Being Women

The representation of women in contemporary Italian media

David Griecos documentary showcases the underappreciated photography of Domenico Notarangelo, and through it, tells the story of Matera, it's people and it's history.

A dive, the midday sunlight filtering down through the water. The air in her lungs has to last until she can dislodge the abalone. Dives like these have been carried out in Japan for over 2000 years by the Ama-San.

For young Muslims who live in a free society, how is the culture of origin of the parents compatible with their own wishes? What significance does the commandment of virginity have?

Luca lives for pizza. In an attempt to create a documentary about the cultural exchange between Neapolitan and Windsor pizza, the Covid-19 pandemic diminishes any hopes of flying to Italy and exploring his cultural background. With an infinite amount of free time, (and a hunger for pizza), Luca and his twin sister, Gemma, aim to save the documentary.

On October 23, 1998, a sniper carrying a high-powered rifle assassinated Dr. Barnett Slepian in his home, altering forever a family, a community, and the bounds of our imaginings about anti-abortion violence. This horrific act punctuated a decade of escalating harassment and violence against women’s heath care providers – a decade marred by murders, assaults, death threats, stalking, clinic blockades, arsons, bombings, and chemical attacks. How do these events affect the personal and professional lives of abortion providers? What motivates them to continue their work in the face of such terrorism?

Against the background of flocks of sheep at pasture, mules walking down unpaved roads, tractors in the fields, and isolated figures in a deserted village, a caption explains that Barbagia is a vast region in Sardinia; Orgosolo, Oliena and Mamoiada are villages of shepherds and the men spend most of the year far away, with their flocks. This is why the houses and the children are entrusted to the women, who cut the wood, work the fields and prepare bread, shepherds’ bread.

A found footage / object film: the colorful 1960s in Italy, a joyful time, live-giving coating of born-again found images, re-animated, examined, reviewed in a past time, revisited.

A groundbreaking documentary on the internationally renowned painter, designated by ARTnews Magazine one of the world's top-ten living artists. This documentary was shot over a period of four years, from 1998 through 2002, Agnes Martin's ninetieth year. Interviews with Martin are inter-cut with shots at work in her studio in Taos, New Mexico, with photographs and archival footage, and with images of her work from over five decades. It is a venue for Martin to speak about her work, her working methods, her life as an artist, and her views about the creative process. She also discusses her film, "Gabriel" and reads from her poetry and lectures. In keeping with Martin's chosen life of solitude, she alone appears in the documentary.

Fighters is a portrait of the current realities of both the urban and rural Mexican woman. Filmed in Mexico City and the State of Zacatecas this film documents the primary circumstances, difficulties, obstacles and preoccupations that women face daily in this country. Poverty, hunger, * machismo*, mass migration, and social inequality -- these are some of the issues that are explored through their testimonies. Women from various professions, ages and social-economic statuses share their stories and their hopes for the future, and create a portrait of a Mexico where women are taking more of a central role.

Rome, a palimpsest: monuments, the Catholic church, the everyday life.

Take a uniquely Latina view of life in the United States in this no-holds-barred 10th installment in the 'Habla' series. From a newspaper CEO-publisher to an Olympic boxing medalist, and many others, this special charts the joys of challenges faced by U.S. Latinas of all ages and backgrounds.

The film was originally conceived as a portrait of Dr. Nawal El Saadawi, the well-known Egyptian doctor, writer, and women’s rights activist. But the director was disappointed by the encounter with the woman who had been her great role model. Instead, she set out to discover what life means to Egyptian women by visiting her female relatives. Her mother, aunts, and neighbors talk about life as a married woman, about the traditional clitoridectomy of girls, about love and sexuality. The result is a very impressive and extremely personal film.

In this documentary a diverse collection of women share successes and aspirations in their chosen field of professional wrestling. It stars nationally televised stars from TNA (Total Nonstop Action), Jade also known as Mia Yim and her former tag team partner Marti Bell. It also stars UFC competitor Shayna Baszler along with Ring of Honor's Kelly Klein and rising indie star Nicole Savoy.

A documentary about the life of the filmmaker’s grandfather and his life growing up in Fascist Italy to meeting his wife and immigrating to America.

Tour de Pise, l'inébranlable édifice

In the summer of 1959, as a magazine correspondent, writer and filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini (1922-75) traveled along the Italian coast. In 1963, he documented the sexual behavior of the Italians. In the winter of 1970-71, he witnessed the hardships of the most impoverished Italian population suffering from the boot of state power. After these three trips, he came to the conclusion that Italian society had changed drastically for the worse over the years.

When terrorists shattered their lives, two women set off on an extraordinary journey to rebuild themselves and the lives of women half a world away.

The memory of Piero Portaluppi, a Milanese architect who reached the peak of his fame during the 20 years of the Fascist regime, comes back to life, both through the rediscovery of his work today and in a previously unpublished film diary in 16 mm, shot and edited throughout his lifetime. A man of great charm and power, Portaluppi lived through a grandiose but tragic era with ironic detachment, as if dancing across things as he created beauty. History marches on implacably, radically transforming the arena in which the eclectic artist and his large family lived and worked.

Mario Soldati accompanies us in search of genuine food, this time to discover the culinary traditions of Christmas lunch, with Father Mariano, Cesare Zavattini, the shoemaker Angelo Gatto, the baroness Aurelia Michetti and the General Lorenzo De Grandi.