Women’s Studies Related Films in McFarlin Library.
Compiled August 2002.
*All summaries copied directly from McFarlin Library website.
A Day’s Work, A Day’s Pay. 2001. 56 minutes. Examines the Work Experience Program (WEP) instituted in New York City to require welfare recipients to work for the city for one-fourth of union pay. Follows three New Yorkers and their attempt to organize workers for equal pay.
A Gathering of Men. 1990. 90 minutes. Bill Moyers interviews Robert Bly about the confusion men feel today about their roles in society and in their inner lives. Alternates between this interview and a workshop in which Robert Bly leads a group of 100 men into a deeper understanding of their own grief.
Abortion: Stories from the North and the South. 1985. 55 minutes. Visits to Ireland, England, Japan, Canada, Colombia, and Peru to identify and probe legal and religious factors, in addition to the feelings, attitudes, and solutions regarding unwanted pregnancy, abortion, and contraception. Includes residents' comments, accompanied by narration.
Barbie Nation. 1998. 53 minutes. "Journeying from Barbie conventions to anti-Barbie demonstrations, from girls' play dates to Barbie web pages, Barbie nation plumbs the cult of the Barbie doll, telling the Barbie stories of diverse men, women and children"--Container.
Cancer in Two Voices. 1994. 43 minutes. This film provides a glimpse into the real lives of two lesbian women, Sandy and Barbara, especially into their coping with Barbara's breast cancer. Sandy and Barbara had almost three years together from the time Barbara's cancer was diagnosed until her death in 1988. This film is based on home videotapes made during that time.
Chicks in White Satin. 1993. 25 minutes. A mother expresses her dismay as a daughter plans to marry another woman. Student Academy Award winning documentary, 1993 ; Wolper Student Documentary Merit Award, 1993, International Documentary Association ; Audience Favorite Award at the San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles International Lesbian and Gay Film Festivals ; Sundance Film Festival, 1994.
Color Adjustment. 1991. 88 minutes. This study of prejudice and perception traces over forty years of race relations in America through the lens of prime time TV entertainment. Black actors Esther Rolle, Diahann Carroll, Denise Nicholas, and Tim Reid and Hollywood producers Norman Lear, Steve Bochco and David Wolper reveal the behind-the-scenes story of how prime time was "integrated." Revisiting such popular hits as Amos and Andy, Beulah, The Nat King Cole Show, Julia, I Spy, Good Times and Roots, viewers see how bitter racial conflict was absorbed into the non-controversial formats of the prime time series.
Complaints of a Dutiful Daughter. 1996. 44 minutes. Shows interactions between a woman with Alzheimer's disease and her daughter. The daughter discusses the various stages of the disease, how she dealt with each and how she arrived at a positive resolution.
Defending Our Lives. 1993. 30 minutes. Shows the magnitude and severity of domestic violence in this country. The devastating accounts of the women featured in this film reveal the failure of the criminal justice system, and of our society as a whole, to protect the victims of domestic violence.
Dreamworlds 2. 1995. 56 minutes. "This video contains a very brutal and shocking scene of sexual violence. It is imperative that instructors view the tape beforehand, provide adequate warning to students, and ensure that they can leave the screening at any time, if they desire"--Label on cassette. Summary A controversial video that MTV tried to ban. Portrays the impact that sex and violence in media have on society and culture in our everyday life. Show scenes from over 165 music videos to show how the media portrays masculinity, femininity, sex, and sex roles. Includes a scene of brutal gang rape from the movie, The accused.
Ethnic Notions. 1986. 58 minutes. Presents how racism is depicted in American culture
Fire. 1998. 104 minutes. Banned in India, this film was the first to confront lesbianism in that country.
Girls Like Us. 1997. 60 minutes. This documentary explores female teenage experiences of sexuality and pregnancy. An ethnically diverse group of four working class girls strut, flirt and testify about their lives. Filmed in South Philadelphia over a period of four years and following its protaganists from age 14 to 18, it brings into sharp relief the conflicts of growing up female, exposing the impact of class, sexism and violence on the dreams and expectations of teenage girls.
How We Got the Vote. 1986. 52 minutes. Original films, photography, cartoons, and personal interviews tell the story of early 20th century women fighting for suffrage.
Juggling Gender. 1992. 27 minutes. Features Jennifer Miller, juggler and director of Circus Amok. Miller speaks of her life and struggle as a lesbian woman who happens to have a moustache and beard. Includes scenes of circus performances, a gay rights parade, Miller interacting with friends, family, and strangers.
Killing Us Softly 3. 2000. 34 minutes. Discusses the manner in which women continue to be portrayed by advertising and the effects this has on their images of themselves.
Las Madres: The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo. 1985. 64 minutes. Mothers who believe their children were kidnapped by the Argentine government tell how they banded together to demonstrate in the Plaza de Mayo to publicize their complaints, and seek assistance in finding "los desparecidos" and punishing the kidnappers/murderers.
Live Nude Girls Unite. 2000. 70 minutes. Follows Julia Query, a peepshow stripper, on her journey to help organize the only strippers union in the United States.
Mickey Mouse Monopoly. 2001. 52 minutes. Mickey Mouse Monopoly takes a close and critical look at the animated films produced by the Disney Company, and at the world these films create (in terms of the stories told about race, gender and class) and reaches disturbing conclusions about the values propagated under the guise of innocence and fun.
My Feminism. 1997. 55 minutes. Presents several women's standpoints on feminism and their thoughts as feminists.
Off the Straight and Narrow. 1998. 63 minutes. Casts a critical eye over the growth of gay images on TV. Leading media scholars provide the historical and cultural context for exploring the social implications of these new representations. Challenges viewers to consider the value and limits of available gay images: who is represented, what they get to say, and how people respond to them.
Paying the Price: Killing the Children of Iraq. 2000. 75 minutes. John Pilger "investigates the effects of sanctions on the people of Iraq." Contends that ten years of extraordinary isolation, imposed by the U.N. and enforced by the United States and Great Britain, have killed thousands of people. Also discusses illegal bombing campaigns conducted by the U.S. and Great Britain in "no-fly zones."
Period Piece. 1996. 30 minutes. Women of various ages (8-84) and ethnicities share how they felt when their menstrual cycles first started. Old educational films are revisited in new ways to show humorous and historical views of this rite of passage. This film explores the general discomfort around the subject of menstruation and the pain girls experience as they negotiate relationships with their bodies and their culture.
Question of Color. 1992. 58 minutes. Examines the issue of color consciousness within the Black community. Explores a caste system based on how closely skin color, hair texture and facial features conform to a European ideal. A number of African Americans give their experiences and attitudes towards the question of color.
Rachel’s Daughters. 1997. 106 minutes. This documentary follows a group of women, all breast cancer activists who are fighting or have survived the disease, who are on a personal mission to unearth the causes of breast cancer. Incorporates interviews with prominent scientists, documentary footage from high cancer rate areas, and investigates women's personal battles to stay healthy.
Shortchanging Girls, Shortchanging America. 1991. 19 minutes. Explains how girls' efforts in the classroom are subtly discouraged. Stresses the need to promote self-esteem in female students in math and science studies.
Skin Deep. 1995. 53 minutes. A diverse group of college students reveal their honest feelings and attitudes about race and racism. Students are interviewed alone, and then discuss the issues in a group setting.
Slim Hopes. 1995. 30 minutes. Illustrated lecture which explores the manner in which women are portrayed by advertising with the focus on thiness. Discusses the impact this portrayal has on the self image of women and girls.
The Best Time of My Life. 1987. 55 minutes. Sixteen Canadian women from diverse backgrounds share feelings, issues, and experiences as they approach, undergo, or look back on menopause. Describes the changes, transitions, and crises they experienced and how many used this time to explore new pursuits.
The Date Rape Backlash. 1994. 58 minutes. A critical examination of how media portrayal of date rape has evolved with a span of five years from portraying date rape as an epidemic to a view of date rape as feminist victim oriented propaganda.
The Double Burden. 1992. 55 minutes. Filmmaker Marlene Booth describes her own experiences as a working mother as well as the experiences of three families for whom working outside of the home was a tradition for several generations of women.
The Global Assembly Line. 1986. 60 minutes. Documentary, filmed in electronic and garment factories, examines working forces in United States and free-trade zones of developing countries.
The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter. 1987. 65 minutes. Five women reminisce about their jobs and working conditions during World War II.
The Smell of Burning Ants. 1994. 22 minutes. The film raises gender issues and provokes the viewer to reflect on how our society can deprive boys of wholeness. Through the formative events of a boy's life, we come to understand the ways in which men can become emotionally disconnected and alienated from their feminine side. Illustrates how boys are socialized by fear, power and shame.
The Story of Mothers and Daughters. 1997. 72 minutes. Over 500 women were interviewed for this film about mother/daughter relationships.
The Yellow Wallpaper. 1988. 76 minutes. The story of a woman who is gradually becoming insane. While taking a rest cure she becomes obsessed with the wallpaper and begins to imagine that there is a woman behind the paper.
Tough Guise: Violence, Media, and Crisis in Masculinity. 1999. 80 minutes (2 parts). Tough Guise is the first program to look systematically at the relationship between the images of popular culture and the social construction of masculine identities in the US in the late 20th century. In this innovative and wide-ranging analysis, Jackson Katz argues that there is a crisis in masculinity and that some of the guises offered to men as a solution (rugged individualism, violence) come loaded with attendant dangers to women, as well as other men.
With a Vengeance. 1989. 40 minutes. "Based on abortion rap workshops".
Women, HIV, and AIDS. 199?. 52 minutes. Grapples with the special problems of women in the AIDS epidemic, discussing a wide range of subjects such as safe sex, health care for HIV positive women and advocacy efforts.
You Don’t Know Dick. 1997. 58 minutes. Provides honest and riveting portraits of six men who once were women. Through their commentaries and the experiences of partners, friends, and family emerges an unforgettable story of self-discovery.
MORE: (Details coming soon)
Your Name in Cellulite
A Midwife's Tale
Writing Desire
Performing the Border
And Still I Rise
I, Doll
Playing Unfair: The Media Image of the Female Athlete
Asylum (FGM)
Condoms, Fish, and Circus Tricks (AIDS epidemic in Africa)
The Women of Hull House
Rebel Hearts: The Grimke Sisters
When the Bough Breaks: Children of Mothers in Prison
Maurice
And the Band Played On
Angels in America
Bent
They Shine: On Being Gay in Mazatepec, Mexico
The Laramie Project
Daddy and Papa
Before Stonewall
After Stonewall
Out of the Past
Bubbah Lee and Me
Friends and Lovers
Paris is Burning
Fighting in Southwest Louisiana
The Times of Harvey Milk
Monster
Iron Jawed Angels
Real Women Have Curves
The Hours
Beyond Borders: Arab Feminists talk about their lives
Rape Is . . .
Role Reversal
Victor/Victoria
Battered Mothers' Testimony Project
Fashioning Women in Law
Take it From Me
Flappers: The Birth of the 20th Century Woman
Great Women Artists
Body Image
The 1900 House: an extraordinary living experiment
Eleanor Roosevelt
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide, When the Rainbow is Enuf
Women as Citizens: Vital Voices through the Century
Sexual Stereotypes in Media: Superman and the Bride
Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony
War Zone
The Way Home
Divorce Iranian Style
Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls
Seneca Reflections
Thelma and Louise
African Art, Women, History: The Luba People of Central Africa
Step by Step: Building a Feminist Movement
Faith Ringgold: The Last Story Quilt
The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl
The Two Marys: Two Views of Slavery
Battle for the Minds
Between the Lines: A Documentary about Cutting
Women: Word for Word: A Reputation
The Wreckers
The Color Purple
Means of Grace
Voices from the Inside
The Legacy of Barbara Jordan
Real Indian
Hermaphrodites Speak!
Battered Hearts: A Story of Family Violence
Flowers for Guadalupe: The Virgin of Guadalupe in the Lives of Mexican Women
Sexism in Language
Pandora's Box: The Roles of Women in Ancient Greece
Women's Work: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Nobody's Girl: Five Women of the West
The Hidden Army: Women in WWII
The Sisterhood and the Academy
Leslie Marmon Silko
The Desired Number
'Tis Pity She's a Whore: The First Women on the London Stage
Home Economics: A Documentary of Suburbia
The F Word
Different Voices: Women and the Holocaust
Elegant Visions: Native American Women's Clothing
Women in Religion
The Status of Latina Women
Men and Women Talking Together
Lorraine Hansberry: The Black Experience in the Creation of Drama
Adelante, Mujeres
Stories from the Riverside: Women Jailed for Killing their Abusers
Guerrillas in our Midst
Identifiable Qualities: A Film on Toni Morrison
Wild Women Don't Have the Blues
Shoulder to Shoulder