Birthright: A War Story
A film by Civia Tamarkin
BIRTHRIGHT: A WAR STORY examines how women are being jailed, physically violated and even put at risk of dying as a radical movement tightens its grip across America.
Read Civia Tamarkin's director's statement here.
US | 2017 | 100 minutes | Color | DVD | English | Order No. 171207 |
SYNOPSIS
BIRTHRIGHT: A WAR STORY is the real-life "Handmaid’s Tale." This urgent documentary examines how women are being jailed, physically violated and even put at risk of dying as a radical movement tightens its grip across America. The film tells the story of women who have become collateral damage in the aggressive campaign to take control of reproductive health care and to allow states, courts and religious doctrine to govern whether, when and how women will bear children. BIRTHRIGHT: A WAR STORY explores the accelerating gains of the crusade to control pregnant women and the fallout that is creating a public health crisis, turning pregnant women into criminals and challenging the constitutional protections of every woman in America.
PRESS
“A timely new documentary."
"Birthright: A War Story packs a powerful message: that reproduction has become perilous for women in America."
"...a compelling documentary that is a must-see."
"BIRTHRIGHT shows Big Brother in action, and at his most misogynistic."
"To anyone who has watched “The Handmaid’s Tale”...and says it couldn’t happen today, the documentary “Birthright: A War Story” is a strong counterargument."
"Tamarkin's film is a must see for all; these issues should be spoken about and understood to further encourage a movement towards safe, unstigmatized women’s health care and protection in the United States and the world."
ABOUT FILMMAKER(S)
Civia Tamarkin
Civia Tamarkin is an award-winning investigative journalist, documentary filmmaker and former television news executive. She has produced independent and cable documentaries as well as developed programming content, models and strategies for cable, internet and digital global platforms. Tamarkin formerly was a CNN executive and Executive Producer of CNN’s Emmy Award weekly news magazine show "CNN & Time." She produced investigative segments and series for ABC World News Tonight, half-hour specials for Nightline and contributed to ABC’s coverage of major news stories. Her investigative reporting led to one of the first exculpatory DNA exonerations in America as well as the exoneration of a death row inmate. She has contributed to numerous magazines and newspapers and reported stories in Central America, Africa, India and Southeast Asia, including the fall of Vietnam and its aftermath. Tamarkin has received a National News and Documentary Emmy, National Emmy nominations, National Headliner Awards, an Edward R. Murrow Award, and awards from The Society of Professional Journalists, the Overseas Press Club of America and the Chicago Headline Club. (6/17)
RELATED LINKS
- BIRTHRIGHT Official Website
- BIRTHRIGHT on Facebook
- BIRTHRIGHT on Twitter
- Newsweek, "Abortion In America: New Documentary Shows How The U.S. Is Becoming The Handmaid's Tale"
- KCRW “PRESS PLAY”: July 31, 2017: Madeleine Brand’s interview with Civia Tamarkin
- LOS ANGELES TIMES: July 27, 2017: "Birthright: A War Story chronicles the attack on women's health and reproductive rights"
- FEMINIST CURRENT PODCAST: July 14, 2017: Megan Murphy’s interview with Civia Tamarkin
- SALON: July 17, 2017: Tom Roston’s interview with Civia Tamarkin includes clip from Salon Talks
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BIRTHRIGHT: A WAR STORY examines how women are being jailed, physically violated and even put at risk of dying as a radical movement tightens its grip across America.
Read Civia Tamarkin's director's statement here.
Learn more
Read Civia Tamarkin's director's statement here.
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Four Wives – One Man
From Nahid Persson, the filmmaker of the award-winning Prostitution Behind the Veil, comes an intimate portrait of a polygamist family in a rural Iranian village. Persson reveals the intricacies of the relationships between the four wives, their husband, their astoundingly free-spoken mother-in-law and their numerous children. Sometimes humorous and often heartbreaking, this film follows the daily lives of the wives whose situation has turned them into both bitter rivals and co-conspirators against their abusive husband.
Persson’s camera unobtrusively and beautifully captures the range of the family’s interactions – from peaceful, pastoral scenes of a family picnic, to the temporary chaos caused by a broken faucet in the kitchen, to a furtive, whispered conversation between two wives about the latest beating. The women’s work – making bread, weaving carpets, milking and herding the sheep – provide the background to their frank conversations. Avoiding sensationalism and sentimentality, this film provides unique insights into the practice of polygamy and its effect on the women involved.
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