Boobs

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.

The 1920s saw a revolution in technology, the advent of the recording industry, that created the first class of African-American women to sing their way to fame and fortune. Blues divas such as Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, and Alberta Hunter created and promoted a working-class vision of blues life that provided an alternative to the Victorian gentility of middle-class manners. In their lives and music, blues women presented themselves as strong, independent women who lived hard lives and were unapologetic about their unconventional choices in clothes, recreational activities, and bed partners. Blues singers disseminated a Black feminism that celebrated emotional resilience and sexual pleasure, no matter the source.

In celebration of International Women's Day, the House reveals "Her Dior", a documentary by ‪Loïc Prigent‬ chronicling Maria Grazia Chiuri's radical collaborations with renowned female figures since becoming Dior's Creative Director for womenswear in 2016. The film charts her journey from Rome to the global stage, distilling the essence of these poignant artistic exchanges in a single word: sisterhood.

As America's first international woman concert pianist, renowned lecturer, author, music critic, famous conductor's wife and champion for equal rights for women in music, Olga Samaroff was at the center of a musical life that to this day embodies the imprint of her artistry and achievements. Her life story also portrays an era in our American cultural heritage that has largely been underserved in the documentary film genre. Texas-born Olga Samaroff a.k.a. Lucy Hickenlooper lived at a time when music was dominated by men and Old World prejudices----and she emerged as a leader among many. Against tremendous odds she rose from complete obscurity to be the most successful American woman concert pianist of the early 20th Century.

Twenty-five films from twenty-five European countries by twenty-five European directors.

The female breast has been a motif for as long as there has been art. For centuries, people have been creating works that showcase this intimate and emotionally charged part of the body. Today, female artists are questioning traditional ideals of beauty and countering the male-dominated perspective of the breast with their own.

Documentary looking at how nudity has been used in the movies, sometimes shrewdly and other times without thought.

Wanting to provide for her daughter, a 25 year old mother travels from her UK home of Canvey Island to get into porn in America having done some UK videos. The documentary follows her journey further into the business and watches as she comes under a variety of influences.

The film is an insight into a teacher's soul and a contemplation upon his teaching fate. This portrait of a unique, experimental filmmaker and teacher Martin Čihák takes a look at his teaching methods, his meetings with his students at FAMU and at a park where they work with film, or in his studio.

This film essay about mushrooms and their connections to other living things tries to use the structure of mushrooms to explain nature, science, and civilization, all the while searching for various analogies, such as the similarities between mycorrhiza and other structures.

Annita Malavasi was just 22 when the Germans occupied Italy, their former allies, in 1943. As a partisan in the Italian resistance named “Laila”, she moved throughout the Apennines with and between fighting units, delivering information, transporting weapons, and taking part in battles. She spent over a year in the Apennines, fighting against the German occupation. At the same time, she had to assert herself against the men of the mountain villages. By the end of the war, Laila had risen among the ranks to become one of the few female commanders in the Italian resistance. This film chronicles the story of a lifelong struggle for emancipation that began with the battle for Italy’s liberation from fascism. Laila and her two comrades, Gina “Sonia” Moncigoli and Pierina “Iva” Bonilauri talk about their time in the Resistenza and what it meant to them and many other women.

Belfast-born actor Stephen Rea explores the impact of Brexit and the uncertainty of the future of the Irish border in a short film written by Clare Dwyer Hogg.

York University alumni Mandi Gray is forced to grapple with a university administration, legal system and police force unwilling to take seriously her report of rape by a fellow PhD student.

Not For Sale: Feminism and Art in the USA during the 1970s

Partly a parody, partly a mockumentary, partly an essay film - and also an actual behind the scenes documentary of two short films.

In this video, the artist tries to overcome the effects of distance, and reflects on geography represented in exile due to war, and on the psychological distance represented in each one’s approach to her womanhood. The video beautifully weaves personal images and audio recordings of a very intimate nature, binding the personal with the political. Reading aloud from letters sent by her mother in Beirut, Hatoum creates a visual montage reflecting her feelings of separation and isolation from her Palestinian family. The personal and political are inextricably bound in a narrative that explores personal and family identity against a backdrop of traumatic social rupture, exile and displacement.

An essay film about Jean-Paul Sartre and the French Existentialists, featuring Roland Barthes' last interview.

A film that questions our relationship with the naked body and what it means for society. For those that regularly remove their clothes socially, the naked body breaks down barriers, gives back choice and builds a trusting community. Can we learn anything from them?

A series of visual paradoxes between the names of the streets of Madrid and those of the shops located in them.

A tribute to legendary black lesbian feminist poet Audre Lorde, one of the most celebrated icons of feminism's second wave.