La Operacion
Director Ana Maria Garcia
Year 1982
Subject Documentary
Language Spanish with English subtitles
Running Time 40 minutes
Distributor The Cinema Guild
Comments: The title of this tape refers to the sterilization that one-third
of Puerto Rican women have undergone as a result of aggressive lobbying on the
part of the U.S. and Puerto Rican family planners. Pharmaceutical corporations'
highly questionable policy of testing new birth control methods on women in
developing countries is also examined and critiqued. The tape refers to the
aggressive family planning policies of Puerto Rico as a form of genocide that
is being forced on Puerto Rican women by the U.S. The women in the tape
elicited sympathy from the reviewers, who saw them clearly as victimized by the
government policy. Because La Operacion is dated, screenings should be
accompanied by more current information on the topic.
La Ronde
Director Max Ophuls
Year 1950
Subject Feature
Language French with English subtitles
Running Time 97 minutes
Distributor Home Vision
Comments: Set in dimly lit parlors and boudoirs, this film pulls the viewer
onto a carousel of romance. In 10 timeless sketches adapted from Arthur
Schnitzler's play Reign, a charming cross section of society pursues passion in
turn-of-the century Vienna. Leading a glittering international cast, Anton
Walbrook acts as the ringmaster who smoothly ties the humorously risque tales
together. The film's merry-go-round feel, heightened by Ophuls' legendary
camera movements and Oscar Straus' waltzes, comments exquisitely on the
fleeting nature of physical love. Once deemed immoral by US censors, La Ronde
is a delightful satire on sexual behavior.
Las Madres De Plaza De Mayo
Director Susana Munoz and Lourdes Portillo
Year 1985
Running Time 64 minutes
Distributor Women Make Movies
Comments: This Academy award-nominated documentary about the Argentinian
mothers' movement to demand to know the fate of 30,000 "disappeared" sons and
daughters remains as extraordinarily powerful as when it was first released. As
well as giving an understanding of Argentinian history in the '70s and '80s,
Las Madres shows the empowerment of women in a society where women are expected
to be silent. Las Madres provides a banner of hope in the international
struggle for human rights.
Lady in the Locker Room: Uncovering the Oakland Athletics
Director Donald V. Allen
Year 1993
Subject NOTE: This is not a film. It is a BOOK ON AUDIO TAPE.
Running Time 3 hours
Distributor: Carol Publishing
Comments: Fornoff exposes sexism in the big locker room of sports and sports
journalism, while sharing her insights on such superstars as Jose Canseco, Dave
Stewart, Dennis Eckersley, and Tony La Russa. She tells what a female reporter
"sees" inside the locker room and what she learns traveling with a team--and,
especially how to become accepted as one of the guys without ever becoming
one.
Lesbian Sexuality: The Films of Barbara Hammer
Director Barbara Hammer
Year 1989
Subject Anthology Retrospective
Language English
Running Time 57 minutes
Distributor Facets Video
Comments: A collection of four films by Barbara Hammer, including the
landmark Dyketactics, the first lesbian lovemaking film to be made by a
lesbian. A sensual, evocative montage of 110 images edited to images of touch,
an "erotic lesbian commercial." Also includes: Multiple Orgasm, a sensual,
explicit film; Double Strength, a poetic study of a lesbian relationship
between two trapeze artists; and Women I Love, using the camera as a personal
extension of the body.
Les rendez-vous d'Anna
Director Chantal Akerman
Year 1978
Subject Feature
Language French with English subtitles
Running Time 120 minutes
Distributor Video World
Comments: Anna, a very independent woman film director, journeys through
Germany, Belgium, and France meeting a stream of characters; friends,
relations, lovers, and strangers. Passing through landscapes of alienation --
anonymous hotel rooms, train stations, cinemas -- Akerman's portrait of the
artist as a displaced person is also an evocative, hyperrealist vision of
modern Europe since the end of World War II.
The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter
Director Connie Field
Year 1999
Subject Documentary
Language English
Running Time 65 minutes
Distributor Direct Cinema Limited
Comments: Domestic. Shop girl. Waitress. Cook. Those were the jobs for women
in the 1930s when they could work. Suddenly the U.S. entry into World War II
created an unprecedented demand for new workers. Notions of what was proper for
women changed overnight. Thousands of posters and billboards appeared calling
on women to "Do the Job He Left Behind". Rosie the Riveter was born, the symbol
of working women during World War II. 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. 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 the
women themselves, five former "Rosies" who movingly recall their histories in
Detriot, Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York during the war.
The Life and Times of Sara Baartman: The Hottentot Venus
Director Zola Maseko
Year 1999
Subject Documentary
Language English
Running Time 52 minutes
DistributorFirst Run/Icarus Films
Comments: The Life and Times of Sara Bartman - "The Hottentot Venus" is a
new documentary film about the fascinating story of this Khoi Khoi woman who
was taken from South Africa, and then exhibited as a freak across Britain. The
image and idea of "The Hottentot Venus" swept through British popular culture.
A court battle waged by abolitionists to free her from her exhibitors failed.
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. She died the next year. But even after her death, Sara Baartman
remained an object of imperialist scientific investigation. In the name of
Science, her sexual organs and brain were displayed in the Musee de l'Homme in
Paris until as recently as 1985.
Lilies
Director John Greyson
Year 1996
Subject Feature Film
Language English
Running Time 96 minutes
Distributor Wolfe Video
Comments: Winner of Canada's Genie Award for Best Picture in 1996, this
provocative film from maverick director John Greyson (Zero Patience,
Urinal) takes place in a men's prison, where a bishop is held hostage and
forced to watch a reenactment of a tragedy that took place at a Roman Catholic
boys' school decades before. "Lilies raises the level of protest at
religious prohibitions against homosexuality to a piercing, operatic cry"
(Stephen Holden, The New York Times).
Lilith Fair
Year 1997
Running Time 90 minutes
Distributor CD universe
Comments: .When Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan launched her
brainchild, the all-female Lilith Fair tour, in 1997, the pop world was not
prepared for its phenomenal success. Featuring performances from some of the
most exciting and talented female rock musicians in the world, the tour played
to enthusiastic crowds across the country. Many of the stars--including the
folk duo the Indigo Girls, the ethereal folk-popster Jewel, and bluesy rocker
Sheryl Crow--got together and sang their hearts out in various duets. This
video release of the tour also includes previously unseen backstage jams,
behind-the-scenes footage, and candid interviews.
Lip
Director Tracey Moffatt and Gary Hillberg
Year 1999
Running Time 11 mins.
Distributor Women Make Movies
Comments: It is Hollywood's favorite role for black women: the maid. Sassy
or sweet, snickeringly attentive or flippantly dismissive, the performers who
play them steal every scene they are in, and Tracy Moffatt's entertaining video
collage reveals the narrow margin Hollywood has allowed black actresses to
shine in. But shine they do. Giving lip is proven an art form in these scenes
from 1930's cinema to present-day movies featuring a remarkable roster of
undervalued actresses and their more celebrated white costars. Moffatt and
Hillberg's rough, no-budget assembly effectively highlights with familiarity
and humor the disturbing realization of how black characters and white
characters still interact on screen, under Hollywood's eternally backwards
eye.
Lin, Maya: A Strong Clear Vision
Director Frieda Lee Mock
Year 1994
Subject Documentary
Running Time 83 minutes
Distributor: Ocean Releasing
Comments: Maya Lin is a portrait of the artist/architect/sculptor, the
daughter of Chinese immigrants, who designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
while a 21-year-old undergraduate at Yale. The film tells the gripping story
behind the Vietnam Memorial and explores a decade of her creative work. Maya
Lin's design of the Civil Rights Memorial, the Yale Women's Table, and the
Juniata Peace Chapel reveals her ability to address major issues of our times
through the healing power of art.
Listening for Something
Director Dionne Brand
Year 1996, Black and White
Running Time 56 mins
Distributor Women Make Movies
Comments
This intriguing exchange between eminent American poet Adrienne Rich and
Trinidadian-Canadian poet/filmmaker Dionne Brand, who share strong feminist and
lesbian identities but are different in generation, race and class, invites
viewers into the conversation and art of two remarkable women. Their open-ended
dialogue, intercut with their interpretive readings of their poems, embrace
subjects as diverse as citizenship, racism, political activism, ethnicity,
sexuality, love, and the poetic process.
Live to Tell: The First Gay and Lesbian Prom in America
Director Charley Lang
Year 1995
Subject Documentary Short
Language English
Running Time 30 minutes
Distributor Motivational Media
Comments The very first gay and lesbian prom in America is captured on this
exciting documentary. It offers a fresh and unique look at growing up lesbian
or gay in America.
Lives Together, Worlds Apart: Men and Women in A Time of Change
Director:
Year: 2000
Subject: Documentary
Running Time: 56 minutes
Distributor: U.S. Comm. for the UN Population Fund
Comments: Drawing on case studies from first- and third-world nations, this
program exposes the "gender apartheid" that has led to the marginalization of
women around the world through violence and poverty. Commentary by Kofi Annan,
secretary general of the UN; Festus Mogae, president of Botswana; and Margaret
Jay, Britain’s minister for women, as well as by many grassroots leaders
reveals the victimization that is occurring through educational neglect, unfair
labor practices, spouse abuse, and inadequate reproductive healthcare. The
positive effects of rural empowerment programs, battered women refuges, and
free health and legal counseling are also presented—but will cuts in funding
sweep away the good that these initiatives have done?
Living Out Loud
Director Richard LaGravenese
Year 1998
Subject Feature Film
Language English
Running Time 103 minutes
Distributor New Line Home Videos
Comments: Academy Award winner Holly hunter and Danny DeVito star in this
romantic comedy written and directed by Richard LaGravenese acclaimed
screenwriter of The Horse Whisperer and The Bridges of Madison County. Judith
Nelson (Hunter), newly divorced, is consumed by vindictive fantasies of her
ex-husband and his young bride. Her life is empty until she finds unexpected
companionship in a bold and sassy jazz singer at a local club and the
down-on-his-luck elevator operator in her fashionable Fifth Avenue building.
Although no longer alone, her life seems unfulfilled until a passionate kiss
from a stranger opens her eyes to all she's been missing.
The Long Walk Home
Director Richard Pearch
Year 1991
Subject Feature (Drama)
Screenplay John Cork
Artists Sissy Spacek Whoopi Goldberg and Dwight Schultz
Language English
Running Time 98 minutes
DistributorLive Home Video
Comments: Whoopi Goldberg and Sissy Spacek are two women divided by race in
the South. Yet when Odessa, Goldberg's character, participates in the bus
boycott in Montgomery Alabame in 1955, Spacek's character aids her, despite the
anger of her racist husband. The two women become close through their work fr
civil rights and their defiance of male power, and discover a common
ground.
Longtime Companion
Director Norman Rene
Year 1981
Subject Feature (Drama)
Screenplay Craig Lucas
Artists Stephen Caffrey, Patrick Cassidy, Brian Cousins
Language English
Running Time 100 minutes
Distributor: VidMark
Comments: This critically-acclaimed motion picture depicts a group of
friends, who throughout the 80s, face an unknown, frightening and deadly
opponent with hope friendship and courage. The first mainstreamAmerican film to
tackle the subject of AIDS with intelligence and honesty, "Longtime Companion"
delivers a powerful and univeraal message that until now has been shamefully
ignored.
Love, Honour and Disobey
Director:
Year:
Subject: Documentary
Running Time: 58 minutes
Distributor: Faction films
Comments: This film is about domestic violence in Black and ethnic minority
communities in Britain and the work of Southall Black Sisters, a small group of
women who have been working to help women who have been abused.
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