Breaking the Rule of Thumb

A film by Andrea K. Elovson

1997 | 35 minutes | Color | VHS/DVD | Order No. 99574

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SYNOPSIS

Combining powerful interviews with documentary footage, this timely and compelling film takes a comprehensive look at the issues still confronting battered women twenty years after the beginning of the domestic violence movement. Featuring the stories of three women - one a police officer - who went through the Philadelphia family courts to ensure their safety, BREAKING THE RULE OF THUMB examines contemporary domestic violence in terms of changing historical definitions of abuse. Incorporating individual stories into a strong argument for legal reform, filmmaker Andrea Elovson exposes how domestic violence's seemingly personal gender issues are inextricably tied to flawed ideas of civil justice.

PRESS

"A welcome addition for Women's Studies courses... At a time when there is a resurgence of hierarchical family values this video urges that battered women must be given resources and support..."

Grace Poore Nat Coalition Against Domestic Violence

ABOUT FILMMAKER(S)

Andrea K. Elovson

Writer and filmmaker Andrea Elovson graduated as an English major from UCLA before earning an M.F.A. in filmmaking in 1997. Elovson began her career working at IBM, where she produced an interactive learning disk She also did some work as a freelance photographer. Elovson finally settled in Philadelphia, where she works as a freelance editor and producer, her work includes a half-hour documentary examining domestic violence and the family court system. Elovson has also written various books and articles for parents and children including The Kindergarten Survival Handbook. (08/09)

Subject Areas

Domestic Violence Law

OUR CATALOG