Body Image / Self Perception / Self Image Filmography
Titles available as of February 1, 2008

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Among equals. 1991. (60 min.). Explores the importance of peer relationships in middle childhood development. Children are seen working out moral dilemmas, social relationships and developing strong self identity. Participation in youth groups and team sports become rehearsals for life. Also discussed are the lifestyles of runaway or rejected children in Brazil and the historical effects of American slavery. VHS 2262

Barbie nation: an unauthorized tour. 1998. (53 min.). Looks at the Barbie doll as a Rorschach test, revealing attitudes about sexuality, body image, gender roles and creativity as it tells the story of Barbie creator and Mattel co-founder Ruth Handler. Journeying from Barbie conventions to anti-Barbie demonstrations, from girls' play dates to Barbie web pages, film plumbs the cult of the Barbie doll, telling the Barbie stories of diverse men, women and children. VHS 6117

Beautiful piggies. 1994. (28 min.). Revealing self-portrait of Barbara Bader, and the impact her eating disorder has had on her life and the lives of the family members who love her. VHS 4387

Black and white. 2006. (17 min.). In a small New Zealand hospital in 1953, the birth of Mani Bruce Mitchell caused a mild pandemonium. Fifty years later, Black and White interweaves the stories of this intersex activist and the acclaimed photographer Rebecca Swan, exploring their potent creative collaboration. This fascinating documentary introduces viewers to notions of fluid gender identity, challenging the rigid categories of 'male' and 'female'. DVD 2603

Black is -- black ain't: a personal journey through black identity. 1995. (88 min.). American culture has stereotyped black Americans for centuries. Equally devastating, the late Marlon Riggs argued, have been the definitions of "blackness" African Americans impose upon one another which contain and reduce the black experience. In this film, Riggs meets a cross-section of African Americans grappling with the paradox of numerous, often contradictory definitions of blackness. He shows many who have felt uncomfortable and even silenced within the race because their complexion, class, sexuality, gender, or speech has rendered them "not black enough," or conversely, "too black." The film scrutinizes the identification of "blackness" with masculinity as well as sexism, patriarchy and homophobia in black America. VHS 3135

Black like who? 1995. (30 min.). In this painfully honest documentary, filmmaker Debbi Reynolds explores her racial identity as a black who grew up in a white neighborhood, went to white schools, had white friends, and did not think about being black. She explores the themes of assimilation, internalized racism and self hatred in interviews with her parents and her black college friends as she questions what it means to be black. VHS 4600

The body beautiful. 1991. (23 min.). A daughter examines her feelings toward her mother's mastectomy and how it has affected their relationship years later. The mother, married to a Nigerian, is white, crippled by arthritis and scarred by radical surgery; her black daughter works as a model.VHS 2758

Boy I am. 2006. (72 min.). Follows the transitions of Nicco, Norie and Keegan, three young New Yorkers from different race and class backgrounds, as they prepare and undergo female to male transition surgery. Reveals the conflict over the place of trans-males within the lesbian community.DVD 2605

A boy named Sue. 2000. (57 min.). This documentary chronicles the transformation of a transsexual named Theo from a woman to a man over the course of six years. The film successfully captures Theo's physiological and psychological changes during the process, as well as their effects on his lesbian lover and community of close friends.VHS 7496

The Brandon Teena story. 1999. (88 min.). Documentary film about Teena Brandon, who arrived in rural Falls City, Nebraska, in 1993 and assumed a new identity as a young man named Brandon. When Brandon went to jail for forging checks, his identify as a woman was revealed. Three weeks later Brandon was brutally raped and beaten by two men. Two weeks after that the same men murdered him along with two other people. Film looks at Brandon's coming of age struggle with identity and how his gender ambiguity induced feelings of betrayal, confusion and hostility among residents of a town in America's heartland. VHS 6374

Busting out: a film that will challenge how you think about breasts. 2004. (57 min.). A disarmingly honest and intimate exploration of our society's fascination with women's breasts. Directors Strickwerda and Spellman Smith unflinchingly examine the good, the bad and the ugly sides of this American icon, delving into the history and politics of breast obsession in the U.S. From breast-crazy men shouting "Flash those racks!" to the fears of breast cancer and the disparate attitudes of cultures worldwide, the directors leave no stone unturned in their quest to demystify the American breast. DVD 1566

The changing culture: the men's movement. 1998. (29 min.). Men are marching on Washington, finding religion, taking on new community responsibilities, bonding with each other, weeping openly and discussing their relationships. Just what has prompted these changes in behavior? Some say it is the outcome of the feminist movement and the resulting change in male roles. Perhaps. This program profiles the new "men's movement," explores the various reasons why men become involved in these movements and examines the implications for men and women in the 21st century. VHS 5319

Chinese foot binding: the vanishing lotus. 2003. (52 min.). A pair of small feet -- three-inch golden lilies -- were once the male-designated yardstick for feminine beauty in China. A young girl's feet were broken and bound inwards along the instep, a process that caused excruciating pain. Systematically bound, day after day, the stunted feet began to take on the coveted look of that profoundly sensuous image, the lotus bulb. Today there are fewer than 400 women with bound feet among the 1.25 billion people of China. Most of them are over 80 years old. Some of these women tell us of the event that branded their lives with its singular mark. Once an erotic symbol of beauty and eligibility, the bound foot confronts us with a custom that subjugated women to a brutal beauty myth. VHS 7724

Coming out under fire. 1995. (71 min.). Nine gay men and lesbians who were in the United States military service during World War II discuss their experiences with the military establishment. Includes declassified documents, archival footage and photographs. VHS 5101

A different kind of black man: on being gay. 2001. (19 min.). Interviews with successful, black gay men about their ideas and feelings on such issues as sexuality, masculinity and their perception of and their role within the black community. VHS 6847

Disinformation: the complete series. 2004. (ca. 480 min.). Hosted by Richard Metzger, the TV show Disinformation was aired for two seasons on Channel 4 in the UK as part of their late night "4Later" programming block. Refer to show 1: Best of Both Worlds, show 2: The Fetish Ball, show 3: Kembra Pfahler, show 4: Extreme Pornography. DVD 1186

Dreamworlds: desire/sex/power in rock video. 1990. (55 min.). The author suggests that the image of women in rock videos reflects a male adolescent dreamworld. In this world, all women are nymphomaniacs who constantly invite sex with any available male. The author examines the factors which produce this image and questions the effect which many hours of viewing this dreamworld might have on male behavior in the real world. Consists primarily of narration over clips from rock videos, but also includes a gang rape scene from the movie "The Accused." VHS 1867

Dreamworlds 2: desire, sex, and power in music video. 1995. (57 min.). The updated second edition uses scenes from over 165 music videos to show how the media portrays masculinity, femininity, sex, and sex roles. VHS 5858

Dreamworlds 3: desire, sex & power in music video. 2007. (54 min.). Updated third edition; includes contemporary music videos. DVD 3164

Fat. 1998. (60 min.). Program "examines how the diet industry is contributing to our frustration over unwanted pounds and asks if one can be healthy, fit, beautiful - and fat." VHS 5698

A gathering of men. 1990. (90 min.). 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. VHS 805

Gender, the enduring paradox. 1991. (58 min.). Explores how gender affects how we see ourselves, how others see us, and how gender shapes our human identity. VHS 1254

The heart broken in half. 1990. (57 min.). A documentary on a youth gang showing the underground culture, including honor and, all too often, death. VHS 1835

Henry Jaglom's Eating: a very serious comedy about women & food. 2004. (ca. 110 min.). At a fashionable birthday party in Southern California, a parade of women playfully mingle and muse on their body image hang-ups, eating disorders, relationships, and a conformist society obsessed with beauty. For these partygoers, even their untouched slices of cake provide insight into the love-hate relationship between femmes and food. A hilarious and thought-provoking smorgasbord of "biting" observation about women, love, neuroses, and the food that binds them all. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 1738

Hip-hop: beyond beats and rhymes. 2006. (61 min.). A look at the conceptualization of masculinity in hip-hop culture. Includes interviews with prominent rappers, music industry executives, and social critics. DVD 2314

The human body: appearance, shape and self-image. 1998. (37 min.). Examines facets of the human body that impact our preferences, our ideals, our attitudes and our self-image. Covers basic attitudes of people (primarily young people) toward their bodies and how what they think is influenced by their culture. Discusses the rationale behind tattooing, branding and body piercing, cosmetic surgery, and eating disorders. Looks at how the media portrays women and the prejudice against being over weight. VHS 5600

Image & popular culture. 1994. (95 min.). Third of three programs in a series that tells the story of women in the 20th century--how they lived, loved, worked, played, and changed the course of American history. This program explores the changing concepts of "ideal beauty" and how women see themselves. Presents the changing image of women in movies and on television, and in music, dance, and art. With comments by Roseanne Arnold, Carol Burnett, Twyla Tharp, and Maya Angelou. VHS 7898

Imagining Indians. 1996. (57 min.). Using an eclectic mix of interviews, staged scenes and graphic imagery, this film represents a Native American's view of the disparity between self-perception and the white culture's principally Hollywood-inspired interpretations of Native Americans. VHS 6866

Indie sex. 2008. (199 min.). A look at how films have played a part in discovering society's deepest and darkest sexual fantasies. Includes film clips and interviews with the industry’s leading actors, writers, and directors. DVD 3677

Juggling gender: politics, sex and identity. 1992. (27 min.). 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. VHS 3680

Killing us softly 3: advertising's image of women. 2000. (34 min.). Discusses the manner in which women continue to be portrayed by advertising and the effects this has on their images of themselves. VHS 6449

Machismo. 1993. (16 min.). Looks at the machismo flourishing in Brazil where a man can, with impunity, kill his wife because he thinks or imagines she may have glanced at another man. The program offers an interview with a university professor who admits murdering his wife; he feels his deed was an act of honor. VHS 5872

Mirror for the heart: facing eating disorders. 1996. (24 min.). Examines the hidden behavior, stress, denial, and cycle of guilt and shame that underlie eating disorders. Shows how women can find relief in sharing their stories with others. Stresses the importance of proper treatment and professional help. VHS 4209

Monuments are for men, waffles are for women: exploring gender permanence & impermanence. 2000. (37 min.). Explores the concept of symbolic gender construction. A class at Ohio University provide discussion about the impermanence of work done by women and the permanence of work done by men in the United States. Categories examined are U.S. currency, holidays, last names, shopping, sports, language, vocations, and buildings. VHS 7473

Nappy. 1998. (ca. 38 min.). Ten African American women discuss the reasons why they chose to stop straightening their hair and go natural. The video also touches on the consequences of their decisions and on the importance and significance of hairstyles in African American culture. Rosebud 32

Painting, nudes and women. 1974. (ca. 30 min.). Examines the difference between nakedness and nudity in painting. Discusses perceptions of women as reflected in painting and advertising from the point of view of the sex of the viewer and what impact this has on the way women perceive themselves. VHS 1090

Paradise bent: boys will be girls in Samoa. 1999. (50 min.). An exploration of the Samoan fa'afafine , boys who are raised as girls, fulfilling a traditional role in Samoan culture. The film shows how in the large Samoan family there may be one or two fa'afafines who are not only accepted but appreciated. They share the women's traditional work of cooking, cleaning, and caring for the children and the elderly. "Paradise Bent" brings up issues of culture and gender and the complexities of sexual identity. VHS 7348

The perfumed garden. 2000. (56 min.). Through interviews with men and women of all ages and classes this film explores the myths and realities of sensuality and sexuality in Arab society, a world of taboos, of erotic literature and films. It begins looking at a more permissive history, and ends with the experiences of contemporary lovers from mixed backgrounds. The film discusses pre-marital sex, courtship and marriage, familial pressures, social taboos and issues of language. It also demonstrates how the rich legacy of fantasy in the A Thousand and One Arabian Nights still permeates contemporary Arab culture. VHS 7314

Period piece. 1996. (30 min). 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. VHS 4263

Playing the part. 1994. (38 min.). In live film sequences interspersed with still photos, Mitch McCabe contrasts her upper-middle-class family life in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, with her student life at Harvard and humorously describes her difficulty in admitting her lesbianism to her family. VHS 3835

Playing unfair: the media image of the female athlete. 2002. (30 min.). It has been 30 years since Title IX legislation granted women equal playing time, but the male-dominated world of sports journalism has yet to catch up with the law. Coverage of women's sport lags far behind men's, and focuses on female athletes femininity and sexuality over their achievements on the court and field. VHS 7160

Privilege. 1990. (103 min.). Interweaving the real and fictional, the personal and political, the filmmaker delves into concepts such as sexual identity and unequal economies of race, gender, and class while making a film on menopause. VHS 1668

Raising Cain: exploring the inner lives of America's boys. 2006. (ca. 120 min.). Two of the country's leading child psychologists identify the social and emotion challenges that boys encounter in school and show how parents can help boys cultivate emotional awareness, giving them the support to navigate the social pressures of youth. DVD 1841

Rate it X. 1986. (95 min.). A frank, humorous, ironic and provocative documentary about what men really think about women based on interviews with a wide variety of men that reveal the sense of machismo and sexual double standards that are still part of our culture. VHS 3462

Recovering bodies: overcoming eating disorders. 1997. (34 min.). Focuses not simply on people's problems with food, but on the renewed hope for a healthy life that the process of recovery can provide. Presents the stories and testimonies of seven college students, showing the wide range of pressures that can lead to disordered eating. Discusses the psychological and physical symptoms of eating disorders. VHS 5363

Remarkable case of John Joan. 1997. (30 min.). At eight-months-old Baby John was the victim of an accident during circumcision that left him with almost no penis. At age two, based on the theory that nurture rather than nature creates sexual identity, Dr. John Money at John Hopkins University recommended that John's testicles be surgically removed and that he be brought up as a girl. His family agreed and John was raised as "Joan." Despite the fact that John was miserable in his female persona, Dr. Money published a report on the success of this particular sex assignment. When John learned the truth about his birth, he made several suicide attempts and cut off contact with Dr. Money. Later he underwent reconstructive surgery that enabled him to resume his life as John. VHS 5546

Reviving Ophelia: saving the selves of adolescent girls. 1998. (35 min.). Clinical psychologist Mary Pipher discusses the challenges facing today's teenagers, especially girls, as well as the role of media and popular culture in shaping their identities. Offers ideas to help girls free themselves from the influences of media-saturated culture. VHS 5371

Rites. 1991. (52 min.). The genital mutilation known as female circumcision is still a widespread custom affecting approximately 80 million women throughout 30 countries. The practice is described and discussed by many of those who have had this operation, as well as health and women's rights representatives, who are trying to have the custom stopped. Program considers three major contexts in which female genital mutilation (FGM) occurs. The first is "cosmetic," and the second is "punitive." Medical historian Dr. Ornella Moscurri describes how women in the late 19th and early 20th century were subjected to FGM if they stepped out of line. The third context is part of the cultural transition to adulthood and initiation into female life. Routine mutilation has been fiercely attacked by Western observers, although such attacks have themselves been the subject of accusations of cultural imperialism. VHS 1633

A season in hell. 1989. (59 min.). A documentary film composed of five years of interwoven personal narratives, recounting the struggles of Regina Hatfield, a young woman from Eastern Kentucky who suffers from anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Beginning with Regina's decision at fourteen to diet after a boy's rejection of her because she was overweight, the film follows her through high school, college, hospitalization, and an engagement. VHS 4252

The self; testing and intelligence. 1989. (56 min.). Program 15 explores society's role in shaping our ideas of who we really are. Also examines the emotional and motivational consequences of beliefs about oneself. Program 16 defines intelligence and how it is measured. VHS 1133

Sex: each one of us. 1989. (26 min.). Many of our attitudes concerning sex, women, and homosexuality come from the Greeks. This program examines our modern views concerning these topics and gives us insight into how ancient Greece was freer in its attitudes towards sex. However, even though the Greeks pursued sexual freedom, this program demonstrates that Greek society was not the sexual utopia that many have believed. VHS 1142

Sexual dependency. 2004. (110 min.). Five teenagers from the United States and Bolivia, with nothing in common except the desire to experience true intimacy, fall victim to their own sexual dependencies, self-perceptions and illusions. The teenagers deal with issues such as femininity, masculinity, virginity, rape and sexuality, and each teen will struggle to make sense of their own identity, reaching for ideals that represent everything they feel they are supposed to be, but are not. DVD 1010

Slim hopes: advertising and the obsession with thinness. 1995. (30 min.). Explores the manner in which women are portrayed by advertising with the focus on thinness. Discusses the impact this portrayal has on the self images of women and girls. VHS 3497

The smell of burning ants. 1994. (22 min.). 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. VHS 3843

Southern comfort. 2003. (90 min.). Toccoa, Georgia. Robert Eads is a 52-year-old wise-cracking cowboy who was born female and transitioned into living as a man after bearing two sons. Fifteen years later, he has fallen in love with Lola Cola, a vivacious and magnetic woman who was born male. Together they are coping with Robert's terminal case of ovarian cancer. DVD 631

Stigmata: the transfigured body. 1991. (27 min.). Women discuss tattooing and piercing and the link between these practices and women's empowerment. VHS 4692

Still killing us softly: advertising's image of women. 1987. (ca. 32 min.). Author Jean Kilbourne explores the images of women, men, and children presented by modern advertising. She illustrates with examples the use of women as sex objects. She also examines the techniques used by advertisers to exploit the insecurities of consumers, particularly the concerns about aging, body image, and sexuality. VHS 1477
Also refer to The strength to resist: the media's impact on women & girls (DVD 1519) and Killing us softly 3: advertising's image of women (VHS 6449).

The strength to resist: The media's impact on women & girls. 2001. (34 min.). A documentary about the fight against the toxic and degrading messages to women and girls that dominate the media. The film presents the leading authorities in the fields of psychology of women and girls, eating disorders, gender studies, violence against women, and media literacy -- and focuses their ideas on practical solutions and the best tactics for reclaiming our culture. DVD 1519

Taboo: the complete first season. 2004. (611 min.). A series from the National Geographic Channel displays the world's exotic cultural taboos consisting of rituals, beliefs and practices handed down from generation to generation. Refer to: Sexuality (disc three, episode 9), Tattoo (disc four, episode 13) DVD 2431

Taboo: the complete second season. 2005. (658 min.). Refer to: Body Perfect (disc two, episode 6), Marks of Identity (disc three, episode 12) DVD 2432

Thinking XXX. 2006. (60 min.). Go behind the scenes with renowned photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders during the making of his book XXX: 30 porn-star portraits. DVD 2566

Tomboys: feisty girls & spirited women. 2004. (28 min.). Interviews with activist women are intercut with archival footage and photographs to celebrate tomboys of all ages. Explores the way gender identity is constructed from a very early age. VHS 7711

Tongues untied. 2007. (55 min.). In an experimental amalgam of rap music, street poetry, documentary film, and dance, a gay African-American man expresses what it is like to be gay and black in the United States. Although he deals with social ostracism and fear of AIDS, he affirms the beauty and significance of the gay black man. DVD 2775

Tough guise: violence, media, and the crisis in masculinity. 1999. (85 min.). Presents 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 a 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. VHS 6196

Transgeneration. 2005. (ca. 300 min.). Follows four American college students as they prepare for gender reassignment. They discuss their lives, their hopes and setbacks, and deal with varying reactions from family and friends. DVD 2065

Trevor. 1994. (18 min.). Trevor is a teenager who is discovering his homosexual desires. He is ignored by his parents and teased by his classmates. His only solace is his Diana Ross records. VHS 3346

Venus boyz. 2004. (103 min.). Venus Boyz takes the viewers on an extraordinary journey into the universe of female masculinity. Filmed in New York City and London, this eye-opening documentary uses the performances of drag kings as a starting point into the topic of transgendering. DVD 895

Wedding song: henna art among Pakistani women in New York City. 1990. (41 min.). Shenaz Hooda illustrates the traditional art of mehendi, the henna decoration of women's hands and feet for weddings and other festive occasions. The film includes the ceremonies as well as the Urdu songs (with English subtitles) that are part of a traditional Ismailite wedding. VHS 1076

Welcome to womanhood. 1998. (14 min.). In a follow-up to the 1996 documentary "The Cutting Edge." BBC-TV correspondent, Donu Kogbara returns to the Kapchorwe region of Uganda to look at the success and failure of the REACH project in northern Uganda which tried to replace the dangerous practice of female genital mutilation with ceremonies for the exchange of cattle and gifts to welcome young girls into the adult community. VHS 5374

Wet dreams and false images. 2004. (11 min.). An award winning documentary film that uses humor to serious concerns about the marketplace of commercial illusion and unrealizable standards of physical perfection. VHS 7755

What's up with middle school guys? 2001. (55 min.). Chronicles the lives of middle school boys as they go through puberty. Through first-person narrative and self-recorded group sessions with a videocamera, it unveils the personal dramas of boys from different backgrounds as they develop coping skills to deal with the conflicts they encounter regarding peer pressure, families, school, puberty, drugs and girls. VHS 6848

You don't know Dick: courageous hearts of transsexual men. 1997. (58 min.). Provides honest and riveting portraits of six men (Michael, an artist; Ted, a computer executive; Stephen, a police officer; Max, a writer; James, a leader in the transsexual community; and Loren, a photographer) who once were women. Through their commentaries and the experiences of partners, friends, and family emerges an unforgettable story of self-discovery. VHS 4604

Younger, thinner, smoother: how the baby boomers are changing the face of cosmetic surgery. 2000. (51 min.). Elizabeth Sher documents her personal journey to decide whether or not to have plastic surgery. This program questions and offers insights into the deeper issues of image and aging. VHS 7470

Narrative and Fictional Films / Related Titles

Ali, fear eats the soul = Angst essen Seele auf. 1974, 2003. (93 min.). Lonely widow Emmi Kurowski meets Arab worker Ali in a bar during a rainstorm. They fall in love--to their own surprise, and to the shock of family, colleagues, and drinking buddies. An emotional power that reflects the ethnic tensions within German society. DVD 615

Àma soeur! = Fat girl. 2004. (86 min.). Twelve-year-old Anaïs is fat. Her sister, Eléna, is a beauty. Eléna meets an Italian law student, who seduces her with promises of love, as the ever-watchful Anaïs bears witness to the corruption of her sister's innocence. DVD 2945

Boys don't cry. 1999. (116 min.). Teena Brandon alters her appearance to appear as a man, and assumes the name Brandon Teena. She moves to a tiny Nebraska town and begins making new friends under her new identity. All goes well until her new friends discover her secret. Based on a true story about hope, fear, and the courage it takes to be yourself. DVD 90

Cowards bend the knee. 2003. (60 min.). Guy Maddin, hockey player for the Winnipeg Maroons, takes his pregnant girlfriend to a beauty salon that moonlights as an abortion clinic and leaves her (mid-procedure) for the salon owner's daughter. He then discovers that his new girlfriend can't be with a man until she avenges her father's murder. DVD 1488

Dance workout with Barbie. 1992. (30 min.). Barbie leads girls in over a dozen new dance workout routines. VHS 5337

The day I became a woman = Roozi ke zan shodam. 2000, 2005. (78 min.). Three portraits of women at three stages of life in Iran, including a nine-year-old girl told she can no longer play with boys because she is now a "woman", a young woman who enters a bicycle race against her husband’s wishes, and an old woman who gains money and the freedom to do what she wishes with it. Special features include text of the director’s statement, interview, and filmography. DVD 3670

Dead ringers. 1998. (115 min.). The story of identical twin gynecologists -- suave Elliot and sensitive Beverly, opposite sides of one personality -- who share the same practice, the same apartment, and the same women. Then one special woman enters their lives. The twins, their bizarre bond threatened for the first time, descend into a whirlpool of sexual confusion, drugs and madness. DVD 65

The films of Kenneth Anger. Volume 2. 2007. (120 min.). Covering the second half of Anger's career, from his legendary Scorpio rising to his breathtaking phantasmagoria Lucifer rising, Fantoma is very proud to complete the cycle with this long-awaited final volume of films by this revolutionary and groundbreaking maverick, painstakingly restored and presented on DVD for the first time anywhere in the world. Refer to Scorpio Rising. DVD 3297

La moustache. 2007. (84 min.). When a man shaves off his mustache, a trademark he's had for years, no one around him notices, instead insisting he's never even had one. Is he going insane, or is this some kind of strange conspiracy? DVD 2520

Olympia. 2004. (165 min.). Commissioned by the 1936 Olympic Committee as a documentary on the Berlin Olympics, Riefenstahl combines the poetry of bodies in motion with close-ups of athletes in the heat of competition, including American track star Jesse Owen's sprint races. Some say that the production tends to glorify the young male body and express the Nazi attitude toward athletic prowess. DVD 1663

Palindromes. 2005. (100 min.). A fable of innocence: thirteen-year-old Aviva Victor wants to be a 'mom'. She does all she can to make this happen, and comes very close to succeeding, but in the end her plan is thwarted by her sensible parents. So she runs away, still determined to get pregnant one way or another, but instead finds herself lost in another world, a less sensible one, perhaps, but one pregnant itself with all sorts of strange possibility. DVD 1472

Tarnation. 2005. (ca. 88 min.). A multitude of family snapshots, Super-8 home movies, old answering machine messages, video diaries, early short films, snippets of '80s pop culture, and dramatic reenactments are used to create an epic portrait of an American family travesty. Begins in 2003 when Jonathan learns that his schizophrenic mother, Renee, overdoses on her lithium medication. He is shot back into his real and horrifying family legacy of rape, abandonment, promiscuity, drug addiction, child abuse, and psychosis. He grows up on camera and finds his escape in musical theater and B-horror movies. A look into the future shows Jonathan as he confronts the almost unbearable love he shares with his tragically damaged mother. DVD 2055

Todo sobre mi madre = All about my mother. 2000. (102 min.). A single mother in Madrid sees her only son die on his 17th birthday as he runs to seek an actress's autograph. She goes to Barcelona to find the lad's father, a transvestite named Lola who does not know he has a child. First she finds her friend, Agrado, also a transvestite; through him she meets Rosa, a young nun bound for El Salvador, and by happenstance, becomes the personal assistant of Huma Rojo, the actress her son admired. DVD 2446

Transamerica. 2006. (104 min.). Bree Osborne, a pre-operative transsexual, learns she fathered a child back when she was Stanley Osborne. The wheels of fortune take Bree and her teenaged son on a cross-country trip that will change both their lives. DVD 2064

WR: mysteries of the organism. 2007. (85 min.). What does the energy harnessed through orgasm have to do with the state of communist Yugoslavia circa 1971? Only counterculture filmmaker extraordinaire Dusan Makavejev has the answers (or the questions). His surreal documentary-fiction collision WR: Mysteries of the Organism begins as an investigation into the life and work of controversial psychologist and philosopher Wilhelm Reich and then explodes into a free-form narrative of a beautiful young Slavic girl's sexual liberation. Banned upon its release in the director's homeland, the art-house smash WR is both whimsical and bold in its blending of politics and sexuality. DVD 2987

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