Ida B. Wells: A Passion for Justice
Director William Greaves
Language English
Running Time 55 minutes
Distributor Facets Multi-Media, Inc.
Comments: This multi-award -wining film documents the life and times of Ida
B. Wells, the pioneering African American journalist, activist, suffragist and
an anti-lynching crusader of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Although
now almost forgotten, for a period of 40 years Wells' stature in Black American
was equal to that of such leaders as Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois.
The story of this courageous woman's fight for justice is told on film through
her own writings, read by Nobel Prize-inning author Toni Morrison. Hundreds of
archival photographs, rare lithographs, as well as interviews with historials
and scholars help to create the period while shedding new light on Wells' place
in history. Ida B. Wells: A Passion for Justice was produced, written, and
directed by William Greaves, the Emmy Award-winning producer, whose
documentaries have won over 70 international film festival awards.
Illusions
Director Julie Dash
Year 1983
Language English
Running Time 34 minutes
Distributor Women Make Movies
Comments: The time is 1942, a year after Pearl Harbor; the place is National
Studios, a fictitious Hollywood motion picture studio. Mignon Dupre, a Black
woman studio executive who appears to be white and Ester Jeeter, an African
American woman who is the singing voice for a white Hollywood star are forced
to come to grips with a society that perpetuates false images as status
quo.
Improper Conduct
Director Nestor Almendros, Orlando Jimenez Leal
Year 1984
Subject Documentary
Language French/Spanish with English Subtitles
Running Time 110 minutes
Distributor Cinevista Video
Comments: Controversial, powerful documentary, a series of interviews with
fascinating Cuban intellectuals and homosexuals who have been persecuted under
the Castro regime. An indictment of Castro, implicating also those who would
turn a blind eye toward repression from the left.
In My Father's House
Director Fatima Jebli Ouazzani
Year 1997
Subject Documentary
Language English
Running Time 67 minutes
Distributor Women Make Movies
Comments: In this beautiful, poetic and deeply personal film, Moroccan
filmmaker Fatima Jebli Ouazzani investigates the status accorded women in
Islamic marriage customs and the continuing importance of virginity. Ouazzani
left her father's house in Morocco sixteen years ago to escape the constraints
her culture and its traditions have put on women. She returns now to confront
those traditions, her own family and herself. Following three generations of
women - her grandmother and mothers' arranged marriages, her grandmother's
subsequent attempts to divorce, and Naima, a young woman who has returned home
for a traditional wedding ceremony - she questions whether her choice for a
life of her own was worth the loss of her father. Jebli Ouazzani offers us a
rare glimpse of the shifts and changes in Moroccan and Islamic culture in this
powerful, moving film.
In Whose Honor?
Director: Jay Rosenstein
Year: 1997
Subject: Documentary
Running Time: 47 minutes
Comments: The Atlanta Braves, Kansas City Chiefs, Washington Redskins,
Cleveland Indians. American Indian nicknames and mascots have been used in
sports for years. So what’s wrong? Find out in this moving, award-winning
documentary. In Whose Honor takes a critical look at the long-running
practice of "honoring" Indians by using them as mascots and nicknames in
sports. It follows the remarkable story of Charlene Teters (Spokane) and her
transformation from a graduate student into a national movement leader. In
Whose Honor? examines the issues of race, stereotypes, minority
representation and the powerful effects of mass-media imagery, and also shows
the extent to which one community will go to defend and justify its mascot.
In Your Pants
Year: 2001
Subject: Documentary
Running Time: ?
Comments: An anonymous group of students presents a gender performance at
the Collis Underground in January 2001.
The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love
Director Maria Maggenti
Year 1995
Subject Feature (Comedy)
Artists Laurel Holloman, Nicole Parker
Screenplay Maria Maggenti
Language English
Running Time 94 minutes
Distributor New Line Home Video
Comments: Touching and poignant, this acclaimed coming-of-age comedy from
new filmmaker Maria Maggenti, is the story of two teenagers who unexpectedly
experience the excitement, surprise, and romantic fantasy of first love. Randy
(Laurel Holloman), a rebellious working class tomboy, meets the beautiful,
well-to-do Evie (Nicole Parker) when she brings her Range Rover into the repair
shop where Randy works after school. Immediately intrigued by each other, the
two girls discover their subsequent friendship develops into an unlikely
romance that impacts their lives in ways they could never have imagined.
Matter-of-fact, funny, and sincere, Two Girls in Love is the perfect date movie
for all.
Indecent Proposals: The Ambiguous Issue of Sexual Harassment
Year 1993
Subject News Program
Language English
Running Time 60 minutes
Distributor 48 Hours
Comments: 48 Hours considers the questions...When does a word, look or touch
become a slur, leer or grope? And, when is this behavior illegal? The first
part of this program is an interview with a Hollywood agent accused of sexual
harassment by eleven actresses. The next segment presents a profile of a victim
of sexual harassment , who has since become an author on the subject and a
consultant for companies. Finally, a police chief and a captain are accused of
looking the other way when female police department employees were sexually
harassed. A former dispatcher also comes forward to accuse these men of
rape.
Indictment: The McMartin Trial
Director Mick Jackson
Year 1995
Artist James Woods, Mercedes Ruehl
Running Time 131 minutes
DistributorHBO
Comments: The story of the highly publicized and long-running "McMartin"
child abuse trial.
International Sweethearts of Rhythm
Directors Greta Schiller and Andrea Weiss
Year 1986
Language English
DistributorVideoactive Releasing
Comments: With Tina & Ruby Hell Divin' Women International Sweethearts
of Rhythm gives a broad view of the 16-piece band, detailing their courage,
camaraderie and, most importantly, their music. Using rare jazz recordings,
live performances and vintage photographs, the film follows their amazing
musical journey. At a time when it was practically unheard of, these women
joined together to create a new kind of jazz. Ignoring the conventions of the
day, the Sweethearts boarded a tour bus and brought their unique rhythms to
audiences all over the country.
Intersectional Discrimination
Year 2001
Subject Lecture
Language English
Running Time 77 minutes
Distributor Trustees of Dartmouth College Media Production Group
Iron Jawed Angels
Director: Katja Von Garner
Year: 2004
Subject: Feature Film
Running Time: 124 minutes
Distributor: HBO Video
Comments: Iron Jawed Angels recounts for a
contemporary audience a key chapter in U.S. history: in this case, the struggle
of suffragists who fought for the passage of the 19th Amendment. Focusing on
two defiant women, Alice Paul (Hilary Swank) and Lucy Burns (Frances O'Connor),
the film shows how these activists broke from the mainstream women's-rights
movement and created a more radical wing, daring to push the boundaries of
political protest to secure women's voting rights in 1920. Breathing life into
the relationships between Paul, Burns and others, the movie makes the women
feel like complete characters instead of one-dimensional figures from a distant
past. Although the protagonists have different personalities and backgrounds -
Alice is a Quaker and Lucy an Irish Brooklynite - they are united in their
fierce devotion to women's suffrage. In a country dominated by chauvinism, this
is no easy fight, as the women and their volunteers clash with older,
conservative activists, particularly Carrie Chapman Catt (Angelica Huston).
They also battle public opinion in a tumultuous time of war, not to mention the
most powerful men in the country, including President Woodrow Wilson (Bob
Gunton). Along the way, sacrifices are made: Alice gives up a chance for love,
and colleague Inez Mulholland (Julia Ormond) gives up her life. The women are
thrown in jail, with an ensuing hunger strike making headline news. The women's
resistance to being force-fed earns them the nickname "The Iron Jawed Angels."
However, it is truly their wills that are made of iron, and their courage
inspires a nation and changes it forever.
Is it a Boy or a Girl?
Director: Phyllis Ward
Year: 2000
Subject: Documentary
Running Time: 52 minutes
Distributor: Discovery Channel Program/Intersex Society of North America
Comments: This one-hour documentary has been nominated for a GLAAD award for
outstanding TV journalism. From the moment of birth, everybody wants to know:
Is it a boy or a girl? This question can be complicated when a third option is
introduced; one out of every two thousand children in America is born
intersexual. Sometimes biology malfunctions and children are born with mixed
sexual characteristics, in what is called an intersexual birth. Many argue that
the standard practice of sexual assignment by surgery in infancy should be
discontinued giving the intersexual the right to chose or not to chose surgery
once that person reaches adolescence. But whatever the surgical choice,
intersexuals show us that gender is infinitely more complex than the shape of
our genitals.
It's Elementary: Talking About Gay Issues in School
Director Debra Chasnoff
Subject Documentary
Language English
DistributorWomen's Educational Media
Comments: Most adults probably don't see why or how schools should address
lesbian and gay issues with young children. With inspiring classroom footage,
It's Elementary urges educators and parents to re-think their
assumptions. This beautifully crafted film shows what actually happens when
teachers lead class discussions that address anti-gay prejudice. It makes a
powerful case that children need to be taught respect for ALL - and that this
kind of education needs to start in elementary school.
I've Heard the Mermaids Singing
Director Patricia Rozema
Year 1987
Subject Feature (Comedy)
Artists Sheila McCarthy, Paule Baillargeon, Ann-Marie MacDonald
Language English
Running Time 82 minutes
Distributor Miramax Films
Comments: We've heard the critics singing. And laughing. And jumping for
joy. All because of this kooky new comedy. It's about a klutzy carrot top named
Polly whose fantasy life has her flying. In reality, she's a temporary
secretary who can't even type. In fact, she's "organizationally impaired." But
that doesn't stop her from landing a job in one of the city's trendiest art
galleries. She loves working for the curator who's as chic and sophisticated as
Polly is clumsy and quirky. All is well until Polly masters the fine art of
getting into trouble. That's all we'll tell you except that you're going to
soar with laughter.
In Your Pants
Year 2001
Subject Student Performance
Language English
Comments: An anonymous group of students present a gender performance at the
Collis Underground in January 2001.
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