I Was a Teenage Feminist
Canada/US | 2005 | 62 minutes | Color | DVD | Order No. 07914
SYNOPSIS
In this enlightening documentary, screened worldwide, Shechter hunts down the answers to questions many women are grappling with about their roles and identities in today’s society: Is feminism dead, hibernating, or trapped below the radar? Have the goals of the ‘70s been accomplished or have feminism’s opponents appropriated and denigrated the movement beyond all recognition? If so, how did this happen? Do you have to be political to be a feminist? And do you even have to be female? With home movies clips of Shechter as a budding feminist, archival materials from old health classes, and music by Ani DiFranco, Lavababy, Gina Young, Moxie Starpark and the legendary Helen Reddy, I WAS A TEENAGE FEMINIST redefines the F-Word for a new generation.
PRESS
"Makes you laugh, and makes you look at feminism in a new way. It is very well done. Recommended. "
“This film is evidence that feminism – whether second wave, third wave or no wave – hasn’t ceased to be a vital, many-hued movement with something to offer women of any age.”
“Has the potential to reach a whole new generation…The film speaks their language, rejecting preaching and dogma for clean-headed and entertaining social inquiry- and a healthy dose of irony.”
“Shechter starts her film by asking ‘where the hell did feminism go?’ Happily, she finds it – and her journey will make any disenchanted potential-Gloria breathe a sigh of relief.”
“Resonates with all generations of feminists.”
“More proof that feminists do have a sense of humor. Therese has gone ape with us!”
“Like a chick version of Michael Moore’s Roger and Me, but, luckily, there’s no real villain...Unlike the usual politically correct thinkers who ask this question, Shechter is actually interested in the answer, and where it comes from.”
“If you missed the revolution, filmmaker Therese Shechter’s I Was A Teenage Feminist is a refresher course in Feminism 101.”
“Cheerful and straightforward”
“The film’s fresh approach is perfect for those who say, “I’m not a feminist, but...’”
"Shechter proves that feminism is still available to anyone willing to look past the media’s dismissals."
SCREENING HIGHLIGHTS AND AWARDS
- Jewish Women's FF, NCJW New York, Best Film
- Karachi Int'l F F, Documentary Special Mention
- Femina Int’l Women’s Film Festival, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Reel Affirmations Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Washington DC
- Rdece Zore (Red Dawns) Women’s Festival, Ljubljana, Slovenia
- National Broadcast on W Network, Canada
- Ladyfest Ottawa Women’s Arts Festival
- Ladyfest Brighton Music and Arts Festival
- Laboratorio Immagine Donna di Firenze, Int’l Women’s FF, Florence, Italy
- Jewish Women’s Film Festival
- “Her Voice, Her View” Film Festival
- Women's Film Festival, Seoul
- Eureka Film Festival
- St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival
- Northampton Film Festival
- Femmes en Resistance Film Festival
- Rocky Mountain Women's Film Festival
- Washington Jewish Film Festival
- Go Girls! at Symphony Space
ABOUT FILMMAKER(S)
Therese Shechter is an award-winning filmmaker and the founder of the production company Trixie Films. Over the past 20 years, she's created a body of work that fuses humor, activism, and personal storytelling to explore the expectations around women’s roles and identities.
Therese’s most recent film MY SO-CALLED SELFISH LIFE, is a revolutionary documentary about one of our greatest social taboos: choosing not to become a mother. The film is the third in her series of documentaries investigating all that is sacred about womanhood, including I WAS A TEENAGE FEMINIST and HOW TO LOSE YOUR VIRGINITY.
Her documentaries have screened on television, streamed online, and appeared in film festivals from Rio de Janeiro to Istanbul to Seoul. Her work is in the collections of hundreds of universities, non-profits, and libraries, and has been featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, NPR, Elle, and Ms. Magazine, among others. (08/07)
Clips
Subject Areas
RELATED LINKS
MATERIALS
