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Category Archives: Women

Moms on Strike (2003)

93m; U.S.

Director: James Keach

Cast: Faith FordTim Matheson and Florence Henderson

Synopsis (IMDB): She was an overworked mom trying to get her family’s attention. She didn’t know she would become a national sensation.

 

Mother Jones: America’s Most Dangerous Woman (2007)

23m; U.S.

Director: Rosemary Feurer & Laura Vazquez

Synopsis: Short, effective doc about legendary labor heroine Mary Harris Jones, the legendary labor heroine known as Mother Jones, examining the ways that Jones’ organizing career influenced early 20th century American history. The film demonstrates how the labor leader used class and gender boundaries to shape an identity that allowed her to become an effective labor organizer in the early 20th century. The documentary also evokes the terrible conditions and labor oppression that motivated Jones to traverse the country, mobilizing thousands to fight back. The film uses authentic photographs and live footage, including the only known film of Mother Jones on her deathbed, proclaiming that she still considered herself a radical and “longs for the day when labor will have the destination of the nation in her own hands.”

Contact: www.motherjonesmuseum.org http://www.laborheritagefoundation.org / Laura Vazquez, PHD, dept of Comm, Northern Illinois University, 815-753-7132 lvazquez@niu.edu Rosemary Feurer”

 

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Mother Kuster’s Journey to Happiness (1929)

121m; Germany

Director: Phil Jutzi

Cast: Alexandra Schmitt, Holmes Zimmermann and Ilse Trautschold

Synopsis (IMDB): A masterpiece about a working-class family in the late twenties in Berlin. You see Mutter Krauses fight for survival shown in such a modern way that you feel close even if it is nearly ninety years away. The way the camera (operated by the director himself) films the scenes and sometimes just the everyday life on the streets of Berlin is so energetic and real. The actors are playing very physical and natural (which was surprising for me as i expected acting in silent movies as much more stiff and awkward). All characters are very pure and just like in a documentary. Ilse Trautschold as the daughter is unforgettable. Whenever you get the chance to see this film go and watch it. Faßbinder once said it was his favorite film.

 
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Posted by on April 20, 2012 in Drama, Women, Working Class

 

Mother Trucker: The Diana Kilmury Story

89m; U.S.

Director: Sturla Gunnarsson

Cast: Barbara Williams, Timothy Webber and Rob Lee

Synopsis: Women making it in trucking.

 
 

Moving Mountains (1981)

Director: Laura Sky

Synopsis: Women steelworkers

 

My Life to Live (Vivre sa vie: Film en douze tableaux) [1962]

80m; France

Director: Jean-Luc Godard

Cast: Anna Karina, Sady Rebbot and André S. Labarthe

Synopsis: This film explores a Parisian woman’s descent into prostitution. The movie is comprised of a series of 12 “tableaux”– scenes which are basically unconnected episodes, each presented with a worded introduction.

 
 

Nana (1934)

90m; U.S.

Director: Dorothy Arzner

Cast: Anna Sten, Phillips Holmes and Lionel Atwill

Synopsis: Prostitution; based on Zola’s novel.

 
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Posted by on April 20, 2012 in Drama, Women, Working Class

 

Nightsongs (1983)

116m; U.S.

Director: Marva Nabili

Cast: Victor WongIda F.O. Chung and Mei Bo Kwong

Synopsis: Immigrant worklife in NYC’s Chinatown (directed by an immigrant).

 
 

No Time To Stop: Women Immigrants (1990)

29m; Canada

Director: Helene Klodawsky

Synopsis: Kwai Fong Lai is from Hong Kong, Alberta Onyejekwe from Ghana, and Angela Williams from Jamaica. They are immigrants to Canada, visible minorities, and women, a combination designed to make their lives difficult. While Canadian society has yet to accustom itself to its immigrant reality, these strong and resilient women manage to adapt and survive. At home and at work, they speak candidly about the conditions that shape their lives. (Synopsis from: http://onf-nfb.gc.ca/eng/collection/film/?id=18377)

 

 

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North-south.com (2007)

53m; Cameroon, Africa

Director: François Ducat

Synopsis (icarusfilms.com): Since the arrival of the Internet in the African republic of Cameroon, Internet Cafés have mushroomed. In a country where nearly half the population lives under the poverty threshold, many young women, who dream of escaping a life of misery by marrying a rich, white foreigner, surf the Internet for European marriage prospects at cybercafés such as Love.com, Affection.org, Flirt.net and Meeting.com.

In the capital city of Yaoundé, NORTH-SOUTH.COM interviews many of these young women who see Europe as a “paradise,” and who express incredibly naïve beliefs about European men-that they are more masculine, more romantic, have lots of money and always tell the truth.

The film also tells the stories of several Cameroonian women who married white Europeans, showing their current situations, the cultural differences with which they deal, and the personal sacrifices they made in exchange for economic security. We also learn of the tragedy of a 19-year-old woman who was lured to Paris by an Internet correspondent, taken captive and forced into prostitution for nine months before escaping.

In relating these heartrending stories of dreams, hopes, disappointments and happiness that develop from on-line encounters between black women and white men, NORTH-SOUTH.COM also provides a provocative contemporary portrait of the relationship between the “developed” and “developing” worlds.

Contact: http://icarusfilms.com/new2009/nsc.html lori@icarusfilms.com sending screener

 
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Posted by on April 20, 2012 in Documentary, Technology, Women