- see also Women's Studies - U.S.; Biographies of Notable Women; Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Mediagraphies

Arts and Literature

Antonia: A portrait of the woman. 1994. 1 videocassette (58 min.). Celebrates the determination and accomplishments of a musical pioneer as it presents a portrait of Antonia Brico who in the 1930s established an international reputation as an accomplished orchestra conductor. Also shows how Antonia, in the face of adversity and discrimination, seeks the opportunity to lead a major symphony orchestra in a field dominated by men in the Western world. (VHS 5817)

Ayn Rand: A sense of life. 1999. 1 videodisc (143 min.). Documentary look at the life and work of the controversial Russian-born author, Ayn Rand from early childhood and escape from Soviet Russia to her struggle and triumph as an American writer. Film draws on personal papers and public archives as it combines fact, literary fiction and a weave of interviews with intellectual heir Leonard Peikoff, television journalist Mike Wallace as well as photos, film footage and an original film-noir scene from her 1934 play, "Ideal." Captures Rand's life-long themes of reason, rational selfishness and political freedom. (DVD 72)

Barbara Kruger: Pictures & words. Art / New York. 1996. 1 videocassette (28 min). Barbara Kruger's art blends the pragmatic world of advertising and graphic design, a highly developed aesthetic sense and a razor sharp political viewpoint that touches on such themes as patriarchy and our consumer culture as she makes work that not only questions the traditional modes of making art, but work that forcefully interjects itself into our preconceived values and social systems. Seen are two recent shows at the Mary Boone Gallery in SOHO as well as work done in the streets of New York. In interviews, author Kate Linker and critic Peter Schjeldahl discuss the artist's work. (VHS 6391)

The cinematic jazz of Julie Dash. 1997. 1 videocassette (27 min.). Afro-American filmmaker, producer, writer and director Julie Dash talks about her life and work and the difficulties she has had getting her films distributed and accepted. Interspersed with her comments are clips from three of her films, Daughters of the dust, Illusions, and Diary of an African Nun, and she talks about the making of a fourth film, Four women. One of her principal aims, she says, is "to redefine images of black women on the screen.". (VHS 6679)

Dream girls. 1 videocassette (50 min.). Film looks at the Takarazuka Revue, a highly successful theater company in Japan, where all roles are played by women and the Takarazuka Music School whose students dream of joining the Revue. (VHS 4518)

Emily Carr: A woman of all sorts. 1997. 1 videocassette (55 min.). The life of Canadian artist and writer Emily Carr. Actors portray her as a young woman, and then as an older woman. (VHS 7389)

Emma Amos: Action lines.  African American artist series. 1996. 1 videocassette (28 min.). Emma Amos, an African American artist, talks about her life and her art. Amos paints pictures based on her feelings and fears. She includes materials such as photographs, her own weaving, and African cloth to help portray what is important to her. (VHS 5800)

From the journals of Jean Seberg. 1998. 1 videodisc (98 min.). A bio-pic about actress Jean Seberg is presented in a first-person, autobiographical format. Mark Rappaport seamlessly interweaves cinema, politics, American society and culture, and film theory to inform, entertain, and move the viewer. Seberg's many marriages, as well as her film roles, are discussed extensively. Her involvement with the Black Panther Movement and subsequent investigation by the FBI is covered. Notably, details of French New Wave cinema, Russian Expressionist films, and the careers of Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave, and Clint Eastwood are also examined. Much of the film is based on conjecture, but it encourages viewers to re-examine their ideas about women in film. (DVD 431)

Gaja Gamini. 2000. 1 videodisc. The film, an operatic ballet, moves between illusion & reality. It depicts the journey of a woman called Gaja Gamini, suspended in time and space along with a variety of characters from art, history, music & poetry. These characters, voicing the aesthetics of feminine beauty, are points of reference and interact with each other on the essence & identity of woman. (DVD 315)

Kiki Smith. Art/New York. 1994. 1 videocassette (28 min.). An interview with Kiki Smith, an innovative sculptor in New York City. Covers two of her exhibits (in 1992 and in 1993) at the Fawbush Gallery. Also includes interviews with Joe Fawbush and Thomas Jones, her dealers, and Claudia Gould, director of Artist Space, also in New York. (VHS 5794)

Marguerite: A reflection of herself. 2002. 1 videocassette (61 min.). A personal portrait of the great French writer Marguerite Duras.  Made with home movies, archives, film extracts, readings, and television interviews filmed over many years. (VHS 7273)

Martha Graham: The dancer revealed. Dance series. 1994. 1 videocassette (60 min.). A documentary of the life of the American dancer and choreographer, Martha Graham. Extracts of her works include "Appalachian Spring" and "Night journey.". (VHS 3351)

Mary Frank: A matter of spirit. Art/ New York. 1998. 1 videocassette (28 min.). Looks at the work of Mary Frank, an artist best known for her ceramic sculpture and her work in printmaking. However, in the past 10 years or so, she has also turned to painting and has created an impressive body of work rich in evocative imagery. Includes Frank's 1998 exhibition titled "Inscapes" at the DC Moore Gallery as well as interviews with gallery director Edward De Luca, art historian Linda Nochlin and Mary Frank in her studio and sculpture garden in upstate New York. (VHS 5796)

Nan Goldin: In my life. Art/New York. 1997. 1 videocassette (28 min). The work of Nan Goldin, one of the major photographers of the latter part of the 20th century, is featured through a retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art. The exhibition was organized by Elizabeth Sussman and selected by Goldin and David Armstrong. Interviews with Goldin and Marvin Heiferman are included. (VHS 5795)

Paris was a woman. 1996. 1 videocassette (75 min.). Through a combination of still photos, archival film footage, and interview commentary this film documents the creative community of French, English and American women, many of whom were lesbians, who gravitated to the Left Bank in Paris during the early part of the 20th century. Among those the film profiles are: Collette, Djuna Barnes, Gertrude Stein, Romaine Brooks, Marie Laurencin, Bernice Abbot, Gisele Freund, Sylvia Beach, Adrienne Monnier, Janet Flanner, Natalie Clifford Barney. (VHS 5148)

Persistent women artists: Pablita Velarde, Mine Okubo, Lois Mailou Jones. 1997. 1 videocassette (28 min.). International artist and art educator Betty LaDuke interviews three American women artists of diverse heritages, who discuss how their art reflects the experience of each as a Native, Asian, and African American woman. (VHS 5805)

A reputation. Women : word for word. 1997. 1 videocassette (30 min.). "In 1612, Artemisia [Gentileschi] accused a fellow artist of rape.  Using original transcripts from the rape trial, this program, through Artemisia's and other character's testimony, reconstructs how the male-dominated art community of Michelangelo's Rome falsified her promiscuity and forever destroyed her reputation as a woman and even as an artist."--Container. (VHS 5347)

The war within: A portrait of Virginia Woolf. 1995. 1 videocassette (52 min.). A portrait of Virginia Woolf, including a recreation of the furor around the 1910 and 1912 post-Impressionist exhibits, documentation of the Woolfs' contribution to the creation of the League of Nations, the recently discovered letters of Virginia Woolf to Vita Sackville-West and the actual Gestapo arrest list of 1940 that shows the Nazis's intention to arrest both Leonard and Virginia Woolf. (VHS 4093)

The wonderful horrible life of Leni Riefenstahl. 1993. 2 videocassettes (181 min.) or 1 videodisc (188 min.). Interviews with Leni Riefenstahl, now in her nineties, flash-backs and modern film sequences tell the story of the most famous woman film director of all time.  Known for her films made during the Third Reich, Riefenstahl's story is a controversial one.  Best known for "Triumph of the Will," the film made of the 1934 Nazi Party Congress, it proved to be her undoing. (DVD 731)

Zero budget. 1996. 1 videocassette (27 min.). Looks at the emergence of lesbian feature filmmakers in the U.S. and how they produce films on a small budget. Interviews with directors Rose Troche (Go Fish); Sharon Pollack (Everything Relative); Kimberley Pierce (Stone); and Alex Sichel (All Over Me) as well as with producer Dolly Hall, executive producer Christine Vachon and writers Sylvia Sichel and Guinevere Turner. (VHS 4784)

 

Domestic issues and topics

Abused women who fought back: The Framingham Eight. 1994. 1 videocassette (44 min). Explores the problem of domestic violence through the dramatic memories of the women who became known as the "Framingham Eight." Each woman was imprisoned in Framingham, MA, for killing a spouse or partner they say abused them repeatedly. (VHS 3026)

Aileen Wuornos: The selling of a serial killer. 1994. 1 videocassette (87 min.). True story of the first female serial killer in the U.S., Aileen Wuornos, and the opportunists who used her story. They include the woman who adopted Aileen while she was on trial and then sold Aileen's story, the lawyer who convinced Aileen to plead no contest, and Aileen's lesbian lover who got her to confess. (VHS 6965)

Barbie nation: An unauthorized tour. 1998. 1 videocassette (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)

bell hooks: Cultural criticism & transformation. Race and diversity series. 1997. 1 videocassette (66 min.). bell hooks makes a compelling argument for the transformative power of cultural criticism. She demonstrates how learning to think critically can play a role in students' quest for a sense of agency and identity. (VHS 2547)

A boy named Sue. 2000. 1 videocassette (57 min.). This documentary chronicles the transformation of a transsexual names 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. 1 videocassette (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)

Butterfly. 2000. 1 videocassette (80 min.). Julia "Butterfly" Hill, a twenty-four year old has spent two years living in a tree. She's protesting lumbering of redwood forests in California. Wolens' interviews over two years, including six nights with Hill on her 180-foot high platform, reveal an intensely spiritual and articulate woman determined to accomplish her goal. (VHS 6409)

Complaints of a dutiful daughter. 1994. 1 videocassette (45 min.). Shows interactions between an Alzheimer's patient and her daughter.  The daughter discusses how she has dealt with her mother's illness and describes various stages of the disease. (VHS 3572)

The date rape backlash: The media and the denial of rape. 1994. 1 videocassette (58 min.). A critical examination of how media portrayal of date rape has evolved within a span of five years from portraying date rape as an epidemic to a view of date rape as feminist victim oriented propaganda. (VHS 3485)

Feminist futures: Finding the joy. 2000. 1 videocassette (ca. 60 min.). bell hooks, social critic, feminist scholar, activist, poet, memoirist and teacher, explores the topic of love and how it has been perceived in relation to feminism. A question and answer session follows the lecture. (VHS 6337)

Feminist therapy. APA psychotherapy videotape series. 1994. 1 videocassette (42 min.). From a 12 part series that presents distinguished psychotherapists of different theoretical orientations demonstrating their own ways of conducting psychotherapy in entire sessions. Clients are played unscripted by professional actors who improvise on the basis of real case materials. Laura S. Brown conducts a mock therapy session that stresses the use of feminist therapy, an approach that encourages clients to discover the manner in which their authority in their lives has been taken from them and to reclaim that authority and to speak in their own voice. (VHS 7360 pt. 7)

Gender and communication: Male-female differences in language and nonverbal behavior. 2001. 1 videocassette (42 min.). This video explores the impact that gender has on both verbal messages including speech, language, and vocabulary, as well as on nonverbal channels of communication such as touch, movement, and gesture. (VHS 7365)

God is not through with me yet. 1995. 1 videocassette (27 min.). Film examines the past and present lives of ordinary, Afro-American Baptist women in Marion County, Florida, in order to record their role in the conservation and transmission of Afro-American culture. Looks at their role in the establishment, management and support of Baptist churches. Features interviews with members of the New Jerusalem Baptist Church, York, Florida, and the Canaan Missionary Baptist Church, Flemington, Florida, among others. (VHS 4412)

Golden threads. 1999. 1 videocassette (56 min.). Profiles the life of 93-year old lesbian activist Christine Burton, founder of a global networking service for mid-life and elder lesbians. Gives a groundbreaking, intergenerational picture of sexuality, life choices, and aging. (VHS 6610)

A healthy baby girl. 1996. 1 videocassette (57 min.). At twenty-five, Judith Helfand was diagnosed with a rare form of cervical cancer caused by diethylstilbestrol (DES), a synthetic hormone that her mother had taken to prevent miscarriage. At home with her own family after a radical hysterectomy, she picked up her camera and, over the next five years, created a video-diary that explores what happens when science, marketing, and corporate power intersect with the deeply held desire to reproduce ourselves. Film documents a story of mother-daughter love, family renewal, survival, political awakening, and community activism. (VHS 4593)

The heart of the matter. 1994. 1 videocassette (54 min.). Documentary on women afflicted with AIDS. Focuses on the life and death of Janice Jirau, an African American woman, who was infected with the virus by her husband. Following his death and her diagnosis with the HIV virus, she became politically active and publicly sought to challenge the mythology of the disease. Interviews with other HIV-positive women underscore the universal nature of the problems Janice confronted and draws attention to the alarming growth of this epidemic among women. (VHS 4633)

Hide and seek. 1996. 1 videocassette (64 min.). An exploration into lesbian adolescence in the 1960's. (VHS 6710)

The human body: Appearance, shape and self-image. 1998. 1 videocassette (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)

In my own skin: The complexity of living as an Arab in America. 2001. 1 videocassette (16 min.). This video sheds the light on the complexities of the Arab American experience through the candid, in-depth interviews with five young Arab women living in New York in the months following the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center. (VHS 6997)

Jupiter's wife. 1996. 1 videocassette (ca. 78 min.). Maggie, a homeless woman who wanders in New York's Central Park with her pack of dogs and an enormous backpack, claims to be the daughter of the actor Robert Ryan and the wife of the Roman god Jupiter. For two years, filmmaker Negroponte follows her everyday life as he tries to uncover the truth behind her cryptic stories. (VHS 4997)

Lipstick. 2002. 1 videocassette (10 min.). "Emily is your average teenage girl. She hangs with her friends. Plays soccer. Looks forward to graduation. And thinks about boys...and girls. This is Emily's story of coming out."--Container. (VHS 7280)

Mirror for the heart: Facing eating disorders . 1996. 1 videocassette (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)

Miss America. American Experience. 2002. 1 videocassette (ca. 96 min.). Tracking the country's oldest beauty contest - from its inception in 1921 as a local seaside pageant to its heyday as one of the country's most popular events - Miss America paints a vivid picture of an institution that has come to reveal much about a changing nation. Using intimate interviews with former contestants, and fabulous behind-the-scenes footage and photographs, the film reveals why some women took part in the fledgling event and how the pageant became a battle ground and a barometer for the changing position of women in society. (VHS 6988)

Miss India Georgia. 1997. 1 videocassette (56 min.). Documentary look at four contestants in the Miss India Georgia Pageant in Atlanta. It tells the story of their experiences as first generation Americans and the difficulties of blending a contemporary American life style with the cultural heritage and traditions of India. These young women disclose the complexity of their feelings about growing up in the U.S. as children of immigrant parents. (VHS 5156)

Monuments are for men, waffles are for women: Exploring gender permanence & impermanence. 2000. 1 videocassette (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)

My feminism. 1997. 1 videocassette (55 min.). Presents the views of a number of women as they discuss feminism and the feminist movement, including current status, adversaries, cultural history and subservience of women, female backlash, movement timidity, and feminism in developing countries. (VHS 4709)

Nuyorican dream. 2000. 1 videocassette (82 min.). Follows five years in the life of a New York Puerto Rican family struggling against poverty, drug addiction and incarceration, capturing the emotional immediacy of a family in a free-fall without a social safety net. It also celebrates elements of community life -- solidarity, sharing of resources, cultural citizenship -- which make day-to-day survival possible giving testimony to the central role played by Puerto Rican women in maintaining family and cultural ties. (VHS 6490)

Period piece. 1996. 1 videocassette (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)

Poverty outlaw. 1997. 1 videocassette (60 min.). Documentary from the point-of-view of Philadelphia welfare recipients, showing some of the devastating effects of welfare reform.  Chronicles the growth of the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, a group of welfare recipients organizing to protest the cuts in their benefits and to work toward better living conditions for poor people who live in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia. (VHS 4342)

The powder room. 1996. 1 videocassette (ca. 50 min.). A film in which the powder room becomes a metaphor for women's inner spaces. Originating from the director's observation that women trade secrets with friends and strangers in public washrooms, documentary goes behind the closed doors of women's washrooms to record women as they reveal to each other the secrets of their emotional lives - confessing their joys, their frustrations and their pain about love, sex, relationships with men and friendships with each other. (VHS 4626)

Pride divide. 1997. 1 videocassette (57 min.). Film explores the gender gap between gays and lesbians - a conflict that is often fraught with irony as their struggle of male versus female mirrors many traditional conflicts inherent to straight relationships. Looks at issues around male domination versus female submission; promiscuousness versus commitment; exaltation of the body versus the spirit: AIDS versus breast cancer support. Looks at the subtle chauvinism by gay activists who excluded lesbians from their political and social life, especially in the 1950s. (VHS 5545)

Reviving Ophelia: Saving the selves of adolescent girls. 1998. 1 videocassette (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)

Self-defense for women. 1994. 1 videocassette (59 min.). June Castro, an accomplished martial artist, demonstrates the basic elements needed for self-defense.  She teaches how to avoid confrontations through awareness and how to escape if possible. (VHS 3406)

Sexual orientations in perspective. 2001. 1 videocassette (ca. 65 min.). Themes discussed include the conceptualization and development of sexual orientations and such orientations in relationship to other aspects of human diversity. (VHS 6638)

Southern comfort. 2003. 1 videodisc (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)

Unveiled: The mother/daughter relationship. 1997. 1 videocassette (ca. 55 min.). Film is a candid look at three sets of mothers and daughters in the throes of planning a wedding. Done in verite-style cinematography complemented with interviews, film is spiced with humor, pathos, frustration, resentment and love.  (VHS 4627)

Welfare warriors. 1997. 1 videocassette (ca. 36 min.). Welfare Warriors is a grassroots movement of single mothers on welfare who are opposed to the "welfare reform bill" signed into law in August 1996 by President Clinton. Film seeks to put today's efforts to dismantle the welfare state into an historical perspective through women's personal experiences and the comments of social critics and advocates of welfare. Through lobbying, public speaking and direct action, the women of Welfare Warriors seek to dispel the negative myths about welfare mothers and to assert that "an attack on poor women is an attack on all women.". (VHS 5308)

When women kill. 1994. 1 videocassette (47 min.). Ann Jones, author of "Women Who Kill," explains the evolution of societies' attitude toward women who murder abusive spouses. Places the personal stories of three battered women in a legal/historical context as the women tell why they killed; also exposes the obstacles facing women who live with batterers. (VHS 3109)

Women and public policy: The actors and the issues. 1994. 1 videocassette (120 min.). Dr. Harrison discusses the historical and political context of women's role in the development of public policy that affects women. Dr. Williams also takes a historical view but focuses on family law and especially on the issue of family violence. Dr. Budetti discusses the role of women in higher education, and Dr. Burk discusses current strategy and issues. (VHS 2623)

Women of substance. 1994. 1 videocassette (30 min.). A glimpse into the lives of women substance abusers and their young children. Includes options in treatment and recovery. (VHS 7376)

You don't know Dick: Courageous hearts of transsexual men. 1997. 1 videocassette (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)

 

Equal Rights

America's Victoria: Remembering Victoria Woodhull. 1995. 1 videocassette (82 min.). Uses archival images, interviews with contemporary feminists such as Gloria Steinem, and readings from Woodhulls's works to present a portrait of the first woman to appear before a Congressional committee and the first woman to campaign (in 1872) for U.S. President - on a ticket of a single sexual standard for men and women, legalization of prostitution, reform of marriage and family institutions, and "free love.". (VHS 5137)

Classroom climate workshops [gender equity]. 1996. 1 videocassette (30 min.). Objective of the video is to present dramas that deal with the issue of gender inequity in the classroom in order to increase awareness of issues, explore teachers' attitudes and consider steps to improve the classroom climate. Video contains three scenes that illustrate gender inequity in the classroom. Each scene is introduced by a narrator and shows a teaching assistant interacting with students in a chemistry lab. Cues are provided so that the tape may be stopped for discussion. Guide offers a step-by-step approach to using the video in a gender equity workshop. (Kit 81)

Eleanor Roosevelt. 2000. 1 videocassette (ca. 150 min.). For more than thirty years, Eleanor Roosevelt was America's most powerful woman. Drawing on interviews with her closest relatives, friends, and biographers, as well as rare home movie footage, the film reveals the hidden dimensions of one of the century's most influential women. (VHS 6170)

No secret anymore: The times of Del Martin & Phyllis Lyon. 2003. 1 videocassette (57 min.). "Chronicles the lives of two women who have been partners in love and political struggle for half a century. San Francisco icons, Del and Phyllis are known as the founders of the modern lesbian civil rights movement. No Secret Anymore follows them through six decades, tracing the emergence of lesbians from the fear of discovery to the expectation of equality."-WomanVision website. (VHS 7542)

Not for ourselves alone: The story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony. 1999. 2 videocassettes (210 min.). "The dramatic, little-known story of one of the most compelling friendships in American history.  Elizabeth Stanton and Susan Anthony were born into a world ruled entirely by men.  By the time their lives were over, they had changed for the better the lives of a majority of American citizens. Their personal relationship was often turbulent but they never wavered in their shared belief that equality was the birthright of every woman, and for more than half a century led the fight to make that dream a reality"--Container. (VHS 5947)

One woman, one vote. 1995. 1 videocassette (109 min.). Documents the 70-year struggle for women's suffrage which culminated in the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920. It illuminates the alliances, infighting, betrayals and defeats that paved the way for victory in the battle for women's right to vote. Historical footage is enhanced with vocal performances, and interviews with historians provide the viewer with both current and historical perspectives. (VHS 3076)

Six generations. 1999. 1 videocassette (15 min.). From Elizabeth Cady Stanton to her great-great-great-granddaughter Elizabeth Jenkins-Sahlin, six generations of Stanton women have fought for equality in the voting booth, the classroom, and the workplace.  This concise overview of the women's movement in America uses interviews, archival footage, and photos to spotlight key contributors, such as the Stantons and Susan B. Anthony, and history-making moments in the ongoing struggle for equal rights, ranging from the first Women's Rights Convention in 1848 to the protest marches of the 1960s and 70s. (VHS 5956)

The speeches of famous women. The speeches collection. 1995. 1 videocassette (56 min.). Traces the progression of the women's movement with speeches from suffragettes through senators, including Eleanor Roosevelt, Betty Ford, who endorses the Equal Rights Act, and leaders Betty Friedan, Senator Carol Moseley-Braun and Barbara Boxer. (VHS 3790)

 

Feature Films

Bend it like Beckham. 2003. orig. 2002. 1 videodisc (112 min.). Eighteen year-old Jesminder's parents want her to be a nice, conventional Indian girl. But she just wants to play soccer like her hero, David Beckham. For Jess, that means kicking a ball around the local park with the lads until she's spotted by Jules, who invites her to join the local women's team. Feature film. (DVD 672)

La bien pagada = Well paid woman. Popular Mexican cinema. 1998. orig. 1947. 1 videocassette (90 min.). The story about a woman who is unfaithful to her husband. Later she finds herself in a situation were she is humiliated to the point  of having to sell her body for pleasure. Her ex-husband buys her favors, treating her like a prostitute. An example of the Cabaretera genre of Mexican film. A beautiful young woman weds a wealthy older man, but after several years, takes up with a former boyfriend. Will true love win out in the end? Feature film. (VHS 6748)

Charulata = The lonely wife. Sony pictures classics. 1997. orig. 1964. 1 videocassette (ca. 117 min.). The wife of a publisher tries to find a way out of her confining domestic situation. Feature film. (VHS 7082)

Down in the delta. 1999. orig. 1998. 1 videodisc (ca. 111 min.). A troubled single mother from a tough Chicago neighborhood is sent to spend a summer at her family's home in rural Mississippi. Directed by Maya Angelou. Feature film. (DVD 60)

Faat Kine. The library of African cinema. 2000. 1 videocassette (121 min.). "The deceptively light domestic drama of Faat Kine, a gas station operator born, significantly, the same year as Senegalese independence, 1960."--http://www.californianewsreel.com. Feature film. (VHS 6795)

La fille seule = A single girl. 1997. orig. 1993. 1 videocassette (90 min.). Drama showing a day in the life of a young Parisian woman named Valerie who is beginning a new job and who reveals to her boyfriend that she is four weeks pregnant. Feature film. (VHS 6058)

Girlfight. 2001. orig. 2000. 1 videodisc (110 min.). Diana Guzman is always fighting, whether at home in the housing projects with her abusive dad or at high school. She finds a new outlet for her anger at her brother's boxing gym. With hard-core training from veteran boxing coach Hector, Diana learns she has the guts and talent to be a contender. Feature film. (DVD 204)

Go fish. 1995. orig. 1994. 1 videocassette (83 min.). A humorous and sensual look at love among a small circle of young gay women. Kia , a professor, is involved with Evy. They would like Kia's roommate, Max, to meet a woman. Kia sets her up with Ely, an ex-student of hers who is in the process of terminating a long-distance relationship. They finally go out on a date and everyone insists on getting all the details. Feature film. (VHS 4138)

Halfaouine: Child of the terraces = [Asfour stah]. 1997. orig. 1990. 1 videocassette (98 min.) or 1 videodisc (96 min.) . Named after the small Tunisian town where it takes place, this coming-of-age film is a sensitive, comical look at growing up under the puritanical codes of Islam. It also offers a rich, vibrant portrait of a 12-year-old boy's life, family and community living in the Arab neighborhood of Halfaouine. Feature film. (DVD 732)

Heavenly creatures. 1994. 1 videodisc (99 min.) or 1 videocassette (99 min.). When circumstances bring together two bright and highly imaginative teenage schoolgirls they quickly form an unwavering bond, creating a fantasy world that only they can share. Disturbed by the intensity of the friendship, their parents threaten to keep them apart. The girls vow to stay together, devising a secret plan that leads to shocking consequences. Feature film. (DVD 678)

The hours. 2003. orig. 2002. 1 videodisc (114 min.). In 1929, Virginia Woolf is starting to write her novel, 'Mrs. Dalloway, ' under the care of doctors and family. In 1951, Laura Brown is planning for her husband's birthday, but is preoccupied with reading Woolf's novel. In 2001, Clarrisa Vaughn is planning an award party for her friend, an author dying of AIDS. Taking place over one day, all three stories are interconnected with the novel: one is writing it, one is reading it, and one is living it. Feature film. (DVD 668)

I shot Andy Warhol. 1996. orig. 1995. 1 videocassette (104 min.). A journey into the cultural whirlwind of events surrounding Valerie Solanas' shooting of pop-art superstar Andy Warhol. Solanis (Lili Taylor) arrived in mid-'60s New York City with a single-minded mission: to spread the word on female superiority. While feverishly putting her radical ideas down on paper, she becomes a fringe member of the psychedelic entourage surrounding Andy Warhol (Harris). But when her feminist zeal grows too bizarre and violent, even for this avant-garde circle, the consequences are explosive. Feature film. (VHS 4683)

If these walls could talk. HBO original movies. 1996. 1 videocassette (ca. 97 min.). Film looks at the abortion issue from the 1950s to the present as it examines how three separate women coped when faced with an unexpected pregnancy. Part 1/1952: A recently widowed nurse (Demi Moore) struggles to take control of her life after she finds she is pregnant by her brother-in-law. Part 2/1974: A mother of four (Sissy Spacek) is overwhelmed trying to raise a family and maintain a career. Part 3/1996: A young student (Anne Heche) makes a decision with the help of another woman (Cher) that will change the course of both their lives. Feature film. (VHS 5073)

If these walls could talk 2. HBO original movies. 2000. 1 videocassette (97 min.). "Three couples over three different decades are bonded by the depth of their passions, their unconventional love and a house that might offer up their stories"--Container. Dramatizes the lesbian experience in America in three different decades. "1961" features Redgrave as an older lesbian who is left out of the decision-making process in the wake of her partner's sudden death. "1972" looks at the lesbian role in the feminist movement of the 1970s through the eyes of a college-age couple. "2000" features DeGeneres and Stone as a lesbian couple trying to conceive a child. Feature film. (VHS 6774)

In the time of the butterflies. 2002. orig. 2001. 1 videodisc (92 min.). An idealistic young woman falls for a rebel leader and takes on a murderous dictator. Today, November 25 is observed in many Latin American countries as the International Day Against Violence Towards Women. This is based on the story of the Mirabal sisters, whose deaths became the final blow to the regime of Leonidas Trujillo, who was assassinated six months later. Feature film. (DVD 479)

Kandahar: Journey into the heart of Afghanistan. 2003. orig. 2001. 1 videodisc (85 min.). Nafas, an Afghan-born Canadian journalist, returns to her homeland in a desperate attempt to reach her sister, who, overcome with grief after being injured by a landmine and her despair over the Taliban's oppression of women, has vowed that she will commit suicide at the time of the next solar eclipse, only three days away. Feature film. (DVD 563)

Karmen Gei. Library of African cinema. 2002. orig. 2001. 1 videocassette (83 min.). Karmen escapes prison through her lesbian relationship with the warden. She then wrecks the marriage and career of a police corporal by making him her lover and co-conspirator in a smuggling ring. She abandons the corporal who, in a fit of jealous rage, stabs her. Contains much singing and dancing. Feature film. (VHS 7214)

The Magdalene sisters. 2004? orig. 2002. 1 videodisc (ca. 120 min.). In Ireland in the 1960s, four women were sent to the Magdalene Laundries, an institution for "fallen" women, where they will atone for their sins through a regimented life of work and prayer. They all had to work in the laundry, where the strict nuns would break everyone's wills through sadistic punishment. Based on a true story. Feature film.  (DVD 442)    SEE ALSO Sex in a cold climate - a documentary on the same topic - VHS 7460. 

Oranges are not the only fruit. 1997. orig. 1987. 2 videocassettes (165 min.). The coming-of-age story of Jess, the adopted daughter of a deeply religious woman, who grows up isolated and insulated in the north of England in the 1960's. Jess's love for another girl scandalizes her mother, the church and community who set out to flush the evil from her. Jess is forced to realize she has her own mission to save the world -  for love and understanding. Feature film. (VHS 4481)

Rabbit-proof fence. 2003. orig. 2002. 1 videodisc (93 min.). In 1931, Molly and her younger cousins, Gracie and Daisy, were three half-caste children from Western Australia who were taken from their parents under government edict and sent to an institution, were taught to forget their families, their culture, and re-invent themselves as members of "white" Australian society. The three girls begin an epic journey back to Western Australia, traveling 1,500 miles on foot with no food or water, and navigating by following the fence that has been build across the nation to stem an over-population of rabbits. Feature film. (DVD 556)

Real women have curves. 2003. orig. 2002. 1 videodisc (90 min.). Should she leave home, go to college and experience life? Or stay home, get married, and keep working in her sister's struggling garment factory? It may seem an easy decision, but for 18-year-old Ana, every choice she makes this summer will change her life. Feature film. (DVD 656)

Strangers in good company. 1992? orig. 1990. 1 videocassette (101 min.) or 1 videodisc (105 min.). Seven elderly women and their bus driver band together to survive when their bus breaks down in the Quebec countryside.  As they draw closer, the women begin to share stories from their pasts. Feature film. (DVD 212)

Thirteen. 2004. orig. 2003. 1 videodisc (100 min.). Los Angeles teenager and overachiever Tracy is an excellent student in her seventh grade class and gets along well with her mother, Melanie. She fears that she's not cool enough to be friends with Evie, the most popular girl in school. Fueled with genuine adolescent energy, Tracy follows Evie's lead into the harsh realities of sex, drugs, and hard-edged adventure. Consumed with temptations and conflicting desires, Tracy loses her good-girl identity, greatly affecting her relationship with her mom. Feature film. (DVD 769)

Une Femme est une femme = A woman is a woman. 1998. orig. 1961. 1 videodisc (84 min.). When the beautiful Angéla wants to have a baby and her lover refuses to participate, she looks to recruit his best friend. Feature film.  (DVD 67)

The watermelon woman. 1997. orig. 1996. 1 videocassette (79 min.). Mock-documentary. While looking for a suitable subject for her first film, aspiring black lesbian filmmaker Cheryl (Cheryl Dunye) runs across "Watermelon Woman" - an African-American bit player in an old movie. Cheryl decides that she must have been the lover of a white female director and sets out to find the truth while conducting her own affair with a rich white woman. Feature film. (VHS 5602)

 

International Issues and Perspectives

Afghanistan: State of the Taliban. 2001. 1 videocassette (50 min.). This documentary traces the history of the Taliban from its rise to power in 1996 to its dominance over the Afghan population. Through interviews with Afghan civilians and refugees this program examines the ideology and objectives of this militant Islamic organization and the tactics they use that often violate human rights and are contrary to the beliefs of many who follow the Islamic religion. (VHS 6851)

All different, all equal. Life. 2000. 1 videocassette (24 min.). Part 11 of a series on how the globalized world economy affects ordinary people. Looks at progress in achieving greater equality for women -- five years after the Beijing Conference on Women where government delegations pledged themselves to tackle increasing violence against women. Examines gains in women's rights globally with visits to Northern Ireland, Nigeria, Fiji, New Zealand, Brazil and other nations focusing on crimes against women and achievements by women towards equality. (VHS 7173)

The annotated Alice. 1998. 1 videocassette (51 min.). Alice Shalvi immigrated to Israel from England in 1949. In 1962 she received a PhD in English Literature from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. "In this intimate documentary portrait, Alice Shalvi shares her thoughts and memories of her public and private life, from her childhood in Essen to her present-day success as a leading Israeli scholar, feminist and peace activist. Prof. Shalvi tells the story of her personal odyssey as a daughter, wife, mother of six, university professor, principal of an experimental girls' religious school and founding chairwoman of the Israel Women's Network. The program ends as she begins her present job as Rector of the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem." Uses home movies, archival footage and interviews with Prof. Shalvi. (Quoted summary taken from The National Center for Jewish Film website: http://www.brandeis.edu/jewishfilm.). (VHS 5837)

Asylum. 2002. 1 videocassette (20 min.). Baaba Andoh, a young Ghanian woman, tells her story directly to the camera: how she went to see her father, whom she had never met, to ask his blessing on her impending marriage. His reaction was to arrange a marriage for her to an elderly man and to tell her she would be "circumcised." Baaba flees and when her father pursues her and offers a reward for her return to him, she has no choice but to leave her home with false papers and try to become a refugee in the United States. Her moving retelling of her story is alternated with a collage of still images and video of life in Ghana. (VHS 7281)

At the end of a gun: Women and war. Life. 2000. 1 videocassette (24 min.). Part 9 of a series on how the globalized world economy affects ordinary people. Druki's family fell victim to the bloody civil war between the Tamil Tigers and Sri Lankan government forces that has been tearing the island of Sri Lanka apart for the last 17 years. This program reports from Sri Lanka on the suffering of thousands of women -- widowed, displaced, detained, separated from husbands, children and other loved ones -- as a result of the war. (VHS 7172)

Beauty of the fatherland: Estonia. Gender montage.  2001. 1 videocassette (51 min.). A wry examination of femininity and beauty in Estonia through the lens of beauty pageants and a girl scout troop. (VHS 7524)

Beyond Beijing. 1996. 1 videocassette (42 min.). From August 30 to September 15, 1995 two parallel events took place in China: the NGO (Non-governmental organization) Forum on Women in Huairou, and the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. This film looks at the Conference's attempts to complete the platform document, at the various workshops held, and particularly at the individual NGO Forum projects, such as 'Women weaving the world together'. (VHS 4689)

Beyond borders-- Arab feminists talk about their lives-- East and West. 2000. 1 videocassette (50 min.). In the Arab world, women are fighting a two-front war against repressive internal constraints and intrusive Western interference. In this program, a feminist delegation composed of author Nawal Saadawi and other renowned activists from the Middle East and North Africa gathers at the UN, on college campuses, and in church basements to speak out about deterioration of women's rights in the Arab states in an effort to heighten awareness of the Arab feminist struggle for equality--and the effects of U.S. foreign policy on their efforts.  (VHS 7185)

Beyond the veil. 1997. 1 videocassette (22 min.). In this program, a female reporter, Anna Maria Tremonti, dons the hijab and goes undercover to find out how Iranian women feel about the government-enforced dress code and about their d