Recent videos of interest

Feminist Issues & Debates

• 533 statements
  A road trip documentary about queer Canadian women. During the summer of 2004, Tori Foster took her camera across the country to talk to 20 lesbian women about what it's like to be queer where they live. The documentary follows her journey through all ten provinces.
• Afghan women: a history of struggle
  Examines the drafting of the Afghan Women's Bill of Rights. [Looks at] the pivotal role women's struggle for equality has played in the country's tumultuous political history and debunk the myth that current U.S. intervention in Afghanistan has liberated Afghan women from the tyranny of fundamentalism.
• American Experience: the Pill
  Featuring personal accounts from the first generation of women to have access to the Pill, this films show how harnessing female hormones into a little pill unleashed a social revolution unlike any other in our history. Originally broadcast on PBS in Jan. 2003 as a segment of The American experience.
• Attention féministes!
  [French version with option English subtitles]. Portrait de jeunes feministes contemporaines. A une epoque ou on a declare la mort des ideologies, ces jeunes croient encore en un monde meilleur! A travers leur engagement personnel et social, nous decouvrons le nouveau visage du feminisme, celui des filles et des gars des generations X et Y. Un mouvement dynamique, un mode d’action a la fois drole, pertinent, sexy et combatif, demontrant qu'il y a encore plein de manieres de revendiquer l'egalite.
• BAS! : Beyond the red light
  13 young girls sold into Mumbai's infamous network of gated brothels confront the inner and outer perils of life after rescue. The film explores the seemingly insurmountable challenges facing these young traumatised girls through a very intimate and honest lens where they are the storytellers.
• BDSM: It's Not What You Think!
  Confronts stigma and stereotype surrounding kink and fetish play through leading voices within the BDSM community. With intimate interviews and playful vignettes this film targets progressive outsiders and guides them through the minefield of misconceptions and prejudice that kinksters must routinely face.
• Beauty lies
  DVD only. “Filmmaker Karen Chapman explores her feelings about her natural hair as a young black woman in a media-driven world, revealing layers of insecurities. Beauty Lies questions the ideals, motivations and images of beauty in the media that could be seen as manifesting a 'white standard' of beauty”
• Bonsai people
  Filmed on location in Bangladesh, demonstrates the positive effects of micro-loans by the Grameen Bank on several rural Bangladeshi families including their ability to empower women to become leaders in their families and their communities. Demonstrates how Nobel Peace Price winner, Muhammad Yunus, in partnership with world businesses, uses the power of 'microcredit' and 'social business' to unleash human potential through purposely designed social/business ventures.
• Buying Sex
  "... Buying Sex carefully guides the viewer through a wide spectrum of disagreement, exploring the many points of view in this age-old yet contemporary debate. Articulate and impassioned formerly prostituted women and sex workers make their claims for and against the proposed changes, while policy-makers, lawyers and even male consumers also offer insight and commentary on this vexing issue. Respecting the differences of ideology and opinion as Canada works its way toward an uneasy consensus, the film challenges ...
• Constitute!: women's constitutional activism
  The largest social mobilization of women in Canadian history in the 20th century. Led by the Ad Hoc Committee of Canadian Women and the Constitution, women and other activists across the country fought to gain stronger equality provisions entrenched in the newly repatriated Constitution's Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
• Courting justice
  Illustrates how the constitution in post-apartheid South Africa partially lived up to its goals of promoting justice and human rights. Essential to keeping these promises, indeed mandated by the constitution, is a judiciary that includes women. By 2008, 18 percent of the superior court judges were women. This film is their story.
• Cover girl culture
  Former Elite International fashion model, Nicole Clark, calls for a necessary change, integrity and responsible media for our youth. This is an examination of how advertising and the cult of celebrity have deeply and negatively impacted teens and young women. The film juxtaposes ads and interviews with editors from top fashion magazines with revealing interviews of parents, teachers, psychologists, body image experts, and the girls themselves.
• Covered [Snakegirl Productions]
  Explores the world of heavily tattooed women and female tattoo artists in the United States. Takes a larger, sociological perspective on what it means to be a heavily tattooed woman in today's society -- from the perspectives of the women themselves. Features dozens of tattoo artists.
• Dish: Women waitressing and the art of service
  Dish delves into Toronto's diners, Montreal's “sexy restos”, Paris haute eateries, and Tokyo's fantasy “maid bars” in an insider's look at gender, power, and the art of service.
• End of Men
  2011 DocZone: 'In the past 100 years, the ideals of masculinity have been largely unchanged. Men are rugged individuals, resilient, brave and loyal. Running like a spine through these archetypes is one defining theme: a man is the provider and protector of his family. In the not too distant past, most men had a sense of certainty that they could fulfill those roles.... But for many men the economic crisis that began in 2008 meant that fulfilling those masculine roles was suddenly a lot harder... Men are facing ...
• F-word
  New DVD version, originally produced in 1994. Presents various definitions of feminism as defined by feminists, opponents of feminism, and ordinary men and women.
• Flesh
  “Several women with different points of view including a cattle rancher, a vegetarian, a meat-lover, and a Hooter's waitress are interviewed in this discussion of how women and animals are treated by popular culture in a society obsessed with flesh.”
• G.I.M.P. boot camp: gimp/civilian, imprinting, mastering, public outreach
  In accepting the fictional CRIP (Citizens Recognizing Inspirational People) Award, co-filmmaker Danielle Peers explains and illustrates her four-step program aimed at helping gimps, people who are only partially physically disabled, cope with the social stigma associated with their condition. The program also targets stereotypes about physical disability held by 'normal' people
• Girl and a gun
  Presents a female perspective on an object whose history is deeply bound up with men and masculinity. Filmed throughout the US, this documentary delves into the psyche of the American gun world to investigate how women relate to guns and gun culture. Reaching far beyond Hollywood's hypersexualized femme fatales, the film candidly explores the modern American woman through intimate portraits encompassing issues of protection, power, feminism, and violence.
• Girls Rock!
  At RocknRoll Camp, girls ranging in age from eight to 18 are taught that it's OK to sweat like a pig, scream like a banshee, wail on their instruments with complete and utter abandon, and that 'it is 100% okay to be exactly who you are'.
• Grrrl love and revolution: Riot Grrrl NYC
  'Filmmaker Abby Moser was at the heart of the NYC Riot Grrrl movement, filming them between 1993 and 1996, creating an invaluable archive for students learning the history of feminism. She captured the excitement of the times, and the articulate self-awareness of its members. She also documents their frustration with a mainstream media which dismissed feminism as a hobby, and the group’s own difficulties respecting the race and class divisions amongst themselves.' from WMM website.
• Guerrillas in our midst
  Guerrillas in our midst presents a savvy exploration of the machinations of the commercial art-world during its boom in the 1980s, and brings the Guerrilla Girls to the screen. This anonymous group of art terrorists has succeeded in putting racism and sexism on the agenda in the art-world since 1985, and their witty and creative tactics have changed the face of political and cultural activism.
• I had an abortion
  Produced by Jennifer Baumgardner and Gillian Aldrich. Features several women, aged 21 to 85, who have had abortions and captures their stories and experiences.
• In the name of the family: honour killings in North America
  DVD only. Award-winning director Shelley Saywell brings her consummate documentary skills and passion for human rights to challenge the traditions that lie behind the heartbreaking tragedies committed against young girls caught between two cultures in North America.
• Invoking justice
  In Southern India, family disputes are settled by Jamaats, all male bodies which apply Islamic Sharia law to cases without allowing women to be present, even to defend themselves. Recognizing this fundamental inequity, a group of women in 2004 established a women's Jamaat, which soon became a network of 12,000 members spread over 12 districts. Despite enormous resistance, they have been able to settle more than 8,000 cases to date, ranging from divorce to wife beating to brutal murders and more.
• Juggling gender: politics, sex and identity - Still juggling
  Contains the original 1992 documentary which features Jennifer Miller, juggler and director of Circus Amok. Miller discusses her life and struggle as a lesbian woman who happens to have a moustache and beard. Scenes show a gay rights parade and Miller interacting with friends, family, and strangers. Pt. 2 -Still juggling, still bearded features Miller 15 years after the original documentary, discussing changes in her life and in society. Pt. 3 - Sideshow by the seashore includes scenes of Circus Amok performances.
• Keepers of the fire
  Presents the stories of aboriginal women who have participated in important aboriginal struggles in Canada. Mohawk women tell of their role in the 1990 crisis at Oka. Haida women reminisce about their stand on the picket lines and their arrests in the action that stopped logging on Lyell Island in the Queen Charlottes. Maliseet women recall their campaign, lasting eight years, that changed the Indian Act to accord status and rights to all Indian women. Native women in Toronto who run a native women's shelter ...
• Ladies of the gridiron
  When most think of American Football, they imagine raw, unbridled demonstrations of athletic might pushed to the max, but rarely do those images involve women. The Quake is a professional women's tackle football team out to break the glass ceiling of this traditionally all-male sport. These women embody the same dogged determination as their male counterparts, but without the money or fame. And beyond that, they must deal with a societal prejudice that keeps them on the periphery of professional sports, having ...
• Les fleurs à la fenêtre (on veut bien l'amour) / Flowers at the window (we want love)
  DVD only. “..three Cameroonian young women who are using the Internet to meet white men in the hope that these men will change their lives for the better.”
• Lesbian National Parks and Services Presents: Endangered Species
  That formidable force of conservation officials, Lesbian National Parks and Services, presents three portraits of lesbian species in crisis. These public service announcements point to the perils of habitat loss and poaching. The Marxist Feminist, the Lesbian Separatist and the Bull-Dykus Americanus are featured in this parody of nature education. In full uniform as Lesbian Rangers, Shawna Dempsey and Lorri Millan patrol parklands, challenging the general publics ideas of tourism, recreation, and the 'natural' ...
• Lesbiana - a parallel revolution
  A parallel revolution was born out of the feminist movement of the 1970's, coming to an end around 1995. Filmmaker Myriam Fougère takes us on a journey to meet the lesbian writers, philosophers and activists who were key players in creating a revolutionary sisterhood. From Montréal to Texas, by way of New York, Myriam encounters lesbians who chose to live only among women.
• Made in India: a film about surrogacy
  DVD only. The human experiences behind the phenomena of 'outsourcing' surrogate mothers to India. Shows the journey of an infertile American couple, an Indian surrogate and the reproductive outsourcing business that brings them together. Weaving together these personal stories within the context of a growing international industry, MADE IN INDIA explores a complicated clash of families in crisis, reproductive technology, and choice from a global perspective.
• Me broni ba
  DVD only.“Combines montages of hair salons in Ghana with various images of Western pop culture, invoking a clash of cultures and communities… [Explores] the legacy, changes, and ongoing effect that European Colonialism has dealt to African culture.”
• Menocracy
  Something's rotten in our state of democracy. Follow the journey of a woman and the spirit of a sassy Suffragette who, in trying to find out why our system fails to represent women, discover that it fails everyone but our political elites. A film about how to catch up to the rest of the world's democracies in the march to gender fairness and governments that reflect society.
• Miss HIV
  Explores the international collision of HIV/AIDS policies while following the journey of two HIV-positive women who entered the annual Miss HIV Stigma-Free pageant in Botswana. Filmed across Africa and at the International AIDS Conference in Toronto this explosive EthnoGraphic film shares both sides of an ideology struggle.
• Miss Representation
  Explores how mainstream media contributes to the under-representation of women in influential positions in America and challenges the media's limiting and often disparaging portrayals of women, which make it difficult for the average girl to see herself as powerful.
• Moolaade
  Motion Picture. It is the time for the young girls of a village to be purified by ritual circumcision. Colle has kept her daughter from being circumcised, and several of the girls go to her for refuge. Colle agrees to help them, and she invokes moolaade, a form of sanctuary.
• Mountains that take wing
  DVD only. Internationally renowned scholar, professor and writer Angela Davis, and 89-year-old grassroots organizer and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Yuri Kochiyama share intimate conversations about personal histories and influences that shaped them and their shared experiences in some of the most important social movements in 20th century United States.
• My Feminism
  [DVD update of a popular VHS from 1997]. Interviews with feminist leaders including Bell Hooks, Gloria Steinem, and Urvsahi Vaid are intercut with documentary sequences to explore the past and present status of the women's movement. Discussing the unique contributions of second wave feminism, they explore their racial, economic and ideological differences and shared vision of achieving equality for women. Introduces feminism's key themes while exposing the cultural fears underlying lesbian baiting, backlash, ...
• Namrata
  DVD only. “Namrata Gill - whose story was one of many real-life inspirations for Deepa Mehta's feature film Heaven on Earth - describes her six years in an abusive relationship, and how difficult leaving can be when you are part of a close-knit immigrant community.”
• NeverPerfect
  DVD only. “Traversing historical and contemporary notions of beauty, stereotypes and iconography within Asian and popular cultures, this film incorporates a rich selection of archival footage and commentary from numerous voices which ignites lively debate on the phenomena as they pertain to race and gender identity.”
• Passionate politics: the life and work of Charlotte Bunch
  Brings Charlotte Bunch's story to life, from idealistic young civil rights organizer, to lesbian feminist activist to internationally recognized leader. Charlotte's story is told by women from Asia, Africa, South America and the Caribbean who have worked with her to put women's rights on the global human rights agenda. Interwoven throughout the film are excerpts from Charlotte's personal letters that illuminate her determination to create a more just world.
• Pink Ribbons
  Breast cancer has become the poster child of cause-related marketing campaigns. Countless people walk, run and shop for the cure. Each year, millions of dollars are raised in the name of breast cancer, but where does this money go and what does it actually achieve? Pink Ribbons, Inc. is a feature documentary that shows how the devastating reality of breast cancer, which marketing experts have labelled a 'dream cause,' has become obscured by a shiny, pink story of success.
• Pink saris
  DVD only.“The 'Pink Gang' is a group of women who wear pink saris as a symbol of their revolt against their society. They are victims of domestic violence, rape and social exclusion. Their champion is Sampat Pal Devi, who takes up their cases of social injustice.”
• Saving face
  Every year in Pakistan, many women are known to be victimized by brutal acid attacks, with numerous cases going unreported. With little or no access to reconstructive surgery, survivors are physically and emotionally scarred. Many reported assailants, typically a husband or someone else close to the victim, receive minimal punishment from the state. Plastic surgeon Dr. Mohammad Jawad left his prominent London practice to return to his home country and help the victims of such attacks.
• Scarlet road
  "Impassioned about freedom of sexual expression, Australian sex worker Rachel Wotton specializes in a long overlooked clientele— people with disabilities. ..Rachel’s philosophy is that human touch and sexual intimacy can be the most therapeutic aspects to our existence." Also available as a DVD: https://concordiauniversity.on.worldcat.org/oclc/783787692 [for a film with a different lens on a similar topic, see also Want: https://concordiauniversity.on.worldcat.org/oclc/706443158]
• Sex Slaves
  Explores the multi-billion dollar world of sex trafficking. Goes to the villages of Ukraine and Moldova, where girls are lured and then sold and forced into prostitution in brothels and discotheques all over Europe. Follows Viorel, a Ukrainian man, on a mission to find his pregnant, trafficked wife in Turkey. The film explores the global trafficking problem through personal stories and unfettered access to traffickers and the people used as human chattel.
• Shelley Niro compilation
  Shelley Niro (born 1954) is a Mohawk filmmaker and visual artist from New York and Ontario. Contents: Overweight with crooked teeth (5:00 min., 1997) -- The shirt (5:55 min., 2003) -- Sky woman with us, Shelley Niro (7:00 min., 2002) -- Tree (5:00 min., 2006) -- The flying head (5:00 min., 2008) -- Hunger (6:03 min., 2008) -- rechargin' (2:49 min., 2007)
• Sin by silence
  From behind prison walls, the film reveals the lives of extraordinary women who advocated for a future free from domestic violence. Inside California's oldest women's prison, the first inmate-initiated and led group in the U.S. prison system was created by inmate Brenda Clubine to help abused women speak out and realize they are not alone.
• Sisters in law
  Kim Longinotto production. A documentary record of a courtroom in Kumba, Cameroon, where a female prosecutor and judge work to put an end to their community's tacit acceptance of child abuse, wife beating and rape.
• Song of Eskasoni
  Produced in 1993. The village of Eskasoni on Cape Breton Island is the home of Micmac poet Rita Joe. The revival of Native traditions and spirituality in Eskasoni inspires much of her writing.
• Status Quo? The Unfinished Business of Feminism in Canada
  [Streaming film via NFB Campus. To access from outside the Concordia network, first register at nfb.ca/campus/go. Ignore the billing/price information; find and select Concordia University, Montreal, QC as your institution.] Feminism has shaped the society we live in. But just how far has it brought us, and how relevant is it today? This feature documentary zeroes in on key concerns such as violence against women, access to abortion, and universal childcare, asking how much progress we have truly made on these ...
• Strong Coffee
  The coffee co-operative Cafe Femenino, created by a group of Peruvian women to bring financial independence for themselves.
• Subjectified: nine young women talk about sex
  Through nine in-depth interviews about sex and sexuality, this documentary lets women do the talking, trading easy answers and stereotypes for brutal honesty. The stories may sound familiar: young moms, abstinent Christians, lesbians, survivors of assaults and STDs. But outside the world of reality TV and sound bites, women approach their lives in complex and unexpected ways: sometimes hilarious, sometimes sobering, and always heartfelt.
• The body beautiful
  DVD only. Originally produced in 1991. This bold, stunning exploration of a white mother who undergoes a radical mastectomy and her Black daughter who embarks on a modeling career reveals the profound effects of body image and the strain of racial and sexual identity on their charged, intensely loving bond. At the heart of Onwurah's brave excursion into her mother's scorned sexuality is a provocative interweaving of memory and fantasy.
• The evolution of Dad
  We are told by American culture that fatherhood is important, but the real, underlying message is: 'Back to work, dads!' How did this happen? What can be done about it? And why are the dads who are extra-involved with their families typically castigated as not being manly enough or sufficiently committed to their work? [The film] explores these questions and many more, cutting to the core of one of the most invisible, yet important, issues of our time: fatherhood.
• The feminist initiative
  The passion, pitfalls and promise of a diverse group of women working to establish the world's first feminist political party in Sweden in the spring of 2005… In the face of internal discord, public backlash, and a worrisome lack of funds, the Feminist Initiative forges a new path towards parliament, raising critical questions along the way…
• The grey area: feminism behind bars
  Through a series of class discussions, headed by students from Grinnell College, a small group of female inmates at a maximum security women's prison in Mitchellville, Iowa, share their diverse experiences with motherhood, drug, addiction, sexual abuse, murder, and life in prison.
• The price of sex
  This inquiry into a dark side of immigration reveals the experiences of Eastern European women forced into prostitution abroad. Mimi Chakarova traveled from post-communist Eastern Europe to Turkey, Greece, and Dubai to uncover the harrowing personal accounts of women trafficked into modern-day sexual slavery.
• The story of the Coast Salish knitters
  Originally produced in 2000. For almost a century, the Coast Salish knitters of southern Vancouver Island have produced Cowichan sweaters from handspun wool. These distinctive sweaters are known and loved around the world, but the Aboriginal women who make them remain largely invisible. Combines rare archival footage with the voices of three generations of woolworkers.
• The world before her
  In the lobby of a modest Bombay hotel, 20 young women from across India arrive for an intense, month-long beauty boot camp. They are the hand-picked contestants for the Miss India pageant, the ultimate glamour event in a country that has gone mad for beauty contests. Winning the coveted title means instant stardom, a lucrative career path and, for some girls, freedom from the constraints of a patriarchal society. But as the popularity of pageants has exploded, so have the controversies surrounding them.
• Tiara
  dvd only.Are beauty pageants on the radar of today's young women? Tiara discovers that they certainly are in Asian communities in Canada. Tiara explores the connection between the desires of young women from the Chinese, Filipino and South Asian communities for validation of their appearance in the midst of popular media's narrow representation of beauty.
• To Brooklyn and back: a Mohawk journey
  The Kahnawake Mohawks of Quebec occupied a 10 square block area in the North Gowanus section of Brooklyn, which became known as Little Caughnawaga. The men, skilled ironworkers, came to New York in search of work and brought their wives, children and often, extended family with them. The story of the Mohawk ironworkers is an important one and is one that has been told and continues to be told through documentaries, newspaper and magazine articles. Yet the stories of Kahnawake Mohawk women who lived in Brooklyn ...
• Toilet training: law and order (in the bathroom)
  Addresses the persistent discrimination, harassment, and violence that people who transgress gender norms face in gender segregated bathrooms. Using the stories of people who have been harassed, arrested or beaten for trying to use bathrooms, this groundbreaking film focuses on bathroom access in public space, in schools, and at work.
• Unveiled Views: Muslim women artists speak out
  DVD only. In this revealing documentary five extraordinary women talk about their occupations, aspirations, and the rights and status of women in their Muslim countries.
• Want - a femmegimp production
  Loree Erickson's short film Want explores issues surrounding sex, sexuality and disability, as well as the difficulties in navigating the world at large... Want opens with explicit scenes of Erickson and her partners, but the film also includes more mundane activities like navigating supermarkets and public transit. Shows sexuality as another aspect of being able to live a full life, not something that should be relegated to a minor concern (if it is included within a full understanding of disabled people's ...
• Webcam girls
  “This Canadian documentary examines women that live in front of their web-cameras. Some of the pioneers and outlaws of the femcam frontier are Ducky, sexologist and burlesque queen; Dionne, ethical porn producer; Ana Voog, the first art/life webcam; and Terri, internet cultural critic.”
• Where credit is due
  Against a backdrop of oppression and civil war in Guatemala, three women's groups of the Kaqchikel Presbytery are using micro-credit loans for businesses that include agricultural projects and textiles.... a good illustration of how beneficial micro-credit can be for sustainable human development.
• Where the water meets the sky
  A group of women in a remote region of northern Zambia learn how to make a film, as a way to speak out about their lives and to challenge the local traditions which have, until now, kept them silent.
• Where the water meets the sky
  A group of women in a remote region of northern Zambia learn how to make a film, as a way to speak out about their lives and to challenge the local traditions which have, until now, kept them silent... [Their film] involves an issue that is traumatic for them all, and rarely spoken about: the plight of young women orphaned by AIDS.
• Where we were not. Part one : feeling reserved, Alexus' story
  Alexus' Story is the first part of a four part animated documentary about criminalization in Canada. Where We Were Not is being made in collaboration with a group of women Jessica has worked with, and formed friendships with while creating art projects in prisons and centres for marginalized people. Narrated by an abolitionist activist, a First Nations transgendered woman, and two women serving life sentences, this project gives a first hand account of the Canadian injustice system.
• Women Art Revolution [W.A.R]
  History of the feminist art movement in the late 20th century, including interviews with many of the participants
• Women who make America
  The story of how women have helped shape America over the last fifty years through one of the most sweeping social revolutions in American history, in pursuit of their rights to a full and fair share of political power, economic opportunity, and personal autonomy.
• Wonder Women! the untold story of American superheroines
  From the birth of the 1940s comic book heroine, Wonder Woman, to the blockbusters of today, [this film] looks at how popular representations of powerful women often reflect society's anxieties about strong and healthy women. Reveals the complicated negotiations girls and women face as they attempt to achieve confidence, strength, and agency in a society often at odds with those goals.