Women Don't Cycle

Lina Mangiacapre

January 2015 •Italian

Virago: Changing The World One Page at a Time

October 2016 •English

Despite the 1960s free-love and alternative culture, many women found that their lives and expectations had barely altered. But by the 1970s, the Women's Liberation Movement was causing seismic shifts in the march of the world's events, and women's creativity and political consciousness was soon to transform everything - including the face of publishing and literature. In 1973 a group of women got together and formed Virago Press; an imprint, they said, for 52 per cent of the population. These women were determined to make change - and they would start by giving women a voice, by giving them back their history and reclaiming women's literature.

Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing

October 2006 •English

Shut Up and Sing is a documentary about the country band from Texas called the Dixie Chicks and how one tiny comment against President Bush dropped their number one hit off the charts and caused fans to hate them, destroy their CD’s, and protest at their concerts. A film about freedom of speech gone out of control and the three girls lives that were forever changed by a small anti-Bush comment

The Fearless and Vulnerable

August 2019 •Korean

In 2016, after the hate-fuelled murder of a woman in Gangnam, young feminists gathered to talk about their experiences, which led to the ‘tsunami’ of the feminist movement reawakening in Korean society. This tsunami included street protests against misogynistic hate crimes, political campaigning in the upcoming presidential elections, protests against sexism and sexual violence in everyday life, and the ‘black’ protests calling for the abolition of the anti-abortion law. The Fearless And Vulnerable focuses on the activities and members of the Feminist Party (known in Korean as “Femidangdang”), a feminist group that was part of this tsunami wave. The pleasure and sincerity with which they conduct their activities are compounded with their courage in the face of conflict, and the sense of fear that permeates the community. The film shows Femidangdang meetings as well as the daily lives and thoughts of members during their activities post-2016.

Wordsmiths

November 2019 •Latvian

Vārdotājas (Wordsmiths) traces the recent rise of women's stand-up comedy in Latvia, but it is by no means just for laughs. Feelings of discomfort, shame, shock, are just some of the subjects tackled.

getty abortions

October 2023 •German

What images do we associate with abortion and why? Where do these images and the emotional scripts in our head come from? How do they influence women who (want to) have an abortion, how do they shape the general discussion? Franzis Kabisch’s personal desktop documentary investigates these questions with great precision, clarity and humour (yes, humour, too!).

Ouaga Girls

August 2017 •French

A group of young women from Ouagadougou study at a girl school to become auto mechanics. The classmates become their port of safety, joy and sisterhood, all while they are going through the life changing transition into becoming adults in a country boiling with political changes. In a country with youth unemployment at 52 percent, jobs are a hot issue. The young girls at a mechanics school in Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou are right in the middle of a crucial point in life when their dreams, hopes and courage are confronted with opinions, fears and society’s expectations of what a woman should be. Using interesting narrative solutions, Theresa Traore Dahlberg depicts their last school years and at the same time succeeds in showing the country’s violent past and present. This is a feature-film debut and coming-of-age film with much warmth, laughs, heartbreak and depth.

She's Beautiful When She's Angry

December 2014 •English

A documentary that resurrects the buried history of the outrageous, often brilliant women who founded the modern women's movement from 1966 to 1971.

TOMBOY

March 2017 •English

TOMBOY explores the obstacles that young girls encounter on the recreational stage, the stereotypes, language issues and cultural disparities that follow, and ultimately the insufficient media coverage and compensation that afflicts elite professional athletes seeking full recognition for their talents. The journey of the female athlete is often discouraging, and despite progress achieved during the Title IX era, gender equity in athletics has a long way to go.

Fire in the Heart

May 2023 •French

In Aix-en-Provence, feminist slogans dot the walls of the city. This is the work of "Les colleuses". Their goal: to claim their place in the public space, and to denounce patriarchal violences. For a month, we follow young Ameline and her friends. They tell us about their process, the reasons for their commitment, their doubts and their hopes.

Dead Gay Men and Living Lesbians

February 2008 •German

As a result of the Holocaust and later, AIDS, the male homosexual community has sustained bitter losses and, according to Praunheim, lesbian women have now placed themselves at the head of the so-called queer movement. The female protagonists in the film represent two different generations; they also incorporate the past and present status of homosexuals in society.

Looking for Simone

November 2024 •French

In 1949, philosopher and novelist Simone de Beauvoir wrote the groundbreaking The Second Sex, launching a disruptive discourse on women’s oppression and second-class citizenship. This film dissects the origins and relevance of this bible of feminism, charting de Beauvoir’s fact-finding journey across the US to research her book. The timely and fascinating film honors de Beauvoir’s brilliance and limitations, connecting her revolutionary ideas to the pressing issues women face today.

Regarding Susan Sontag

April 2014 •English

An intimate study of one of the most influential and provocative thinkers of the 20th century tracking feminist icon Susan Sontag’s seminal, life-changing moments through archival materials, accounts from friends, family, colleagues, and lovers, as well as her own words, as read by Patricia Clarkson.

out of frame

December 2020 •Spanish

Six professionals in the audiovisual field share their experiences through a visual and sound sensory journey

Madrepérola

August 2015 •Portuguese

Cultura de la Delgadez

November 2019 •Spanish

Personal stories taken from a survey on how women's lives are affected by a culture obsessed with body image and thinness.

Blood Road

March 2017 •English

Blood Road follows the journey of ultra-endurance mountain bike athlete Rebecca Rusch and her Vietnamese riding partner, Huyen Nguyen, as they pedal 1,200 miles along the infamous Ho Chi Minh Trail through the dense jungles of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Their goal: to reach the site where Rebecca’s father, a U.S. Air Force pilot, was shot down in Laos more than 40 years earlier.

Play Your Gender

July 2017 •English

Juno Award-winning musician Kinnie Starr is on a quest to find out why only 5% of music producers are women even though many of the most bankable pop stars are female. What does it take for a woman to make it in music?

Feminino e Barulho

October 2023 •Portuguese

The cinema of Pernambuco is considered one of the most complex components of Brazilian cinema, particularly for its potency and creative style. The presence of women in filmmaking seldom holds the same historical notoriety as that of men, and the Pernambuco scene is no exception. In the context of "Amor, Plástico e Barulho" (Love, Plastic, and Noise), we find a film that serves as a testament to the marginalization of women in the creative industry, intertwining themes of consumption and the production of brega music. Hence, we use "Feminino e Barulho" (Feminine and Noise) as a means to share what we've learned. Renata Pinheiro has inspired us to craft a narrative that gives voice to those who need to be heard. We are here to showcase a glimpse of them and what they represent. "Feminino e Barulho" is a short film about love, femininity, sisterhood, and empowerment.

Those Who Care

August 2021 •French

Since the cult success of Merci Patron!, activist/journalist/filmmaker François Ruffin has become an MP. Here, he attempts to table a law aimed at upholding the rights of what in Quebec are known as caregivers, and shows us in passing how a law whose need seems patently obvious is put together, debated, voted on and . . . dies on the battleground of French politics. A stirring documentary about social injustice that somehow manages to make us bust a gut laughing as we rage with indignation. And also cry at the beauty of it all, thanks to the director’s humanist sensibility and a deft play between reality and fiction.