Documentary Educational Resources - Subject / Gender / Sexuality / All Films

Deep Hearts

Thu, 30 Aug 2018 07:04:00 GMT

Deep Hearts is a film about the Bororo Fulani, a nomadic society located in the central portion of the Niger Republic of Africa. The title is a reference to an important aspect of these people's thought and demeanor. The Bororo are immensely beautiful. They are also extremely envious of each other's looks. This envy accounts for their truly suspicious nature; one which leads quickly to feelings of fear. They are particularly fearful of being 'devoured' by both the eyes and mouths of those around them with whom they compete as beautiful creatures. The concept of a deep heart is useful because it accommodates their fears by providing a metaphysical space in which to hide their true feelings.

Deep Hearts describes the Gerewol, an occasion during the rainy season when two different and competing lineages come together at a designated watering place to choose the most 'perfect' Bororo male. It is close to being a physical and moral beauty contest in which the winner, selected by a maiden of the opposing lineage, is acclaimed the 'bull.' The film is also an attempt to let this ceremony of the Bororo be a way of speaking to the larger question of choice itself, something which confronts all human beings at all times.

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Fashioning Faith

Wed, 29 Aug 2018 14:53:00 GMT

Fashioning Faith
Buy Now: $295.00

When most Americans think of the Islamic veil, the image of Afghan women in blue burkas or the black chador of the Islamic Republic of Iran may come to mind. But what about the Muslim-American woman who easily combines her headscarf with jeans or haute couture gowns?

Fashioning Faith takes a behind the scenes look at the emerging world of Islamic fashion and US-based clothing designers who make it possible. The film interweaves interviews and verité footage from a diverse array of Muslim women with one goal in common – to express their faith through fashion.

Nzinga Knight is a young Brooklynite who has won fashion accolades for her modest evening dresses – a first for the Islamic style market in America. Jenneh Williams has been in the Islamic retail business for decades, recently opening up her own boutique in Queens that caters to the growing number of black converts to Islam. Sabrina Enayatulla is a blogger fashionista with a mission – to change negative stereotypes of Islam through stylish creations. Brooke Samad hopes that her pious clothing collection will hit home with young professional Muslims looking for new alternatives to traditional garb, while the designers of the Eva Khurshid label seek to attract all Americans — regardless of creed — to their stylish clothing by making modesty the new mainstream.

Through these women's stories, Fashioning Faith takes viewers on a colorful exploration of a world where fashion and faith fuse with often surprising results.

“An excellent film for introductory anthropology courses. At one level, Fashioning Faith is a primer on Muslim women in the United States and the fact that they actually freely choose to wear modest clothing. But at a deeper level, for anthropology courses this film offers teachers an opportunity to explore more deeply how gender empowerment does not necessarily equate to encouraging women to compete with men. …Fashioning Faith shows us how gender segregation sanctions women's economic empowerment through means that most Americans would mistakenly consider singularly repressive.”
— Carolyn Rouse, Current Anthropology, Vol. 53, No. 3 (June 2012), pp. 368-366

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Friends in High Places

Wed, 29 Aug 2018 14:53:00 GMT

Friends in High Places
Buy Now: $320.00

“Buddhism and nat worship are like mangoes and bananas”

Whether contending with a deceitful daughter-in-law, forecasting financial prospects for a tea shop, or freeing a husband from government detainment, Friends in High Places reveals the central role of nats and spirit mediums in alleviating the day to day burdens of modern Burmese life. “Leprosy isn’t as contagious as people’s problems,” notes one medium, “my clients bring their worries into my home. I don’t need to go out on the street to learn how cruel life can be.”

Yet despite their skills in channeling good luck for others, the life stories of the mediums prove to be as poignant as the stories of those who seek their assistance. Just as nats lie somewhere on the spectrum between mortals and the divine, the gay men who serve as primary conduits for the nat spirits are considered to be neither male nor female. Regarded by society with a curious mix of disdain and reverence, the male mediums profiled in this film – ranging from the gentle, melancholy “Lady Silver Wings” to the hard drinking, ego-driven “Mr. Famous” – illustrate the special niche granted to gay men in Burmese society.

Exquisite footage accentuates Lindsey Merrison’s keen eye for nuance as she takes the viewer on a journey examining the extremes that define Burmese spirit mediums and their way of life. Deceit and artistry, tragedy and comedy, faith and cynicism – in a country known both as a 2,500 year bastion of Buddhism and more recently for its legacy of political corruption and instability, the world of the nat becomes an analogy for the many unusual juxtapositions within Burma itself.

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The Girl Next Door

Wed, 29 Aug 2018 13:27:00 GMT

The Girl Next Door
Buy Now: $320.00

In 1995, Oklahoma housewife Stacy Baker posed for a photograph that changed her life. Encouraged by her husband to pose nude for a contest, she was soon gracing the cover of Hustler and accepting offers to perform in X-rated films. Finding liberation through breast implants and her new career, she files for divorce and becomes "Stacy Valentine." Award-winning filmmaker Christine Fugate spent two years documenting Valentine's rise to fame in the adult film industry, as well as her quest to find real love and happiness. The camera follows the actress through her daily grind: the tedious production days, unforeseen crises on the set, industry gossip circles, and frequent trips to the plastic surgeon. Eventually, Stacy Valentine earns the title of "Best American Starlet." Unlike her persona on the big screen, Stacy allows the filmmaker to witness her vulnerable side. Stacy's self-confident ambition and fierce independence gradually give way to signs of insecurity, cynicism and loneliness. An entertaining and humanizing portrait, The Girl Next Door allows us to experience the world of pornography through the eyes of one of its hardworking employees. Of interest to Gender Studies, the Anthropology of Work, Psychology, and Women's Studies.

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Love Iranian-American Style

Wed, 29 Aug 2018 06:41:00 GMT

Love Iranian-American Style
Buy Now: $320.00

Sexual purity, money and a mother's worries come together in this humorous guided tour of America's status-obsessed Iranian Jewish community. The film follows Tanaz, the narrator, a hip New Yorker whose Iranian family attempts to marry her off now that she's reached the age of 25. Tanaz vacillates between soppy American ideas of romance, and a more business-like Iranian approach, and in the end may be unable to execute either.

Her mother was proud of her for going to college and being independent, but now that Tanaz remains single she fears that her daughter is too liberal, Americanized and confused. Trying to bring her back into the fold, her mom arranges dates with conservative Iranian suitors who expect Tanaz to be demure and virginal. Though she feels some shame about her transgressions, she is still repelled that a man would care about purity, especially after she encounters a doctor in Beverly Hills specializing in hymen reconstruction.

When Tanaz breaks from her family's expectations and dates American men, she can't help bringing with her the immense pressure to get married, and the American boys tell her that this obsession kills love. Tanaz fantasizes about simply finding another Iranian "weirdo" like herself - who is caught between two cultures and two very different marital traditions.

"Love Iranian-American Style provides a powerful insight to how family and culture influence how we live our lives and interact in our relationships... If you have ever had problems finding a lasting relationship, you can relate to her in her journey."
— Elizabeth Stannard Gromisch, Feminist Review

SELECTED SCREENINGS & AWARDS

New York Jewish Film Festival, January 2006

India International Women Film Festival, New Delhi, 2007

American Psychological Association Convention, Boston, 2008

Iranian Diaspora Film Screening, Philadelphia, PA, 2009

Iranian Diasporic Film Series, University of Leeds, UK, 2010

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Love Stories

Wed, 29 Aug 2018 06:41:00 GMT

Love Stories
Buy Now: $320.00

In our grandparents' time, most women and men committed themselves to each other for better or worse. Today, many men and women struggle to redefine relationships in a society where more women are in the workforce, where divorce is common, and where the marriage commitment is rapidly changing. How did this happen? What opportunities and barriers has it created in women's and men's lives?

Love Stories: Women, Men, & Romance provides both a history of changing attitudes and expectations and a portrait of today's conflicted society — in which the old and new values clash, fueling debates over the lifestyle, sex roles, and birth control.

A feature-length film in 3 sections for easy classroom use — Love Stories can be shown to students in sections: Part I, "Women," documents the growth of feminist values as experienced by 8 women of different ages and from different parts of our society; Part II, "Men," shows male reaction to a changing world; Part III, "Romance," portrays a new dynamic of male/female relations.

Women vs. Men: Quotes from Love Stories:

“She really loved him — there was no such thing as divorce, whether your husband abused you or not you stayed with him. That's what my mother used to say: 'I got married, and he's your father and you respect him.' There was no such thing as telling him off.” — Josephine (71 years)

“The male-female relationship hasn't changed. A man is a man, the dominant personality.” — Spider

“I had this boyfriend from high school — we really thought we'd get married — we broke up my sophomore year and that's when the dream shattered. He wanted different things for my life than I wanted for my life — it was very painful. But I felt that I was going to have endless opportunities — that I could do anything.” — Linda (38 years)

“I felt that I was the teacher, and that if there was any education to be given, she would get it from me. That was a mistake, a real mistake — finding a woman today that sees things eye to eye 50 percent of the time is tough enough. If you can't beat them, join them, because I think it's the only way that males and females are going to reach some understanding today.” — Ernest

“Suitable for high school classes and college courses in cultural anthropology, anthropology of gender, anthropology of kinship, and American studies, as well as for general audiences.” — Jack David Eller, Anthropology Review Database

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Of Men And Gods

Tue, 28 Aug 2018 13:51:00 GMT

Of Men And Gods
Buy Now: $320.00

A frank look at a largely unexplored area, Of Men And Gods examines the daily existence of several Haitian men who are openly gay.

Prevalent, yet still taboo, homosexuality and gay culture are allowed to flourish within the context of Haiti's Vodou religion. As "children of the gods," the men find an explanation for homosexuality as well as divine protection. They also find an outlet for theatrical expression through exhilarating performances in which they embody the gods.

Meanwhile, the AIDS epidemic looms as a continual threat and adds a disquieting degree of nihilism to their relatively optimistic attitudes toward life and happiness in Port-au-Prince.

The filmmaker, Anne Lescot, is an anthropologist who has studied Haitian Vodou for 10 years. Laurence Magloire has been working in the field of television for 10 years.

SELECTED SCREENINGS & AWARDS

Parfums Vodou, Forum for Visual Anthropology, Switzerland, 2008

Isidore Award, Collectif HomoEdu & Festival Influences Caraïbes, Paris, 2007

Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, Greece, 2005

5th Czech Gay and Lesbian Film Festival MEZIPATRA 2004

Jakarta Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, Indonesia, 2004

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Out of Order

Tue, 28 Aug 2018 13:51:00 GMT

Out of Order
Buy Now: $320.00

In Out of Order, six former Catholic nuns tell why they entered and why they left religious life. The women (filmmaker Diane Christian is one of them) describe their years in the convent and their return to the secular world.

The former nuns talk about single life and marriage (three are married, one to a former priest), about the changed place of religion in their lives, about sex roles, about institutional supports and burdens, about work. Three of the women teach - one at a state university, one in an inner city grammar school, one at a suburban high school. One woman is an artist, one an insurance agent, one a private investor. The film shows them at work and at home in New York, Massachusetts, Texas and Maryland.

Out of Order offers unique insight into female socialization and identity in modern America by probing ideals and realities of womanhood, sex, work and service from an unknown and unusual perspective.

Primary funding for Out of Order was provided by a production grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The digital restoration was funded by University at Buffalo's Samuel P. Capen Chair in American Culture.

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Swiss Graffiti

Tue, 28 Aug 2018 07:47:00 GMT

Swiss Graffiti
Buy Now: $275.00

An animated cartoon about the Creation myth reviewed and corrected by two women. God the magician has decided to create a paradise: Switzerland. He covers it with trees and cows, until Adam is born. After exploring his paradise, Adam creates Eve from one of his ribs. Man is shown as an erect penis, woman by a limbless trunk.

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Two Video Reports from China

Mon, 27 Aug 2018 08:58:00 GMT

Two Video Reports from China
Buy Now: $320.00

In response to an invitation from the Chinese government, twenty-three American family planning workers from the fields of medicine, public health, media and administration spent seventeen days during August and September of 1977 in the People's Republic of China studying its birth control, maternity and child care methods and facilities.

This DVD contains two video reports made during this trip: In China Family Planning is No Private Matter (32 min), and Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine (22 min).

On this trip, they inquired about the government's methods of surveillance that were instrumental in conducting the declared policy of "one child per family" and observed its consequences in factories and communes. In their effort to comprehend the breadth of the government's health care policies, they recorded the extensive use of herbal therapy and acupuncture. Here is presented their recording of a birth by caesarian section using acupuncture as the sole anesthetic. Shortly afterward they talked with the mother as she celebrated the birth of a healthy son.

The People-to-People China Trip was led by Phyllis Vineyard and Margaret Whitman and was facilitated by Planned Parenthood USA as part of its exploration of the methods and consequences of family planning worldwide.

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