From the Kitchen to Parliament: 2021 Edition

The Burden of Virginity

2008

The Burden of Virginity explores the deeply rooted traditions surrounding virginity in Uzbekistan, focusing on the expectations placed on brides to remain "pure" until their wedding day. The film follows the story of a young Uzbek woman who faces public humiliation and familial rejection after failing to prove her virginity. Her ordeal leads her to contemplate suicide, highlighting the extreme pressures imposed by societal customs.

Letters Live from the Archive: International Women’s Day

2021

Celebrate International Women’s Day with this brand new inspiring film from LETTERS LIVE. In “LETTERS LIVE from the Archive: International Women’s Day”, remarkable letters are read by a diverse array of outstanding luminaries, including stunning performances from Olivia Colman, Gillian Anderson, Daisy Ridley, Caitlin Moran, Rose McGowan, Adwoa Aboah, Louise Brealey and more. Plus music from Roxanne Tataei.

Jane: An Abortion Service

1995

This fascinating political look at a little-known chapter in women's history tells the story of "Jane", the Chicago-based women's health group who performed nearly 12,000 safe illegal abortions between 1969 and 1973 with no formal medical training. As Jane members describe finding feminism and clients describe finding Jane, archival footage and recreations mingle to depict how the repression of the early sixties and social movements of the late sixties influenced this unique group. Both vital knowledge and meditation on the process of empowerment, Jane: An Abortion Service showcases the importance of preserving women's knowledge in the face of revisionist history. JANE: AN ABORTION SERVICE was funded by the Independent Television Service (ITVS) with funds provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

The Conductor

2021

Leonard Bernstein’s protégée Marin Alsop reveals how she smashed the glass ceiling to become an internationally renowned conductor.

Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché

2021

The death of punk icon and X-Ray Spex front-woman Poly Styrene sends her daughter on a journey through her mother's archives in this intimate documentary.

A Film for Discussion

1973

A docu-drama shot in 1970, but not completed until 1973, the film sought to encapsulate in an experimental form issues that were under discussion within the Women’s Liberation Movement at this time and to thus contribute to action for change. In its numerous community screenings, active debate was encouraged as part of the viewing experience.

Gloria's Call

2019

In 1971, graduate student Gloria Orenstein received a call from Surrealist artist Leonora Carrington that sparked a lifelong journey into art, ecofeminism and shamanism. This short film uses art, animation and storytelling to celebrate this wild adventure. Now more than 40 years later, award-winning Dr. Gloria Feman Orenstein is a feminist art critic and pioneer scholar of women in Surrealism and ecofeminism in the arts. Her delightful tale brings alive an often unseen history of women in the arts.

Radical Harmonies

2002

Interviews and performance footage are used to provide an overview of the women's music scene.

The Prostitutes of Lyon Speak

1975

Documentary about the Lyon sex workers who occupied the church of St. Nizier on June 3, 1975.

Play Your Gender

2017

Juno Award-winning musician Kinnie Starr is on a quest to find out why only 5% of music producers are women even though many of the most bankable pop stars are female. What does it take for a woman to make it in music?

The Fearless and Vulnerable

2019

In 2016, after the hate-fuelled murder of a woman in Gangnam, young feminists gathered to talk about their experiences, which led to the ‘tsunami’ of the feminist movement reawakening in Korean society. This tsunami included street protests against misogynistic hate crimes, political campaigning in the upcoming presidential elections, protests against sexism and sexual violence in everyday life, and the ‘black’ protests calling for the abolition of the anti-abortion law. The Fearless And Vulnerable focuses on the activities and members of the Feminist Party (known in Korean as “Femidangdang”), a feminist group that was part of this tsunami wave. The pleasure and sincerity with which they conduct their activities are compounded with their courage in the face of conflict, and the sense of fear that permeates the community. The film shows Femidangdang meetings as well as the daily lives and thoughts of members during their activities post-2016.

She's Beautiful When She's Angry

2014

A documentary that resurrects the buried history of the outrageous, often brilliant women who founded the modern women's movement from 1966 to 1971.

Pink Smoke Over the Vatican

2011

Documentary film about the controversial movement of women seeking ordination in the Roman Catholic Church. More and more women are answering a spiritual calling to take on the vestments of priesthood and seek equality in the religion they love. These daring women have risked banishment, loss of livelihood, and even excommunication to take part in what the Church calls illicit ordinations. The Vatican has vowed to end this threat to the male hierarchy, even forbidding the mere discussion of female priests. The papacy has reached a time of crisis and the controversy over women's role, and their place in the Church, must be addressed if the Vatican is to have any relevance in the 21st century.

Cultura de la Delgadez

2019

Personal stories taken from a survey on how women's lives are affected by a culture obsessed with body image and thinness.

Les Champs de la colère

2017