FILM: WFC Lending Library

Organized alphabetically by topic & genre

 
DOCUMENTARY – ISSUES

 **Domestic violence / Sexual violence / Trafficking

Conquering Fear
2004 *55min* Bolivia* Documentary

When an impoverished Aymara family migrates from the highlands to seek a better life elsewhere, the husband abandons his wife, Manuela, and their children. Manuela moves on with her life, becoming the leader of a women’s organization that fights for indigenous rights. An empowering fiction film about women’s property rights and domestic violence.

Invoking Justice
2011 *85min* India * Documentary

In Southern India, family disputes are settled by Jamaats—all male bodies which apply Islamic Sharia law to cases without allowing women to be present, even to defend themselves. Recognizing this fundamental inequity, a group of women in 2004 established a women’s Jamaat, which soon became a network of 12,000 members spread over 12 districts. Despite enormous resistance, they have been able to settle more than 8,000 cases to date, ranging from divorce to wife-beating to brutal murders and more.

Jungle Radio
2009 * Susanne Jäger * 90min * Germany * Documentary

The Jungle Radio takes us deep into the jungle of Nicaragua, where feminist Yamileth Chavarría has launched a radio station with a unique mission: denouncing domestic violence against women and children.  Although Chavarría receives many death threats, she refuses to give in to intimidation: “If they shoot me on the air, everyone will hear it.”

Maria in Nobody’s Land
2010 * * 86min * El Salvador/Mexico * Documentary

MARIA IN NOBODY’S LAND is an unprecedented and intimate look at the illegal and extremely dangerous journey of three Salvadoran women to the US. Doña Inés, a 60-year-old woman, has been looking for her daughter for five years and is following the same route her daughter took. Marta and Sandra, tired of the violence from their husbands and wanting to overcome poverty, decide to leave their families behind to travel to America – with only thirty dollars in their pockets. During their harrowing journey, the three women encounter prostitution, slave trade, rape, kidnapping and even death, in an unwavering quest for a better life.

The Price of Sex.
2011 *73min* USA * Documentary

Feature-length documentary about young Eastern European women who’ve been drawn into a netherworld of sex trafficking and abuse.  Intimate, harrowing and revealing, it is a story told by the young women who were supposed to be silenced by shame, fear, and violence.   Photojournalist Mimi Chakarova, who grew up in Bulgaria, takes us on a personal investigative journey, exposing the shadowy world of sex trafficking from Eastern Europe to the Middle East and Western Europe.

Telling Amy’s Story
2010 *57 min* USA * Documentary

Hosted by actress and advocate Mariska Hargitay, and told by Detective Deirdri Fishel, Telling Amy’s Story follows the timeline of a domestic violence homicide that occurred on November 8, 2001.

** Incarceration

Mothers of Bedford
2011 * Jenifer McShane* 93min * USA * Documentary

Mothers of Bedford explores the effects of a long-term prison sentence on the mother-child relationship. The film follows five incarcerated women and looks at their lives through the lens of motherhood. It examines the struggles and joys these five women face as prisoners and mothers and shows the normal frustrations of parenting as well as the surreal experiences such as a child’s first birthday party inside prison.

No Burqas Behind Bars
2013 *  Maryam Ebrahimi, Nima Sarvestani* 77min *Sweden * Documentary

A feature-length cinematographic documentary that takes viewers inside one of the world’s most restricted environments: an Afghan women’s prison. Through the prisoners own stories we explore how moral crimes are used to control women in post-Taliban Afghanistan.

Our Voices Within
34 min  *USA * Short documentary

Tells the stories of domestic violence survivors incarcerated in state prison for crimes related to their experience of being abused.  Features 6 domestic violence survivors released from prison and their connection to Free Battered Women, a grassroots coalition working for justice and freedom for abuse survivors who are incarcerated.

What I Want My Words to Do to You
2003*80 min* Documentary

Offers an unprecedented look into the minds and hearts of the women inmates of New York’s Bedford Hills Correctional Facility. The film goes inside a writing workshop led by playwright Eve Ensler, consisting of 15 women, most of whom were convicted of murder. Through a series of exercises and discussions, the women, including former Weather Underground members Kathy Boudin and Judith Clark, delve into and expose their most terrifying realities as they grapple with the nature of their crimes and their own culpability.

** Indigenous issues

American Outrage
2008 * Beth Gage * 56min * USA * Documentary

Two elderly Western Shoshone sisters, the Danns, put up a heroic fight for their land rights and human rights. AMERICAN OUTRAGE asks why the United States government has spent millions persecuting and prosecuting two elderly women grazing a few hundred horses and cows in a desolate desert?

SunKissed
2012 *85min /54min version * Documentary

When a Navajo couple discovers that their children have a disorder that makes exposure to sunlight fatal, they learn that their reservation is a hotbed for this rare genetic disease.  Why?  Sun Kissed follows Dorey and Yolanda Nez as they confront cultural taboos, tribal history and their own unconventional choices to learn the shocking truth:  The consequences of the Navajos’ “Long Walk” – their forced relocation by the U.S. military in 1864 – are far from over.

We Still Live Here
2010min* USA * Documentary

Tells a remarkable story of cultural revival by the Wampanoag of Southeastern Massachusetts. Their ancestors ensured the survival of the Pilgrims in New England, and lived to regret it. Now they are saying loud and clear in their Native tongue, Âs Nutayuneân—We Still Live Here.

** Media impact

Game Over:  Gender, Race, and Violence in Video Games
2002* 41min* USA* Documentary

Video and computer games represent a $6 billion a year industry. One out of every ten households in American owns a Sony Playstation. Children who own video game equipment play an average of ten hours per week. And yet, despite capturing the attention of millions of children worldwide, video games remain one of the least scrutinized cultural industries. Game Over is the first educational documentary to address the fastest growing segment of the media through engaging questions of gender, race and violence.

Killing Us Softly 3
2002 *34min + 25min interview * USA * MEF Documentary

Jean Kilbourne continues her groundbreaking analysis of advertising’s depiction of women in this most recent update of her pioneering Killing Us Softly series. In fascinating detail, Kilbourne decodes an array of print and television advertisements to reveal a pattern of disturbing and destructive gender stereotypes. Her analysis challenges us to consider the relationship between advertising and broader issues of culture, identity, sexism, and gender violence.

Miss Representation *on VHS
2011 *85min * Documentary

Explores the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in America, and challenges the media’s limited portrayal of what  it means to be a powerful woman.

Slim Hopes
2002 *30min* USA * Short Documentary

Jean Kilbourne’s award-winning video offers an in-depth analysis of how female bodies are depicted in advertising image and the devastating effects those images have on women’s health.

Wonder Women
2013 * Kristy Guevara* 79min* USA * Documentary *on BLUERAY

WONDER WOMEN! THE UNTOLD STORY OF AMERICAN SUPERHEROINES traces the fascinating evolution and legacy of Wonder Woman. From the birth of the comic book superheroine in the 1940s to the blockbusters of today, WONDER WOMEN! looks at how popular representations of powerful women often reflect society’s anxieties about women’s liberation.

** Men / Masculinity focus

Tough Guise I
2002 *87min* USA* MEF Documentary

Acclaimed anti-violence educator Jackson Katz argues that the epidemic of male violence that plagues American society needs to be understood and addressed as part of a much larger cultural crisis in masculinity. Whether he’s looking at bullying and school shootings or gay bashing, sexual assault, and violence against women, Katz makes a powerful case that male violence, misogyny, and homophobia are inextricably linked to how we define manhood as a culture. The film gives special attention to how American media have glamorized increasingly regressive and violence masculine ideals in the face of mounting social and economic threats to traditional white male heterosexual authority.

Wrestling with Manhood:  Boys Bullying & Battering
2003 *60 min* MEF Documentary

Wrestling with Manhood 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. Richly illustrating their analysis with numerous examples, Sut Jhally and Jackson Katz – the award-winning creators of the videos Dreamworlds and Tough Guise, respectively – offer a new way to think about the enduring problems of men’s violence against women and bullying in our schools

** Sports / Athletes

First Match
2011* Olivia Newman * 15min * USA * Short Documentary

14 yr old Monique “Mo” Morris is the only girl on what used to be an all-boys wrestling team.  As she prepares for her first co-ed high school match we learn that her desire to dominate the male opponent she will face on the mat is about more than proving too her skeptical teammates that she has earned her starting position.  She is also wrestling to connect with her father, a former wrestler himself, who is struggling to raise her alone.

Georgena Terry
2012 * Amanda Zackem * 5min 50sec * USA * Short Documentary

Georgena Terry, founder of Terry bicycles, revolutionized the women’s biking industry by creating a bike frame specific to a woman’s body. This is the story of how she got her start and the challenges within the women’s biking movement.

Granny’s Got Game
2013 * Angela Alford * 74min *USA * Documentary

Granny’s Got Game is an inspiring feature-length documentary film about a senior women’s basketball team in North Carolina. These fiercely competitive women in their seventies battle physical limitations and social stigma to keep doing what they love.

Lace Bite
2013 * Sharron Bates* 68 minutes * Canada * Documentary

Born of a promise to a dying friend, Lace Bite follows 40 spirited women as they lace up their skates for a noble cause and attempt to break the world record for the longest ever ice hockey game. While these everyday women clamour towards an extraordinary goal, they are lifted up by the same cystic fibrosis community they inspire. The result is an inspiring, often funny, and poignant film that chronicles the true grit required to keep a commitment. Powered by a vibrant soundtrack, Lace Bite is a journey of friendship, dedication, unfailing strength of character, and love.

Nine for IX – Series of 9 Documentary films
2013 * ESPN series

Nine for IX is the title for a series of documentary films which aired on ESPN, celebrating the 40th anniversary of Title IX.  The documentaries were produced by ESPN Films in conjunction with ESPNW, and were intended to have the same creative, story-driven aspect that ESPN Films’ other series, 30 for 30 has, with the series focusing on captivating stories of women in sports told through the lens of female filmmakers.

*See here for info on films:  http://espn.go.com/espnw/w-in-action/nine-for-ix/

YogaWoman
2011 * 84min * USA * Documentary

Yoga was brought to the west from India by a lineage of male teachers. Now there’s a generation of women who are leading the way. They’re strong they’re inspiring and they’re radically changing peoples lives.From the busy streets of Manhattan to the dusty slums of Kenya YogaWoman uncovering a global phenomenon that has changed the face of yoga forever.

** War / Military / Political resistance

Bordering on Treason
2012 * Trish Dalton * 42min * USA * Documentary

Bordering On Treason tells the amazing story of Lorna Tychostup, a single mother and photojournalist who travels to Iraq continuously for nine years to put a human face on a horrific global tragedy. Visiting military units and Iraqi families beyond the green zone, she evolves from naïve civilian to established journalist.

Forbidden Voices
2013 * Barbara Miller * 95min * Switzerland * Documentary

Their voices are suppressed, prohibited and censored. But world-famous bloggers Yoani Sánchez, Zeng Jinyan and Farnaz Seifi are not frightened of their dictatorial regimes. These fearless women stand for a new, networked generation of modern rebels. In Cuba, China and Iran their blogs shake the foundations of the state information monopoly – putting their lives at great risk. Barbara Miller’s film FORBIDDEN VOICES accompanies these brave young rebels on their dangerous journey and trace their use of social media like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter to denounce and combat the violations of human rights and freedom of speech in their countries – thereby triggering international resonance by building up enormous political pressure.

The Invisible War
2011 *Kirby Dick* 95min* Documentary

The Invisible War is a 2012 documentary film written and directed by Kirby Dick and produced by Amy Ziering and Tanner King Barklow about sexual assault in the United States military.  It premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, where it received the U.S. Documentary Audience Award.  The film was nominated for  Best Documentary Feature at the 85th Academy Awards.  

Living Along the Fenceline
2011 *68min* USA * Documentary

Seven courageous women who live alongside US bases from South Korea to Puerto Rico challenge the assumption that military bases make them safe, and advance alternative ideas of peace and security.

No Job For A Woman
2011 * Michele Midori Fillion * 61min * USA * Documentary

This award-winning documentary tells the colorful story of how these three tenacious war correspondents forged their now legendary reputations in World War Two – when battlefields were considered no place for a woman. Narrated by Emmy Award® winner Julianna Margulies, this film features an abundance of rich period archive, interviews with modern female war correspondents, as well as actresses bringing to life the written words of these remarkable women.

Raging Grannies
2011 * Pam Walton * 30min * USA * Documentary

Raging Grannies is a lively and thought-provoking documentary that tells the story of The Action League of the San Francisco Bay Area Peninsula.  In ostrich feathers, crazy hats, and boas these women protest with a sense of outrage, a sense of humor, and a commitment to non-violence. They are women over 50, some as old as 90, who are enraged by the conditions under which some people are forced to live, by threats to our environment, by war, and by injustice wherever they find it. As we travel with the Grannies to their many gigs, we see that life isn’t over at 90!

Sisters in Arms
2011 * Beth Freeman * 40min * Canada * Documentary

There are only ten countries in the world that allow women to fight in ground combat, and Canada is one of them. This is a documentary about three remarkable women, in the most difficult and dangerous military professions, sharing their stories of loss and inspiration from the frontlines in Afghanistan.

Words of Witness
2012 * Mai Iskander * 70min * USA/Egypt * Documentary

Every time 22-year-old Heba Afify heads out to cover the historical events shaping her country’s future, her mother is compelled to remind her, “I know you are a journalist, but you’re still a girl!” Defying cultural norms and family expectations, Heba takes to the streets to report on an Egypt in turmoil, using tweets, texts and Facebook posts. Her coming of age, political awakening and the disillusionment that follows, mirrors that of a nation seeking the freedom to shape its own destiny, dignity and democracy.

** Youth issues

Girl Power:  All Dolled Up
2011 * 24min* USA * Short Doc

This thought-provoking short film examines the notion that “girl power” has been co opted by commerce to create a feminist construct that is ultimately damaging to girls’ identity and development. In a range of diverse, revealing interviews with girls as young as seven, we witness the power of the popular media in developing brand loyalty and image self-consciousness.

I Am A Girl
2013 * Rebecca Barry * 88min * Australia *Documentary

There is a group of people in the world today who are more persecuted than anyone else, but they are not political or religious activists.  They are girls. Being born a girl mean you are more likely to be subjected to violence, disease, poverty and disadvantage than any other group on the planet.  As each girl moves closer to coming of age, I AM A GIRL, reveals what it means to grow up female in the 21^st century.

Inocente
2012 * Andrea Nix Fine * 40min * USA * Documentary

INOCENTE is a vibrant coming of age documentary about a young artist’s fierce determination to never surrender to the bleakness of her surroundings. At 15, Inocente refuses to let her dream of becoming an artist be caged by her life as an undocumented immigrant forced to live homeless for the last nine years. Neither sentimental nor sensational, this film will immerse you in the very real, day-to-day existence of a young girl who is battling a war that we rarely see.

My So-Called Enemy
2010 * Lisa Gossels * 89min * USA  * Documentary

Spanning seven years, MY SO-CALLED ENEMY follows six Palestinian and Israeli teenage girls committed to justice and mutual understanding after participating in a women’s leadership program called Building Bridges for Peace.

This heart and mind-opening film, from Emmy® Award-winning director Lisa Gossels (THE CHILDREN OF CHABANNES), documents how the young women’s transformative experience of knowing their “enemies” as human beings in the United States meets with the realities of their lives back home in the Middle East.

What a Girl Wants
2002 *33min* USA* Short Doc

During the Spring of 2000, 11 girls aged 8 to 16 from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds and 2 classrooms of middle and high school students were interviewed about their views on media culture and its impact on their lives.

** Misc Issues – U.S.A.  focus

A Girl & A Gun
2012 *  Cathryne Czubek * 76min *USA * Documentary

Filmed throughout the US, this documentary delves into the psyche of the American gun world to understand the complex relationship between American women and their guns. Penetrating far beyond Hollywood’s hyper-sexualized femme fatales, the film candidly explores the modern American woman through intimate portraits encompassing issues of preservation, power, feminism, and violence. Breaking through stereotypes, A Girl and A Gun reveals America’s diverse and far-ranging female gun community.

Birth Story:  Ina May Gaskin & the Farm Midwives
2012 * Sara Lamm & Mary Wigmore * 1 HR 35 min *USA* Documentary

Captures a spirited group of women who taught themselves how to deliver babies on a 1970s hippie commune, rescued modern midwifery from extinction, and changed the way a generation thought about childbirth.  Today, as nearly 1/3 of all US babies are born via C-section, they labor on, fighting to preserve their knowledge and pushing, once again, for the rebirth of birth.

Daisy Bates:  First Lady of Little Rock
2012 *78min* USA * Documentary

The story of a 7 year journey by filmmaker Sharon LaCruise to unravel the life of a forgotten civil rights activist named Daisy Bates.  Beautiful, glamorous and articulate, Bates was fearless in her quest for justice, stepping into the spotlight to bring national attention to issues – and some say herself.  Uncoventional and egotistical, she became a household name in 1957 when she fought for the right of 9 black students to attend the all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Deaf Jam
2012 * Judy Lieff * 70min * USA * Documentary

Aneta Brodski is a deaf teen introduced to American Sign Language (ASL) Poetry, who then boldly enters the spoken word slam scene. In a wondrous twist, Aneta, an Israeli immigrant living in the Queens section of New York City, eventually meets Tahani, a hearing Palestinian slam poet. The two women embark on a collaboration duet – creating a new form of slam poetry that speaks to both the hearing and the Deaf.

Ethel
2012 *Rory Kennedy * 97min * USA * Documentary

A documentary on Ethel Kennedy that provides an insider’s view of a political dynasty, including her life with Robert F. Kennedy and the years following his death when she raised their eleven children on her own

Girls in the Band
2011 * Judy Chaikin * 81min * USA * Documentary

In the world of jazz, women have long been marginalized. Little has ever been documented about the enormously talented female singers, trumpet players, saxophonists and drummers who struggled for recognition but were cut off from any meaningful employment by men who didn’t want women on their bandstands. This film traces the history of the all-girl bands and the struggles of the handful who broke through the male bastions, and brings us into the present day, where brilliantly gifted young women are going toe-to-toe with the finest jazz musicians of their day.

The Good Mother
2008 *67 min* USA* Documentary

Every year, mothers from all over America leave their children and husbands to compete in the “Mother of the Year” pageant. One of these hopeful candidates will go on to impress the judges and become the reigning representative of American motherhood.

LuLu Sessions
2011 * S. Casper Wong * 86min * USA * Documentary

LuLu is unlike anyone you’ve ever met.  A hard-living, chain-smoking rebel with a tender heart.  A poet with a potty mouth.  Farm girl. Former cheerleader. World-class cancer researcher.  Beloved professor.  Dr. Louise Nutter, or LuLu has just discovered a new anti-cancer drug when she finds out she is dying of breast cancer herself at 42.  Shot during those last 15 months of LuLu’s life, The LuLu Sessions is a raw, intimate, yet surprisingly humorous story about the filmmaker showing up for her best friend, and together, testing the limits of their bond while taking on life’s ultimate adventure.

Mondays At Racine
2012 * Cynthia Wade * 39min * USA * Documentary

Every third Monday of the month, two bold, brassy sisters open the doors of their Long Island hair salon to women diagnosed with cancer.  As locks of hair fall to the floor, women gossip, giggle, weep, face their fears, and discover unexpected beauty.

The Motherhood Manifesto
2006 *57 min * USA * Documentary

Moving personal stories combined with humorous animation, expert commentary and hilarious old film clips tell the tale of what happens to working mothers and families in America and how enlightened employers and public policy can make paid family leave, flexible working hours, part-time parity, universal healthcare, excellent childcare, after-school programs and realistic living wages a reality for American families.Fast-paced and engaging yet carefully balanced and researched for journalistic credibility, THE MOTHERHOOD MANIFESTO turns the camera on America’s hidden crisis of caring.

The Forests for the Trees
2006 *57min* USA* Documentary

The amazing story of the fight to clear Earth First! activist Judi Bari’s name after her car was bombed and she was arrested as a terrorist.

Welcome to Vermont: 4 stories of resettled identity
2012 *Mira Niagolova * 67 min* USA* Documentary

Documentary, offers a nuanced view of lives of forcibly displaced people once they have achieved their ultimate desire to resettle in the US and “live the American dream.” In four vignettes, it takes us inside the daily lives of four families from Bosnia, Somalia, Iraq, and Rwanda who have recently resettled in Vermont, one of the smallest and most homogeneous states in the country. The documentary raises questions about identity, assimilation, and diversity and explores how the adaptation process differs from one ethnic group to another.

** Misc Issues – International 

Dish – Women, Waitressing, the art of Serving
2010 *60min* Canada * Documentary

Dish delves into Toronto’s diners, Montreal’s “sexy restos,” Paris’ haute eateries, and Tokyo fantasy “maid bars” in an insider look at gender, power, and the art of service.

Graceland Girls
2012 * Jordan Salvatoriello * 28min * USA/Kenya * Short Documentary

Educating its adolescent girls has proven to be the cornerstone of Kenyan development, yet so many are denied equal access to education, social and economic equality and respect.  Graceland Girls provides an intimate look at how the high school students at Graceland Girls School in central Kenya have, so far, defied the odds.

How to Lose Your Virginity
2010 * Threse Schecter * 88min * Australia * Documentary

It has launched both purity balls and porn franchises, defines a young woman’s morality–but has no medical definition. Enter the magical world of virginity, where a white wedding dress can restore a woman’s innocence and replacement hymens can be purchased online. Filmmaker Therese Shechter uses her own path out of virginity to explore why our sex-crazed society cherishes this so-called precious gift. Along the way, we meet sex educators, virginity auctioneers, abstinence advocates, and young men and women who bare their tales of doing it—or not doing it.

Jasad: Queen of Contradictions
2011 *Amanda Homsi-Ottosson* 40 minutes* Subtitled * UK/Lebanon* Documentary

Lebanese poet and writer Joumana Haddad has stirred controversy in the Middle East for having founded Jasad (the Body), an erotic quarterly Arabic-language magazine. Dedicated to the body’s art, science and literature, Jasad is one of the first of its kind in the Arab world and has caused a big debate in the Arabic region not only for its explicit images, erotic articles and essays on sex in Arabic but also for the fact that an Arab woman is behind it all. Despite Beirut’s external appearance of freedom portrayed through its infamous nightlife and women’s stylish and open revealing fashion sense, this is all still taboo.

LESBIANA
2012 * Myriam Fougère * 63min * Canada * Documentary

Filmmaker Myriam Fougère takes us on a journey to meet the lesbian writers, philosophers and activists who were key players in creating a revolutionary sisterhood. From Montréal to Texas, by way of New York, Myriam encounters lesbians who chose to live only among women. At the root of it all was the liberating feeling that women-loving-women was the source of their strength, that together they could live differently, and ultimately, change the world. This marginal yet international movement from the 70’s & 80’s   is brought to life through archival footage and photographs, and evocative interviews with these courageous women, many of whom are now in their seventies and eighties.

The Light in her Eyes
2011 *  Julia Meltzer * 87min * USA/Syria * Documentary

Houda al-Habash, a conservative Muslim preacher, founded a Qur’an school for girls in Damascus 30 years ago. Every summer, her female students immerse themselves in a rigorous study of Islam. A surprising cultural shift is under way—women are claiming space within the mosque. Shot right before the uprising in Syria erupted, The Light in Her Eyes offers an extraordinary portrait of a leader who challenges the women of her community to live according to Islam, without giving up their dreams.

The Mosuo Sisters
2013 * Marlo Pores * 80min * China * Documentary

THE MOSUO SISTERS is a tale of two sisters living in the shadow of two Chinas. Juma and Latso, young women from one of the world’s last remaining matriarchal societies, are thrust into the worldwide economic downturn when they lose their jobs in Beijing. Left with few options, they return home to their remote village in the foothills of the Himalayas.

Promise and Unrest
2010 *79 min* Ireland * Documentary

Through struggle and sacrifice migrant women often stand as sole breadwinners in the transnational family. Separated from her daughter Gracelle at 7 months, Noemi Barredo left the Philippines for work in Malaysia before arriving in Ireland in 2000. Filmed over a five-year period, PROMISE AND UNREST is an intimate portrayal of a migrant woman working as a caregiver and long-distance mother, while assuming the responsibility of providing for her extended family in the Philippines.

Sarabah
2011 * Marie Luisa Gambala * 60min * Netherlands * Documentary

Rapper, singer and activist, Sister Fa is hero to young women in Senegal and an unstoppable force for social change. From her early days as an unpolished music phenom through a career-reinvention in Berlin, Sister Fa has continually smashed barriers in the male-dominated hip-hop world. But as this intimate film reveals, her strength of character was forged in a journey of hardship and transformation. A childhood victim of female genital cutting (FGC), she decided to tackle the issue by starting a grassroots campaign, “Education Without Excision,” which uses her music and persuasive powers to end this practice.

Scarlet Road
2011 * Catherine Scott * 70min * Australia * Documentary

Impassioned about freedom of sexual expression, Australian sex worker Rachel Wotton specializes in a long overlooked clientele— people with disabilities. Working in New South Wales—where prostitution is legal— Rachel’s philosophy is that human touch and sexual intimacy can be the most therapeutic aspects to our existence.  We follow her from conducting sex and disability workshops to speaking to the World Congress on Sexual Health about her mission to observing her overnight stays with severely disabled clients. Rachel has made it her life’s work to end the stigma surrounding these populations; the depth, humor and passion in this documentary may transform the way we see sex workers and people with disabilities forever.

Sixty and the City
2010 * Nili Tal * 73min *Israel * Documentary

Former beauty Nili, now 61 years old and still good looking, is a mother and a grandmother, but still has erotic feelings and looks for love and sex. She doesn’t want man of her own age or older, now she prefers younger guys – if mature men can do it, why can’t mature women too? So Nili finds men on the Internet, then meets them, but does not find success. Finally, she goes on a cruise ship with a female friend, and there they meet lots of single men. One of them likes both Nili and her friend.

Shooting Women
2008 * 54min* Documentary

Featuring more than 50 camerawomen from around the world, and shot over a period of six years, Shooting Women, by pioneering filmmaker and cinema studies professor Alexis Krasilovsky, celebrates the amazing talent and unflinching spirit of image-making women from the sets of Hollywood and Bollywood to the war zones of Afghanistan.

The World Before Her
2012 * Nisha Pahuja * 90min * Canada/India * Documentary

Two young women follow divergent paths in the new, modernizing India-one wants to become Miss India, the other is a Hindu Nationalist prepared to kill and die for her beliefs. Moving between a beauty boot camp, an annual Hindu militant camp for girls and the characters’ private lives, The World Before Her dramatizes the tension between traditional and modern perspectives toward women in today’s India.

SHORTS

(A)Typical Couple
2012 * Maša Zia Lenárdič & Anja Wutej * 5min 55sec * Slovenia * Short

A very sweet short about a typical day in a typical life of a typical couple trying to communicate their way through their typical relationship. (A)Typical note: The film was shot, directed, acted, produced and edited by only two people.

Aabida
2013 * Maaria Sayed * 26min * England * Short

A political yet intimate drama about a Muslim woman dealing with life on different levels after she loses her husband, a police inspector in the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai. The events unfurl themselves in a day and Aabida finds her present life free of the influence of her chauvinist husband while she recalls her past through a press interview with journalists. But will society ever allow her this sense of freedom?

The Bathhouse
2012  * Jisoo Kim * 6min 19sec * USA * Short Animated

The Bathhouse is an animated short film by Korean filmmaker and artist, Jisoo Kim. The film takes the viewer on a luscious and poetic journey from the dark, polluted streets of the modern city, into the sanctuary of the Bathhouse.

Big Mouth
2012 *Andrea Dorfman*

This animated short tells the story of Trudy, a little girl who is equal parts truthful and rude.  A bright-minded and quick-witted child, Truday has an unfiltered and deeply curious way of looking at the world.

Date with Fate
2011* Australia * Short

When it comes to blind dating, some things are meant to be – whether you like it or not.

Ebony Goddess
2010 *20min* Brazil * Short Doc

Ebony Goddess: Queen of Ile Aiyie follows 3 women competing to be the carnival queen of Ile Aiye, a prominent and controversial Afro-Brazillian group with an all-black membership.  The selection is based on Afro-centri notions of beauty, in counterpoint to prevailing standards of beauty in Brazil, a country famous for silm supermodels and plastic surgery.

Gershwin & Bess:  A Dialogue with Anne Brown
2010 *36 min * USA/Norway * Short Doc

In 2004 at her home in Oslo, Norway, soprano Anne Wiggins Brown sat down with tenor Dr. William A. Brown (no relation) of the Center Black Music Research for an on-the-record conversation about originating the iconic role of “Bess” in the opera Porgy and Bess with famed composer George Gershwin. Revealed are little known facts about what is arguably the most popular American opera touring to date.

Ina Litovski
2012 * Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette * 12min * USA * Short Feature

Sophie lives with her mother in a small apartment in a popular area. Tonight she plays the violin in the school concert.

My House Without Me
2012 *Mój Dom * 29min * Polish, German * Short Documentary

Two women, one house. An intimate story about a Pole and a German placed by war on enemy sides and their parallel lives accidentally brought together

Night Shift
2012  * Zia Mandiwalla* 15min * USA * Short Doc

Salote, an airport cleaner starts another long night shift. She keeps her head down, does her job and gleans her survival from what others leave behind. No one would usually spare her a second glance.

The Nose
2012*Gayle Kirschenbaum * 13min*

The Paper Mirror
2012 *34min*

The Paper Mirror captures a pivotal collaboration between two influential artists, painter Riva Lehrer and graphic novelist Allison Bechdel.

Self-Portrait with Cows Going Home and Other Works
2008 * Rebecca Dreyfus * 10min * USA * Short Documentary

Ms. Plachy is perhaps best known for her weekly pictures in The Village Voice but her images have been widely exhibited both in the US and abroad and have appeared in numerous publications. This film is a rare, soulful and slightly eccentric look into the private world of one of the greatest living photographers, who is ironically camera shy.

The Sidewalk
2013 * Celia* 4min * * Animated Short

The Weightless Traveller
2010 * Eva Colmers * 10min * Canada * Short Animated

Without possessions to tie her down, young vagabond Bo is taking off: to the big city, the desert and the jungle. With street-smart and magic, she overcomes any obstacles on her way to find a true home. The unique shadow projection and intriguing soundtrack make The Weightless Traveller a special delight to view.

30%
2012 * Anna Cady * 11 min

All She Can
2011 * Amy Wendel * 1hr 31min * USA * Drama

In a small south Texas town, there aren’t many career options for young people besides oil rigs, the military, or fast-food restaurants. Luz Garcia, a fiery high-school athlete, is determined to forge a different future; she’s gained admission to the University of Texas at Austin. The problem is she can’t afford to go. With her one shot at a scholarship riding on the state power-lifting championship, will she break the rules to ensure her victory?

Arranged
2007 *90min* Drama/Comedy

Arranged centers on the friendship between an Orthodox Jewish woman and a Muslim woman who meets as 1^st year teachers at a public school in Brooklyn.  Over the course of the year they learn they share much in common – not least of which is that they are both going through the process of arranged marriages.

Co-dependent Space Alien Seeks Same
2011 *76min* Comedy/Romance

The adventures of lesbian space aliens on the planet Earth, and the story of the romance between Jane, a shy greeting card store employee, and Zoinx, the woman Jane does not realize is from outer-space.  Meanwhile, two government agents, or “Men in Black,” are closely tracking Jane and the aliens while harboring their own secrets.

Facing Mirrors
2011 * Negar Azarbayjani * 102min * Iran * Drama

Iran’s first narrative to feature a transgender main character weaving together the lives of two women, Rana and Adineh. It is a story of an unlikely and daring friendship that develops despite social norms and traditional beliefs. Rana drives a cab in order to survive financially and pay off the debt that keeps her husband in prison. By chance, she picks up Adineh(Eddie), who’s on the run and desperately awaiting the passport he needs to leave the country. When Rana learns that her wealthy passenger is FTM, conflicts arise, but could they eventually help each other out of their dire situations?

Fill the Void
2012 * Rama Burshtein * 81min * Israel

Tells the story of an 18 year old, Shira, who is the youngest daughter of her family.  Her dreams are about to come true as she is set to be married off to a promising young man.  Unexpectedly, her sister, Esther, dies while giving birth to her first child.  The pain that overwhelms the family postpones Shira’s promised match.  Everything changes when an offer is proposed to match Yochay, the late Esther’s husband, to a widow from Belgium.  When the girls’ mother finds out that Yochay may leave the country with her only grandchild, she proposes a match between Shira and the widower.

Foreign Letters
2012 * Ela Thier * 100min * USA * Drama
A bittersweet coming-of-age film, Foreign Letters is itself a love letter to the unshakeable bond between friends. Set in the pre-email era of the 1980s, young Ellie, newly arrived to the US from Israel, anxiously waits for letters from her best friend back home. Suffering from homesickness, language difficulties and rejection at school, life brightens when she meets Thuy, a Vietnamese refugee her age. As the two bond and become inseparable, they eventually hurt each other, and Ellie must find a way to restore their trust.

Future Weather
2012 * Jenny Deller *100min  * USA * Drama

Lauduree is a 13-year-old loner, passionate about nature and obsessed with ecological disaster. Greta, her grandmother, is a fiery nurse jaded by alcohol and disappointment. When Lauduree is abruptly abandoned by her dreamer single mom, she decides to take survival into her own hands, forcing her and Greta to learn to trust each other and leap into the unknown.

Hannah Arendt
2012 * 113min * Germany *Drama/Biography

A look at the life of philosopher and political theorist Hannah Arendt, who reported for The New Yorker on the war crimes trial of the Nazi Adolf Eichmann.

Kiss Me
2011 *105 min* Sweden * Drama

Young woman engaged to be married finds herself in an affair with her stepmother’s lesbian daughter.

Little Sparrows
2010 * Yu-Hsiu Camille Chen * 88min * Australia * Drama

Little Sparrows is the story of a family of women.  In the middle of an Australian summer, we meet three sisters. Nina is widowed with two young children. Anna is an aspiring actress unhappily married to a filmmaker. Christine is a med student who has yet to fully come to terms with her sexuality. When their mother Susan’s breast cancer returns, the family is faced with the reality of their last Christmas together.

MARGARITA
2012 * Dominique Cardona & Laurie Colbert * 88min * USA * Drama

Behind the facade of a beautiful urban home, a combination of complacency and bad investments has left power couple Ben and Gail disconnected, resentful and just about broke. When the cash-strapped yuppies fire their teen-aged daughter’s lesbian Mexican nanny, Margarita, they set off a chain of events that lead to her deportation.

Mosquita y Mari
2012 * Aurora Guerrero * 85min * USA * Drama

In a fast-paced immigrant community where dreams are often lost to economic survival, two young Chicanas contemplate life when they stir unexpected desires in each other. As their friendship grows, a yearning to explore their strange yet beautiful connection surfaces. Lost in their private world of unspoken affection, lingering gazes, and heart-felt confessions of uncertain futures, Yolanda’s grades begin to slip while Mari’s focus drifts away from her duties at a new job. Mounting pressures at home collide with their new-found connection, forcing them to choose between their obligations to others and staying true to themselves.

Rumblestrips
2011 *84min* Drama

A mother is arrested for growing marijuana, and in between conviction and sentencing she takes her two young daughters on an RV trip to come to terms with and prepare them for her absence.

The Wise Kids
2011 *95 min* Drama

A vivid, dynamic Southern coming of age drama, takes place in the transitional space between high school and college, when life seems to be all questions and no answers, and the future is scarily wide open.  Set in and around Charleston, SC Baptist church…Tensions and buried feelings abound, as colleges are chosen and adults behave badly, as Brea, Laura, and Tim attempt to hang onto what they have, all the while yearning to break free.