How It Feels

Les trente courageuses de La Réunion, une affaire oubliée

At a public hospital in Nicaragua, Ob/Gyn Dr. Carla Cerrato must choose between following a law that bans all abortions and endangers her patients or taking a risk and providing the care that she knows can save a woman's life. In 2007, Dr. Cerrato’s daily routine took a detour. The newly elected government of Daniel Ortega, a former Marxist revolutionary who converted to Catholicism to win votes, overturned a 130-year-old law protecting therapeutic abortion. The new law entirely prohibits abortion, even in cases of rape, incest, or when a woman’s life is at stake. As Carla and her colleagues navigate this dangerous dilemma, the impact of this law emerges—illuminating the tangible reality of prohibition against the backdrop of a political, religious, and historically complex national identity. The emotional core of the story—the experiences and situations of the young women and girls who are seeking care—illustrate the ethical implications of one doctor's response.

This fascinating political look at a little-known chapter in women's history tells the story of "Jane", the Chicago-based women's health group who performed nearly 12,000 safe illegal abortions between 1969 and 1973 with no formal medical training. As Jane members describe finding feminism and clients describe finding Jane, archival footage and recreations mingle to depict how the repression of the early sixties and social movements of the late sixties influenced this unique group. Both vital knowledge and meditation on the process of empowerment, Jane: An Abortion Service showcases the importance of preserving women's knowledge in the face of revisionist history. JANE: AN ABORTION SERVICE was funded by the Independent Television Service (ITVS) with funds provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

El Genocidio Silencioso

Three women intimately share how they faced the world and their own family when deciding to terminate a pregnancy.

The priest Børre Knudsen is Norway's most infamous anti-abortionist, and much hated for this. He fought for his cause without thinking about the consequences for his family and his children even in the worlds most democratic country.

French documentary campaigning for the liberalization of abortion and contraception, directed by Charles Belmont and Marielle Issartel in 1973.

Set in a speakeasy in Atlanta, “Twenty” is a feature documentary about fifteen young people making it through 2020. The film is an observational time capsule that lays bare the raw reflections of a group of people surviving a year that will be seared into our generational memory.

Women have always sought ways to terminate unwanted pregnancies, despite powerful patriarchal structures and systems working against them. This film provides a historical overview of how church, state and the medical establishment have determined policies concerning abortion. From this cross-cultural survey--filmed in Ireland, Japan, Thailand, Peru, Colombia, and Canada--emerges one reality: only a small percentage of the world's women has access to safe, legal operations.

The bleached palette and home-movie aesthetics of Super 8 footage provide the image track for this testimonial about an illegal abortion in Mexico City in the 1960s, delivered in voiceover by the filmmaker’s mother. In its account of this intimate and disorienting memory, Lesser Choices summons a time of profound uncertainty—a moment from an era without rights—and offers a warning to the present.

Millions have seen the photograph, and no one who has seen it will ever forget it. A naked woman, dead from a botched illegal abortion, lying on a motel room floor. The picture appeared in Ms. Magazine in April 1973, and quickly became a symbol for the abortion rights movement. LEONA'S SISTER GERRI tells the dramatic story of Gerri Santoro, a mother of two and the "real person" in the now famous photo. Should the media have used this image? What circumstances led to Gerri's tragic death? Powerfully addressing issues of reproductive rights and domestic violence, this video is a moving portrait of Gerri Santoro's life and society's response to her death.

The film delves into the reality of frontline workers who protect the right to abortion, an unprecedented access. Their stories are accompanied by powerful testimonies from women who have experienced a termination of pregnancy, breaking the silence and isolation.

This film is made up of interviews from preteens to adults discussing their thoughts and feelings on sex, relationships, and parenting in relation to teen pregnancy.

Interviews from women involved in the 70's and 80's rock music industry. An examination of the people taking advantage of underage fans and calling for a "Me too" movement in the music world

Intimate confessions, paired with experimental choreography outside a woman’s clinic in Memphis, offer a glimpse into post Roe v. Wade America.

Lieber Herr Doktor

A film that delves into director Jean Carlomusto's family history by trying to find out if the rumors about her grandmother's death -- trying to rid herself of an unwanted pregnancy in 1939 -- are true.

Gloria Allred overcame trauma and personal setbacks to become one of the nation’s most famous women’s rights attorneys. Now the feminist firebrand takes on two of the biggest adversaries of her career, Bill Cosby and Donald Trump, as sexual violence allegations grip the nation and keep her in the spotlight.

Post Dobbs decision the Red River Women’s Clinic was forced to close its doors in Fargo, ND and move a mile and a half across the Red River to Moorhead, MN, into a state with very different reproductive rights legislation, in order to continue providing abortion services as well as other women’s healthcare to a wide region. This is a story of a collective action and resiliency.

A poetic and reflexive documentary approach to reproductive healthcare access in North Carolina, specifically on Indigenous reservations.