WIC/WRC Videos A-D
A...B...C...D
A
A Career is Better Than a Job...Anyday
Presented by Women Unlimited. Funded by the Maine Department
of Transportation. (13 min. 2003)
Abortion Denied:
Shattering Young Women's Lives
This video focuses on the legal blockades, particularly parental consent or
notification, which prevent teenage women from obtaining safe abortions. Produced
by the Feminist Majority Foundation. Companion guide available. (30 min. 1990)
The Abortion Diaries
The Abortion Diaries is a documentary featuring 12 women who speak candidly about their abortions (and other stuff). Their stories weave together with the filmmaker's diary entries to present a compelling, moving and at times surprisingly funny "dinner party" where the audience is invited to hear what women say behind closed doors about motherhood, medical technology, sex, spirituality, love, work and their own bodies. The Abortion Diaries sidesteps the oppositional rhetoric of the so-called 'abortion debate' and brings the issue back to where it belongs: the dinner table. (30 minutes, 2005, DVD)
Abortion in Maine:
A Report from Two Feminists on the Common Ground Committee
An on-campus lecture given as part of the WIC Lunch Series. Sharon Barker,
Director of the Women's Resource Center and Betheda Edmonds, Children's Librarian
of the B. H. Bartol Library in Freeport, share their experiences working on
the Common Ground Committee. The committee was initiated in January, 1995 to
address the growing violence surrounding abortions, such as the Brookline murders.
The committee was the first of its kind, which gave each side (anti-choice
and pro-choice) an opportunity to speak directly to the attorney general. (90
min. 1996)
Accommodate,
Assimilate, or Activate: Tomorrow's Agenda for LGBT Rights
Jyl Lyn Felman, Adjunct Professor of Women's Studies at Brandeis University
gives this discussion for a Women in the Curriculum Luncheon. (2002)
The Ad and the
Ego
This video examines advertising (ads) as being an educational/socialization
tool that sells concepts, images, and values to viewers. (59 min.)
Adio Kerida (Goodbye Dear Love)
Anthropologist Ruth Behar returns to her native Cuba in search of the country's remaining Sephardic Jews and her family's ties to them. Her grandparents were Jewish emigrants to Cuba and hoped it would be their promised land. But like most Cuban Jews, they left Cuba after the revolution and resettled in the United States, with only a small number of Jews remaining on the island. Haunted by the Sephardic love song, "Adio Kerida" (Goodbye Dear Love), Ruth Behar's filmic memoir is a lyrical journey into Cuba's Jewish past and present that is filled with painful goodbyes and a passionate belief in the possibility of return A bittersweet and often humorous portrait emerges of the exotic tribe of Sephardic Jews left in Cuba, as well a the Jewish Cubans living in the United States. This unusually warm and intimate documentary is dedicated to the filmmaker's father, who insists that goodbyes are final and you should never look back. (2002, 82 minutes, color)
Adrienne Rich
Part of the Lannan Library Film Series. During her 40-year career, Adrienne
Rich has been a poet of great moral presence and enduring creative power,
a poet whose aesthetic is linked with her political sensibilities. Ms.
Rich reads from An Atlas of the Difficult World, Diving into the Wreck,
and The Fact of a Doorframe and talks with Michael Silverblatt. (60 min.
1992)
Against My
Will
In Pakistan, women who leave abusive marriages may be signing their own death
warrants. They risk being disfigured or murdered by men who believe it is the
only way to restore honor to the family. But at the Dastak women's shelter
in Lahore, women find a safe haven. Here, in this tidy building with a well-kept
lawn, they live in safety, receiving both counseling and legal advice. Through
the stories of women who take control of their own lives - and risk being killed
- the film creates a portrait of one institution that is protecting Pakistani
women, at least the women who can make it there. (50 min. 2002)
Alice Walker
Part of the Lannan Library Film Series. Alice Walker wrote her first book of
poems as she traveled through Kenya and Uganda. She went on to win a Pulitzer
Prize and an American Book Award for her novel The Color Purple. Walker
reads from Revolutionary Petunias and Other Poems, Horses Make A Landscape
Look More Beautiful and excerpts from The Color Purple and The Temple of
My Familiar. (60 min. 1989)
An American Nurse
at War
This historical documentary focuses on WWI Red Cross Nurse Marion McCune Rice
of Brattleboro, Vermont who spent four years in France helping wounded soldiers
and civilians. Marion recorded her experiences with a camera, sending home
650 photos and 50 letters which are the basis of this documentary. Life within
the hospitals is documented in unflinching detail from surgical treatment of
horribly wounded soldiers through their convalescence with the nurses tending
the bandages as well as the men's morale with games, music, and outings. Marion's
voice lends outrage, humor and affection to this historic account of the 20th
century's first great war as well as women's emerging role on the world stage.
(36 min. 1997)
American Porn
It's one of the hottest industries in America. Easier to order at home than a pizza, bigger than rock music, it's arguably the most profitable enterprise in cyberspace. AT&T is in the business. Yahoo! has profited from it. Westin and Marriott make more money selling it than they do snacks an drinks in their mini-bars. And with estimates as high as $10 billion a year, it boasts the kind of earnings every American business envies. It's pornography - and with adult movies, magazines, retail stores, and the growth of the Internet - business is booming. FRONTLINE reports on the forces behind the recent explosion of sexually explicit material available in American society and the pending political battle that may soon engulf the multibillion dollar pornography industry. (60 minutes, VHS)
American Religions
and Cultural Expropriation
An on-campus lecture given by Rayna Green. Green addressed forms of Native
religious appropriation including practices of New Age neo-shamanic cults,
proto-feminists, eco-spiritualists, and guru-seekers. She examined the premises,
results, and responses to appropriation. (75 min. 1997)
Amrita Basu
Dr. Basu gives the Keynote address at the Fifteenth Annual Maine Women's Studies
Conference held at the University of Maine, Orono. A Professor of Political
Science at Amherst College, Basu has written two books on women's activism
in South Asia including: Two Faces of Protest: Contrasting Modes of Women's
Activism in India. She is also the editor of The Challenge of Local Feminism.
(2000)
Anchor of the Soul
Anchor of the Soul provides the first, in-depth look at Black history and race
relations in northern New England. This hour-long documentary tells the
inspiring story of African Americans struggling to create and sustain a
church in Portland, Maine. Since the early 1880s, the church has served
as a spiritual home, a community center and a leader in the fight for racial
equality in Maine. This film eloquently documents the experiences of African
Americans living in the least diverse part of America. (60 min. 1994)
Anne Waldman
Part of the Lannan Library Film Series. Anne Waldman, twice the world heavy-weight
poetry bout champion, has authored more than 25 books and chapbooks. She
reads from Helping the Dreamer, New and Selected Poems and from unpublished
work.
Annie Leibovitz
American Masters "Annie Leibovitz" She has produced some of the most iconic images of the last 30 years. In this film, Annie Leibovitz's artistic process, her personal journey and her delicate balancing of fame and family is captured on film by her younger sister. VHS Format.
Appearing Nitely-Lily
Tomlin
There's no defining Miss Tomlin. She is an uncanny actress, able to vanish
into a shopping bag lady or a secretary who just lost her job...again, or a
dude in a singles bar. The characters materialize so quickly, it's startling.
(85 min. 1992)
Arab Women: Image
and Reality
In this video directed by Joan E. Biren, Arab women discuss the historical
development of the Arab women's movement, the impact of the Gulf War on Western
perceptions of Arab women, and the role of Palestinian women in the Intifada,
among other topics. (41 min. 1992)
Archives: Resources
for Women's Studies in the St. John Valley & Fiddling
An on-campus lecture and performance given by Lisa Ornstein, Director of the
Acadian Archives, as part of the WIC Lunch Series. (90 min. 1996.)
Arlene Avakian
Avakian, Associate Professor of Women's Studies at the University of Massachusetts,
Amherst, reads from and discusses her books, Lion Woman's Legacy: An Armenian-American
Memoir and Through the Kitchen Window: Women Explore the Intimate Meanings
of Food and Cooking. (75 min. 1997)
Asking for Money
and Prospect Identification
Kim Cline offers a grassroots approach to fundraising, emphasizing ways to
overcome the reluctance to ask for money and how to identify prospective donors.
(35 min.)
Auditioning
for the Chorus Line
Mary Beth Mills, Associate Professor of Anthropology at Colby College, speaks
about migrant labor and gendered modernity in rural Thailand. Part of the Women
in the Curriculum Lunch Series. (10/11/00)
Aunt Lena:
Cabinet National Forest Unsung Heroine
A dramatized documentary of the first and only U.S.
Forest Service Ranger and his wife who lived at the Bull River
Ranger Station in Montana. Pauline "Lena" Gordon brings
a unique women's perspective on early problems her ranger-husband
encountered. The story takes place in an era of westward expansion,
of conflict between homesteaders and timbermen, and of communities
coming together to build roads and schools, combat timber theft
and fire, and negotiate their new lives in the West. (28 min.
1997)
B
Babies, Babies,
Babies!: Faculty, Staff, and Student Mothers Work It Out
Michele Alexander, Nancy Lewis, Gary Quimby, and Stephanie
Strong. WIC & WST Fall 2003 Lunch Series, 12-10-03.
Barbara Guest
Part of the Lannan Library Film Series. Barbara Guest, born in 1920, has written
12 books of poetry including Defensive Rapture, Fair Realism, and Moscow
Mansions. Once associated with Frank O'Hara, James Schuyler, and other
poets of the New York School influenced by abstract expressionistic painting,
Ms. Guest's lyrical poems are often like word paintings. Barbara Guest
read from her Selected Poems. (60 min. 1996)
Barbara McClintock:
Pioneer of Modern Genetics
An interview with Barbara McClintock, winner of the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physiology
or Medicine and a pioneer in the field of genetics. McClintock's research discoveries
in genetics were made over thirty years before the scientific community was
able to accept the value and truth of her findings, and as a woman operating
in a predominantly male profession, she frequently faced obstacles in her work.
A teacher resource book and student materials accompany video. (20 min. 1990)
Barbie
Nation An Unauthorized Tour
The Barbie doll is not just the world's most popular
toy, she's a Rorschach test, revealing attitudes about
sexuality, body image, gender roles and creativity
in an increasingly mass produced world. 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,.
At the center of Barbie Nation is the story
of Barbie creator and Mattel co-founder Ruth Handler.
Handler's ironic rise and fall brings Barbie Nation to
a climax that is about the creation of femininity and
the marketing - and subversion - of femininity's icon.
54 minutes.
Barriers to Women
and Minorities in the Engineering Curriculum: Why Is It So
Hard To Stay on the Subject?
An on-campus lecture held as part of Women's History Celebration. Caroline
Whitbeck, a Senior Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at MIT, discusses how
women and minorities are underrepresented in engineering at both the undergraduate
and graduate levels, and what educators can do to rectify this imbalance. (75
min. 1995)
Batiks by Nike:
An African Woman Talks about Art, Patriarchy, and the Empowerment
of Women
A companion video to the book The Women with the Artistic Brush: A Life History
of Yoruba Batik Artist Nike Davies. In this video, Nike, an African woman who
uses richly detailed and arresting batik images to chronicle her society's
contradictory views towards women, discusses the long, hard struggle of women
to achieve their dreams and the obstacles facing women artists in particular.
The documentary also highlights Nike's artworks as well as the artwork of the
center's members. (30 min.)
Beautiful
Part of the Beautiful Project. This film examines and celebrates women's beauty
and includes interviews with local women. (60 min. 1997)
Beauty in the Bricks
A documentary of four African American teenage girls growing up in the West
Dallas Projects. The film documents the community and activities of these
girls as well as interviews in which they discuss their goals, ambitions,
and perspectives on growing up in the Projects. (29 min. 1980)
Beauty Leaves the
Bricks
This documentary is a follow-up to Beauty In the Bricks, more than a decade
later. This documentary contains interviews with each of the women and the
leader of the Projects' Girls Club. (46 min. 1992)
Behind the Smile:
The Secret Cost of Thailand's Prosperity
Hundreds of thousands of Thai young women leave their rural homes to work in
the factories of Bangkok. They are the backbone of Thailand's economic success,
yet are looked upon as almost less than human. Behind the Smile explores the
lives and culture of these young women who live in crowded dormitories or shacks
with few possessions, homesick for their families. Yet the money they earn
is so desperately needed by their families that they must stay for years in
their grim servitude. Through portraits of three women, we see the human cost
of the country's rapid industrialization. A whole generation of women has disappeared
from the villages, changing traditions forever. (46 min. 1998)
Bell hooks: Cultural
Criticism and Transformation
Bell hooks makes a compelling argument for the transformative power of cultural
criticism. This video represents Hook's first feature video presentation and
is extensively illustrated with many of the images which she critiques. She
demonstrates how learning to think critically was central to her own self-transformation
and how it can play a role in students quest for a sense of agency and identity.
In part one, On Cultural Criticism, hooks talks about the theoretical foundations
that inform her work. (26 min.) In part two, Doing Cultural Criticism, hooks
demonstrates the value of cultural studies in concrete analysis. (40 min. 1997)
Berenice Abbott:
A View of the Twentieth Century
A powerful, honest portrait of one of the United States'
greatest 20th century photographers. A film that celebrates
the individual -- the strong woman who chooses "the road less traveled by".
(57 min. 1992)
Between La Survivance and Cosmo: Grace Metalious'
No Adam in Eden
Susan Pinette, Director of Franco-American Studies and Associate Professor of Modern Languages & Classics. 12-5-07. Part of the Fall 2007 WIC Lunch Series. DVD and VHS format available.
Beyond the Veil:
Are Iranian Women Rebelling?
A female reporter dons the hijab -- "modest dress" --
and goes undercover to find out how Iranian women feel about
the government enforced dress code and about their diminished
role in Iranian society. We see teenage girls flaunt accepted
behavioral codes while morality police roam the streets of
Teheran in search of offenders. Proponents of the hijab --
Islamic scholars, a woman doctor, and a female student --
discuss the practice within the context of Islamic religious
tradition and the social benefits derived from it. Professional
women and others discuss the broader issue of Islam's right to subjugate women
by shaping who they are and how they think. (22 min. 1998)
Biography, Transnational
Feminism, and Empire: Margaret Cousins' Ireland and India
Part of the Women in the Curriculum Lunch Series. Speaker Catherine Candy,
Assistant Professor of History at the University of Maine at Augusta. (4/4/00)
Black Indians:
An American Story
"Black Indians: An American Story" brings to light a forgotten part
of America's past - the cultural and racial fusion of Native and African Americans.
Narrated by James Earl Jones, produced and directed by the award winning Native
American production company, Rich-Heape Films, this presentation explores what
brought the two groups together, what drove them apart, and the challenges that
they face today. From the Atlantic Seaboard to the western Plains, family memories
and historical highlights reveal the indelible mark of this unique ancestry,
and its continuing influence throughout the generations. 60 minutes.
Black Is...Black Ain't
When Marlon Riggs died of AIDS at the age of 37, he was completing a film which summed up a lifetime's work exploring African American identity. Variety concluded: "Riggs couldn't have left a more effective or challenging legacy to the black community." This film weaves together the testimony of those whose complexion, class, gender, speech or sexuality has made them feel "too black" or "not black enough." Scholars and artists including Bill T. Jones, Essex Hemphill, Angela Davis and bell hooks, as well as ordinary African Americans, movingly recall their own struggles to discover a more inclusive definition of "blackness." Threading the film together, is Riggs' own deeply personal quest for meaning and self-affirmation as his health deteriorates. Black Is...Black Ain't is an important contribution towards building a black community based on profound empathy for the struggle for self-affirmation fought by each African American. (86 minutes, 1995, VHS)
Body: The Value
of Women
This film exposes the levels of self-hatred imposed by our
culture and the media. It reveals the specific machinations of
the creation of artificial images that reinforce negative body
images and low self-esteem, while also providing alternatives
that can re-direct the individual toward healing. (78 min. 2000)
Born Yelling: Betty
Friedan, Bella Abzug and the Jewish Roots of the Contemporary
Feminist Movement
An on-campus lecture by Joyce Antler. Antler provides an insightful analysis
of the birth of the feminist movement, the influences of Jewish feminists Betty
Friedan and Bella Abzug on the movement and the effects of the feminist movement
on the personal lives of Friedan and Abzug. Antler also discusses how social
change develops, the consequential effects of social change, and the intersection
between personal biographies and social history. (75 min. 1996)
Bread and Roses
From acclaimed director Ken Loach comes the gripping story of a group of immigrant
workers who take a stand against the million dollar corporations who employ
them. Newly arrived illegal immigrant Maya (Pilar Padilla) has just joined
her sister on the job as a janitor in a downtown L.A. office building.
Appalled at the work conditions and unfair labor practices, she teams up
with Sam (Adrien Brody), a labor organizer, to fight their ruthless employer.
(110 min. 2000)
Breaking Silence:
Rape of People with Physical Disabilities
Designed to raise awareness about sexual assault of differently abled persons,
as well as to help us understand and speak the truth about issues which might
be difficult to hear. (23 min. 1988)
Breaking the Silence:
Voices of Low Caste and Peasant Women in India
An on-campus lecture given by Gail Omvedt as part of Women's History Celebration.
Both an academician and an activist, Omvedt discusses her experiences in supporting
Indian women and their struggles to win the rights to land, to gain benefits
for abandoned women, and to participate in the political process. (90 min.
1995)
Breaking Through:
Women in Science
A fascinating glimpse into the lives and work of three female scientists --
a mechanical engineer, biomedical scientist and physicist -- who are pushing
the limits of scientific knowledge with the same intensity and commitment that
they bring to all aspects of their lives. This film conveys a powerful message
which motivates young girls to continue their studies of math and science throughout
high school and college. (29 min. 1992)
Breast Cancer:
What Every Woman Should Know
A WIC Lunch Series panel which included Rhea C™tŽ Robbins,
Carol Cote, Clair Sullivan, Barbara Hikel, and Bonnie Tucker.
(90 min. 1995)
Bringing Young
Minority Women to the Threshold of Science
A recording of an outreach project proposed in 1990 by George Washington University.
The project was designed to encourage more minority high school girls from
the Washington DC area to become more involved in the sciences. The program
is composed of a 10-day, on-campus immersion program based on cooperative learning,
activities building verbal and written communication skills, and lectures on
planning for college. (20 min. 1994)
The Bronze
Screen
The Bronze Screen honors the past, illuminates the present, and opens a window
to the future of Latinos in motion pictures. From silent movies to urban gang
films, stereotypes of the Greaser, the Lazy Mexican, the latin Lover and the
Dark Lady are examined. Rare and extensive footage traces the progression of
this distorted screen image to the increased prominence of today's latino actors,
writers and directors. A film by Susan Racho, Nancy De Los Santos, Alberto
Dominguez, 1990, 88 minutes.
Bubbeh Lee and
Me
What can a grandchild discover through a grandparent? When the filmmaker arrives
in Florida t o visit his feisty 87 year old Jewish grandmother and speaks with
her heart to heart about love, death, and sexuality, their two worlds collide
and the strength of their bond emerges. A spirited reflection on aging, identity,
diversity, and acceptance, this classic film examines the legacies passed through
families and generations, and shows that the journey of self-discovery can
begin at any age. (35 min.)
Building Community,
Finding Love: Lesbian Bar Culture Since the Forties
A panel discussion from the 1985 National Women's Studies Association conference
in Seattle, WA. Includes reports on two history projects which studied the
lesbian bar culture in Buffalo, NY and Lowell, MA, as well as a literary history
and analysis of lesbian novels of the recent past. (90 min. 1985)
Buffy the
Vampire Slayer and Feminist Ethics (WIC Lunch 2002)
Lecture presented by Jessica Miller, Assistant Professor of Philosophy a the
University of Maine.
The Burning Times
This film explores the multidimensional factors which led to the witch persecutions
that swept Europe several hundred years ago. The film outlines the process
of accusations, interrogations, and tortures instituted by the Christian
church as well as the trials and burning carried out by the State. This
turbulent period in history is brought to vivid life through selections
from trial records, readings from the witch-hunting manuals written by
secular as well as church authorities, and the art and literature of the
time. Interviews with scholars and historians Barbara Roberts, Irving Smith
and Theodora Jensen; theologian Matthew Fox; and authors Starhawk and Margot
Adler are featured. (58 min. 1990)
'But We Wouldn't
Talk About It': Living as a Lesbian in Rural South Dakota,
1920-1930
An on-campus lecture delivered by Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy, Professor of
American Studies at SUNY at Buffalo. Kennedy discusses the importance of doing
lesbian and gay history, drawing on her recent interviews with an eighty-nine
year old, lesbian-identified woman. (90 min. 1995)
Butterfly
In December 1997, Julia Hill climbed into a thousand year old redwood tree
to save it from logging; her action galvanized an already intense dispute
over the fate of Northern California's old growth forests. Over two years
later, Hill came down, having saved the tree and hillside surrounding it.
As told in Doug Wolen's remarkable new film, Hill's decision to live high
above the reach of even Pacific Lumbers most fearless climbers forced everyone
to react - supporters, allies, and the press, as well as loggers and sometimes
unsympathetic locals. The film has extra reading resources available.
C
Can Markets Be
Feminized?
An on-campus presentation by Gail Omvedt as part of the Women's History Celebration.
Omvedt, a scholar-activist, discusses her work with women's groups, farmers
organizations, and anti-caste movements in India. (90 min. 1995)
Can the New Right
Torpedo Diversity in the New History Standards?
An on-campus discussion held as part of Women's History Celebration. The National
Endowment for the Humanities Center for History in the Schools' call for new
history standards that reflect the diversity brought by race, gender and ethnicity
has fueled fears of a conservative backlash. Lynn Nelson, Associate Professor
of Education, Eileen Eagan, Associate Professor of History at the University
of Southern Maine, and Pat Sirois, Chair of the Bangor High School History
Department, discuss the controversy over whether to give voice to those long
kept silent by traditional approaches to history. (90 min. 1995)
Canada on Stage
An on-campus event presented by Sandra Hardy, Associate Professor of Theatre
and Patricia Riggin, Assistant Professor of Theatre, who direct performances
of scenes by Canada's most recent and provocative female playwrights. (1996)
Career Encounters:
Women in Engineering
Produced by the Women in Engineering Program Advocates Network, this video
portrays women working in a variety of engineering careers in areas including
the paper industry, telecommunications and the environment. Academic preparation,
mentoring, and family life are also discussed. (1993)
Career Patterns
of Women in Science
Gerhard Sonnert. Part of the Fall 2002 WIC Lunch Series.
Carolyn Forche
Part of the Lannan Library Film Series. Carolyn Forche, in her lyrical and
deeply resonant poetry, meditates on the brutalities and injustices of
the 20th century. Ms. Forche, who received a Lannan Poetry Fellowship,
read the entire text of The Angle of History. (94 min. 1994)
Carolyn Forche
Different from above listing. Part of the Lannan Library Film Series. Carolyn
Forche is an impassioned and acutely observant poet. Her poetry is lyrical,
astute, sensitive, and deeply resonant in writing of brutalities and injustices
of the 20th century, from Hiroshima to El Salvador. She reads from Gathering
the Tribes, The Country Between US, and work in progress. (65 min. 1990)
Challenging
Empire: Iraq, the UN, and the 'Second Super-Power'
Howard B. Schonberger Lecture Series with Phyllis Bennis. 10-21-04.
Changing Worlds:
A Brief History of Feminist Art
This film explores female artists' creations over the past three decades. Includes
interviews with Judy Baca, Judy Chicago, Suzanne Lacy, Miriam Schapiro, Faith
Ringgold, Yvonne Rainer and others. These pioneering artists contend with issues
of equal rights, the female body, women's place in society and private versus
public identity. Footage from 1968 to the present. (57 min.)
Chaos or Community:
Act II
An on-campus lecture by Holly Sklar, a writer of economic and social myth breaking
and the author of Streets of Hope. (90 min. 1997)
Charm School
An on-campus event. Written and performed by Orono actor Janeen Teal, "Charm
School" is a collage of materials featuring a mix of music, poetry, monologue,
and nine characters. Drawing on texts produced in the 1950s, the presentation
is the artist's personal and political reflection on life in America for middle
class women at that time and what that past means for women's lives today.
(60 min. 1998)
Child Brides: Stolen Lives
NOW's Senior Correspondent Maria Hinojosa travels around the world for a revealing exploration of child marriage in developing countries, and how people can act locally and globally to solve the problem. Countries visited include Niger, India, and Guatemala. The stakes are high: child brides typically experience high rates of childbirth complications, HIV infection, partner violence, and poverty. An estimated 100 million girls will be married over the next 10 years. In her report, Hinojosa takes viewers on a journey of sorrow, healing and hope, including scenes of an illegal midnight wedding in India where children as young as three are married. In each country, Hinojosa shares the work of brave community members who are campaigning to end the centuries-old practice of child marriage - sometimes putting their own lives at risk. (2007, 60 minutes, DVD)
Child Custody:
A Family Rights Issue for the 1990s
An on-campus lecture, part of the WIC Lunch Series, given by Mary Cathcart,
Chair of U.S. Commission on Child and Family Welfare; Paul Charboneau, Head
of the Maine Court Mediation Service; and Susan Kominsky, Family Law Attorney.
(75 min. 1996)
China Blue
Like no other film before, China Blue is a powerful and poignant journey into the harsh world of sweatshop workers. Shot clandestinely, this is a deep-access account of what both China and the international retailers don't want us to see: how the clothes we buy are actually made. Following a pair of denim jeans from birth to sale, China Blue links the power of the U.S. consumer market to the daily lives of a Chinese factory owner and two teenaged female factory workers. Filmed both in the factory and in the worker's faraway village, this documentary provides a rare, human glimpse at China's rapid transformation into a free market society. (88 Minutes, DVD)
Chisholm '72:
Unbought & Unbossed
She ran for president. They wanted to laugh. She made them
listen. Nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, this
powerful documentary follows the career of Shirley Chisholm,
the first black woman ever to run for President of the United
States. This provocative film about a woman who demonstrated "the
sheer will and refusal to accept the status quo" will inspire and amaze
you, regardless of your political views.
Classified Women
at the University of Maine:
Evolution and Revolution
A roundtable discussion on the roles played by classified women staff in the
University community with Marian Dressler (Administrative Assistant, Academic
Support Services), Kate Kevit (Administrative Assistant, University College),
Deb Perro (Secretary, Orono chapter of ACSUM), Nancy Smith (Co-President, Orono
chapter of ACSUM). Moderated by Sharon Barker, Director of the Women's Resource
Center. (90 min. 1995)
A Clean Breast
of It
A personal survival narrative performance about surviving breast cancer. The
performance raises and answers questions about breast cancer. Written and performed
by Linda M. Park Fuller, Ph. D. (75 min. 1997)
Colonized Lives:
Native Wives and Daughters of Victoria's Founding Families,
1850-1885
Sylvia Van Kirk, Professor of History and Women's Studies at the University
of Toronto, examines the lives of First Nations women who married European
colonists and became some the first settlers in British Columbia. Van Kirk
explores how, in order to maintain social status in an increasingly racist
environment, women were pressured to assimilate to British norms and culture.
Part of Women's History Celebration and Department of History Symposium Series.
(90 min. 1997)
The Color Purple
Based on Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Stars Whoopi Goldberg
as Celie, an uneducated black woman living in the rural south who is forced
to marry a brutal man. Her only relief is the two remarkable friends she
makes who teach her about self-worth and the power of forgiveness. (154
min. 1985)
Common Causes:
Two Generations of Maine Women in Progressive Politics
Chellie and Hannah Pingree. Part of the Fall 2003 WIC Lunch Series.
Common Sense Personal
Safety
Crime Prevention Specialist Deborah Mitchell (UMPD) discusses issues of personal
safety. Sponsored by the Sexual Assault Awareness Committee. (75 min. 1994)
Community
This is Part Two of a series celebrating Oxfam America's 25th Anniversary,
which looks at the dramatic story of villages in southwestern Bangladesh
fighting for economic and social rights. (24 min.)
Concertation et
action social: la femme Franco-Americaine
Franco-American women activists share their thoughts on how their heritage
both helped and hindered their activism. Panelists include Sharon Albert (Chamber
of Commerce), Sylvia Blanchard (former AFL-CIO organizer), Lou Chamberland
(founder of the Women's Business Development Corporation), Catherine Charette,
(Attorney), and Elise Lambert, (World War II nurse who served in the Pacific
theater of Allied Operations). Panel discussion in English. (90 min. 1994)
Conflicts in Young
Adult Relationships: Female and Male Perspectives
An on-campus lecture by Dr. Renate Klein, a visiting research scientist and
postdoctoral fellow at the University of Cologne. Klein draws upon her studies
as a visiting scholar at SUNY Buffalo in discussing the origins of interpersonal
conflicts and ways to mediate them. (75 min. 1992)
Congress of American
Women: The Impact of the Cold War on Popular Front Peace
and Sexual Politics
An on-campus lecture given by Amy Swerdlow, Professor Emerita of History, Director
of the Graduate Program in Women's History, and Coordinator of the Women's
Studies Program at Sarah Lawrence College. Swerdlow discusses the demise of
the Congress of American Women (a coalition of women's groups formed in the
1940s to promote peace) and how it altered the public's perception of the connection
between feminism and peace. (75 min. 1994)
Contaminated
Without Consent: How Chemicals in Air, Food, and Water Violate
Human Rights
Spring 2005 WIC/WST Lunch Series with Sandra Steingraber. 4-28-05.
The Corporate Theft of Water:
A Talk by, and Interview with, Maude Barlow
Maude Barlow, chair of the Council of Canadians, describes how corporations, with the collusion of governments, steal water from communities, mostly in third world countries, and sell it back to citizens at outrageously prices. In an interview with Sonali Kolhatkar of KPFK Pacifica radio, Barlow adds to this information. Filmed in Mumbai, India at the World Social Forum (WSF) in January 2004. 42 minutes.
The Courtesans
of Bombay
This film documents the rituals at Pavanpul, a sprawling
compound in Bombay; where young women, trained in "the art of seduction," move
in traditional dances and sing traditional songs, all for
the pleasure of male onlookers, who pay for the privilege.
(74 min. 1985)
Creating Community Through Diversity: Bangor Area Clergy Talk About Shared Leadership, Collaboration, and Consensus
Grace Bartlett, United Methodist Church, Elaine Hewes, Lutheran Church, Elaine Peresluha, Unitarian Universalist Church, Constance Wells, United Church of Christ. Part of the Women in the Curriculum and Women's Studies Program Spring 2006 Lunch Series. (4/26/06, VHS, DVD)
Creating Contemporary
Jewish Literature: A Feminist Perspective
An on-campus reading and commentary by Irena Klepfisz, a Jewish lesbian poet
and Yiddish translator. Klepfisz reads excerpts from her poetry. She discusses
her evolution as a poet and her experiences and perspective as a Holocaust
survivor, an out lesbian, and a feminist. (75 min. 1994)
Crones: Interviews
with Elder Quaker Women
Director and produced by Claire Simon, this documentary helps to demystify
and better understand the life and experiences of older Quaker women. This
video is composed of a collection of interviews. (20 min. 1989)
Crossing Lines:
Beyond the Book
An on-campus lecture by Dr. Judith Goldstein. Goldstein's book, Crossing Lines,
detailed the interaction between Jews and Gentiles from the 1880s to the 1960s
in three Maine communities: Bangor, Calais, and Mount Desert Island. Her lecture
focuses on the book as well as other aspects of her research. (90 min. 1992)
D
Dahlov Ipcar
A New Englander by birth, Dahlov Ipcar (1917 - ) was introduced to Maine by her parents, artists William and Marguerite Zorach, who started summering at Robinhood Cove in Georgetown in 1923. Ipcar, whose first solo show took place at the Museum of Modern Art when she was 21, has gained wide recognition through her marvelous paintings and murals of jungle and farm animals, her pioneering work in soft sculpture and the many children's books she has illustrated. "My drives have all been creative ones," states the artist. In this film portrait, we visit Ipcar's home and studio to experience firsthand the life and art of a Maine Master. This portrait of Dahlov Ipcar is one in the on-going series of the Maine Masters Project, documentaries of Maine artist interviewed in their studios discussing their lives and work.
DAM/AGE: A film
with Arundhati Roy
DAM/AGE traces writer Arundhati Roy's bold and controversial
campaign against the Namada dam project in India, which led to
a conviction for criminal contempt by India's Supreme Court.
As the film traces the events that led up to her imprisonment,
Roy meditates on her own personal negotiation with her fame,
the responsibility it places on her as a writer, a political
thinker and a citizen, and the choices she has made. In a clear
and accessible manner, the film weaves together a number of issues
that lie at the heart of politics today: from the consequences
of development and globalization to the ever more urgent need
for state accountability and the freedom of speech. (50 min.
2002)
The Date Rape Backlash:
The Media and the Denial of Rape
This film discusses how the media has changed the perception of date rape,
which in 1987 was considered a serious problem. By 1993 date rape was dismissed
as rape 'hype'. The film discusses how the dismissal of date rape evolved,
Katie Roiphe's book, The Morning After, and other anti-feminists. (40 min.
1994)
Daughter From
Danang
In 1975, a seven-year-old girl was evacuated from Vietnam
to America. After 22 years, the girl, now named Heidi, tracked
down her birth mother and visited Danang. Their happy reunion
quickly became fraught with tension and misunderstanding. (1
hour, 15 min.)
Daughters of the
Dust
A film by Julie Dash, which tells the story of a large African-American family
as they prepare to move North at the dawn of the 20th century. In this simple
tale, the film brings to life the changing values, conflicts and struggles
that confront every family as they leave their homeland for the promise of
a new and better future. This film explores the unique culture of the Gullah
people, descendants of slaves who lived in relative isolation on the Sea Islands
off the Georgia coast. As the generations struggle with the decision to leave,
their rich Gullah heritage and African roots rise to the surface. (113 min.
1991)
The Day My
God Died
By weaving footage from the brothels of Bombay with personal stories, producer
Andrew Levine offers an unforgettable examination of the growing plague of
child sex slavery. Every day in India, small girls are drugged and stolen from
their mothers. When these girls, some as young as seven or eight awaken, they
find themselves in the hellish center of the largest brothel district in the
world- Bombay, India. Forced to work as prostitutes or suffer beatings and
starvation, these girls have their youths stolen away from them. Many contract
AIDS and are forced to continue to work, passing on the virus. Granted, there
are many other Third World countries that have a sex slave industry, but this
film deals with the horrible conditions in Bombay and the attempts made by
some to stop them from continuing.This film is disturbing, and painful. Still,
there's a sense of hope, or at best, a sense of awareness that comes from seeing
it. Winona Ryder reads stark poetry written by the girls and David Robbins
scores the film with a gentle touch, much as Levine does with what he chooses
to show us throughout the film. While we wish that more was being done to help
these girls, having our eyes opened to the problem is a good first step. 2003,
100 minutes.
Deforming Women
for Beauty: Clothes and Shoes
A short clip from the Today Show on the ways clothes and shoes have been used
to deform women's (and men's) bodies in the name of beauty. (5 min. 2001)
Democracy in Learning:
Women in the Curriculum
An on-campus lecture by Kathryn Stimpson, delivered as part of Women's History
Celebration. A noted feminist critic, scholar and author, Stimpson discusses
democratic learning in institutional Women's Studies programs. (90 min. 1988)
Denise Levertov
Part of the Lannan Library Film Series. Denise Levertov, born in England in
1923, has long been an important American poet, essayist, editor, and teacher.
Her poetry is musical, meditative, and transcendent, addressing the nature
of faith, the imperiled beauty of the natural world, love, and politics.
Ms. Levertov read from Evening Train and unpublished work. (60 min. 1990)
The Desired Number
The Desired Number uses the Ibu Eze ceremony in Nigeria to highlight how family
planning issues often conflict with traditional family values. The Ibu
Eze ceremony, which celebrates women who have given birth to large numbers
of children, is perhaps the only recognition a woman will receive for her
efforts. Contrasting with the festivities are views of community members
who raise the idea that praising large families without considering quality
of life is not necessarily a blessing for women. Part of the series Women's
Lives and Choices. (28 min. 1994)
Developing Women
and Women's Studies: Keeping the Flame Alive
An on-campus lecture by Peggy McIntosh.. McIntosh develops useful strategies
for founding new programs in Women's Studies and sustaining and invigorating
existing programs. (90 min. 1988)
"Did Miriam
Talk Too Much? ": Ancient Rabbinical Attitudes Toward
an Assertive Woman
An on-campus lecture by Naomi Graetz, as part of the WIC Lunch Series. Graetz,
a native New Yorker who has lived in Israel since 1967, teaches on the Humanities
and Social Science Faculty at Ben Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheva,
Israel. Referencing the Biblical passage (Numbers 12) in which Miriam is afflicted
with leprosy as a punishment from God for speaking out, Graetz argues that
this is symptomatic of a patriarchal culture in which assertive women were
reproved by society. (75 min. 1995)
Did She or Didn't
She?: Franco-American Women in Parochial Schools
An on-campus panel discussion, given as part of the WIC Lunch Series. Christine
Thberge Rafal, researcher, and members of the Franco-American Women's
Initiative discuss their experiences as Franco-American women who went to parochial
schools. (75 min. 1997)
Different Points
of View with a Single Point of Focus: Collaboration, Accountability,
and Cooperation by the Local Domestic Abuse Task Force
Part of the WIC Lunch Series. Speakers include: Chris Almy, District Attorney,
Penobscot/Piscataquis Counties; Kathy Maietta, LCSW, Batterer's Intervention
Program, EMMC; Francine Stark, Community Response Coordinator, Spruce Run;
Don Winslow, Chief of Police, Bangor; and Jeff Wahlstrom, Director, United
Way of Eastern Maine, moderator. (1998)
Diversity: A Pioneer
Journalist Reflects on its Peril and Promise (WIC Luncheon
Series)
The featured speaker for this topic was Dorothy Butler Gilliam, Fellow, Freedom
Forum Media Studies Center, Columbia University. (75 min. 1999)
Diversity Education
Keynote Address
Speaker Darlene Clark Hine, John A. Hannah Professor of History at Michigan
State and the author of Black Women in White: Racial Conflict and Cooperation
in the Nursing Profession.(4/6/00)
Diversity Management
Dr. Thomas Roosevelt discusses diversity in the workplace. (25 min.)
Divorce Iranian
Style
Hilarious, tragic, stirring, this fly-on-the-wall look at Iranian divorce court
provides a unique window into the intimate circumstances of Iranian women's
lives. Following Jamileh, whose husband beats her; Ziba, a 16 year old trying
to divorce her 38 year old husband; and Maryam, who is desperately fighting
to gain custody of her daughters, this deadpan chronicle showcases the strength,
ingenuity, and guile with which they confront biased laws, a Kafakaesque administrative
system, and their husband's and family's rage to gain divorces. (80 min. 1998.
Subtitled)
DNA: Detective:
Molecular Biologist Lydia Villa-Komaroff
"There are more cells in the brain than there are stars in the universe," says
molecular biologist Lydia Villa-Komaroff. Studying the brain's hidden mysteries
presents Villa-Komaroff, an associate professor of neurology at the Harvard Medical
School, with an exciting challenge. Like a sleuth, she has to rely on any clues
she can find and follow her instincts. Will they lead her down a blind alley
or to a scientific breakthrough? In the program, Villa-Komaroff and her colleagues
research a protein Villa-Komaroff believes may be implicated in a rare and devastating
condition called megalencephaly, when the fetal brain grows abnormally large.
Villa-Komaroff has already invested ten years of work as she comes to a crucial
experiment, she knows that "things just don't always happen the way you
want them to" in science. The profile offers a meditation on the value of
failure as a tool in science, a vision of a successful woman scientist. Part
of the PBS Discovering Women Series. (60 min. 1995)
Domestic Violence:
Faces of Fear
This program examines the cross-cultural phenomenon of domestic violence and
looks at how the medical community, law enforcement agencies, and corporate
America are helping to end the silence. It highlights innovative responses
throughout the country and around the world. Police departments in Nashville
and San Diego have an integrated response to the problem aimed at incarcerating
the batterer. This response has led to a dramatic decrease in the number of
domestic violence homicides. The impact on children is also explored through
a unique intervention in Miami where children who have witnessed abuse are
sent for free counseling. IN New Jersey a program educates teenagers about
dating violence. (60 min. 1996)
Dreams of
Equality
A documentary drama that chronicles the early struggles of the Women's Rights
Movement and personalizes them through an exchange of letters between a sister
and brother that span thirty years. History comes to life as dramatic recreations
of the First Women's Rights convention held in 1848 and other historical events
are combined with contemporary segments in which young people engage in candid
exchanges about the roles of men and women. Issues of political equity, traditional
women's roles, marital finances, and educational opportunities for girls are
sill relevant 150 years later. (28 minutes)
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