A cinematic evocation of key moments from the life of feminist outlaw Andrea Dworkin, maverick thinker and intellectual genius of the 20th Century. Through innovative use of archival footage and expressionistic dramatizations, the film pushes the creative boundaries of biographical documentary to challenge the current narratives on gendered violence.
SYNOPSIS
My Name Is Andrea, a genre defying film explores the visceral effects of male violence on women’s psyches and bodies through the compelling verbatim writings of radical feminist Andrea Dworkin (1946-2005). The original ‘angry woman’, Dworkin’s experience of male violence was the unflinching compass for her writings. The film is structured around five chapters, each chapter anchored by an archetypal ‘Andrea,’ performed by a diverse cast of actresses- Amandla Stenberg, Soko, Andrea Riseborough, Ashley Judd and Christine Lahti. The film imaginatively interweaves these dramatized personas and compelling archival footage to create an arc of one life as dramatic as the decades in which it unfolded and speaks directly to the #MeToo movement of today.
Director Statement
I am making this film because, I am consistently drawn to stories of women who have helped change and shape histories. I am drawn to troublemakers | intellectual outlaws and in particular women who disturb received wisdoms about the status of women in the world.
Supporter Statement
"This film will be like no other — lyrical and journalistic, placed in time and also timeless. And now that Andrea Dworkin's words are turning out to predict headlines, from Times Up! to the gender of terrorism, this film will illuminate what's going on and help us know what to do."
- Gloria Steinem | Executive Producer of My Name Is Andrea
ABOUT FILMMAKER(S)
Pratibha Parmar
Pratibha Parmar is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, video artist and professor. Awarded ‘The Visionary Award’ from the One in Ten Film Festival and the ‘Frameline Film Festival Life Time Achievement Award’, Pratibha is Writer | Director | Producer of over 16 documentaries and her films are included in THE PLACE IS HERE (2017) retrospective on 1980’s British Black Arts movement, which highlighted issues of race, gender and the politics of representation. Her film SARI RED is retained in the permanent collection at MOMA, NYC and Pompidou Center, Paris. Pratibha has screened her films Sari Red and Emergence at The Robert Flaherty Seminar (1989). She is also the author and editor of several ground breaking books notably, ‘The Empire Strikes Back Race and Racism in 1970s Britain,' and editor and publisher at Sheba Feminist Press (1980’s), the first UK publishers of Audre Lorde. Pratibha was Visiting Artist at Stanford University, Theatre & Performance Studies Department (2013) and is currently an Associate Professor in the Film department at California College of the Arts, San Francisco. Pratibha is a voting member of AMPAS and BAFTA and a 2018 Sundance Fellow.
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Women Make Movies (WMM), Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit media arts organization registered with the New York Charities Bureau of New York State and accepts charitable donations on behalf of this project. Your donation will be spent by the filmmaker(s) toward the production and completion of this media project. No services or goods are provided by Women Make Movies, the filmmaker(s) or anyone else associated with this project in exchange for your charitable donation.
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