-old Irish immigrant cook who was found to be the source of a mysterious outbreak of typhoid fever in 1909. At a time when the concept of communicable diseases was not widely understood, the story of 'Typhoid Mary' pitted the new science of bacteriology against ancient terrors. Mary's banishment to a quarantine island off Manhattan against her will also revealed the newfound power of health officials to protect the masses, often at the expense of individual liberties. Today, with the presence of SARS, HIV-AIDS, influenza, and ebola, public health policies continue to search for the proper balance between protection and freedom. (2004, 60 min)
The Ultimate Test Animal - # 119
This video examines the birth control injection Depo Provera and the international controversy over its use, raising disturbing questions about racism and sexism in health care, population control vs. birth control, and how drugs are tested and marketed. (1985, 40 min)
Union Maids - #128
Sitdowns, scabs, goon squads, unemployment, hunger marches, red baiting and finally the energetic birth of the CIO-the 1930s were a landmark period for the American labor movement. Union Maids is the story of three women who lived the history and make it come alive today. (50 min)
The Vagina Monologues - #82
This performance was filmed at The Seventh Street Lofte in Lincoln, NE, on February 14, 2000. The award-winning play, written by Eve Ensler, is part of the V-Day 2000 College Initiative campaign to end sexual violence by raising awareness. (2000)
The Vagina Monologues HBO TV Version - # 109 Filmed in NYC (2002)
Vital Signs: Crip Culture Talks Back - #97
This raw, edgy video documentary explores the politics of disability through the performances, debates and late-night conversations of activists at a recent national conference on Disability and the Arts. Featuring interviews with well-known disability rights advocates and artists such as Cheryl Marie Wade, Mary Duffy, Harlan Hahn and Anne Finger, along with professors, students and others with disabilities, the video conveys the intensity, variety and vitality of disability culture today. This is a rough, energetic video which will spark lively discussion on disability issues, culture and politics. A great tool for activists and organizers, and for courses in sociology, political science, psychology and disability. Contains strong language and nudity. (2000, 48 min)
War Zone - #129
Filmmaker Maggie Hadleigh-West believes that the streets are a war zone for women. Armed with only a video camera, she provides a disturbing look at women's experience-and by confronting her harassers, she reclaims the space they have stolen from her (1998, 35 min.).
What to Do with a Women's Studies Degree - #100
Part of the Women's Studies Program Colloquium Series, this video features several Women's Studies Program graduates talking about their current occupations and the value of a degree in Women's Studies. Taped January 1, 2001.
What We Leave Behind - #120
Women former prisoners share their experiences of incarceration as women and as mothers, painfully addressing its effects on their children. They ask challenging questions about women's imprisonment and they look to young people for fresh answers. The result is a rich tapestry of perspectives that undermine stereotypes about women in prison and demonstrate the power of disenfranchised groups to shape their own media images. Informative, inspiring and persuasive, this video is an excellent resource for anyone concerned about the disturbing increase in women's incarceration and its impact on society. (2001, 22 min)
Wilma Mankiller: Woman of Power - #36
This videotape by Mary Scott is a profile of the first female Chief of the Cherokee Nation. The video follows her through one day in her life, and shows how she has done ground-breaking work in governance, community development, and furthering the cause of her people, effectively showing modern tribal life, as well as raising questions about women and leadership. Wilma Mankiller provides a strong role model for women and Native Americans as she attempts to find the delicate balance of participating in existing white power structures while maintaining her own cultural integrity. (1992, 29 min)
Wind Grass Song: The Voice of Our Grandmothers - #37
A film by Jana Birchum and Tori Breitling. Based on interviews with Oklahoma women aged 85 to 101 years, Wind Grass Song presents a unique vision of U.S. regional culture through an invaluable oral history. In this impressionistic documentary, faces and voices of these elder-women, Black, Native American, and White, are interwoven with highly evocative shots of the landscape. Summer locusts, prairie grass, and tornados of red earth are swept into the rhythms of rural life on the Great Plains , conveying how the land shaped the lives of these courageous women. (1989, 20 min)
With Babies and Banners - #38
A film documenting the dramatic story of the Women's Emergency Brigade. The untold story of the women who became the backbone of the Great General Motors Sit-Down Strike of 1937, U.S. history's key event in the drive for industrial unionism. The nation's eyes were on the men inside the auto plants, while the women outside progressed from staffing the strike kitchens to leading the famous Women's Emergency Brigade. (1992, 45 min)
Women in Black - #111
This provocative and often humorous video features interviews with former Catholic school students in the Fifties and Sixties who describe childhood experiences of physical and psychological punishment by Catholic nuns. Interviews with current and former nuns, blended with archival footage and clips from feature films, also examines the reasons for corporal punishment employed in Catholic education and how the austere lives of nuns during that era may have influenced their behavior. (1999, 56 min)
Women of Hope: Latinas Abriendo Camino - #39
Produced by the Bread and Roses Cultural Project. This program tells the story of Latina women in the U.S. through portraits of twelve unusual women who have broken new ground in their lives and achievements. Among those featured in the program are: Miriam Colón, actress and founder of the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater; Nydia Velásquez, the first Puerto Rican Congresswoman; and Sandra Cisneros, Chicana novelist an poet. The program includes a wealth of historical archival footage, and features a soundtrack of diverse and important Latin music from the 1940s through today. (1996, 28 min)
Women Vote 2004 - #146
Designed to promote debate and encourage women to vote in November. Women who are experts in the areas of the economy, health, education, terrorism and security, and the environment give their perspectives. From Third Wave Television, a women's nonprofit documentary group. (2004, 40 min.)
Wrestling with Manhood - # 124
This is the first educational program to pay attention to the enormous popularity of professional wrestling among male youth, addressing its relationship to real-life violence and probing the social values that sustain it as a powerful cultural force. Drawing the connection between professional wrestling and the construction of contemporary masculinity, the video shows how so-called "entertainment" is related to homophobia, sexual assault, and relationship violence. Producers/creators Sut Jhally and Jackson Katz offer a new way to think about the enduring problems of men's violence against women and bullying in our schools. (2002, 45 min.)
Art and Literature
Activist Art: Textiles as Commentary - #99
UNL Professor Wendy Weiss, illustrated slide lecture
Adrienne Rich (two videos) - #41a and #41b
Video One: From the American Poetry Archives with an introduction by Tom Mandel. Rich reads ?Toward the Solstice," "Integrity," "Grandmothers," "Heroines," "For Julia in Nebraska," "For Memory," "Rift," "Transit," "What is Possible," and "Turning the Wheel." (1982, 60 min)
Video Two: From the American Poetry Archives with an introduction by Deborah Rosenfelt. Rich reads "Sources," "Contradictions," and "Tracking Poems" from the "Gender, Language and Power" series sponsored by the SFSU Women's Studies Program. (1988, 75 min)
Alice Walker - # 42
In this profile, Alice Walker shares with us her remarkable spiritual journey from a sharecropping childhood in rural Georgia to the peace and creativity of her present retreat in Northern California. She reads from her poetry and discusses contemporary America with an anger and urgency rooted in an abiding optimism. Walker explains the "womanist" perspective which informs her 1983 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Color Purple , and her most recent novels The Temple of My Familiar and Possessing the Secret of Joy . "Being black, being a woman, being a writer is like having three eyes, three ears, instead of one," she confides. "I feel blessed." (1992, 30 min)
Beth Brant: The Sacredness of Words - #43
Lecture and reading by Beth Brant, author of Food and Spirits and Writing as Witness, filmed at UNL in 1997. Beth Brant is affiliated with Mohawk tribe of the Bay of Quinte , Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory , Ontario , Canada , and is the author of five books which have contributed significantly to the survival of and the understanding of native American culture. In her book Writing as Witness: Essay and Talk , Brant writes: ?In putting together this collection . . . I hope to convey the message that words are sacred. Not because of the person transmitting them, but because words themselves come from the place of mystery that gives meaning and existence to life. To come from a people whose foremost way of communicating is through an oral tradition, I must choose each word carefully, aware of its significance, its truth, its beauty. As a writer, I must honour my ancestors, and the people I respect and love through the written way. Without writing I would be out of balance." (1997)
Calling the Shots #157
Award-winning filmmakers Janis Cole and Holly Dale present a riveting feature-length documentary, Calling the Shots , the first attempt to embrace the accomplishments of women in front of and behind the camera. It is a heartfelt look at contemporary women who are directing dramatic feature films throughout the world today. Employing film clips and candid interviews with contemporary directors, producers, screenwriters and actresses, Calling the Shots focuses on the diversity of films being made by women today, the power structure of the industry and the women who hold such power. Cole and Dale delicately weave and entertaining, yet compelling tale of women's struggle and acceptance in the film industry. The result is a powerful documentary that not only addresses and explores the unique contribution of women to film, but illuminates the personal side of these women's accomplishments. (1989, 118 min.).
Carolyn Kizer - #44
From the American Poetry Archives with an introduction by Tom Mandel. Kizer reads a section of "Pro Femina," and her poems "The Josef ,". "Djuqshvily Centennial Poem," "Running Away from Home," "The Believers," "Children," and "Semele Recycled."
Chrystos - #45
Filmed at UNL by the Women's Studies Program, Menominee poet Chrystos reads her poems "Crazy Grandpa Whispers," "Savage Eloquence," "Before Me the Land and Water Open," "The Rich," and from her play Rudey Toot Zoo , the monologue "Bag Lady." (1995, 60 min)
The Desert is No Lady - #148
With provocative imagery and spirited juxtapositions, The Desert Is No Lady looks at the Southwest through the eyes of its leading contemporary women artists and writers, including author Sandra Cisneros. The nine women profiled are Pat Mora (poet), Sandra Cisneros (writer), Lucy Tapahonso (poet), Emmi Whitehorse (painter), Harmony Hammond (painter), Meridel Rubinstein (photographer), Nora Naranjo Morse (sculptor), Pola Lopez de Jaramillo (painter) and Ramona Sakiestewa (tapestry artist). The Southwest is a border territory - where cultures meet and mix - and the work of these nine women from Pueblo , Navajo, Mexican-American and Anglo backgrounds reflects its special characteristics. The Desert Is No Lady is a vibrant celebration of the diversity of women's creativity and changing multicultural America. (1995; 45min.)
Dorothy Allison - #161
This video is of lesbian feminist author Dorothy Allison's reading and lecture at UNL on March 3, 2005. Allison talks about writing, her history in the feminist movement, and her personal life including issues of sexuality, class, and politics. (2005, approx. 60 minutes)
The Edge of Each Other's Battles: The Vision of Audre Lorde - #133
This moving tribute celebrates the legendary Black lesbian feminist poet Audre Lorde (1934 - 1992), who inspired several generations of activists with her riveting poetry, and was a unifying force among the Black arts, Black liberation, Women's liberation and Lesbian and Gay liberation movements. The film's focus is the groundbreaking "I Am Your Sister Conference" which gathered 1200 activists from 23 countries, including thrilling footage of the inimitable Lorde herself, and candid interviews with conference organizers. The video powerfully brings Lorde's legacy of poetry and politics to life and conveys the spirit, passion and intensity that remains her trademark (59 min., 2002).
Frida Kahlo - #46
Frida Kahlo worked at the center of the Mexican Renaissance in the 1920s and 1930s. For her husband, cubist and muralist Diego Rivera, her painting was “the greatest proof of the Renaissance of the art of Mexico.” An excellent portrait of the artist and her work. (1983, 62 min)
Gloria Naylor - #48
Gloria Naylor is one of the most acute observers of contemporary African American life. Readings from her 1982 National Book Award Winner The Women of Brewster Place, Linden Hills, and Mama Day reveal the breadth of her vision: from the rural South to the urban ghetto to the black middle class. In this video, Naylor discusses the value and difficulty of maintaining an African American identity in a world dominated by whites. Often described as a cultural nationalist, Naylor reminds each of her readers "to celebrate voraciously that which is yours." (1992, 21 min)
Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats & Rhymes - #195
This film 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 perpetuation destructive, deeply conservative styles of manhood that glamorize sexism, violence and homophobia. Taking his camera from the street to the recording studio to the corridors of industry power, Hurt elicits fascinating insights into hip-hop masculinity from ordinary kids, aspiring rappers, music moguls, rap stars, and prominent cultural critics. The film is at once gripping and educational in its fearless, unflinching engagement with issues of race, gender violence and the corporate exploitation of youth culture. (2006, 61 minutes)
I, the Worst of All - #47
Directed by Maria Luisa Bemberg. Assumpta Serna stars as the brilliant and beautiful poet Sister Juana Ines de la Cruz in this magnificent portrayal of 17th century Mexico. In order to pursue her love of writing, Juana enters the convent and gains international renown. When the Inquisition comes, the local Vicereine (Dominique Sanda) becomes Juana's protectress and erotic muse, and soon begins a thrilling romance of startling passion and intensity. Based on "The Traps of Faith" by Octavio Paz. (107 min, Spanish w/English subtitles)
International Sweethearts of Rhythm, America 's Hottest All-Girl Band - #132
This toe-tapping music film tells the story of the swinging, multi-racial, all-women's jazz band of the 1940s. A 16-piece band with a strong brass section, heavy percussion, and a deep rhythmic sense, the Sweethearts were not just a novelty but featured many of the best female musicians of the day. By Greta Schiller and Andrea Weiss, winner of several awards. (1986, 30 min)
Judy Grahn - #50
From the American Poetry Archives, with an introduction by Robert Gluck. Gloria Anzaldua is the co-reader. Grahn reads "How Cooking Took a Long Time to Learn" and "Two Who Watch Out for Each Other are Related" from her novel, Mundane's World . She also reads from Queen of Swords . (1985, 46 min)
Julian of Norwich - #91
A 14 th -century English mystic who enclosed herself for life in order to fully develop her relationship with God after a series of revelations, Julian of Norwich and her writings are still studied by Christian theologians. Her prose, some of the most terrifying and compelling, is the first to refer to God as "She," forging the way for inclusive language that is used in many Bibles today. A concise overview of Julian's life, times and writings, video includes commentary by Anne Savage of McMaster University, who discusses influential contemporary books along with the reception of Julian's writings by the medieval Church. (2000, 24 min)
Leslie M. Silko - #51
Rarer even than Native American writers known outside their own communities are Native American women writers. The best known is Leslie Marmon Silko, whose work is strongly rooted in her own matrilineal tribal background. Like all writing of lasting value, it uses particular experiences and places to reveal universal truths. Here, Silko discusses her own background and the interrelationship between her smaller, immediate Indian world and the larger, brutal surrounding world. (1995, 50 min)
Like Water for Chocolate - #52
In the tradition of Latin American literature's magic realism, "Like Water For Chocolate" tells the story of a woman and her lover who, having been denied marriage, find inventive ways of sharing their love. She can impart her feelings and desire through her cooking and everyone around ends up inadvertently participating in their passion. (1993, Mexico, 113 min)
Maxine Hong Kingston, The Stories of - #53
In this program with Bill Moyers, Kingston discusses new images of America as a "A melting pot" where the dutiful notions of the Puritans blend with the Monkey Spirit of the Orient to produce a new American consciousness. (1994, 60 min)
Maxine Kumin - #54
From the American Poetry Archives with an introduction by Carol Berge. Kumin reads her poems "Song for Seven Parts of the Body," "Fraulein Reads Instructive Rhymes," "Casablanca," "The Hermit Wakes to Bird Songs," "Morning Swim," "Heaven as Anus," "The Nightmare Factory," "In the Root Cellar," "Amanda Dreams She has Died and Gone to the Elysian Fields," "Amanda is Shod," "The Agnostic Speaks to her Horse's Hoof," "Thinking of Death and Dog Food," and "How It Is." (1974, 30 min)
Minnie Bruce Pratt and Leslie Feinberg - #55
Filmed April 2, 1996, in the UNL Ballroom, Minnie Bruce Pratt reads from her latest work of prose-poetry SH/E . Pratt's reading is followed with a talk by her partner Leslie Feinberg, author of Stone Butch Blues and the new Transgender Warriors .
Mitsuye and Nellie: Asian American Poets - #56
A film by Allie Light and Irving Scaraf. This absorbing documentary examines the lives of Asian Americans through the inspirational poetry of Mitsuye Yamada and Nellie Wong. Interviews, rare archival footage, intimate family scenes, and a lively dialogue between these fascinating women underscore the different histories of Chinese and Japanese Americans, but also shared experiences of biculturalism and generational difference. (1981, 58 min)
Olga Broumas - #58
From the American Poetry Archives with an introduction by Frances Phillips. Broumas reads her poems, "Landscape with Leaves and Figure," "Little Red Ridinghood," and "No Harm Shall Come." (1985, 25 min)
Paris Was a Woman - #59
Directed by Greta Shiller. This is a film portrait of the creative community of women writers, artists, photographers, and editors who flocked to the Left Bank of Paris in the early decades of this century. Authors Cocette, Djuna Barnes, and Gertrude Stein; painters Romaine Brooks and Marie Laurencin; photographers Berenice Abbott and Gisele Freund; publishers and booksellers Sylvia Beach and Adrienne Monnier; and journalist Janet Flanner all figure in this legendary milieu. (1996, United Kingdom, 75 min)
Pat Parker - #60
From the American Poetry Archives with an introduction by Frances Phillips. Audre Lorde is the co-reader. Parker reads "Maybe I Should Have Been a Teacher," "Legacy," two untitled pieces, "One Thanksgiving Day," "My Brother," "Let Me Come to You Naked . . . ," "From Deep Within," "Aftermath," "My Lady Ain't No Lady," and "For Audre." (1986, 38 min)
Rita Dove - #61
From the American Poetry Archives with an introduction by Frances Phillips. Shirley Kaufman is the co-reader. Dove reads "O," "Nestor's Bathtub," "Grape Sherbert," "Shakespeare Say," and "Parsley." From her Thomas and Beulah , Dove reads "The Event," "Jiving," " Roast Possum," "Dusting," and "Daystar." Also included are the poems "Holly Cully" and "Flash Cards." (1987, 31 min)
Searching for a Native American Identity: Louise Erdrich and Michael Dorris - #57
This program features the late Michael Dorris and Louise Erdrich, a husband-and-wife team who collaborated as writers before his untimely death. They attribute their beliefs in family, community, and place to their Native American heritage: she is half Chippewa, he is half Modoc. As native Americans, their writing reflects the difficulties of American Indians today. In this program with Bill Moyers, Erdrich and Dorris discuss faith and the search for a Native American identity in a pluralistic society. (1994, 30 min)
Sisters in Cinema - #125
As the first documentary of its kind, the video traces the careers of inspiring African American women filmmakers from the early part of the 20 th century to today, such as Euzhan Palcy, Madeline Anderson, Julie Dash, Darnell Marin, Dianne Houston, Zeinabu Irene Davis, Neema Barnette, Maya Angelou, etc. Interviews are interwoven with film, clips, rare archival footage and photographs and production video of the filmmakers at work. The images give voice to African American women directors and serve to illuminate a history that has remained hidden for too long. (2003, 62 min)
Tillie Olsen: A Heart in Action - #203
This revelatory documentary is an inspiring homage to Tillie Lerner Olsen - a renegade, revolutionary, distinguished fiction and non-fiction writer, feminist, humanist, labor organizer and social activist. Politically active, class conscious, deeply joined to the world, Tillie countered the very core of American writing by immortalizing the lives of working class women and single mothers. Her short stories “Tell Me a Riddle,” and “I Stand Here Ironing,” galvanized the literary world and set in motion an essential new perspective on the lives of ordinary women.
Filmmaker Ann Hershey tells not only the story of Olsen as a writer, but also documents her life as an activist. Extended interviews with Olsen during the last years of her life are deftly interspersed with footage from her readings, lectures and book signings as well as with archive materials and comments from notable feminists such as Gloria Steinem and Alice Walker. A perfect companion film in courses covering Olsen's literature, this documentary is also recommended for women's studies, labor studies, political studies and American history courses. (2007, 66 min.)
Tiny and Ruby, Hell Divin' Women - #131
Profiling legendary jazz trumpeter Tiny Davis and her partner of over 40 years, drummer-pianist Ruby Lucas, this video weaves together rare jazz recordings, live performances, vintage photographs, and narrative poetry by Cheryl Clarke. The film establishes an informal, intimate style in which 78-year old Tiny demonstrates that her chops and humor are both quite intact. Winner of several "Audience Favorite" awards. (1986, 30 min)
Toni Morrison - #49
Toni Morrison has been called, "a literary Moses stripping away the idols of whiteness and blackness that have prevented blacks from knowing themselves." A leading figure in the movement for a new multicultural American literary canon, she explains that "American literature is incoherent without the contribution of African Americans." Readings from her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Beloved and her most recent Jazz show how Morrison returns to the pain of slavery and segregation to restore wholeness to the black psyche. "The past," Morrison observes, "is more infinite than the future . . . It's avoiding it, deceiving ourselves about it, that paralyzes growth." (1992, 25 min)
Two or Three Things But Nothing for Sure - # 165
Acclaimed author Dorothy Allison is profiled in this moving, inspiring film. Combining poetic imagery with powerful readings, it evokes Allison's childhood in the poor white American South of the 1950's, her birth as a writer and feminist, and her coming to terms with a family legacy of incest and abuse. A beautifully realized portrait of an artist and survivor, this stirring film provides important insights into the roots of self-renewal and creativity. (1997, 12 min)
Virginia Braun, WGS Colloquium Speaker, March 3, 2009, “Questioning ‘The Designer Vagina’: A Critical Analysis of Female Genital Cosmetic Surgery Discourse and Practice.” - #204
Female genital cosmetic surgery (FGCS) procedures are increasing in popularity. Yet, as psychologist Braun (University of Auckland) explains, they are deeply problematic. In this talk, Braun provides a critical feminist analysis around FGCS, highlighting key areas of concern. Specifically, while the rhetoric of choice and sexual pleasure functions to legitimate and promote FGCS, FGCS simultaneously reaffirms normative heterosexuality, promotes a generic model of bodies and sex, and pathologies female genital diversity.
Virginia Woolf: A Room of One's Own - #62
"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 one of the greatest feminist polemics of the 20 th century. Eileen Atkins re-creates her acclaimed one-woman stage show based on Woolf's talk. (1996, 53 min)
Voices of Power, African-American Women -#93
From the "I Am Woman" series. African-American women have captured the moral imagination of mainstream America through their essays, novels, poetry, and other artistic endeavors, breaching the static lines of race, gender, and class. How have their reflections so clearly articulated the hopes and philosophies of so many? Alice Walker, bell hooks, Martha Wharton, and Valerie Lee examine the emergence of African-American women as popular and powerful voices of social conscience. (2000, 29 min)
Weaving Worlds - # 213
Through untold stories of the intricate creation and often political sales of Navajo rugs, Weaving Worlds discloses the intimate portrait of economic and cultural survival through art. Audiences will discover the delicate balance between cultural continuity, increased globalization, and artistic motivation of this traditional form. (2008, 57 min)
Wild Women Don't Have The Blues: The Women. The Music. The Legacy - #155
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 compiles for the first time dozens of rare, classic renditions of the early blues to commentary by "Queen of the Blues," Koko Taylor. Wild Women recreates the gutsy stories of these gutsy women who left an indelible mark on the music and the heart of America. (1989; 58 min.)
A Woman's Word Palabra de mujer - #207
With English subtitles. Beautiful and intimate, this film depicts the life and writings of three exceptional authors of the Arab word - Nawal Al Saadawi, Hanan Al Shaykh, and Janata Bennuna. In their own way, each writer struggles as an Arab woman in a society that often wants to shut down her powerful voice. Conveying the intense drive of these women to write as a way to make sense of the world, to battle their sense of alienation or to express their political dissent, this documentary shatters clichés and celebrates the strength of Arab women. (2004, 52 min.)
WOMAN: Who Is Me? - # 168
A video about the myths, legends, and stereotypes of women (and men) that have endured through the ages, perpetuated by significant Western art and other visual media of every era. Not a polemic, the film is an effort to open eyes and minds to the culture and attitudes of each generation that are reflected in its media and how these, in turn, have shaped perceptions of women. Key themes: Voyeur, Confused Images, Odalisques, Changes in Body Styles, Vanity and Judgment; Advertising; Stereotypes of Men; Violence. (2005, 11 min)
Women Who Made the Movies - #63
A film by UNL's Gwendolyn Foster, Women Who Made the Movies traces the careers and films of such pioneer women filmmakers as Alice Guy-Blaché, the first person to make a film with a plot (in 1896), as well as Ruth Ann Baldwin, Ida Lupino, Leni Fiefenstahl, Dorothy Davenport Reid, Lois Weber, Kathlyn Williams, Cleo Madison, and many other women who made a lasting contribution to cinema history with their films. Featuring clips from the films, rare archival footage and stills, this video brings to life the work of these remarkable women. (1992, 56 min)
World of Light: A Portrait of May Sarton - #64
Poet and novelist May Sarton's reflections on her life as a writer and influences on her work. She reads her poems "An Observation", "Of Mollusks", and "Gestalt at Sixty". (1979, 30 min)
Writing Women's Lives - #65
Women of diverse backgrounds and global cultures sharetheir passion for the written word. Authors such as Steinem, Lessing, Allende, and Mukherjee speak out about their personal lives, as well as their thoughts on such themes as childhood, love, marriage, the creative process, publishing, politics, success, and motivation. (1999, 60 min)
Zora Neale Hurston: A Heart with Room for Every Joy - #178
"I have the strength to walk my own path, no matter how hard, in my search for reality, and not cling to the splendid wagon of desperate illusions." A writer of novels, short stories, folktales, plays, and essays, Zora Neale Hurston combined a hunger for research and a desire to penetrate the deepest of popular beliefs with a truly exquisite narrative talent. This illuminating biography of Hurston–a compelling story of a free spirit who achieved national prominence yet died in obscurity–examines the rich legacy of her writings, which include Mules and Men, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Tell My Horse, and Dust Tracks on a Road. Interviews with Lucy Anne Hurston, Zora's niece and author of the biography Speak, So You Can Speak Again, and with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., W. E. B. DuBois Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University , are featured. The program amply demonstrates that Hurston truly had, as it said in her high school yearbook, "a heart with room for every joy." (2005, 42 min)
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Issues
Adventures in the Gender Trade: A Case for Diversity - #66
This documentary presents Kate Bornstein's frank account of her personal journey from unhappy boy child into liberated transsexual lesbian. Intercut with her satiric night club act called "Hidden: A Gender," are the stories of a wide range of people who refused to have their identity defined by whether they were born male or female. Why, they ask, must we have a bipolar gender system, when some other cultures can accommodate diversity? Academics including anthropologist Dr. Walter Williams, and David Halperin of M.I.T. encourage a re-evaluation of traditional thinking, and a distinction between gender orientation and sexual preference. (1993, 40 min)
Films of Barbara Hammer, Volumes 1 and 2 - #67
These programs celebrate the many voices of Barbara Hammer, as a filmmaker concerned with expressing the formal qualities of the images, with defining her lesbian self, and with revealing her process of creating films. "In her most recent works, 'Endangered' and 'Sanctus,' Hammer eloquently and lyrically creates rich connections between her humanist self and the perilous state of the world, as she evokes the co-fragility of human existence and the film emulsion, the artist's raw material onto which she creates images." (Jon Gartenberg)
One Fine Day - #122
"One Fine Day" is a celebration of women's creativity and activism over the past 200 years. With archival photographs and footage, music, and poetry, the video presents a collage of historical and contemporary women whose spirit, courage and brilliance can inspire women of today.
Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives - #68
A film by Aerlyn Weissman and Lynne Fernie. Compelling, often hilarious and always rebellious, the ten women interviewed in Forbidden Love paint a portrait of lesbian sexuality and survival during the sexual dark ages of the 1950s and 60s. Against a fascinating backdrop of book covers from lesbian pulp novels, tabloid headlines, archival photographs and film clips, these women recount stories about living and loving in their clandestine world. Featuring an interview with author Ann Bannon. (1992, 85 min)
Further Off the Straight & Narrow—New Gay Visibility on Television, 1998-2006 (Streaming available, contact the WGS office)
This important new documentary picks up where Off the Straight & Narrow: Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals & Television (1998) left off. Since that video’s release in the late 90s, which coincided with the last episode of the popular program Ellen, there has been a marked increase in the presence of GLBT characters on television.
Against the backdrop of political and social issues affecting the GLBT community, such as gay marriage and AIDS, Further Off the Straight & Narrow takes a close look at sitcoms, reality shows, and premium cable programming as it explores how representations of GLBT characters have become more complex and varied in recent years. (61 min., 2006)
Ich bin meine eigene Frau (I Am My Own Woman) - #69
A film by Rosa von Praunheim starring Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, Ichgola Androgyn, and Jens Taschner. Charlotte von Mahlsdorf (born Lothar Berfelde in 1928) was brought up by her Nazi father who wanted to make her into a proper soldier. She grew up in Nazi Germany, survived World War II, the East Germany of the Stasis, and now the re-united Germany of the skin heads. Von Praunheim relates the life story of a warm-hearted human being who is also a courageous outsider. (1994, 91 min, German w/English subtitles)
It's Elementary, Talking about Gay Issues in School - #137
Offers inspiring examples of how caring adults handle concerns about whether and how to address gay issues with kids. The film shows what happens when kids in kindergarten through eighth grade discuss lesbian and gay-related topics in age- appropriate ways. Filmed in public and private schools, this highly acclaimed documentary models excellent teaching about family diversity, name-calling, stereotypes, community building, and more. The children in the film respond with enormous wisdom, compassion, and humor. After watching them and their talented teachers, audiences all over the world have come away with a renewed commitment to help young people address prejudice of all kinds. This is the educational training version by Debra Chasnoff and Helen S. Cohen, and includes a viewing guide. (1996, 37 min.)
It’s STILL Elementary - BOOK and DVD #137A
It’s STILL Elementary presents a moving story about the power to ignite positive social change through documentary film and grassroots organizing. It examines the incredible impact of the first film, It’s Elementary, over the last decade and follows up with teachers and students featured in that first film to see how lessons about LGBT people changed their lives.
It’s STILL Elementary also documents the story behind the controversial PBS broadcast of It’s Elementary and the infamous rightwing attacks on the film and its creators. It’s STILL Elementary is a call to action for parents and educators to continue working for safe, inclusive schools. Accompanied by an instructional workbook. (40 min., 2007)
Juchitán Queer Paradise - #177
This is fascinating portrait of Juchitán, a small Mexican city near the Guatemalan border. Here homosexuality is fully accepted; gays are simply a third gender. If a boy shows a predisposition to homosexuality his family will rejoice and be thankful for receiving what is considered a blessing. In Juchitán a man who wants to be a woman only has to dress like a woman to be considered and treated as a woman by the entire community. The film profiles three gay people: a teacher, a hairdresser, and a shop owner. (2004, 64 min)
Khush - #70
A film by Pratibha Parmar. Khush means ecstatic pleasure in Urdu. For South Asian lesbians and gay men in Britain, North America and India (where homosexuality is still illegal) the term captures the blissful intricacies of being queer and of color. Inspiring testimonies bridge geographical differences to locate shared experiences of isolation and exoticization but also the unremitting joys and solidarity of khush. Accentuated by beautifully lit dream and dance segments and a sensuous soundtrack, this uplifting documentary conveys the exhilaration of a culturally rooted experience of sexuality. (1991, 24 min)
Liberty : 3 Stories About Life and Death - #187
Liberty is an award-winning educational documentary about a close circle of lesbian friends. The women in Liberty have been together for over thirty years. They've grown old together. And now they face loss and death together. This extraordinary work interweaves the stories of three of these women: Joyce Fulton (66), who dies over the course of two years from a brain tumor; Mary Bell Wilson (79), who confronts her losing struggle with lymphoma; and Nan Golub (58) a New York City artist, very much alive. Liberty encourages viewers to see older women and older lesbians in a positive light by demystifying death, dispelling misinformation about age and sexual orientation, and reminding us how rich life is, even in the shadow of death. (55 min)
No Secret Anymore: The Times of Del Martin & Phyllis Lyon - #200
Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon were partners in love and political struggle for over fifty years. With inclusive interviews, rare archival images and warmhearted humor, No Secret Anymore reveals their inspiring public work, as well as their charming private relationship. It is a delightful way to meet these legendary lesbians, known as the founders of the modern lesbian civil rights movement. When they courageously launched the Daughters of Bilitis in 1955, it became the first public organization for lesbians in America. This documentary follows Martin and Lyon's story through half a century, tracing the emergence of lesbians from the fear of discovery to an expectation of equality. (2003, 57 min)
One Wedding and A Revolution: The Day San Francisco City Hall said I Do - #154
On February 12, 2004, the mayor of San Francisco decided to stop discriminating against lesbian and gay couples by instructing city and county officials to allow them to get married. Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, founders of the first lesbian-rights organization in the 1950s, and a couple celebrating their 51 st anniversary, were invited to be the first to tie the knot. Filmmaker Debra Chasnoff was also invited to document this historic occasion. Featuring exclusive interviews with key figures involved in the process, One Wedding takes you behind the scenes during the frantic days leading up to this momentous ceremony. (2004, 19 min)
Our House - #108
In the U.S. today, there are an estimated two million gay and lesbian parents raising between 3 and 5 million children under the age of 18. Their presence is raising public and private debate in courtrooms, schools, and churches around the country, offering a new twist to the struggle to define "family values". Producer Meema Spadola (who grew up in rural Maine as the daughter of a lesbian) offers a frank exploration of what it means to grow up with gay or lesbian parents. The featured families come from a variety of socioeconomic, racial and ethnic backgrounds and live in urban, suburban, and rural communities throughout the U.S. (2000, 57 min.)
Out of the Past - #71
Told through the eyes of a 17-year-old high school student in Salt Lake City , Out of the Past explores the student's history-making experience of forming a Gay Straight Alliance in her public school. The protests, legislative battles and national media attention serve as a modern couterpoint to the history of a Human Rights movement. This eye-opening history lesson reveals the touching and personal fight for equality that continues today. (1997, 70 min)
Outlaw - #72
By Alisa Lebow. Leslie Feinberg, a self-identified "gender outlaw" who has spent much of her life passing as a man, speaks with passion and intelligence about her experiences in this video manifesto. Raw and confrontational, this videotape asks its audience to examine their assumptions about the "nature"of gender and calls for more sensitivity and awareness of the human rights and the dignity of transgendered people. Feinberg is the author of Stone Butch Blues , an account of a working-class lesbian who passes as a man. (1994, 26 min)
Scout's Honor - #162
Directed by Tom Shepard, this true story chronicles the battle of Steven Cozza as he attempts to overturn the Boy Scout's ban on gays. The film also includes the legal case of ousted gay Eagle Scouts Tim Curran and James Dale that goes to the U.S. Supreme Court. The film "chronicles a modern interpretation of the Scouting ideas of courage, citizenship, and honor. (2001, 60 min.)
Silent Partners - #40
Winner of the CINE Golden Eagle of 1985, this upbeat documentary utilizes the firsthand experiences of an eclectic group of people to tell the story of America's older lesbians and gay men. It taps into the very personal nature of a less tolerant era, with moments ranging in tone from hilarious to the tragic. (1985, USA, 54 min)
Speak Up! - #136
Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students and their allies face unique challenges of violence and harassment in schools. The film explores what these students and their allies have done to transform their schools into safer and more welcoming environments. Interviews with students, parents, teachers, administrators and national activists highlight not only the need for transformation, but offer resources and advice for those actively working for change. This innovative film written by John Kazlauskas and produced by Sut Jhally, offers a powerful look at the ways in which individuals are reclaiming their classrooms and hallways as spaces safe for GLBT students. (35 min., 2001).
Tongues Untied - #73
Directed by Marion Riggs and featuring Essex Hemphill. Black gay men discuss the dual impact of racism and homophobia on their lives, and the pain and anger of silence. Powerful imagery and dramatic oratory combine to create a memorable and moving portrait of black gay men. (1991, 60 min)
Transamazon, A Gender Queer Journey - #140
Joelle Ruby Ryan, born Joseph Nolan Ryan in Newfields, New Hampshire, has become a well-spoken, passionate voice for transgender empowerment and liberation in the U.S. An educator, scholar, activist, and writer, Joelle brings resounding energy and will in moving our culture forward through its ignorance and angst regarding gender identity and expression. (41 min., 2003)
Tying the Knot - #163
By using archival news clips and heartfelt interviews, the video examines the institution of marriage today and as it has changed through history. This eye-opening exploration of the embattled institution looks at rights, privilege and love as gay activists and right-wing politicos lock horns in the fight for marriage. True accounts powerfully illustrate that, without marriage, same-sex partners are denied both the societal recognition and the legal rights that married couples enjoy. (2004, 82 min)
Venus Boyz - #143
Takes viewers on an extraordinary journey into the universe of female masculinity. Filmed in New York City and London , this eye-opening documentary uses the performances of drag kings-women who perform on stage with an invented male persona - as a starting point from which we follow their different paths into transgendered worlds. Includes a documentary short, "Venus Boyz Around the World", an interview with director Gabriel Baur, biographies, photo gallery and trailers. Winner of the Locarno International Film Festival Best Film Award. English and German with English subtitles. (103 min., DVD, 2002)
Watermelon Woman - #172
Cheryl, a young black woman, is making a documentary about an obscure black actress from the 1930's. Just as she discovers that the actress had a white lesbian lover, Cheryl meets the girl of her own dreams. Directed by Cheryl Dunye and featuring Guinevere Turner. (1997, 90 min)
Who's Afraid of Project 10? - #74
Examines public attitudes to Project 10, the counseling service for lesbian and gay teens founded at Fairfax High School in Los Angeles . Condemned by the Traditional Values Coalition and State Senator Newton Russell as advocating homosexuality, Project 10 offers support and guidance for teens struggling to come to terms with their sexuality and coping with homophobia, physical assault, and rejection by their families. (1989, 24 min)
Why Am I Gay? Stories of Coming Out in America - #75
This HBO special features lesbians and gays speaking about growing up gay in America, coming out, and the reactions of their families. Why Am I Gay? contrasts a diversity of viewpoints from psychologists and an anthropologist who explains that a person cannot be taught to be gay, to "Freedom at Last Ministries," where an attempt is made to convert gays to heterosexuality. Features Michael Callen and the Flirtations, a gay a capella group. (1993)
Women Like Us - #76
Produced by Suzanne Neild and Rosalind Pearson. Sixteen lesbians, ranging in age from 50 to 80-plus from diverse backgrounds, tell about their lives from the 1920s to the present in this fascinating oral history. Moving and intimate portraits explore the experience of women during World War II, butch/femme roles, the emergence of modern feminism, and coming out later in life to husbands and children. Rachel, in her 80s, speaks gleefully of being able to hold hands on the bus with her young lover Sally, who is in her 50s, after years in the closet. (1990, 49 min)
Past "No Limits" Conference Presenters
1995 No Limits Conference (two videos)- #78A and #78B
Filmed at UNL, presentations include Body Shape and Eating Disorders; B. Lea Mayberry, KSU; Feminist Pedagogy and Adult Education; Panel on Early 20th Century Women Writers
Filmed at UNL, presentations include Clara Colby Portrayal; UNO Workshop, Women Telling Their Stories; Paper on "The Social Construction of Knowledge."
1998 No Limits Conference Featured Presenters (two videos) - #79A and 79B
Emilia Gonzalez-Clements: International Women’s Movements: To Beijing and Beyond
Emilia Gonzalez-Clements is an applied anthropologist and a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at UNL. She has lived and worked in Mexico, Peru, Nicaragua, Bangladesh, the Dominican Republic, and in several parts of the U.S. Gonzalez-Clements shared the stories of women with whom she has worked during her 15 years of fieldwork experiences, as well as her observations of the 1995 Beijing NGO Forum which "brought together over 30,000 women to teach, learn, and share strategies for success."
Jenefer Shute: Minding the Body
Born and raised in South Africa, Jenefer Shute is an Assistant Professor at Emerson College in Boston. Her recently published book, Life-Size, explores the "tyranny of thinness" in our culture. According to Shute, this work "grew out of many years of observing the deep distress and shame that otherwise intelligent women experience around the issue of body image."
Mahnaz Afkhami: Feminism and Fundamentalism in the Muslim World
Mahnaz Afkhami is a native of Kerman, Iran and the president of the Sisterhood is Global Institute. She has written and lectured extensively on Muslim women's human rights and served as the secretary general of Women's Organization of Iran from 1970-79 and was Minister of State of Women's Affairs from 1976-78 when the position was eliminated on the eve of the Islamic Revolution.
1999 No Limits Conference Featured Presenters - #77
Judith Ortiz Cofer presents a reading and lecture on biculturalism and the creative process on her belief in freedom of expression and in the need to disseminate the literature and art of the many people contributing to the culture of the United States.
Carole Levin, professor of History at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, presents “Mary and Eve/Saints and Witches: Medieval Images of Women and Their Echoes Today”.
2000 No Limits Conference Featured Presenters (two videos) - #80 and #81
Nomy Lamm: “New Directions for the Feminist Movement”
Nomy Lamm is a writer, lecturer, performance artist and musician who for years has been speaking out against unrealistic and oppressive beauty standards. Nomy describes herself as a “fat freaky one-legged anarchist Jew dyke”. She began self-publishing her writings on fat oppression at seventeen, and since then, her writing has appeared in anthologies and magazines.
Larry Kirkwood: “A Body Image: Beauty as a Relative Concept”
Larry Kirkwood is a visual artist from Kansas City, MO. His work since 1993 has been primarily with plaster and resin casts of the human body. The motive behind his art is to challenge the way people look at each other and themselves; to critique media images and stereotypes of beauty, and to offer real and diverse bodies as art with the message of positive body image and self-esteem. His work has been displayed in exhibits throughout the nation on college campuses and communities and earned him awards from NOW and NAAFA.
2001 “No Limits” Conference Featured Presenters (two videos) - #98A and 98B
Toi Dericotte
Presentation, “Consciousness and Race: Interior Journeys Toward Identity”, March 3, 2001
Canyon Sam
Dramatic presentation, “Capacity to Enter”, March 2, 2001