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FULL LENGTH FEATURE FILMSBefore Tomorrow. This historical drama focuses on Inuit women's roles as storytellers and keepers of folk wisdom. New York Times reviewer Stephen Holden wrote, “Its perspective might be described as Inuit feminist.” Directed by Marie-Helene Cousineau and Madeline Piujuq Ivalu, Before Tomorrow was released by Arnait Video Productions, the women's video workshop of Igloolik. Learn More>
Osama is the story of a twelve year old Afghan girl who disguised herself as a boy and tried to keep the Taliban from discovering her identity. The film, which is based on a true story, was the first movie made in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban, and won the Golden Globe’s Best Foreign Film award.
Un Dia de Suerte (A Lucky Day.) Argentinean Sandra Gugliotta won an Award at the Berlin International Film Festival for this movie, which was shot in Buenos Aires during the riots of 2000. 25-year old Elsa barely makes a living via odd jobs and petty crimes. Her desire for a better life draws her to Rome and Sicily, the reverse journey that her anarchist grandfather took when he escaped Italian poverty. Learn More>
Outremer (Overseas) is the first film directed by actress Brigitte Rouan, and tells the stories of three Algerian sisters during the war with France that resulted in independence. Rich with political and psychological content, the film is in French with English subtitles. Learn More>
Frida. The film was directed by Julie Taymor and stars Salma Hayek. The film is a biography of Frida Kahlo including stories about her tempestuous marriage with Diego Rivera, her painting, her romantic dalliance with Trotsky, and her physical problems. Set in Mexico in the 1920’s and 30’s, Frida is at once tender and vulnerable, independent and fiery. Learn More>
Le Video, San Francisco, California USA. Founded and owned by a French woman, this rental store offers 87,000 videos and 12,000 DVDs, including many rare foreign films. Website: http://www.levideo.com/
Dangerous Beauty is the sensuous true story of a woman who used looks, wit and seduction to defy the conventions of 16th century Venice. Learn more>
Great Britain's International Collection includes classics from the 1930's and 1940's: Tolstoy's Anna Karenina (“in a world of power and privilege, one woman dared to obey her heart”), Fire over England (Queen Elizabeth I of England) and Catherine the Great (Empress of all the Russias).
DOCUMENTARIES!Women Art Revolution. This groundbreaking 2011 film was named by the Museum of Modern Art as one of the three best documentaries of the year. Its creator has won awards internationally for her pioneering use of technology and new media. Her work illuminates subjects such as as privacy, identity, loss, and other social issues. Lynn Hershman Leeson, award-winning artist and filmmaker, is one of the 21Leaders for the 21st Century. Learn more
Pray the Devil Back to Hell. This is the inspiring story of a group of ordinary women who came together to bring peace to their beloved, war-torn Liberia. The story of their historic but unsung achievement is gripping, suspenseful, terrifying and wonderful. An award-winning tour de force produced by Abigail Disney and directed by Gini Reticker. Learn more>
A Century of Color: Maya Weaving & Textiles. Margot Blum Schevill and Kathleen Mossman Vitale wrote this 53-minute bilingual documentary which documents 100 years of continuity and change. It includes stunning footage of contemporary life, computer graphics, music, and photographs of clothing from the Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology’s textile collections. Learn more>
Standing on My Sister's Shoulders. Women from Mississippi, descendants of slaves, seek civil rights in Washington DC in the 1950's and 1960's. Learn more>
Maryann DeLeo produced and directed Chernobyl Heart, which won the 2004 Oscar as Best Documentary, Short Subject. Shocking and moving, it focuses on the continuing effect of radiation on the children of Belarus, the country most effected by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986. It is based on the work of the Chernobyl Children’s Project International, which was founded by an Irish woman, Adi Roche. Watch online>
Warrior Marks is a poetic, political film about female genital mutilation presented by Pulitzer Prize winner, Alice Walker. FGM affects one hundred million of the world's women. This film unlocks some of the cultural and political complexities surrounding this issue.
Blossoms of Fire, produced by Maureen Gosling, documents the legendary women of Juchitan in Oaxaca, Mexico, “guardians of men, distributors of food.” Here they are in their opinionated glory, chiding the foreign press for calling them a promiscuous matriarchy while they sell in the markets wearing clothing embroidered with fiery flowers and celebrate their festivals. Watch online>
Fantastic Figures: Oaxan Ceramic Folk Art. Josephina Aguilar and her family demonstrate the creation of their charming clay figures, which are collected worldwide. Learn more>
Woman's Work: Making Quilts--Creating Art. Twenty million quilters in the United States create quilts that express their inner lives and individual voices. Here, quilters talk about their creative lives and their daily lives: mothers, children and careers. Learn more>
Tapestries of Hope. Paola’s friend, award-winning indie filmmaker Michealene Risley, has made a remarkable documentary about the Girl Child Network. The film is the story of human rights activist Betty Makoni and the Girl Child Network's (GCN) work in Zimbabwe, Africa. The documentary exposes the myth behind the belief that raping a virgin cures a man of HIV/AIDS. The Girl Child Network, aims to re-empower abused kids and provides a network of protection for these girls. Learn more>
Persepolis was co-directed by Marjane Satrapi. This animated film that is based on her engaging novels, all drawn like comic books. Growing up during the Revolution, she was a mullah’s worst nightmare: a girl with her own ideas. The movie won the Special Jury Prize at Cannes in May 2007; Vogue reports, “The audience didn’t want to stop applauding.” Learn more>
Maria Full of Grace. This is the story of a pregnant 17-year-old Colombian so desperate to transcend her dead-end future in a rural village that for a wad of cash she risks her life to smuggle heroin into the United States. In 2004, The New York Times called it “arguably the year’s finest film.”
Amelie. Impish Amelie lives alone and works in a café. When she finds a trove of toys that have been hidden for 40 years, she’s inspired to repatriate them, an impulse of generosity that sparks other benevolent acts. This movie is a celebration of life.
Rabbit-Proof Fence. Three girls were torn from their families during Australia’s aboriginal integration program, and placed in an abusive orphanage. The girls re-solved to make the 1500 mile trek home, and found themselves followed by a man who hoped to return them to the authorities.
Whale Rider. In New Zealand, the heir to Maori leadership dies at birth, survived only by his twin sister, Pai. At 12, she trains herself in her people’s customs, challenges her family and embraces a thousand years of tradition to fulfill her destiny. Learn more>
Century of Color: Mayan Weaving. Endangered Threads Documentaries has just released A Century of Color: Maya Weaving & Textiles,” a 53-minute documentary that surveys the subject over the past 100 years in Guatemala. Textile scholar Margot Schevill and award-winning journalist Kathleen Vitale co-wrote the script. Learn more>
Women on the Frontlines, a feature-length PBS documentary narrated by Academy Award winning actress Jessica Lange, celebrates the unheralded work of courageous women worldwide who are working to build peace and resolve crisis in Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Argentina and the United States. Copies are available at Peace X Peace or you can watch it online>
Born Into Brothels. Documentary of Calcutta's Sonagachi (red light) district where a group of feisty, courageous, wickedly funny children of prostitutes embark on a transformational journey with photographer Zana Briski who teaches them to photograph their own lives. The film is an example of one individual's ability to make a difference. Proceeds from the companion photo exhibit and book support these unforgettable children’s education. Learn more>
Señorita Extraviada, Missing Young Woman. Victims’ families tell the haunting stories of more than 200 young women of Juarez, Mexico who were raped, kidnapped and murdered. Learn More>
Complaints of a Dutiful Daughter. This film chronicles the stages of a mother's Alzheimer's Disease and a daughter's response. A life-affirming exploration of family relations, aging and change, the meaning of memory, and love. Watch online>
Mother Teresa. This powerful, inspiring film is considered the definitive portrait of the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize winner. Shot over 5 years in 10 countries, the film follows her into the world’s most troubled spots as she transcends political, religious and social barriers with her works of love.
Living with the Gods, with Susanne Wenger and Shangodare. Now 86, Austrian artist Susanne Wenger was entrusted by the Yoruba gods to restore the ruined shrines of the Sacred Groves in Oshogbo Nigeria.