
A feminist activist organization determined to bring attention to superficiality and the rampant objectification of women in modern American society chooses the 1985 Miss California Beauty Pageant as the site for its disruptive guerrilla demonstration. The group meets in Santa Cruz, Calif., and orchestrates its own competition -- one that attracts media attention and shocks passersby with its thought-provoking and satirical alternate reading of the institution of the American beauty pageant.

A feminist activist organization determined to bring attention to superficiality and the rampant objectification of women in modern American society chooses the 1985 Miss California Beauty Pageant as the site for its disruptive guerrilla demonstration. The group meets in Santa Cruz, Calif., and orchestrates its own competition -- one that attracts media attention and shocks passersby with its thought-provoking and satirical alternate reading of the institution of the American beauty pageant.
1987-09-16
8
7.5In 1977, a book of photographs captured an awakening - women shedding the cultural restrictions of their childhoods and embracing their full humanity. This documentary revisits those photos, those women and those times and takes aim at our culture today that alarmingly shows the need for continued change.
6.1A sexual wellness company gains fame and followers, then members come forward with shocking allegations.
6.2An investigative look and analysis of gender disparity in Hollywood, featuring accounts from well-known actors, executives and artists in the Industry.
6.5A documentary that explores the downloading revolution; the kids that created it, the bands and the businesses that were affected by it, and its impact on the world at large.
7.3Alex Gibney explores the charged issue of pedophilia in the Catholic Church, following a trail from the first known protest against clerical sexual abuse in the United States and all way to the Vatican.
6.7The remarkable story of The Weather Underground, radical activists of the 1970s, and of radical politics at its best and most disastrous.
8.4A documentary about the making of season five of the acclaimed AMC series Breaking Bad.
6.8JB Smoove and Martin Starr host a celebration of 20 years of "Spider-Man" movies, from the Sam Raimi trilogy to Marc Webb's movies and the trio from Jon Watts.
5.9A road trip across five countries to explore the social and political movements as well as the mainstream media's misperception of South America while interviewing seven of its elected presidents.
6.6A documentary chronicling Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour's preparations for the 2007 fall-fashion issue.
6.8In the winter of 2011, after a controversial election, Vladimir Putin was reinstalled as president of Russia. In response, hundreds of thousands of citizens rose up all over the country to challenge the legitimacy of Putin’s rule. Among them were a group of young, radical-feminist punk rockers, better known as Pussy Riot. Wearing colored balaclavas, tights, and summer dresses, they entered Moscow’s most venerated cathedral and dared to sing “Mother Mary, Banish Putin!” Now they have become victims of a “show” trial.
6.9The film MISS REPRESENTATION exposes how American youth are being sold the concept that women and girls’ value lies in their youth, beauty and sexuality. Explores the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in America, and challenges the media's limited portrayal of what it means to be a powerful woman. It’s time to break that cycle of mistruths.
6.8Al Pacino's deeply-felt rumination on Shakespeare's significance and relevance to the modern world through interviews and an in-depth analysis of "Richard III."
7.1Documentary of the making of the sequel to the popular Schwarzenegger film, The Terminator.
6.5The Making-of James Cameron's Avatar. It shows interesting parts of the work on the set.
7.5Artists in LA discover the work of forgotten Polish sculptor Stanislav Szukalski, a mad genius whose true story unfolds chapter by astounding chapter.
7.4Fired from a strip club, a vengeful dancer masterminds a high-stakes heist with fellow strippers to take down the corrupt boss and the men who underestimate them.
7.1Takes us inside the world of Anonymous, the radical "hacktivist" collective that has redefined civil disobedience for the digital age. The film explores early hacktivist groups like Cult of the Dead Cow and Electronic Disturbance Theater, then moves to Anonymous' raucous beginnings on the website 4chan. Through interviews with current members, people recently returned from prison or facing trial, writers, academics, activists and major players in various "raids," the documentary traces Anonymous’ evolution from merry pranksters to a full-blown movement with a global reach, the most transformative civil disobedience of our time.
7.5When a feminist filmmaker sets out to document the mysterious and polarizing world of the Men’s Rights Movement, she begins to question her own beliefs. Chronicling Cassie Jaye’s journey exploring an alternate perspective on gender equality, power and privilege.
10.0BERTHA LUTZ: WOMEN AND THE U.N. CHARTER reveals the important and unknown role of a Brazilian biologist and feminist in ensuring that gender issues were addressed at the basis of the United Nations.
5.7An 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.
10.0This documentary profiles economist and writer Marilyn Waring. In extensive interviews, Waring details her feminist approach to finances and challenges commonly accepted truths about the global economy. The filmmakers detail Waring's early rise to political prominence and her successful protests against nuclear arms. Waring also speaks candidly about wartime economies, suggesting that government policies tend to marginalize the fiscal contributions of women.
7.2The life of internationally renowned artist and activist Nan Goldin is told through her slideshows, intimate interviews, ground-breaking photography, and rare footage of her personal fight to hold the Sackler family accountable for the overdose crisis.
7.4A documentary that resurrects the buried history of the outrageous, often brilliant women who founded the modern women's movement from 1966 to 1971.
9.0Martine is a marriage counsellor at the Women's Centre in Montreuil. Between files and dance steps, she takes us on a tour of the centre, telling us how she welcomes women who are victims of domestic abuse and the battles they fight alongside the association.
9.0In 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.
0.0Director Eugenia Gutu offers a feminist critique of gender (in)equality under socialism in this documentary portrait of an industrializing town and its model citizen, Florica S.
0.0In this short documentary, we take a look at the history and future of roller derby in the Netherlands, while also touching on subjects such as image and the rise of men’s teams in this traditionally female sport. We tried to capture the Roller Derby culture with grungy 16mm film overlays and an eclectic mix of colors, switching from black and white, back to color. This, combined with the use of stock footage, the Whip It trailer and choice of music really help to sell the vibe and sensibilities of roller derby.
0.0The 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.
7.8Documentary about the Lyon sex workers who occupied the church of St. Nizier on June 3, 1975.
3.3In 1971, graduate student Gloria Orenstein received a call from Surrealist artist Leonora Carrington that sparked a lifelong journey into art, ecofeminism and shamanism. This short film uses art, animation and storytelling to celebrate this wild adventure. Now more than 40 years later, award-winning Dr. Gloria Feman Orenstein is a feminist art critic and pioneer scholar of women in Surrealism and ecofeminism in the arts. Her delightful tale brings alive an often unseen history of women in the arts.
8.0"Ellas en la ciudad" (Them in the City) focuses on the first settlers of the neighborhoods on the outskirts of Seville. Through their stories, we discover that they have been the backbone of a city that has turned its back on them.
0.0A docu-drama shot in 1970, but not completed until 1973, the film sought to encapsulate in an experimental form issues that were under discussion within the Women’s Liberation Movement at this time and to thus contribute to action for change. In its numerous community screenings, active debate was encouraged as part of the viewing experience.
10.0Johanna Dohnal, whose political career spans three decades, was one of the very first explicitly feminist politicians in Europe. As a member of the Austrian socialist government and the first Austrian minister for Women’s Affairs from 1990 to 1994, Dohnal was responsible for founding Austria’s first women’s refuge as well as criminalizing of marital rape. Yet her legacy remains yet to be discovered and re-examined. DIE DOHNAL makes a first step, and it makes Dohnal come alive.
6.2A 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.
7.5From her precocious status as a sex symbol to her consecration as a filmmaker, Jodie Foster's story is about a feminist struggle, albeit atypical, fought on and off the screen. This film sets out to retrace her remarkable journey within the Hollywood industry.
6.3This documentary film is a dialogue between young women about female sexuality. Addressing the subject with freedom, courage and humor, they share their stories and experiences with the desire to change the world around them and to assert their right as women to an informed sexual education, free of constraints and taboos.
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.