Close the Floodgates

For the last bit of this week, a bit of PR for one of the projects I am involved in as set photographer: OUR BODIES OUR DOCTORS. I’ve written about it before here. And here is an overview article on the multi-pronged legal and political assaults on our rights. Don’t let them be swept away by floods resembling the current state of the Willamette river….

On this Important Anniversary of Roe v. Wade
Cinema 21 Hosts a Special Screening of OUR BODIES OUR DOCTORS
Winner “Best Documentary Feature” 2019 Portland International Film Festival
The event includes WE ARE FORBIDDEN, a short film
directed by Cheryl Strayed and Brian Lindstrom.

On this anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Cinema 21 hosts a special screening of OUR BODIES OUR DOCTORS, Winner of “Best Documentary Feature” at the 2019 Portland International Film Festival as well as Best of SIFF and the “Lena Sharpe Persistence of Vision Award” at the 2019 Seattle International Film Festival. This feature length film has been described as “bold and brave” and “nothing short of revolutionary” in the depth of its portrayals of the work of abortion providers.

The film screens Thursday, January 23^rd at 7:00 PM at Cinema 21, 616 NW 21^st Ave., Portland. For more info and to buy tickets, go to https://www.cinema21.com/movie/our-bodies-our-doctors

OUR BODIES OUR DOCTORS features Portland providers, often unsung heroes, and the creative work of feminist clinics in the Pacific Northwest.

“When I took on this documentary project, I was struck by how little people knew—even those that are pro-choice—about what’s actually involved in abortion care. What I found in making OUR BODIES OUR DOCTORS was a quiet rebellion in the field of medicine led by a new generation of progressive physicians fighting religious control over healthcare. The providers in the film take up difficult questions: How do they deal with the emotional and political aspects of abortion? What makes second term abortions medically and emotionally challenging, for the providers themselves and for their women patients? These are areas where pro-choice films have previously not ventured. But the providers featured in this film—and many of their patients–are bold and brave enough to take us there.” – Jan Haaken, Director

Screening with WE ARE FORBIDDEN, a 10-minute film directed by Brian Lindstrom and Cheryl Strayed.

In parts of Nepal, menstruating girls and women are considered impure. They are banished from their homes or sequestered to a room; forbidden from eating most foods and not allowed to attend school, visit a temple or even look at male family members. In this moving short film, nine Nepalese girls share their menstruation stories. The film derives its power from allowing the girls to speak for themselves, demonstrating their courage, strength and inspiring desire for change.

Providers featured in the film will join Director Jan Haaken and Producer David Cress for a Q&A session after the screening. Co-directors Brian Lindstrom and Cheryl Strayed will be present at the event.

“While a handful of forthrightly pro-choice documentaries have successfully conveyed the enhanced urgency of the issue in the 2010s – few films have managed to offer a truly novel perspective that goes beyond red-alert despair about the state of the world… OUR BODIES OUR DOCTORS is a smart, affecting documentary… Shining a light on the abortion issue from a vital yet neglected angle.”

–Cinema St Louis

“This film feels nothing short of revolutionary. The experiences of abortion providers have for too long been left out of the pro-choice vs. pro-life debate, and presenting these doctors with honesty and compassion will have a profound impact on the discourse around abortion in this country.”

— Grayson Dempsey, Executive Director, NARAL ProChoice Oregon