II Lines

Verde-Esperanza: Aborto Legal na América Latina

Lina Mangiacapre

Bloß keine Tochter!

The life of Sara Winter - former Brazilian feminist and founder of FEMEN in Brazil - told by herself; since the troubled youth, through the years of prostitution and feminist militance, until the discovery of motherhood and God.

In the months leading up to, and days following Ireland’s historic referendum to repeal the eighth amendment, investigative journalist Ellie Flynn follows the story of the landmark vote to legalise abortion. Ahead of the referendum, Ellie travels to Ireland to meet activists and campaigners from both sides of the debate to try and understand the impact of the Law for young Irish voters and discovers that this incredibly divisive and emotionally charged issue is not as black and white as it seems. She meets a young ‘No’ vote campaigner who believes he's only alive because the amendment stopped his mother from aborting him in her youth and speaks to a woman who made the tragic decision to travel to the UK to abort her much wanted daughter after discovering she would be in extreme pain for the few moments she was likely to survive. On May 25th, Ireland voted Yes to the constitutional amendment to legalise abortion and Ellie returned to discuss the reaction.

All too often, every great female rock musician has to answer a predictable question - what is it like being a girl in a band? For many, the sight of a girl shredding a guitar or laying into the drums is still a bit of a novelty. As soon as women started forming their own bands they were given labels - the rock chick, the girl band or one half of the rock 'n' roll couple. Kate Mossman aims to look beyond the cliches of fallen angels, grunge babes and rock chicks as she gets the untold stories from rock's frontline to discover if it has always been different for the girl in a band.

Compared to girls, research shows that boys in the United States are more likely to be diagnosed with a behaviour disorder, prescribed stimulant medications, fail out of school, binge drink, commit a violent crime, and/or take their own lives. The Mask You Live In asks: as a society, how are we failing our boys?

Right at the heart of the debates on the discrimination of women in the film industry, this documentary raises questions, while offering a voice to women and their cinema. Catherine Breillat, Claire Denis, Mira Nair, Margarethe Von Trotta, Ulrike Ottinger, Micheline Lanctot, Rakshnan Bani-Etemad, María Novaro but also the names of the less visible directors of the general public. Joining the filmmakers are the voices and comments of producers, film specialists and archivists through whom our images are meticulously preserved.

A tribute to the poet Patrizia Cavalli

Elas da Favela

Fragments

An expository and poetic documentary that invites thinkers and artists from different areas to analyze the construction of images that affect the female body in issues that cross genders.

This documentary interweaves celluloid and voice recordings by Maya Deren, and colleagues who knew her firsthand: Jean Rouch, Jonas Mekas, Alexander Hammid, Cecile Starr etc. Maya Deren (1917-1961) was an experimental filmmaker. In the 1940s and 1950s she made several influential avant-garde films, such as Meshes of the Afternoon (1943). Images from this and her other work are used in this documentary. You can also hear her voice, as well as accounts by contemporaries such as Jean Rouch and Jonas Mekas.

'Trailblazers in Habits' is an intimate portrait of a group of American Catholic nuns, the Maryknoll Sisters, who have accompanied the disenfranchised in their struggle for social justice. By turns tragic and joyous, yet always inspirational, this insightful documentary is a revealing portrait of these courageous women. A moving and absorbing chronicle that spans 100 years and several continents, the film celebrates the intelligence and tenacity; the love, compassion and generosity of these early feminists.

In East Los Angeles, three young misfit women find solace in an unapologetic, feminist bicycle crew. They call themselves the Ovarian Psycos Bicycle Brigade.

From her precocious status as a sex symbol to her consecration as a filmmaker, Jodie Foster's story is about a feminist struggle, albeit atypical, fought on and off the screen. This film sets out to retrace her remarkable journey within the Hollywood industry.

Women talk about the circumstances that drove them to seek illegal abortions and the often traumatic result. Interwoven with historical photographs and newsreel footage, the stories expose how the reality of women's lives were counterposed to what was socially and morally expected of them.

Singled [Out] tells the story of five educated women in four corners of the world: Jules in Melbourne, Manu in Barcelona, Shu and Yang in Shanghai, and Melek in Istambul -they all travel solo in a world where pairing up is the norm. Together with the voices of some well-known experts in the areas of sociology, law and demography, the film unveils modern love in the era of choice, and is a journey to the heart of being a single woman today.

Betty reveals her history through the images of her art and shows how she used her creative talent to promote women's sexual pleasure and health. Nearly 200 pieces of original art created over the last 45 years make this film a must see for art and sex lovers alike. Beginning with the early years of self-exploration to the courageous sharing of her own sexual growth, Betty Dodson teaches as she entertains. See this feminist icon as she has never been seen before, the artist, the sexual innovator and humanist all rolled into one dynamic person.

Artist Kate Blackmore looks at motherhood and mobility, film and feminism through the prism of Margaret Dodd's 1982 classic short film 'This Woman is not a Car.'