Directed by Women
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MISS ALMA THOMAS: a life in color2022 American Studies American History Art History African-American Studies Education Short Films Directed by Women Women's Studies Alma W. Thomas, a Black woman painter, broke color barriers on and off the canvas, yet did not receive national attention until she was 80 years old. “Miss Alma Thomas” is the first documentary film that explores Thomas’ incredible life through the lens of curators, art specialists, scholars, and her family. |
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A NIGHT OF KNOWING NOTHING2022 Anthropology Asian Studies Cinema Studies Directed by Women Political Science Sociology World History Director Payal Kapadia deftly merges reality with fiction, weaving together archival footage with student protest videos to create a vital tapestry of the personal and the political. With its dreamlike editing rhythms and a revelatory use of sound, A Night of Knowing Nothing is both an essential document of contemporary India and a nostalgic look at youth fighting the injustice of their time. |
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LA MANPLESA: an uprising remembered2022 American Studies American History Criminal & Law Cultural Studies Directed by Women Latin-American Studies Sociology
On May 5th, 1991, people took to the streets of Washington D.C.’s Mount Pleasant neighborhood to protest the police shooting of Daniel Gomez, a young man from El Salvador. Through testimony, song, poetry, and street theatre, La Manplesa weaves together the collective memory of one of D.C.’s first barrios and dives into the roots of the ‘91 rebellion.
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ANY GIVEN DAY2022 American Studies Directed by Women Family Relations Health Psychology & Psychiatry Sociology Criminal & Law A filmmaker with mental illness follows three defendants through a specialized mental health probation program. While sharing their rarely seen struggles, she faces her own challenges, making clear just how precarious the ties between people with mental illness, their families and society can be. From Margaret Byrne, the director of Raising Bertie. |
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EXPEDITION CONTENT2021 Anthropology Cinema Studies Cultural Studies Directed by Women Education Indigenous Studies Political Science Sensory Ethnography Lab Sociology World History 2022
An immersive marvel of sonic ethnography, Expedition Content draws on audio recordings made by recent college graduate and Standard Oil heir Michael Rockefeller as part of the so-called Harvard-Peabody Expedition to Netherlands New Guinea in 1961
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SO DEAR, SO LOVELY2021 Directed by Women Middle Eastern Studies Sociology Short Films Sensory Ethnography Lab Peace & Conflict Cinema Studies 2022
In this two-part tour through the streets of Lebanon, a colorful Palestinian cab driver offers offhand insight into the regions fraught political and social climate through boisterous serenades and excitable outbursts.
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FILM ABOUT A FATHER WHO2021 Aging / Gerontology Anthropology Cinema Studies Directed by Women Family Relations
Over a period of 35 years between 1984 and 2019, filmmaker Lynne Sachs shot 8 and 16mm film, videotape and digital images of her father, Ira Sachs Sr., a bon vivant and pioneering businessman from Park City, Utah. Film About a Father Who is her attempt to understand the web that connects a child to her parent and a sister to her siblings.
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TO KID OR NOT TO KID2020 American Studies Cinema Studies Cultural Studies Directed by Women Women's Studies Health
Filmmaker Maxine Trump turns the camera on herself and her close circle of family and friends as she confronts the idea of not having kids, and explores the cultural pressures and harsh criticism childfree women regularly experience.
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I WAS AT HOME, BUT...2020 Cinema Studies Directed by Women Narrative Films
Astrid, a forty-something mother of two, struggles to regain her balance in the wake of her husband’s death. Her adolescent son Phillip disappeared for a week and now that he has returned, he faces disciplinary action at school and his toe requires amputation. As new questions confront Astrid from every angle, even simple activities like buying a bicycle or engaging with a work of art, are fraught with unexpected challenges.
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THE EARLY WORKS OF ANA VAZ: 2007-2016Anthropology Environmental Studies Directed by Women Latin-American Studies Short Films 2020
This collection of eight early films by Brazilian artist and filmmaker Ana Vaz proposes a critical reflection on the relationship between colonialism, modernity and the impending ecological disaster. At the core of the collection is a cycle of works that explore the colonial and post-colonial exchange between Europe and the Americas.
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CASTING FAITH: A Portrait of Gillian Jagger2012 Art History Directed by Women Women's Studies
This film explores Gillian Jagger's work, the relationship of that work to her life, and the role of art in society.
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MEMORIES OF DESIRE2019 Cinema Studies Directed by Women Human Sexuality Photography Short Films Women's Studies
Feminist filmmaker Victoria Schultz captures the memory of her own past, trying to become a writer while becoming entangled in erotic and frightening encounters with an older man. A #MeToo film that stretches back to one woman's memory growing up in the 1950s.
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OCCUPATION 19682019 Anthropology Cinema Studies Directed by Women Eastern Europe Europe Peace & Conflict Russia Short Films World History An anthology documentary consisting of five short films on the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, each by a different director from the five countries that participated in the occupation. |
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WHEN PIGS COME2019 Aging / Gerontology Cultural Studies Directed by Women Eastern Europe Women's Studies World History
A retired teacher in Serbian province, devotedly monitors elections believing that all individuals could and should make a difference in building democracy.
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I AM GAGARIN2019 Cinema Studies Cultural Studies Directed by Women Music Russia World History Urban Studies A deeply personal exploration of post-Soviet Russia, I am Gagarin examines the Moscow rave scene, and the influential trendsetters at the forefront of the subculture. |
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HÍBRIDOS, THE SPIRITS OF BRAZIL2019 Anthropology Cultural Studies Cinema Studies Dance Directed by Women Indigenous Studies Latin-American Studies Music Religion & Spirituality
HÍBRIDOS, THE SPIRITS OF BRAZIL is an ethnomusicological journey into the sacred culture of Brazil, from Roman Catholic to Ubanda and candomblé--mixures of African traditions with Catholicism.
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LAILA AT THE BRIDGEAsian Studies Cultural Studies Directed by Women Health Middle Eastern Studies Cinema Studies Women's Studies 2018 2019 Laila at the Bridge takes the viewer on a harrowing journey to Kabul’s dark underpass, following a woman who attempts to save as many drug addicts as she can. |
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JEWEL'S CATCH ONE2018 African-American Studies AIDS American History Directed by Women Human Sexuality LGBTQ Women's Studies American Studies 2019
The story of famed Los Angeles nightclub Catch One and its owner Jewel Thais-Williams, who defied all odds and provided a safe space for both black and LGBT communities.
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HOW TO RUST2018 African-American Studies Art History Cinema Studies Sensory Ethnography Lab Anthropology Directed by Women
From the Sensory Ethnography Lab at Harvard University comes a postindustrial fable told in iron, rocks, and wood. A unique look at Detroit artist Olayami Dabls’ installation “Iron Teaching Rocks How to Rust”
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WESTERN2018 Narrative Films Directed by Women
Tensions rise as a group of German construction workers start a tough job at a remote site in the Bulgarian countryside. Directed by Valeska Grisebach and produced by Maren Ade, the film played at NYFF, TIFF and Cannes.
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