Escape the Corset (2020)

Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing

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

Step Up and Be Vocal

Interviews from 1999, with some queer artists, activists and bands about queer punk, feminist concepts and actions. Filmed during a trip to San Francisco.

Fashion As A Social Control

A look at the ways fashion has been used to socially control women in Canada, both historically and in the 20th century.

The Women's Suffrage Movement In Canada

Moira Mulholland narrates the history of (European) women's rights through images, interviews, and performances focusing in on the Women's Suffrage Movement in Canada.

Rape Is A Social Disease

A presentation of the historical process of rape, followed by a more recent approach of current studies that reinforce ÒRape Reliefs own statistics.

Not Bad for a Girl

A documentary on women musicians of the 1990s from the indie rock music genre, grunge and riot grrrl including Hole, Babes in Toyland, L7 and more.

Wild Women

At the beginning of winter, a filmmaker retires for six months to a hermit's cabin in the middle of the forest, cut off from the world and its means of communication. Through the words of four women she has filmed previously, all of whom have dedicated their lives to different forms of spirituality, she embarks on a mysterious inner adventure, on the edge of solitude and nature. A journey that invites us to connect with the world in a different way.

Women Composers

Female composers' names are mentioned throughout history.

What Will I Be?

Vancouver s two leading authorities on sexism in the school system, Linfa Shuto and Reua Dexter, relate their opinions on the problem and some solutions that they are working on. The tape also includes a short historical look at women s position in education and a critical discussion on sex stereotype roles by Grade 6 students.

Pornography: A Respectable Lie

A video essay using images and interviews to critically explore the history and current role of pornography.

Karen: Women In Sports

Guest speakers from "Women In Motion" Conference, Vancouver, B.C. 1975.

Men's Madness - The Myth of Male Reason

Provocative, feminist critique of man’s technological progress.

Beyond Borders: Arab Feminists Talk About Their Lives... East and West

In the Arab world, women are fighting a two-front war against repressive internal constraints and intrusive Western interference. In this program, a feminist delegation composed of author Nawal Saadawi and other renowned activists from the Middle East and North Africa gathers at the UN, on college campuses, and in church basements to speak out about deterioration of women's rights in the Arab states in an effort to heighten awareness of the Arab feminist struggle for equality--and the effects of U.S. foreign policy on their efforts.

All the Women I Know

From the personal to the political, the experiences of diverse women speak of how masculinized and violent the streets still are nowadays. In three insightful conversations with female friends, collaborators and high school students, the director looks for a discourse about fear that is not fearsome, a discourse on violence that is not violent. Direct cinema, horizontal process, self-criticism and narrative breaks. Mostly, this is a tale of universal sorority.

Fogelstadgruppen

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Dead Gay Men and Living Lesbians

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.

Delphine and Carole

In the 70s, actress Delphine Seyrig and director Carole Roussopoulos, both militant feminists, were the pioneers of video activism in France. They documented the demonstrations of French feminists and used the new technologies to counter the poor representation of women in the public media.

Regarding Susan Sontag

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.

Moi, agricultrice

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Bloodroot

Douglas Tirola’s latest documentary traces the evolution of feminism through the lives of two exceptional women, Noel and Selma, who came of age in the ’50s when women were relegated to the roles of wives and mothers. During the height of the women’s movement, Noel, a former teen model and Playboy bunny, meets and falls in love with Selma, a tough, outspoken radical feminist. Both women choose to leave their comfortable, yet unsatisfying marriages and children to come out as lesbians. The two share a love of cooking and gardening and, in the ’70s, open Bloodroot, the first vegetarian collective restaurant and bookstore in Bridgeport, Connecticut. By interspersing archival footage and clips from The Stepford Wives, Tirola affectionately chronicles the cultural shifts of the last 40 years as Noel and Selma attempt to keep Bloodroot open as an indispensable gathering spot for progressive women.

After Winter Comes Spring

A locomotive journey traversing the North to the South of the German Democratic Republic on the eve of its dissolution. Labourers, punks, mothers, intellectuals, young and old are implored to reflect on their life choices, the sacrifices they've made, and their place in the world. Despite everything, hope persists.

bell hooks: Cultural Criticism & Transformation

bell hooks is one of America's most accessible public intellectuals. In this two-part video, extensively illustrated with many of the images under analysis, she makes a compelling argument for the transformative power of cultural criticism.

DIYSEX

DIYSEX is a film that reflects on the use of the image and the language of mainstream pornography, and wonders how far this use can transcend when making your porn film.

Women's Rebellion

The documentary chronicles women's experiences of discovering, dreaming, acting and rebelling together, namely the early years of the formation of a feminist movement in Turkey.

I Am FEMEN

Oxana is a woman, a fighter, an artist. As a teenager, her passion for iconography almost inspires her to join a convent, but in the end she decides to devote her talents to the Femen movement. With Anna, Inna and Sasha, she founds the famous feminist group which protests against the regime and which will see her leave her homeland, Ukraine, and travel all over Europe. Driven by a creative zeal and a desire to change the world, Oxana allows us a glimpse into her world and her personality, which is as unassuming, mesmerising and vibrant as her passionate artworks.

She's Beautiful When She's Angry

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

Teaches of Peaches

Peaches - artist, feminist, rock star. She has been challenging gender stereotypes for over 20 years and is on par with the icons of the pop and rock world. With exclusive private archive material and current footage of preparations and concerts of her 2022 jubilee tour “20 Years of Teaches of Peaches”, we learn how the Canadian Merrill Nisker became the internationally celebrated musician and electro-clash icon Peaches.

Boobs

A witty, forthright dive into the wonderful world of boobs by singer and filmmaker Elizabeth Sankey - from enhanced boobs to 'free the nipple', bras, Baywatch, and the stars of reality TV.

Town Bloody Hall

Norman Mailer and a panel of feminists — Jacqueline Ceballos, Germaine Greer, Jill Johnston, and Diana Trilling — debate the issue of Women's Liberation.

Let Us Be Seen

How do feminist and queer identities operate in contemporary Belfast? Let Us Be Seen is a documentary film that presents the work and ideas of individuals on the ground in Belfast, who have campaigned tirelessly for change and continue to do so. On 21st October 2019, abortion was decriminalised and same-sex marriage legalised in Northern Ireland. This important law change however has shed light on more nuanced barriers facing people locally.

Beauvoir, l'aventure d'être soi

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Kathleen Shannon: On Film, Feminism & Other Dreams

With quiet intelligence and wry humour, retired documentary filmmaker Kathleen Shannon takes us through the arc of her life and career. Beginning with childhood, moving through her formative years, to her overwhelming desire to give women a chance to tell their stories, this film paints a vibrant portrait of one woman who blazed the way. It's a story of struggle, persistence, and success… and of course, of the NFB's Studio D.

Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché

The death of punk icon and X-Ray Spex front-woman Poly Styrene sends her daughter on a journey through her mother's archives in this intimate documentary.