Healthcaring

A film by Denise Bostrom and Jane Warrenbrand

1976 | 32 minutes | Order No. 99261

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SYNOPSIS

HEALTHCARING: FROM OUR END OF THE SPECULUM, produced by Women Make Movies, is a pioneering, bold, and sensitive documentary — one of the first to honestly chronicle women’s relationship to gynecology and healthcare. Made more than four decades before #MeToo, the film was ahead of its time in taking on issues of abuse by male doctors and portraying women taking control of their own vaginal exams. Women of all ages and backgrounds speak candidly of their experiences with the healthcare system, and the film documents the growing number of women who are questioning long standing medical practices and working to implement alternative and more effective health care. The positive, warm style of the film encourages women to share their own experiences and gain a better sense of their right to receive better healthcare.

New 4K restoration funded by the HFPA Trust and IndieCollect donors to our Jane Fonda Fund for Women Directors. Available for exhibition. Please contact [email protected] for more information.

ABOUT FILMMAKER(S)

Denise Bostrom

Denise has written documentaries for PBS and HBO, as well as corporate and educational films and web casts for over 20 years, garnering awards from major festivals (American Film Festival, Women in the Director’s Chair, Nyons, and Toronto, Berlin and New York Film Festivals) and industry awards (Joey, Golden Cine). She wrote her first documentary film on contemporary jazz musicians during her senior year at Bennington College and has gone on to work on feature films as a script-doctor and script supervisor with renowned directors including Chris Columbus, Wes Craven, John Korty, George Lucas and Wayne Wang. She produces fund-raising films and events for national nonprofits, and teaches screenwriting at City College of San Francisco, the University Project at San Quentin State Prison, and Chung-Ang University in Seoul. Her essays have been published in Salon, San Francisco Chronicle and CineSource Magazine. She earned her MFA at New College where she developed her debut novel, "Perfect." She’s attended the Squaw Valley Community of Writers Residency in screenwriting and fiction, and was invited to read from her novel at the literary series, East Bay on the Brain. She lives in the East Bay with her husband and dowager cat, and enjoys catching her sons' indie band, Man in Space, when they tour the West Coast. (01/20)

Jane Warrenbrand

Subject Areas

Health History Reproductive Rights

Abortion and Women's Rights 1970

The first film ever made about the struggle for abortion rights in the U.S., this powerful archival piece documents women’s voices from a pre-Roe v. Wade era.

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With a Vengeance

This urgent and timely film is a history of the struggle for reproductive freedom since the 1960s, reflecting the wider history of the contemporary women's movement. WITH A VENGEANCE is an empowering look at the strength and breadth of the current women's movement which asks why current battles resemble those of the 60s. Rare archival footage and interviews with early abortion rights activists, including members of Redstockings and the JANE Collective, are intercut with young women who testify to the need for multi-racial grassroots coalitions. Flo Kennedy and Byllye Avery exemplify African American women's roles as leaders, making connections between racism, reproductive freedom and healthcare for the poor.