Videos on Women's and Gender Studies

Born into brothels c2005

Ross Kauffman, Zana Briski, Red Light Films (Firm), Thinkfilm (Firm), HBO/Cinemax Documentary Films, and Kids With Cameras (Organization)

While living in the red light district of Calcutta, documenting life in the brothels, New York-based photographer Zana Briski embarked on a project by which she gave cameras to the children of prostitutes and taught them photography, awakening within them hidden talent and creativity and giving them a means to transform their lives. 1 videodisc (83 min.)

MEDIA 10-1104

 

Capturing the Friedmans c2003

Andrew Jarecki, Marc Smerling, Jesse Friedman, Arnold Friedman, Elaine Friedman, David Friedman, Seth Friedman, Magnolia Pictures (Firm), HBO Video (Firm), HBO Documentary Films, and Hit the Ground Running LLC

The Friedmans seem to be a typical family from affluent Great Neck, Long Island. One Thanksgiving, as the family gathers for a quiet holiday dinner, a police battering ram splinters the front door and officers rush inside. The police charge Arnold Friedman and his son Jesse with hundreds of shocking crimes. As police investigate, and the community reacts, the fabric of the family begins to disintegrate, revealing questions about justice, family and finally the truth. 2 videodiscs (235 min.)

MEDIA 10-1651

 

The courtesans of Bombay 2005

Ismail Merchant, Saeed Jaffrey, Kareem Samar, Vishnu Mathur, Merchant Ivory Productions, and Home Vision Entertainment (Firm)

Pavan Pool is an enclosed area of Bombay where the city's singing and dancing courtesans ply their trade. Crammed tenements house thousands of men playing up to the camera as they seek out forbidden pleasures - and the courtesans themselves, who appear more as entertainers than sex workers. It shows how young girls are groomed in the arts of singing, dancing, and by inference, seduction. The film is about a tradition with a special place in Indian society: the entertainment of paying customers - always men - by songstresses and dancers who perform in the classical Hindustani styles of the ancient "nautch" girls. 1 videodisc (74 min.)

MEDIA 10-2044

 

Cowboys in Paradise c2010

Amit Virmani, Seah Kui Luan, Jean Couteau, and Coup Communications (Firm)

In this documentary Amit Virmani uncovers the phenomenon of Bali's 'Kuta Cowboys'--the beach ambassadors who have made Bali one of the world's leading destinations for holiday romance. 1 videodisc (ca. 82 min.)

MEDIA 10-2240

 

Girl for sale bartering for bodies in India c2002

Marc Dorian, Christina Romano, Cynthia McFadden, ABC News Productions, and Films for the Humanities (Firm)

"McFadden reports on the sale of girls-- some as young as 11 years of age-- into sexual slavery and how one man's personal campaign has resulted in the rescue of nearly 200 victims.  Hidden cameras record the deplorable conditions of life into which these children are sold, often out of desperation by their own families"--Container. 1 videodisc (14 min.)

MEDIA 10-216

 

The good old naughty days 2003

"This collection of French blue movies from the silent era was selected from a collection of 300 one-reelers discovered in the attic of a very respectable family. This compilation features a dozen hard-core shorts made between 1905 and 1930. It reveals production standards far in advance of comparable films being made elsewhere at the time, as well as an inventive and often humorous array of diverse couplings."--Strand Releasing website . 1 videodisc (69 min.) :

MEDIA 10-3784

 

Highway courtesans 2005

Mystelle Brabbée,  Anura Idupuganti, Tom Donahue, Mystelle Brabbée Films (Firm), and Women Make Movies (Firm)

Filmed in Central India from 1995 to 2004 where the eldest daughters in the Bachara community work as highway prostitutes to support their families. 1 videodisc (71 min.)

MEDIA 2-7681   10-483

 

Hookers at the Point Hookers at the Point : going out again 2002

Brent Owens, Going Out Productions, Inc, Delta Entertainment Corporation, and MTI Film & Video

A look at the world of prostitution at Hunts Point in the Bronx. The director observes the underworld as well as gives several women a chance to tell their life stories. A special bonus, Hookers at the Point ; going out again is a follow up on the personalities from the first film and we see where "The Life" has led them. 1 videodisc (ca. 90 min.)

MEDIA 10-281

 

Live nude girls unite! 2000

Julia Query, John Montoya, and Vicky Funari

Follows Julia Query, a peepshow stripper, on her journey to help organize the first strippers' union in the United States. 1 videocassette (71 min.)

MEDIA 2-5901, 10-228

 

People vs. Larry Flynt 2003

Oliver Stone, Janet Yang, Michael Hausman, Milos Forman, Scott Alexander, Larry Karaszewski, Woody Harrelson, Courtney Love, Edward Norton, Columbia Pictures, Phoenix Pictures, Ixtlan Corporation, and Columbia TriStar Home Video (Firm)

Notorious "Hustler" publisher who was sued by the religious Right and paralyzed by a fanatic's bullet.  1 videodisc (130 min.)

MEDIA 10-264

 

The pornography of everyday life c2006

Jane Caputi, Susan Rosenkrantz, Berkeley Media, and Jane Caputi LLC

"The film incorporates more than 200 powerful images from advertising, ancient myth, contemporary art, and popular culture to demonstrate how pornography ... is in reality a prevalent mainstream worldview. The film illustrates how the pornographic worldview is a generally accepted discourse, a habitual mode of thinking and acting that underpins not only sexism, but also racism, militarism, physical abuse and torture, and the pillaging of the environment. As such, pornography appears not only in overt, "hard-core" forms, but also in virtually every aspect of everyday life. As the film illuminates, ... pornography is shown to be misogynistic and homophobic, and defines sex as "dirty" or debased and the opposite of the mind or spirit.  Pornography is also shown to support the worst tendencies of patriarchal religions ... not only to demean women but to justify and legitimize male divinity and worldly authority. The film concludes by suggesting alternatives and by illustrating how visionary thinkers and artists resist the pornographic worldview by re-imagining and restoring respect to eroticism, female sexuality, and the female divine, and by calling for new understandings of sexuality, nature, and society." --www.berkeleymedia.com/catalog/berkeleymedia/films/womens_studies_gender_studies/womens_studies/the_pornography_of_everyday_life. 1 videodisc (35 min.) :

MEDIA 10-2572

 

The price of pleasure pornography, sexuality & relationships c2008

Miguel Picker, Chyng-Feng Sun, Robert Wosnitzer, Matthew Tennie, Tim McDonough, Andy Kaempfer, Gail Dines, Robert Jensen, Richard D Wolff, Ana Bridges, Ariel Levy, Pamela Paul, John Stagliano, Joanna Angel, Ernest Greene, Sarah Katherine Lewis, Noam Chomsky, Open Lens Media, and Media Education Foundation

"Once relegated to the margins of society, pornography has emerged as one of the most visible and profitable sectors of the cultural industries, assuming an unprecedented role in the mainstream of our popular culture at the same time that its content has become more extreme and harsh, more overtly sexist and racist. This eye-opening and disturbing film places the voices of critics, producers, and performers alongside the observations of men and women as they candidly discuss the role pornography has played in shaping their sexual imaginations and relationships. [The film] moves beyond the liberal versus conservative debates so common in the culture to paint a myth-busting and nuanced portrait of how pleasure and pain, commerce and power, liberty and responsibility have become intertwined in the most intimate areas of our lives"--Container. 1 videodisc (56 min.)

MEDIA 10-1959

 

Sacrifice 2005?

Ellen Bruno, Hseng Noung Lintner, Yiga Josayma, and Film Library (Firm)

Each year thousands of girls are recruited from rural Burmese villages to work in brothels in Thailand where they are held for years in debt bondage. The trafficking of Burmese girls is a direct result of political repression in Burma. Human rights abuses, war, and ethnic discrimination have displaced thousands of families leaving them with no means of livelihood. This film, through interviews with the girls, examines the social, cultural and economic forces at work in the trafficking of these Burmese girls. 1 videodisc (47 min.)

MEDIA 10-4101

 

Sext up kids c2012

The powder keg that is porn culture has exploded in the lives of North American children. From thongs and padded bras for 9-year-old girls to "sexting, " 24-7 internet porn, and unfiltered social media, kids today are bombarded with commercial sexual appeals like never before. In this astonishing new documentary, award-winning documentary filmmaker Maureen Palmer explores what this radical transformation of the culture means for young people, parents, and our very notions of childhood. Palmer interviews researchers who have been tracking how the accelerating pressure to be sexy -- and sexual -- is changing kids' behavior and undermining their health. She sits down with parents and educators struggling to help kids navigate puberty in a hypermediated cultural environment that no longer seems to recognize or respect the developmental needs of children. And she talks to teens and pre-teens who share eerily casual insights into the routine role sex plays in their lives. The result is a stunning exploration of the sexualization of childhood and a startling wake-up call for parents who still think their own children are immune to the excesses and influences of today's sexed-up youth culture. 1 videodisc (42 min.)

MEDIA 10-3902

 

Shadows of sex trafficking 2013

Lured away by the promise of a good paying job in the United States, a South American immigrant, Nieomi, tells the harrowing tale of her border crossing, where she was unsuspectedly beaten and drugged into submission and then forced by her captors to have sex with countless strangers for months before she was able to find a way out. 1 videodisc (29 min.)

MEDIA 10-4515

 

Stalags 2013?

1 videodisc (63 min.)

MEDIA 10-4247

 

Tales of the night fairies c2002

Shohini Ghosh and Under Construction (Firm)

Documentary about the DMSC in West Bengal, an organization of sexworkers that is fighting for decriminalization of adult sex work, social recognition and the right to form a trade union. Five sex workers in the Shonagachi red light district of Calcutta tell stories of their life experiences. 1 videodisc (74 min.) :

MEDIA 10-2797

 

Trade 2007

Kevin Kline, Marco Kreuzpaintner, José Rivera, Cesar Ramos, Alicja Bachleda-Curus, Paulina Gaitan, Lionsgate (Firm), Centropolis Entertainment (Firm), Roadside Attractions (Firm), and VIP 4 (Firm)

When 13-year-old Adriana is kidnapped by sex traffickers in Mexico, her 17 year old brother sets off to save her. Along the way he meets a Texas cop whose own family loss leads him to become an ally. 1 videodisc (ca. 119 min.)

MEDIA 10-1549

 

Very young girls 2008?

David Schisgall, Nina Alvarez, Priya Swaminathan, Swinging T Productions, Showtime Networks, and Girls Educational & Mentoring Services

"Very young girls is an expose of human trafficking that follows thirteen and fourteen year old American girls as they are seduced, abused, and sold on New York's streets by pimps, and treated as adult criminals by police. The film follows the barely-adolescent girls in real time, using verite and intimate interviews. The film identifies hope for these girls in the organization GEMS (Girls Education and Mentoring Services), a recovery center founded and run by Rachel Lloyd, herself a survivor of sexual exploitation."--Producer. 1 videodisc (84 min.)

MEDIA 10-1893

 

Vulva 3.0 between taboo and fine-tuning c2014

"With their comprehensive and unflustered research into the history of this particular aspect of the female anatomy in the 21st century, the directors shed light on every facet of the matter in hand, from sex education to censorship, from the airbrushing of "misshapen" labia in pornographic images to the work of activists against female genital mutilation--and in doing so celebrate the diversity of the female body."--Container. 1 videodisc (52 min.)

MEDIA 10-5627

 

A wink and a smile c2008

Deirdre Allen Timmons, Jack Timmons, Golden Echo Films, and First-Run Features (Firm)

Follows the lives of ten ordinary women for six weeks as they learn the art of burlesque dancing and striptease at Seattle's Academy of Burlesque. 1 videodisc (ca. 91 min.)

MEDIA 10-2036

 

The women outside Korean women and the U.S. military 2000

Documentary on young South Korean women who work in sex related enterprises adjacent to American military bases in South Korea. Also explores the lives of Korean American women who came to the United States as wives of American servicemen. 1 videodisc (53 min.)

MEDIA 10-4638

 

American porn 2002

Michael Kirk and Michael J Boyer

This investigative report examines the forces behind the recent explosion of sexually explicit material available in American society and the pending political battle that may engulf the multi-billion dollar pornography industry. 1 videocassette (ca. 60 min.) :

MEDIA 2-5827

 

Bad girl 2001

Nathalie Barton, Iolande Cadrin-Rossignol, Arnaud Hantute, and Marielle Nitoslawska

This documentary features selected film clips and interviews with feminist authors, filmmakers, anthropologists, sexologists and porn producers, directors and activists. 1 videocassette (58 min.) :

MEDIA 2-2375

 

Born into brothels c2005

Ross Kauffman, Zana Briski, Red Light Films (Firm), Thinkfilm (Firm), HBO/Cinemax Documentary Films, and Kids With Cameras (Organization)

While living in the red light district of Calcutta, documenting life in the brothels, New York-based photographer Zana Briski embarked on a project by which she gave cameras to the children of prostitutes and taught them photography, awakening within them hidden talent and creativity and giving them a means to transform their lives. 1 videodisc (83 min.) :

MEDIA 10-1104

 

Camp Arirang 1996

Diana S Lee, Grace Yoonkung Lee, Amy Hill, Camp Arirang Productions, and National Asian American Telecommunications Association

Filmmakers explore prostitution near American bases in South Korea and examine the lives of the sex workers and their Amerasian children who live in U.S. camp towns throughout South Korea. 1 videocassette (28 min.)

MEDIA 2-6537

 

Capturing the Friedmans c2003

Andrew Jarecki, Marc Smerling, Jesse Friedman, Arnold Friedman, Elaine Friedman, David Friedman, Seth Friedman, Magnolia Pictures (Firm), HBO Video (Firm), HBO Documentary Films, and Hit the Ground Running LLC

The Friedmans seem to be a typical family from affluent Great Neck, Long Island. One Thanksgiving, as the family gathers for a quiet holiday dinner, a police battering ram splinters the front door and officers rush inside. The police charge Arnold Friedman and his son Jesse with hundreds of shocking crimes. As police investigate, and the community reacts, the fabric of the family begins to disintegrate, revealing questions about justice, family and finally the truth. 2 videodiscs (235 min.) :

MEDIA 10-1651

 

Caught in the crossfire 1998

'Atu Emberson-Bain and Natalie Edwards

A young deaf mute sells herself on the street to be able to provide for her elderly father. Prostitution is a taboo subject in Fiji and is illegal, but women have no power to say "no" to sexual exploitation. 1 videocassette (15 min.) :

MEDIA 2-5836

 

Chicken Ranch a legal brothel in Nevada 1982

Nicholas Broomfield and Sandi Sissel

Documentary about the prostitutes employed on the Chicken Ranch, one of the 38 legal brothels in Nevada. The women discuss their attitudes toward their profession. Both the owner of the establishment and the madame are interviewed. 1 videocassette (90 min.) :

MEDIA 2-3373          2-6532

 

Girl for sale bartering for bodies in India c2002

Marc Dorian, Christina Romano, Cynthia McFadden, ABC News Productions, and Films for the Humanities (Firm)

"McFadden reports on the sale of girls-- some as young as 11 years of age-- into sexual slavery and how one man's personal campaign has resulted in the rescue of nearly 200 victims.  Hidden cameras record the deplorable conditions of life into which these children are sold, often out of desperation by their own families"--Container. 1 videodisc (14 min.)

MEDIA 10-216

 

Hardwork 198-?

Ginny Durrin and Margo St. James

Shows Margo St. James and her lobbying efforts to decriminalize prostitution. Also raises some legal, religious, and sociological aspects of this issue. 1 videocassette (29 min.) :

MEDIA D-192

 

Highway courtesans 2005

Mystelle Brabbée,  Anura Idupuganti, Tom Donahue, Mystelle Brabbée Films (Firm), and Women Make Movies (Firm)

Filmed in Central India from 1995 to 2004 where the eldest daughters in the Bachara community work as highway prostitutes to support their families. 1 videodisc (71 min.)

MEDIA 2-7681   10-483

 

Hookers 198-?

Max Scherr and George Csicsery

A dynamic and controversial showing of the "working woman's" point of view. Interviews with several women are interspersed with episodes of their meetings with clients. 1 videocassette (25 min.) :

MEDIA D-211

 

Hookers at the Point Hookers at the Point : going out again 2002

Brent Owens, Going Out Productions, Inc, Delta Entertainment Corporation, and MTI Film & Video

A look at the world of prostitution at Hunts Point in the Bronx. The director observes the underworld as well as gives several women a chance to tell their life stories. A special bonus, Hookers at the Point ; going out again is a follow up on the personalities from the first film and we see where "The Life" has led them. 1 videodisc (ca. 90 min.)

MEDIA 10-281

 

Live nude girls unite! 2000

Julia Query, John Montoya, and Vicky Funari

Follows Julia Query, a peepshow stripper, on her journey to help organize the first strippers' union in the United States. 1 videocassette (71 min.) :

MEDIA 2-5901, 10-228

 

Not a love story a film about pornography 1991

Bonnie Sherr Klein

Examines the facts of pornography and assesses its impact on society. 1 videocassette (ca. 69 min.) :

MEDIA 2-1681

 

Our bodies, our minds 2001

Rebecca M Alvin, Cinema Guild, and Belly Girl Films

The seven women in this film represent an encouraging subsection of the feminist movement, known as sex-positive feminists.  These feminists stress tolerance of sexual diversity, freedom to express one's sexuality and identity, the rights of sex workers, and the importance of making sex-related information available. 1 videocassette (67 min.)

MEDIA 2-6651

 

Patently offensive; Porn under siege  1991

Harriet Koskoff, Ginger Casey, and Blair Gershkow

As a dominant force in popular entertainment, porn has redefined the image culture.  Its iconography has been coopted by music videos, Hollywood films, tv sitcoms, and especially advertising: the most powerful socializing agents in contemporary life.  "Patently offensive; Porn under siege" examines pornography in its social and historical context. 1 videocassette (58 min.) :

MEDIA 2-1797

 

People vs. Larry Flynt 2003

Oliver Stone, Janet Yang, Michael Hausman, Milos Forman, Scott Alexander, Larry Karaszewski, Woody Harrelson, Courtney Love, Edward Norton, Columbia Pictures, Phoenix Pictures, Ixtlan Corporation, and Columbia TriStar Home Video (Firm)

Notorious "Hustler" publisher who was sued by the religious Right and paralyzed by a fanatic's bullet.  1 videodisc (130 min.)

MEDIA 10-264

 

Pornography Andrea Dworkin 2005

Andrea Dworkin, David Evans, British Broadcasting Corporation, Television Service, Amaya Distribution (Firm), and Films for the Humanities (Firm)

An exposé of the pornography industry and its implications for wider questions of sexuality and violence--not so much a portrait of Andrea Dworkin, as an account of the struggle she and other women are waging against what they perceive as a radical social evil. 1 videodisc (52 min.)

DANA 250

 

Prostitution behind the veil 2005

Nahid Persson, Jakob Høgel, Cosmo Doc Aps (Firm), Sveriges television, and Filmakers Library, inc

Explores the everyday life of two Iranian women working as prostitutes in a Muslim society in which prostitution is banned and adultery can lead to capital punishment. Reveals double standards, their male punters managing to comply with Muslim law while buying sex. 1 videocassette (52 min.)

MEDIA 2-7525

 

Rate it X 1985

Paula de Koenigsberg, Lucy Winer, Claudette Charbonneau, and Lynn Campbell

An ironic portrait of the American man and his stubborn sexual chauvinism.  Amazing interviews with a wide variety of men reveal the deep rooted sense of machismo and the sexual double standards and racism at work in our culture today. 1 videocassette (55 min.) :

MEDIA 2-3946

 

Restoration England Charles II, the arts and pornography 1996

David Baddiel, Cathryn Bradshaw, Elisabeth Chadwick, David Westhead, Bob Bentley, and Deborah Joanne Wolfe

Presents the role of sex in Restoration England. In 1660, the Libertine, Charles the II, was restored to the throne and a reaction to two decades of Puritanism followed. 1 videocassette (26 min.) :

MEDIA 2-3007

 

Senso daughters 1989

Noriko Sekiguchi

Through interviews the story of military brothels and Japanese comfort women during the war in Papua New Guinea is revealed. Experiences of both the Japanese and the Melanesians are shared. 1 videocassette (54 min.) :

MEDIA 2-5018

 

Shinjuku boys 1996

Kim Longinotto, Jano Williams, and Shuko Noguchi

Looks at a Japanese subculture involving cross-gender and prostitution. 1 videocassette (53 min.) :

DANA 1543

 

Sin city diary c1992

Rachel Rivera, University of California, Berkeley, Graduate School of Journalism, and Women Make Movies (Firm)

Examines the wretched lives of Filipina prostitutes who work in the vicinity of the U.S. Naval Base at Subic Bay, Philippines. 1 videocassette (29 min.)

DANA 2090

 

Sisters and daughters betrayed the trafficking of women and girls and the fight to end it c1995

Chela Blitt, Lyons Filmer, Global Fund for Women, University of California (System), and Extension Center for Media and Independent Learning

A report on the practice in Southeast Asia of illegally transporting millions of women and young girls from rural to urban areas and across national borders for the purposes of prostitution. 1 videocassette (28 min.)

MEDIA 2-6294

 

Stop the traffick 2001

Emily Marlow and Michael Heath

Children as young as 10 years old are trafficked into cities from rural areas to become sex workers or trafficked out to Thailand to work as beggars, domestic laborers, or laborers on construction sites. This program examines the trade and new efforts by the International Labor Organization and local groups to rescue the children and stop the traffic. 1 videocassette (28 min.) :

MEDIA 2-5921

 

Street of shame 198-?

Kenji Mizoguchi, Masashige Narusawa, Masaichi Nagata, Yoshiko Shibaki, Machiko Kyo, Aiko Mimasu, and Ayako Wakao

Set in 1955, the film examines the dreams and problems of the prostitutes living in one Tokyo brothel.  1 videocassette (ca. 86 min.) :

MEDIA 2-2660

 

Trade 2007

Kevin Kline, Marco Kreuzpaintner, José Rivera, Cesar Ramos, Alicja Bachleda-Curus, Paulina Gaitan, Lionsgate (Firm), Centropolis Entertainment (Firm), Roadside Attractions (Firm), and VIP 4 (Firm)

When 13-year-old Adriana is kidnapped by sex traffickers in Mexico, her 17 year old brother sets off to save her. Along the way he meets a Texas cop whose own family loss leads him to become an ally. 1 videodisc (ca. 119 min.) :

MEDIA 10-1549

 

The Women outside Korean women and the U.S. military c1995

J. T Takagi, Hye Jung Park, Yunjin Kim, and Newsreel (Firm)

Documentary on young South Korean women who work in sex related enterprises adjacent to American military bases in South Korea. Also explores the lives of Korean American women who came to the United States as wives of American servicemen. 1 videocassette (52 min.)

MEDIA 2-6676